Portugal was always on my travel list, but for some reason I just never focused on it until now. I spent ten days in September visiting Lisbon, Cascais and driving down the southern coast of Portugal spending time in the Algarve (Lagos) and Comporta. Portugal surpassed my expectations!
Let’s start with Lisbon. For me Lisbon was a smaller Paris with some grit. There is a lot of french influence in the Lisbon architecture, but with its’ fair share of graffiti (the grit). I think this combination is what made the city so interesting to me. It’s definitely a walking city! The beauty of Lisbon is in all of its “nooks and crannies” you can discover by just wandering without a destination. Neighborhoods that I loved were Bairro Alto, Principe Real and Chiado. Each of these neighborhoods had a trendy feel and great restaurants. I must say, the food I had in Lisbon was outrageous. A couple of great restaurants were Belcanto and Jncquoi. Lisbon definitely deserves at least a three night visit.
From Lisbon we drove to Comporta, a beautiful beach community. Comporta is becoming the beach destination for those in the know. I highly recommend staying at the Sublime Comporta. Many people also rent villas. The beaches in Comporta were some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.
From Comporta we drove to Lagos in the Algarve. I highly recommend staying in Lagos. It’s a nice size beach community and doesn’t have as many tourists as other areas in the Algarve, We stayed right in town at Casa Mae, a boutique hotel. I highly recommend it. It’s beautifully designed with a wonderful pool and organic garden. I really could’ve spent my days in Lagos just sitting by the pool at Casa Mae, but we did venture out to some of the beaches. This one beach was out of this world.
From Lagos we drove back north and stayed in Cascais about 30 minutes outside of Lisbon. Cascais to me was the Hamptons or Santa Monica of Lisbon. We were only there for one night, but definitely could’ve spent two or three nights there.
I could write so much more about my experience traveling in Portugal and will definitely share more with you. Stay tuned.