After 2 years living in Ireland and traveling to every corner of the old continent, we finally decided to enjoy a beach in Europe. I'll just say one thing: Portugal is so wonderful, guys... <3

Passages

Although we always travel with RyanAir because the prices are more affordable, this time the best option was with Aer Lingus (we found this thanks to Google Flights). We left Dublin early on Saturday and returned late on Sunday night from Lisbon and paid 200 euros round trip for the two of us. Remember that this was the high season price...very good!

Car rental

We rented a car at the airport Lisbon with the company Centaur for the website RentalCars and we strolled unhurriedly through the regions of Alentejo and Algarve. When we arrived in Lisbon at the end of the trip, we thought it best to return the car and use taxis and public transport, as no one deserves to get stressed out with a rental car in a big city, right?

Car and tolls

As I mentioned above, we rented the car from Centauro., until then new to us. I found the service excellent and the price very fair for 6 days (Saturday to Friday): 202.67 euros with full insurance. We asked them to include the Greenway in our car, as I read in some blogs Having a fast pass at toll booths would be less of a headache. It cost 1.80 euros per day, so we thought it was worth it. We went through several toll booths that didn't have a payment booth, so I think there's a bit of hassle paying these amounts later at the post office (I just think so). We prefer to have the device in the car to calculate all our expenses so that Centauro can charge our card later.

Parking and fuel

Luckily, we didn't see any "parking attendants" on the beaches or in the cities we visited. We always parked for free on the beaches, but in the cities and towns we had to pay for the hours we used those machines, you know? We found a huge covered parking lot right in the center of Albufeira that was a bit expensive (6 euros for about 3 hours), but the others were cheaper than that.

For the entire route we traveled by car (map above showing all the beaches we visited in the Algarve), we spent 80 euros on diesel (by the way, don't forget to ask the rental company for a diesel car to save money). It's great to travel around a small country and have the feeling of seeing so much in a few days for so little money, right?

Summary Itinerary

Since we were traveling with Celo's mother and both she and he already knew the country, we created a mixed itinerary with the most touristy parts of the country and others that weren't so touristy. In the end, the itinerary ended up looking like this:

To help with visualization, I've placed the main points of the route on the map below (we drove counterclockwise):

Hosting

• Odeceixe: We stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment on the top floor of the Morais House (grade 8.8 at the time). This hosting is of the type local accommodation, that is, from what I understand, you are staying at the house of someone who lives there. The owner of the house is a very nice old lady named Dona Alzira, who, in addition to having great conversations, prepared a delicious breakfast with jams and cakes made by her. So sweet! We paid 76.50 euros per day for the 3 of us with breakfast.
• Albufeira: We chose one of the cheapest options with a pool in the city, but we ended up not even taking advantage of it (we didn't have time!). The place was Living Water (rated 8.3 at the time), which is outside the historic center but very close to Praia dos Aveiros (delicious). It is a building with several apartments (bedroom, mini kitchen and bathroom) and if you need anything, you have to go to the restaurant counter on the ground floor to ask. Everything is owned by the same owner, who is really sweet, so it's very quiet. It's not super mega excellent, but I thought it was fair for the price. We paid 60.75 for each room, without breakfast (we bought several things at the market and ate them inside the room and on the balcony too).
• Evora: This hotel was the best of the trip and to our surprise the cheapest. Yay! We stayed at Moov Hotel Évora (grade 8.8 at the time), which is located within the historic part of the city, has its own parking, is completely modern and cool. We paid 49 euros per night for each room, without breakfast (so we opted to pay 5.95 to have the right to buffet very good). I recommend it!
• Lisbon: We stayed in Turin Saldanha (grade 8.6 at the time), which is very modern and close to the Saldanha metro station. It is not exactly in the tourist area of the city, but it was easy to get around the city by metro or taxi (for example, a taxi ride to Cais do Sodré cost less than 10 euros at night). The room was very comfortable, but we were unlucky enough to have problems with the water heater, so we had to wait to take a hot shower. It cost 90 euros per night for each room, without breakfast. We had breakfast at a café across the street (the hotel charges 15 euros per person – I thought that was ridiculous!)

Restaurants

I don't know about you, but I'm a seafood lover. <3

Even though I was eating less and less red meat in Dublin (it's very expensive!) and I know that it's cheap in Portugal, I made a point of eating seafood every day. I think it goes well with summer, the beach, the heat, whatever, lol. We always ordered one or two appetizers, a bottle of white wine (sometimes more), our main dishes and when there was room left, typical desserts. We ate shrimp, squid, octopus, mussels, clams (delicious Portuguese lambretas!), crab (Portuguese crab!) and fish too (of course lots of cod). Most of the main dishes came with potatoes and salads and were quite large, so I think sometimes we could have ordered 2 dishes for the 3 of us. The only meal that was different was the one at the winery. Spur Estate, which was simply spectacular. The details are in the post from the Alentejo region.

We loved the white and red wines we had there (Celo liked the beers too). We made a point of only drinking Portuguese wines and tried some from the Algarve, Alentejo and of course, the Douro region (Celo's aunt, who is Portuguese, said they really are the best in the country!). Some very good ones that I remember now are Cartuxa and those from the Herdade do Esporão winery (look at it again here!).

The desserts are delicious too. Most of them have eggs or almonds, so I went for it…the famous Pastel de Belém is very tasty, but I don’t know if I can eat more than 2, because I found it too sweet. Don’t forget to try it, preferably in the place where it all started (see more details here).

Detailed Itinerary

ALENTEJO REGION

See all details in this post.

• Pêgo Beach is beautiful and has a really cool restaurant facing the sea called Salt. You need to make a reservation, because it gets very busy (we discovered this in practice). We ended up enjoying the bar next door, which also has a sensational view.
• We had lunch at the winery Spur Estate at the end of the trip and I can say that it was the best meal of my life (maybe the most expensive too)! We paid 75 euros per person for about 10 wonderful dishes and different wines to accompany each one. It was literally 3 delicious hours… I recommend it!
• Before heading to Évora, we stopped in a village called Monsaraz, which is super cute with narrow streets and white houses with a beautiful view of the region. Évora is also charming and has a very pleasant vibe, with its main attractions being Praça do Giraldo, the Évora Cathedral (Sé), the Capela dos Ossos and the Templo Romano. We visited them all.

ALGARVE REGION

See all details in this post.

• The village of Odeceixe is charming with its white houses and surrounding nature. Odeceixe Beach was one of our favorites on the entire trip, because it has the meeting of the sea and the river and the view is simply gorgeous.
• Our second stop was at Arrifana Beach, because we wanted to have lunch at the restaurant Paul. We didn't get there in time (we didn't make a reservation either), but we managed to stop by and marvel at the cliffs around it. It's crazy! It's worth stopping there to see (photos below).
• We went to Alvor to visit Celo's dear family, but we only stayed at their house, so I can't even say if the city is nice. Sorry.
• We stayed in Albufeira in an area that looks more like the United States because of the number of resorts and condominiums (outside the historic center). We spent 3 days in the area visiting the beaches and our division was as follows:
  • DAY 1 – We went to the beaches near Portimão. We visited Praia da Marinha (my favorite of all the beaches we visited), Praia do Buraco, Praia de Benagil, Prainha, Praia dos 3 Irmãos and Praia do Carvoeiro. We had lunch at the restaurant Reed, in Prainha, simply wonderful (we made a reservation this time). We tried the Portuguese crab (sapateira) and other delicacies. I recommend it!
  • DAY 2 – We went to the beaches of Lagos. We went on a kayak tour with the company Kayak Tours and we were able to see all the beaches from the sea. What a wonderful trip! The best part is that we exercised on the way there (I think we paddled for an hour and a half), but on the way back a speedboat pulled all the kayaks back, so we could just enjoy the view and relax. It cost 25 euros per person and it was totally worth it! The beaches we visited were: Praia da Batata, Praia dos Estudantes, Praia do Pinhão, Praia da Dona Ana, Praia do Camilo and Ponta da Piedade. Praia da Dona Ana is the most famous because it won an award for the most beautiful beach in the world a few years ago, but they managed to ruin it when they expanded it to attract more tourists. Because of the dark sand that was added to Praia da Dona Ana and the many hotels they allowed to be built in front of it, I ended up thinking Praia do Camilo was the most beautiful of all in this region. After the kayaking trip, we had lunch in the cute little center of Lagos at the restaurant The Fisherman. Simple, but with very tasty food. The codfish fritters were divine! Then we went into the Church of Santo Antônio, which is considered one of the jewels of the Algarve with its tiles, woodwork and golden paintings. It is really beautiful (you can't take pictures inside).
  • DAY 3 – We went to see the beach next to our hotel – Praia dos Aveiros – and we loved it! It’s small and very family-friendly and, to our surprise, there were only Portuguese people there (we avoid tourists…we always like to be with the locals). We walked along the rocks on the left side and were able to see Praia da Oura from afar, which is also very interesting. We then drove to Praia das Falésias, where we spent a lot of time and, after a quick stop at Praia de São Rafael, we went to have lunch in the center of Albufeira (I love white cities…). We chose the restaurant Old Pier, which is located right on the beach and had great service and delicious food. There’s nothing like eating seafood while looking out to sea…

LISBON and CASCAIS

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• We left these two super nice cities for the end of the trip. We reserved one day to take the train to Cascais and Belém (a neighborhood in Lisbon quite far from the center) and the other two days to stroll around the more central neighborhoods of Lisbon.
• In Belém, we made a point of eating the famous and original Pastel de Belem, which has been made with the same recipe since 1837. We visited the Jerónimos Monastery, the Belem Tower (both beautiful!) and we strolled leisurely along the banks of the Tagus River.
• In Cascais, we strolled through the historic center, walked to the fort and had dinner while still in the daytime at a delicious restaurant facing the sea, the Esplanada Santa Marta, which closed shortly after, but had very reasonable prices for the view it offered. At the end of the day, we went to the Village Market, which is a great find in this city and we took the opportunity to eat and drink typical things.
• In Lisbon, we visited the Santa Justa Elevator, the St. George's Castle, the trendy neighborhoods of Alfama and Bairro Alto and also the various squares in the Baixa neighborhood. We had lunch one day at National Confectionery (beautiful!) and we went with a dear Portuguese aunt from Celo to a wonderful place that I highly recommend: Time Out Market. This market is huge and has many stands with wonderful food! We spent a few hours enjoying ourselves there…

Finally, some photos from the trip. Can I miss them already? <3

Our trip in photos