We spent the last week of February/2017 with Celo's family in Portugal with the aim of resting, eating well and exploring a few attractions, something very rare on our trips...lol.

Summary Itinerary

How are they living in Cascais, we chose to take a short 3-day trip to the region of Fatima and on the other days we walked around there and made day trips to Lisbon and Sintra. In the end, the script looked like this:

Places visited in Portugal

Extremadura and Ribatejo

For the mini trip we took from Sunday to Tuesday, we drove about 500 km and visited beautiful and super empty attractions (thankfully!). We made our base in Fatima and from there we set off to visit the cities of Alcobaça, Nazareth, Ourem, Take and Battle. We wanted to stop at Obidos too, but it was super busy and we thought it would be better to leave it for next time. I told you all about it trip in this post, because there are so many details and photos that deserve to be highlighted, right? But, just to let you know, this was the route we took by car:

Sintra

Our day in Sintra It ended up being quite rushed, because we arrived around noon and we made a point of visiting the city's two main attractions, the Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle. The visits took a few hours and we thought they were well worth it, but if I could go back in time, I would arrive in the city very early and take the opportunity to also see the Queluz Palace and the Sintra National Palace. See all the details of this tour of Sintra in this post.

Cascais and Lisbon

All we had left to do was talk about Cascais and Lisbon now, right? Well… We already knew the tourist part of the 2 cities because of the trip we took last year (see details here), so we took advantage of these days to rest at home and explore something we love: restaurants! Here are some delicious tips:

Restaurants in Cascais

• Stray Octopus – This mini restaurant is located in the city’s historic center and is really cute. We called to reserve a table and enjoyed the various octopus dishes, delicious house wine, and also the shrimp and seasoned olive appetizers. We were very well served and found the atmosphere very welcoming.

• Seafood in the Square – this restaurant is inside the Cascais Town Market and it's simply wonderful! You walk in and see lots of seafood options on a counter with ice, choose what you want, sit at a table and they'll bring it all to you later. Once seated, you choose your drinks and then pay the bill. I loved this informal and practical arrangement, and best of all, the food was divine! It's easily in my Top 5 restaurants in Portugal. <3

• Gulli Market – this Italian is also in the market mentioned above, but on the opposite side to Seafood in the Square. The atmosphere is very stylish, the food is delicious and we were served by a very friendly Brazilian woman. We were taken by Celo's beloved aunts who have lived in Portugal for a long time, so he pleases the locals too.

• Guia Confectionery – in the middle of the afternoon we went to see a place called Guide House, which has several restaurants and shops with a sensational view of the sea. Since we were just waiting for dinner, we stopped for a snack and a rest. Everything was delicious, but I intend to go back to try the restaurants nearby…

Restaurants in Lisbon

• Time Out Market – we went to this market on our first trip to Lisbon (see more details here) and I liked it so much that I made a point of going back there and introducing it to Celo's family. It's a warehouse with restaurants around it and lots of big tables in the center, so people end up having a tour gastronomic and sharing these tables. I think it's great and I recommend it to everyone who goes to Lisbon.

• Portuguese Codfish Cake House – Many people told us about the famous codfish fritters with Serra da Estrela cheese on Augusta Street, so this time we went there to try it. We paid 3.50 for a fritter + 2.50 for a glass of wine and we weren’t crazy about it. We found out that the restaurant opened in 2015 and that the recipe dates back to 1904, but we had the feeling of being “tricked by tourists”, you know? We don’t plan on going back, but if you’re on Augusta Street, you can stop by and try it. It’s not bad… lol.

Our trip in photos