allisoncw

My husband and I took a 9 day trip to Portugal. We used frequent flier miles to fly from the US and stay for free for 5 of our 7 nights. We rented a diesel car from Auto Europe. Most of our time was spent in the Algarve. There are three beach areas not to be missed in Lagos. They all have gorgeous water and picturesque limestone outcropping....and are all within 1/2 mile of each other.
Praia Dona Ana was beautiful and there is a restaurant right there by the cliff that is yummy and reasonable - it's the only restaurant right there.... we got calamari grilled in olive oil and garlic as well as big sardines. Nearby Praia Camilo required about 200 steps down to the beach, but was also well worth seeing. You can walk through a tunnel and have an even more private beach. Ponta da Piedade isn't a beach, but a fantastic walk to gorgeous views of cliffs, tunnels and grottoes. It was worth the 10 euros to take a 30 minute boat ride to see the cool limestone formations and grottoes from the water. There's a cool fish market in Lagos too on the main blvd. Sagres was an easy and picturesque side trip. There is a Pousada (old monastery turned hotel) there that looked like a wonderful place to stay.

Another highlight was Quinta da Bica Quad Adventures - the 5 hour tour through the Algarve countryside was a lot of fun. Hugo was our wonderful guide and the trails are well marked. The quad bikes are very comfortable...even with 2 people sharing one. The family run restaurant Hugo took us to produced the best lunch of our entire trip...I had the suckling pig (yes I feel guilty about it...but it was amazing).

Honestly, 5 days in the Algarve was 2 days too many for us. We had exhausted Portimao, Algor, Lagos, Sagres, Faro, and Albufeira (liked it there).

Cascais was nice, but not worth the trip if you are already seeing beaches in the Algarve. If you are in Lisbon, Cascais would be worth a little side trip. If you go there you MUST try the ice cream at SANTINNI's - right next to the McDonald in the little village where there are lots of shops and restaurants....fantastic! They even had GORGONZOLA WITH NUTS ice cream, which was surprisingly delicious.

We spend 2 days in Sintra, which was wonderful. We stayed in the CINCO B&B - great find - it's one apt attached to someone's house. Check it out on trip advisor...great location and very fairly priced. We walked from there to the Pena National Palace, which is a must see and a nice hike if you walk to it. Sintra is a medieval town and magical....the GSPOT restaurant by the train station was very good.

The Portugese people are very friendly. There are not as many English speakers as I would have expected, but luckily I had some Spanish to fall back upon, which most could understand. The weather in early May was SPECTACULAR 70s and sunny. Many of the touristy areas have "tourist menus" and mediocre food - which was disappointing.
This is a lovely country, with a lot of geographic diversity. Have a wonderful time, if you go.

Allison

Kaba

Allison,

Thank you for your trip report! We, a family of four, will be leaving for Portugal in about three weeks and have been looking for some activities that our teenage boys especially will enjoy. Quinta da Bica Quad Adventures sounds exactly like what we are looking for! Just wondering, did you make advance reservations for the quad tour?

stevelyon

Hi
Where is Sintra? We loved Lagos, how does it compare ie would you stay in Sintra rather than Lagos?

allisoncw

Thanks for your responses Kaba and Stevelyon. To answer your questions. Kaba, I had my hotel call Quinta da Bica Quad Adventures (can get their contact info from Trip Advisor) and coordinate a time to meet. In our case, we were the only ones quad biking that particular day. Your teenage boys will LOVE it and you will feel safe with Hugo looking after all of you. Take the 5 hour tour with a fabulous lunch. If you think of it, tell them Allison and Chad recommended them. Kaba,for more adventure suggestions, consider the 30 minute grotto tour at gorgeous Ponta da Piedade. There are also some Pirate Ship cruises in the Algarve region (I think in Albufeira)which allow you to see the beautiful beaches, cliffs, outcroppings and grottos from the sea and they often have dolphins swimming with them. There's a holistic horseback riding place too that you could find on-line if that interests you.

Stevelyon - Sintra is about 30 min from Lisbon and it is totally different from Lagos, which, as you know, is a relatively flat town with beaches and marinas. Sintra is a super hilly, charming, medieval town with lush foliage and lots of palaces, fortresses, and gardens to visit. You don't need more than 2 days in Sintra, but we thought it was very worthwhile and a romantic setting. You should google some images of the Pena Palace...it's whimsical and magical!

Kaba

Hi Allison,

Thanks, again, for the suggestions. We hadn't planned on going to the Algarve, although your experience with the quad biking tour is making me rethink our itinerary. We are planning on taking a day cruise out of Setabul (Setubal?)but maybe instead we'll spend a couple of days in the Algarve and do a cruise from there instead.

And we can't wait to go to Sintra--we're actually saving it for the last portion of our trip.

allisoncw

Hi Kaba,

The Algarve warrants a couple of days if you are in the region.
It's a 2.5 hour drive south from Lisbon - easy directions. There is a main road A-2? that takes you to every town in the Algarve - and you can get from one side to the other in only about an hour or so. I would do the quad biking and then maybe walk around Albufeira or go to Lagos and see the fish market on the main blvd and those amazing 3 beach areas I outlined up top. As much as I have successfully used these forums to help me plan all my trips, I am happy to be able to be of assistance to others. Portuguese: By the way OBRIGADA is thank you coming from a woman and OBRIGADO is "thank you" coming from a man. The D has a kinda TH sound....obrigatha. "Hola" is hello, just as it is in Spanish. Great to yak with you and have a wonderful trip! If I can be of any further assistance, don't hesitate to ask. You'll love Sintra....lots to do there.

Jayempty

What hotel/town did you stay in while you were in the Algarve?
thanks
Jeff

SloJan2

Algarve and teenagers is like sunshine and beaches. They go together naturally. Skip Albufeira though. Visit Lagos, Silves, Tavira, Monchique and Sagres, including teh Cabo de -São Vincente. The teenagers can take diving and surfing lessons. Take time to compare the beaches on the west coast to those of the southern coast. They have a very different character. Also, most beaches have a beach restaurant. Compare them! If you plan on staying in the Algarve for a week, rent a villa as a base.

Kaba

Thank you, Allison and SloJan2. We're going to try to not rent a car while in Portugal, so the plan now is to take the train from Lisbon to Lagos and spend two nights there, with a side trip at least to Sagres, before heading up to Evora. Any suggestions on where to stay in Lagos? Or even where not to stay?

Obrigada!
Angela