Portugal is the perfect combination of sandy beaches, architecturally beautiful cities, rugged coastlines, a booming restaurant scene and a lot of wine everywhere you go.
One of the things that I love most about Portugal is how unique each of the places feels. You can literally travel 30 minutes and feel like you’re in a totally different country.
I’ve been in Portugal a few times and I managed to visit most of it, my first trip was in 2016, we were with a couple of friends, we landed in Lisbon where we stayed for 3 days in total and we were lucky to be there when the European football final was on, was an amazing atmosphere in Praça do Comércio.
Lisbon has became one of the best cities in Europe in the last few years, really, everyone should make the effort and take a trip to Lisbon – it is a beautiful city, full of culture, history, and atmosphere. It is a fun, exciting place, with endless things to do and see, you cannot be bored in Lisbon. Great food to taste at wonderfully reasonable prices.

Everybody should go for a Ride on the famous Tram 28 to discover the centre of the city; you can get lost in the Alfama District and have amazing food in the Bairro Alto District.
My favourite part of the city is the area of the Torre de Belém, Ponte 25 de Abril and the Santuário Nacional de Cristo Rei, where you have a beautiful view of the city and the Tagus River.

One of the things that all Portugal has in common is this delicious pastry below, the pastel de nata. There is a very famous place known to be the pioneer of these pastries, it goes back to 1837, and to date the secret recipe is still the same. “Pastéis de Belém” (Belém Pastries) is located in the district of Belem, most likely you will have to queue but those pastries are worth every minute spent waiting. Don’t get me wrong, pastel de nata are delicious everywhere in Portugal, but those are special and the recipe is secret, so it gives it that shadow of mystery.

After visiting Lisbon we drove south to Algarve Region, the tolled roads in Portugal are fabulous, great roads and very little traffic but they can be very expensive if you don’t pick up the toll ticket. Algarve is the beautiful southern coastline of Portugal. It is a region blessed with stunning beaches, picturesque fishing towns, dramatic limestone coastline and a scenic boardwalk, which provides wonderful views over the coast.
The best beaches that we have visited are Praia da Marinha, Praia dos Três Irmãos, Praia do Camilo and Praia de Benagil, the latter is considered one of the most incredible beaches in Algarve, famous because of its iconic sea cave. Located in the little fishing village of Benagil, it’s one of the hidden beaches in Algarve, the cave is very picturesque and when you arrive, you will be completely amazed.
Inside this spectacular cave you will see the sunlight streaming through the roof and reflecting off the golden sand and the blue azure water, entering the cave through the arches forming a small beach; you can get there only by boat or kayak.

And since you’re there, if you are fan of piri piri chicken, you have to pay a visit to Ramires in Guia (close to Albufeira). It claims to be the original chicken Piri-Piri restaurant, whether or not it is, it’s absolutely delicious, the best Piri Piri chicken ever. It’s always buys but tables free up quickly so don’t be discouraged.

Our last recent trip in Portugal was in November 2019, we had a 5 days trip and we stayed in Porto for 2 nights then on our way to  the Western part of Spain in the Galicia area, where we were going to spend 2 nights, we drove trough the Douro Valley where we stayed 1 night and had an amazing stay in the Quinta da Pacheca Vinery.
Porto is the perfect city break, where you can walk around the city, enjoy the food, the wine, the colours of the city and the breath-taking views from the famous Ponte Dom Luís I.

When you go to Porto a visit to the Douro Valley is a must, is just 1 hour driving in the mainland, passing beautiful scenery of the valleys. We stay in the Quinta da Pacheca Vinery, one of the best estates in the Douro region, one of the first properties to bottle wine under its own label, since 1738. We had a wine tour organized by the winery and had this amazing experience of sleeping inside a barrel.