This post will be about our 3rd part of our “covid” summer holidays. After having visited Mallorca in July, and Turkey end of July, it was about time to start our 10-day-roadtrip in Portugal.
We both had already been to the Algarve and Lisbon before, however we thought it would be the best option to travel hasslefree, as Portugal didn’t have any restrictions to enter their country.
Our main purpose of the trip, was to enjoy delicious food, enjoy the shores of the Algarve, maybe doing our best on a surfboard for several days, and making it to Lisbon where I wanted to get tattooed.
We didn’t have any big expectations, as we’ve already seen it before.
Algarve.
After landing in Lisbon, we got our rental car at “Sixth”, and opted for a Fiat 500, as we thought it would be fun cruising around in that small, but classic, italian car.
Driving down to the Algarve, was flawless. It was the first time that we drove over the “Vasco da Gama” bridge, which felt like and endless bridge, because of its unusual length of 17km (10 miles). “Vasco da Gama” wasn’t unheard to my ears, I was pretty sure that it had something to do with Goa. After looking it up, Google informed us, that there’s a whole city called “Vasco de Gama” in Goa, named after the portuguese explorer.
After driving straight ahead for 3 hours, we made it to Lagos. There are barely any bends or crossings, you just drive straight for a couple of hours until you get to the southern state of Portugal.
Lagos, wasn’t something, that we hadn’t seen before, however the location was just perfect, to do some daytrips around the coasts, and our hotel was located only 5-10 minutes walking from wonderful beaches, and the sunset point in Lagos.
After having visited, Luz, Faro, Albufeira, Lagos, I guess I’d recommend Lagos for your point of departure in the Algarve. The city center was cosy, lively enough to enjoy the evenings, and the fish restaurants were the best I experienced in Portugal.
We did our first surf session at Praia de Amado. The water was super cold, even though it was summer with 33°C outside of the water. That’s why we decided to buy our own wetsuit, which we could use along the years, if we decided to go on with surfing. The wetsuit felt like a wonder and made it really enjoyable to dive into freezing water. The beach was packed, and the waves were pretty rough for beginners… Two years following my first surf classes, I felt like a complete noob, getting on the board, felt like an impossible thing again. Bummer! However it felt good being in the salty water, and being active.
Two hours later, we were kinda exausted. But happy that we made it into the water with our own wetsuits.
We visited Sagres (the city’s name which is well known because of the popular beer brand in Portugal). There’s absolutely nothing worth visiting, except for a couple of surfshops.
My favorite beaches in the Algarve were the following ones:
Praia da Bordeira
Praia do Camilo in Lagos
and the cliffs of the Esteveira beach, that we visited during sunset.
The ones in Porto Covo were wonderful as well. After a couple of days, the beaches started all looking alike, as it’s always cliffs and the sea. We decided to move on northbound towards Ericeira, passing along the Comporta coast. We spent a night in Rogil and another one in Setubal.
Ericeira.
Ericeira, Peniche and Nazaré are the popular hotspots among the surfer crowds. Ericeira which is located a 40-minute drive up north from Lisbon, seemed like a good location to spend a couple of days, as we were told, that it would have that laid-back surfer vibe, and the city center, would look more beautiful than Peniche.
What can I say. Ericeira seemed cute at first sight.
Parking during our stay was a pain in the ass, as the streets along the city center were super packed with cars, and finding a free parking spot wasn’t an easy thing.
The colors and traditional houses looked even cuter than in Lisbon. There were many options for having lunch & dinner. Surfer shops were spread all over the city. That was mainly it. It was lively for sure, however it did felt more touristic than Lisbon, kind of. Heaps of young surfer crowds, enjoying the food at some hip restaurants. After the sun had set, the temperatures dropped and the streets felt less appealing as during the day.
The super friendly lady who did our check-in at the “Casa das Aguarelas”, explained us that the mornings are mostly foggy in Ericeira. If the sky doesn’t clear up by mid-day, it will remain cloudy for the rest of the day. If the sky however clears up by noon, it will remain sunny for the rest of the day. Weird but true, the lady was right.
In the Algarve, we had the best summer-ish weather, things changed after making it to Ericeira. That’s why we were a little bit disappointed, as we had to put on our jackets again.
We headed to the Foz do Lizandro beach twice, to get back on the surfboards. The water again, freezing cold, but it was the best thing we could do during foggy mornings.
One evening, we made it to Sintra, which was a disappointment, as we wanted to see the underground tower at the “Quinta da Regaleira”. Too many tourists, due to covid-restrictions. We had to wait in line for more than 40 minutes, as they let people in, drop by drop. The “Quinta” was super beautiful and surprised my expectations. I would get back any time again.
My favorite spot in Ericeira was the wine-bar “Mar das Latas”, a wonderful small but cozy bar, which gave you a view over the cove of the “Praia dos Pescadores” (Fishermen’s beach). The perfect spot to enjoy the sunset, with delicious tapas (fish, meat, vegan), and a glass of wine or two…. The soul music on the first day, was the cherry on top. All I could expect from a wonderful summerday: music, booze, sunset and my girlfriend next to me.
Lisbon.
It was supposed to become my 10th stay in the beautiful capital of Portugal. Again, we’ve seen it all, we thought so… and even after having been that many times in Lisbon, there were still undiscovered corners, that convinced us about its beauty.
The botanical garden “Estufa Fria”, is located right in the city-center. Luckily only a couple of months ago, I saw a post on Instagram, of the greens that make the Estufa a surreal place. The entrance fee is about 3,50 euro, totally worth it. We were lucky, that we were almost the only visitors for half an hour, which allowed us to take some lovely photographs. Definitely a place that I plan on visiting everytime i make it back to Lisbon.
Another instagramable spot would be the “Amelia” bar/restaurant. The location isn’t the most convenient in the city, as there’s nothing appealing in the neighborhood beside the restaurant. The 15 minutes waiting, were worth it. The bar is packed with colors, lights and … flavors. The food we ordere was very good (red beet avocado toast). This would be a charming place to surprise your friends or just to enjoy a drink in a cosy place.
As we merely spent two days in Lisbon, besides getting tattooed and spending a night out with friends, there wasn’t too much time left to discover something new. However it’s always a pleasure to be back.
Funny thing happened in Lisbon though. When we dropped our rental-car at the airport on the 3rd last day. I didn’t feel like waiting for an Über to arrive, and told my girlfriend to jump on the first taxi standing in line. The usual price to get to the “Yes Hostel” is around 12-13 euro, by Über. Once or twice I took a taxi to get myself to the airport, and as far as I could remember it wasn’t more expensive than 15 euro.
The old driver who was driving the car, seamed gentle at first sight. While having my eyes on the taxi-meter I noticed that the price went up rapidly. When we almost arrived at the hostel, in the area of the Praca do Commercio, the taxi driver, missed the street, and drove around to drop us 100 meters away from the entrance of the hostel. It was on a mainroad. As soon as he dropped us, the police showed up. One officer stopped the car, the second one joined both of us. Initially we thought they would give the driver a ticket, as he was bothering the traffic while dropping us.
The gentle policemen, told us in portuguese, that they were investigating the taxi fairs. So we told them that we had paid 35 euros (plus 2€ tip) from the airport to the city center. The cops wouldn’t believe what I just told them. We were informed that the highest price wouldn’t pass 17 euros and that’s why they were investigating to avoid rip offs with tourists. I already knew that we paid too much, compared to the previous times, however why should you argue about the price listed on a taxi meter.
The old driver, who felt ashamed, gave us back the 25 euros. The cops took him to the station and towed away his car.
Keep in mind, never pay more than 15-17 euros from the airport to the city center.