Portugal Is Made for Road Trips

Portugal Road Trip Route

Portugal Is Made for Road Trips

Our Portugal Road Trip Route: Porto > Obidos > Sintra > Odeceixe > Algarve

Intro

Upon completing our first trip to Portugal, I feel confident saying it’s made for road trips. I know, I’m a rookie to Portugal. But not to road trips. And with so many historical towns, remarkable beaches and seaside towns, national parks, and vibrant cities, it’s practically imperative you jump in a car and go explore it.

Overview

We started our time in Portugal by flying into Lisbon and taking a train to Porto. That was all fine and well, but we definitely preferred driving on the return and keeping the car to head further south.

The places we spent the majority of our time were Porto, Sintra, and Odeceixe. We passed through and got a little taste of Obidos, Cape St. Vincent, Lagos, and Faro. Following our Sintra visit, we stopped to visit extended family for a day, just south of Lisbon in Azeitão.

Here’s a quick glimpse of each of the cities we visited…

Porto is the second-largest city in Portugal. And in our opinion, the perfect size to truly get a good sense of the city, while still enjoying a wide variety of activities and environments. We stayed in Porto for 17 days before beginning our road trip.

 

Make sure to click on the text in the images above to read about the road trip cities.

Lastly, we had one full day to quickly pass through the southern parts of the Algarve: Cape St. Vincent > Lagos > Faro.

Our stops felt like a sampler platter… lunch at a delicious restaurant in Sagres called Terra Restaurant. Then onto a pitstop at the southwestern tip of Portugal to stroll around and check out the Cape St. Vincent Lighthouse and rocky cliffs.

 

Next, we hopped over to Lagos and walked around the marina, enjoying some gelato. Then, we traveled onto Faro to check into our hotel and enjoy dinner at a local spot in the downtown area. The next morning we turned in our rental car at the Faro airport and took the ALSA bus to Seville, Spain.

This route offers so much more to see, but we were a little tight on time to make it to Seville which was planned before the idea for this road trip.

 

Here are a few suggestions for additional road trip destinations

Douro Valley – okay this isn’t really along the way, but it’s definitely worth going out of your way for! We took a day trip from Porto to the Douro Valley with a small group tour (van), visiting three vineyards and admiring the vistas of terraced vines along the river. You can also take day trips by boat, but you’ll spend most of your time on the river versus visiting the vineyards. Douro Valley is a very special place and we would love to return and spend more time in Pinhão… or maybe someday we’ll take a week-long riverboat cruise. 😉

The Coimbra University Library, Biblioteca Joanina – built in the 1700s, this library is home to rare European bibliographies from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. It goes to elaborate lengths to preserve these books, with thick vaulted walls that help regulate the temperature, oak shelves that provide natural protection and even housing a colony of bats to eat the insects that threaten the books.

Nazaré – a fishing village that’s also a very popular seaside resort town. It’s also recorded some record waves in the winter months. Hear it best from a pro traveler that’s been.

Cabo da Roca – just outside of Sintra and nearby Lisbon, this is the westernmost point of mainland Europe.

Lisbon – the capital of Portugal, and a city that everyone is swooning over. We got to enjoy the city for a half day when we missed our flight to the Azores…the silver lining of a $500 setback. We’ll definitely spend a good chunk of time there next time in Portugal.

Tavira – we kept hearing this is one of the best places in the Algarve area. It was a little east of where we needed to be to drop the car/pick up the bus to Seville. Just recently it topped the list of best beaches in Portugal.

In Conclusion

– I don’t think it’s possible to not like Portugal. Everywhere we went was awesome. In the past, it has been an under the radar destination for Americans, but that’s starting to change. So no matter where you decide to visit in Portugal, what you plan to do, or which method of transportation you take, you will most likely LOVE it. Just go already! And fast, because the secret is already out (and Europeans have known all along).

– English is widely spoken. So is Spanish, French, and German. The Portuguese are pretty excellent with languages.

– The toll roads from Porto to Lisbon are recommended. They’re also pricey. After Lisbon, we switched over to the national highway which is closer to the coast and connects you to the Algarve.

– If renting a car in Portugal and traveling onto Spain, we found it MUCH cheaper to drop your car off while still in Portugal and taking a bus or train into Spain and then renting again once you’re in that country. Otherwise, you face a costly drop off fee to take the car into another country. (You’ll still incur a drop off fee if it’s a different location than the pickup, but more manageable than the alternative.)

– While visiting, try some of the Portuguese specialties like bacalhau (codfish) and polvo (octopus). Both are usually served with plenty of olive oil, garlic, olives, roasted onions and roasted potatoes. Another delicious dish we encountered in the Algarve was sweet potatoes with olives and goat cheese. And don’t forget to have pastel de nata, an egg tart pastry, for breakfast, a snack, dessert or all of the above! While we were aware that Francesinha is a local dish and recommended by every guidebook, we did not try it because it seemed too heavy.

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Have you been to these Portuguese destinations? What did you love most about them?

Leave a comment!

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Lauren Martins
lauren@modernodyssey.co
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