Hi There,
My best friend and I, as a graduation present from our parents, are spending sometime in Portugal, along with other countries in Europe.
I have been to a lot of other places in Europe, but don't know much about Portugal.
I need some advice on where would be good places to go, how long we should spend there etc. (time line was about a week)
We are both 18, but we still enjoy architecture and history.
Any advice would be really helpful
THANKS!!
Reply to this Hi,
I think you'd have fun in Lisbon- as its the capital city its full of interesting things to do but its quite small (and cheap) for a European capital and easy to travel round on public transport. There's lots of striking architecture, historical sites, art galleries, little winding cobbled streets, shops, cafés etc to explore during the day and its a great city to just wander around. The beach is near by if you want to chill out for a day and the nightlife's great, especially in Barrio Alto, so you can have the best of both worlds. For something a bit different they also have a huge and amazing aquarium too that's worth visiting one day- look out for the sea otters they're really cute!
From Lisbon you can easily go on daytrips to Sintra (don't miss it it's a very romantic woodland town with beautiful walks, castles and palaces), Cascais (the train runs right along the coast from Lisbon- look out for Portugal's most famous ice cream shop you'll recognise it by the queues outside) or Troia where you can go dolphin watching.
The north of Portugal has gorgeous scenery and lovely historic towns such as Braga and Guimaraes but you might find it harder to travel round without a car.
Have a great trip
Reply to this My family and I went to Portugal last year and the year before. We stayed in three places:
1. Beja. A quarter of the way up Portugal. A lovely place - we were only passing through for one night, though so I can't tell you much. We stayed at a 'Pousada' (a converted old building eg. a monastery into a hotel! Lovely to stay at, and v. interesting too). The food there was excellently traditional.
2. A place near (I think this is how it's spelt) Portalegre (the other side of Portugal to Lisbon, if you drew a straight line across it's almost on that line. That area s excellent - v. dry and hot in the summer, but still nice. It's amazing, to be honest - there are megaliths (mini-Stonehnges) everywhere. Tourism money has been chucked at it by the EU, so there are leaflets and everything, but you still have to walk through fields, under fences etc. to get to them. You can even walk right up to most of them! The vinyards around there are brilliant to see, and worth a look. The place itself was called 'Quinta dos Ribeiros' (I'm not sure of the spelling of that, but I'll find out when I have time). It was nice, but the house we booked was split into two-bedroom apartments - not good for us four, but for you two it would be excellent. Lots of places to visit - castles everywhere due to the proximity to the Spanish border. Marvao is THE BEST PLACE YOU COULD EVER VISIT IN PORTUGAL. It's a hilltop village within a castle. It's got FANTASTIC VIEWS and the walls are amazing to walk on. Being Portugal, though there are no health and safety stuff, so be careful! Its even the picture on the 'Visit Portugal' poster.
3. On t'coast! The Algarve. Excellent golf, but no history. More of a holiday destination for sunseakers. Still, the house was nice.
Post back if you want more details.
Reply to this Hi there, take a look to this guide, it was written by a friend that lived in
Lisbon and I'm sure you'll find a lot of advice and tips.
Have a great trip!!!
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