Van Trip - Portugal | Travel Blog

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October 17th 2010

Published: October 29th 2010

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dini andy

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Another Portugese sunset, another top camp spot

This blog is a very brief rundown our time spent driving up the coast of Portugal.

We entered Portugal in the Algarve (south) but skipped the touristy section and headed straight for the south-west tip. The day we got there the surf was really good at a break called Zavial. I had a good surf but the crowds put a dampener on it. Good welcoming to Portugal nonetheless. The following two weeks we travelled up the coast stopping at dozens of beaches, all the way up to Lisbon. We free camped in the beach car parks every night. Talk about a room with a view! We’d just back the van up facing the sunset, cook dinner and a few drinks each night. Very cruisy, relaxing and just what camping in the van is all about.

When we arrived in the country capital, Lisbon, we met up with friends Bondi and Lynda and stayed in a campground just out of town. We met some cool Germans and went out with them for a night. There was a street party going on and we just stood out the front of a small bar chatting to people and drinking beer and sangria

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Afife barrel

the whole night, good times!! We recruited Bondi and Lynda as roommates in the van for two weeks on our way to Porto. The four of us travelled through the famous surfing regions of Ericera and Peniche. We saw some amazing waves at Supertubos in Peniche but getting a wave to yourself was near impossible. There was no etiquette out in the water and it was pretty much, just a free for all. Very frustrating!! There wasn’t enough swell to push down the countless point breaks in Ericera which was a shame to miss out but that’s surfing for you. We also did some fishing but had "very little" luck (see photos).

Porto is an awesome place. It is a very old city situated on a river. It is where the alcoholic drink ‘Port’ comes from... fancy that!! The port is still carried from the vineyards and down the river in barrels by special boats then stored in cellars alongside the river in the city. We did our own Port tour walking from cellar to cellar and ended up having a great day sampling countless different Ports. The next day was not so good.
From Porto, we left the

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Afife

van at a campsite and headed to Munich for the Oktoberfest.

After the oktoberfest, Bondi and Lynda went back to the UK while we continued our way up the coast to Spain.

Additional photos below

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