Things to see? Things to eat? Places to stay?
We’re thinking of going in perhaps March of next year…anyone been?
We lived in Lisbon for two years. How much time do you have? March is going to be chilly and wet, most likely. If you can, change your visit to the fall when the grape leaves in the Douro Valley have turned color and harvest is happening; I can’t recommend that highly enough.
Most of Portugal is interesting and we saw all provinces during our stay. Towns like Marvao and Obidos are wonderful old walled cities. If you are traveling around the country, stay at the posadas, which are often old converted monasteries and the like. In Lisbon, see Sao Jorge castle, travel out to Belem to see the castle and the monastery at Geronimos. Try the pastries out there called “pasteis do Belem”. Try a bacalao dish, of which there are endless variations. It’s not for every palate, but lots like it and it’s the national dish. Go to the Alfama district, which was spared the fires that destroyed much of the city. Go to the Fado District for the funkiness and the music. Try the bread, cheeses and wines of Portugal, particularly the reds, which can be purchased for a song in any supermarket. Visit the Port Wine Institute off of Rua Dom Pedro V for some tasting of fabulous ports.
If you can get up north, Bucaco Forest is very nice. Down south there is the Algarve, famous for its Moorish influence and the cliff fishermen. Dramatic scenery abounds.
I recommend spending a night at the Pousada Rainha Santa Isabel in Estremoz. Nice to spend a night in a castle.
There are several great pousadas in historic structures around Portugal. They are very nice and well-run.
I also especially enjoyed Evora and Sintra.
Lisbon, not so much, but that may have been because it was raining while I was there.
I went to Portugal for two weeks once a few years ago, and only stayed in two places, so am not in the same league as Chefguy for recommendations, but I can say that I loved the experience and would highly recommend the country. Great people, great architecture, great scenery, great food, fascinating history.
Highlights for me were Belem, which is striking in its historical context. There’s a small museum of design there, that charts 20th century consumer developments, which was definitely worth the entrance fee.
The tram rides around Lisbon were great. The city itself, though full of stunning architecture, is surprisingly run down, with a lot of graffiti and homeless people, but the steep cobbled alleyways with little fado restaurants are charming and the food sublime. Fado is an amazing artform - get some music by Mariza to familiarise yourself with the style; even though you don’t understand a word of what she’s singing, the music is really affecting.
We rented a car and went down to the Algarve, where we stayed in a sweet little fishing town called Tavira, which has largely escaped the horrendous overdevelopment of the rest of the coast, and is somewhere I’d recommend, particularly staying at the Tavira Inn, where you’ll be roundly entertained by the charmingly eccentric owner, Jazz-fan and audiophile (his amplifier alone cost $20,000!), Sebastiaõ.
As well as stuff like bacalao, rustic eating is great too, with simple but absolutely fantastic ingredients: sardines, potatoes, tomatoes, olives, all served in a really unsophisticated way, but bursting with flavor.
The extent of English speaking is not great, so learn a basic few Portuguese words before you go, as they will be invaluable.
Enjoy!
Portugal I Love !!! Ponster (who doesn’t post so much these days) and I had our honeymoon there Sept. '05 … it was a spur of the moment choice and we had just a wonderful time. Friendly people, huge portions of hearty food, wine glasses filled to almost overflowing - we set ourselves a target of spending over €30 on a meal and drinks for two … difficult.
A few days in Porto, a few days at the coast at Figuera da Foz (we loved it at the end of the summer season - huge Atlantic waves and bigger ice-creams ! - but not sure March is the best time to see it), a look round the university at Coimbra, the amazing Roman ruins at nearby Conimbriga and two days in Lisbon to round it all off.
These were our two favourite places tho’ - we trod the port grapes here , had a picnic in the woodland around this place and promised ourselves we’d come back here for our fifth anniversary !(couldn’t wait until our 25th!)
Sintra, like Belem, provides excellent examples of Manueline architecture. It’s pretty clunky, but unique. The 9th century Moorish castle is also there, as I recall. Lisbon was shabby when we lived there in '93-'95, and they cleaned it up for the EU, but it may have deteriorated once again. But it’s quaint, and when you round a corner and come upon one of those huge azulejo mosaics, it’s pretty cool stuff. Nice corner coffee shops where you can have a ‘bica’ (short for Arabica) and watch the world go by. There is also a weekend market near the Praca do Comercio. The setting sunlight on the buildings is beautiful, and there is a booming nightlife. Check out the bar on Rua Dom Pedro V where the owner has extensive collections of the most useless knicknacks imaginable. We lived across the street from it and weekends could get very rowdy. It borders on the Fado district.
For the best Fado music ever sung, buy a CD of Amalia Rodriguez, who had one of the most soaringly powerful voices of all time. We were lucky enough to see her in concert before she died.
I had a great time in Portugal, though not speaking any Portuguese started to turn in on me and I fled back to Spain after a week.
You’re gonna laugh but I seriously have to recommend the Lisbon metro, especially the areas outside downtown. They have some G.D. GORGEOUS stations the likes of which I’d never seen before, even in Montreal. I especially recommend Saldanha and Parque stations, as well as the whole red (Oriente) line which looks like nothing on Earth.
The older people tend to have French as a second language, the younger have some English. The have centuries’ old dislike for the Spanish, so I’m not sure how it would go over. An old saying there is “Spain deserves to have France for a neighbor.”
I enjoyed two weeks in Portugal in 2002.
One of the most typical features of Portuguese architecture is the use of azulejos , the glazed tiles seen all over the country on exteriors and interiors. If you have a spare hour, the azulejo museum in Lisbon is well worth a visit. Though not on the most heavily beaten tourist track it’s easy to find and in any good guidebook.
When you go to Sintra, check out the Moorish fortifications up the hill from the town. These ancient walls wind gracefully and sinuously over the contours of the hill.
If you can, get to the Monastery of Alcobaca and the nearby Monastery of Batalha . Batalha is a must if you are interested in architecture. There’s easy access to bus to these sites from Leiria, which is a nice place to spend the night.
Also try to visit Coimbra, which was Portugal’s 12th century capital and home of one of the oldest universities in Portugal.
Both Leiria and Coimbra are conveniently visited enroute to Oporto. In fact, Batalha is endangered by it’s proximity to Portugal’s main North-South highway.
One of my favorite days in Spain and Portugal was spent wandering around Valenca do Minho, Portugal and Tui (or Tuy), Spain. They are connected by the International Bridge (built by Eiffel of tower fame) over the Minho river. Valenca has well preserved (17th century ?) fortifications that are much more open to exploration that most similar fortifications on the Iberian peninsula. The small old town with its cobbled streets is nestled within the fort.