Our Summer in Portugal
We are finally home and I’m so excited to share all of the details about our month-long journey through beautiful Portugal. The charming cobblestone streets of Lisbon to the picturesque vineyards in Douro Valley, Portugal completely captured our hearts. It wasn’t anything like we expected it to be, but we discovered so many hidden gems (like the skatepark hotel in Porto!) that truly captured the essence of this country! I shared a Q&A box on Instagram today and compiled all my answers into this blog post. Make sure to bookmark this post if Portugal is on your bucket list!
I’m also working on a round-up of links to all the places we stayed and ate + all of our favorite activities and will share a full Portugal travel guide later this week!
Is it a good country to travel to on your first European Trip?
Yes! This was my mom's first European trip and she LOVED it. From the East Coast, it is a really easy flight (around 7/8 hours). Language is not a significant issue. You can see a lot of diversity in the landscape--castles, European cities, beaches, etc. You don't have to navigate public transportation if you don't want to. No extra precautions are needed for food/water. Etc.
Did you have any difficulty communicating?
We found English to be widely understood in Portugal. Portuguese is a complicated language to learn--the only word I could say properly in Portuguese was "thank you. I kept getting words mixed up with Spanish. The language barrier was not a problem even in smaller spots. Only once or twice did we need to use google translate and most restaurants even had an English menu.
Why were you not in love with Portugal right away?
I think it mostly had to do with expectations and preconceived thoughts on what Portugal would be like. We had heard so many people say that Portugal was so kid-friendly. We weirdly did not feel that way for the first half of the trip.
We had trouble finding playgrounds. Restaurants and some places we visited almost seemed annoyed that we had children with us. JD got yelled at by someone for pushing a stroller down a sidewalk. We both got chewed out by other tourists in Portuguese for Luca squirming around in his seat during a light show in a church. There were some moments we didn't share here on IG that we let tarnish our view of the whole country initially.
I am SO grateful we had a month there because we ended up REALLY loving Portugal. The woman who chased us down to give our kids a bag of rocks to play with, the man at the restaurant who came out from behind the counter to show the kids how a typewriter worked, the lady at a gas station in the middle of nowhere who gave us the biggest, warmest smile, the photographer who was so joyful with the kids while she took family pictures of us--there are lots of lovely people in Portugal.
And don't even get me started on the beauty of the country--especially up and down the west coast. I truly was not ready to leave and come home.
It's a shame I often let first impressions skew my views--immediately judging if something lived up to my imaginary thought of what it would be. How much other goodness do I miss out on when I don't have the gift of time to let the true beauty reveal itself?
random morning thoughts.
What was the name of the skateboarding Airbnb?
Noah Surf House - It's actually a small hotel with 20ish or so rooms.
How was the driving experience? Any trains?
Driving was the most stressful part of our trip TBH! Lots of very tight one-way roads (especially in Madeira, Lisbon, and Porto). Once we were on freeways or more rural areas, it was a breeze! But in the cities and Madeira there were many moments where we were holding our breath. Also, having 3 kids squished together in the backseat of the car certainly made driving on roads like this 10xs more stressful :) No train experience. A few Ubers.
What did you find most helpful for stays with kiddos--hotels vs Airbnb? City vs Countryside?
Airbnbs in less touristy areas were our sweet spot. Or Noah Surf House b/c it was 100% geared for kids. Our kids are so used to running around outside all day, that not having any outdoor space in the cities was tough. They are also 3, 5, and 8 years old which means they are LOUD. And being in apartments that shared walls just gave me anxiety that they were disturbing others. My ideal with kids: Airbnb with no shared walls and outdoor space and easy parking.
How rural did the areas you liked feel?
The perfect amount of rural :) Off the beaten track, but not in the middle of nowhere. In the Western Algarve, there was a great grocery store about a 15-minute drive. In Comporta, I wish there had been a big grocery store a little closer (or just that I had known there wasn't and stocked up). At Noah's Surf House, there was a market and the perfect amount of little restaurants around.
What was the best city/town for kids?
Noah Surf House was like Disneyland for them.
Have you ever encountered bed bugs?
YES! In Florida of all places many years ago. JD had so many bites. We stayed at an Airbnb and a hotel on that stay and we aren't sure which it came from. I now religiously pull off the sheets/mattress pad everywhere we stay and look at the mattress before we unpack.
How did you do laundry/pack?
We brought 8 outfits each. Made sure we had laundry access as often as possible and did loads of laundry almost daily when we did. Very few places we stayed had dryers, so there was a lot of hang drying.
Tips for eating and sleeping in Comporta?
We loved our Airbnb here. I'll share all of our Airbnbs later this week. pull out couch was great for the kids. 3-minute walk to nearly every restaurant in Comporta. a lot of the restaurants in comporta are a bit fancier so we either went at off times when there were few other guests, or cooked at the Airbnb/picnic on the beach.
How much was it?
Pricey compared to Mexico and Turkey (our past 2 countries). We were shooting for under $15k, but I think it was probably closer to $18k. 2 Things that made it a more expensive trip: Bouncing around to so many different cities (8 different places). Having a rental car for the entire month. Having to pay daily parking fees for a chunk of our trip. Lots of tolls. And some poor planning on our part (booking a rental car for wrong dates, forgetting to cancel a reservation we weren't using, losing $ on a crappy Airbnb etc). LOTS of lessons learned on this trip :)
Must dos vs must skip:
Do: Watch surfers somewhere, eat pasteis de nata, visit a castle, take all of the hydrangea pictures, pull over on the scenic viewpoints, visit the Douro valley for a wine tasting, wander the cobblestone streets in the Alfama area of Lisbon, try octopus
Skip: Porto and the usual spots in the Algarve. Instead, visit the western Algarve coast. Skip anywhere with a huge line :)
If you could only go to one of the cities. you explore for a month, which one?
Comporta and I would spend every day just laying on the beach and every evening eating gelato.
Did you fly into Lisbon? How was the flight with the kids?
We flew into Madeira first and spent a week there, then we flew in and out of Lisbon. Flights were easy. Our kids are officially at an awesome age for air travel.
Best time of year to go?
June felt great because August and July are the busiest months, so we got the advantage of the shoulder season for crowds but still had good temps and got to enjoy many beaches.
The longest distance we drove was 4ish hours from Noah Surf House to where we were planning to stay in the Algarve (and ended up ditching).
How did you keep everyone healthy?
We just got lucky :) Maybe because we were so unlucky on our last trip, the universe worked in our favor on this one. We use sanitizer before we eat and make sure we have medicine with us for any ailments that may come our way. I try not to over-stress about sickness because it is something I truly can't control.
Can you take a train to Spain?
yes! Spain is a short drive from many parts of Portugal. We did not go on this trip though.
Do you pay extra to have upgraded seats on the flight?
Nope!
