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If you have more than one day in Portugal, consider yourself lucky! Portugal is a country unlike any other. Bordering Spain, you can easily drive to explore the coastline, beaches, or take in city life in Lisbon. We were fortunate to have 48 hours in this magnificent place and took full advantage of both the beach and city scenery.
We were flying in from Seville, Spain (a quick one hour flight) which I couldn’t recommend more if you explore Spain beforehand. The flights are super inexpensive and will save you time on driving. We landed in Lisbon, rented a car from National, and immediately headed 2.5 hours south to Lagos. It was a stunning drive! We arrived and checked into our hotel, Carvi Beach Hotel, which was perfect for our one night stay. It was located on the Praia da Dona Ana Beach, a 13 minute drive from Meia Praia, and a 35 minute drive to Praia de Marinha, all beaches we definitely wanted to check out during our stay. It even had a rooftop pool! I sincerely can’t recommend this establishment enough.
You’ll find the majority of people who visit Lagos are visiting for one reason and one reason only: beaches! We drove the 30 minutes to Praia da Marinha beach right away as it is voted in the Top 100 Most Beautiful Beaches. When you imagine Portugal beaches in your head, you most likely are picturing this exact beach. It is one of the most popular photography spots in the Algarve for the limestone rock formations. When we arrived, we hiked down to the beautiful isolated beach surrounded by cliffs and sky blue water. This stunning view is forever ingrained in my mind.
We, of course, took millions of photos and even got a nice sister photo from tourists who randomly lived in the Chicago suburb next to us! Perhaps my favorite part of traveling is realizing how small the world really is. Such a cool moment! They gave us recommendations on where to eat and what to do for the night. There was a family exiting a cave when we were on the beach. They warned us that it was high tide so it may not be the safest to head in at that moment but hey, all for the adventure! Honestly it was the highlight of my entire trip hiking through that cave. Once you walked a ways in, the mouth of the cave opened up into the ocean where you could see waves crashing at the exit. Allie went to check it out and immediately got taken out by a wave. After checking to make sure she was OK, we laughed so hard. Travel tip: listen to what tourists advise but always make your own decisions, it may just be the best part of your trip.
Since Allie had been wiped out, her hair and clothes were soaked, her lungs were filled with water, and all her Portugal photoshoot dreams were crushed. We decided to head back toward the hotel. We stopped at Meia Praia, one of the longest beaches, which was also deserted. We watched the prettiest sunset while soaking our feet in the cold, smooth sand. Our biggest obstacle while visiting Lagos was the lack of wifi. We had a hard time getting around and following directions on our phones. We ended up in a neighborhood with super tight squeezes when driving. I have no idea how people drive and park around the town but it was a struggle! Makes me extra grateful for the open roads in America.
The next morning, we made it a point to wake up early so we could catch a sunrise, grab breakfast, and still make it back to Lisbon by 11AM. We drove 5 minutes to Ponta da Piedade to watch the sun paint the sky. It ended up being a bit of a hike and boy was it windy! I was sure I was going to blow off the cliff at every turn. After some walking, we headed back to the beach in the hotel’s backyard: Praia da Dona Ana. It was surrounded by colorful cliffs, sparkling sand, and the bluest of blue waters. We took in the views, fit in a morning swim, and sat down to eat a legit breakfast at the hotel – another perk! I dream about that breakfast.
For the second half of our trip in Portugal, we took off to Lisbon. I may or may not have made a wrong turn due to no wifi connection and ended up at the Spain border, but we won’t talk about that! We immediately checked into our hotel Dom Joao Residencial in Lisbon, which provided us with so many free snacks! Score! We walked by castles and through plazas and just allowed ourselves to get lost in the streets of Lisbon. We ended up at Lisbon’s Pink Street, which is often compared to Amsterdam’s Red Light District. Then we went to explore the point where Christopher Columbus took off back in 1492. The waterfront area with this point also neighbored the Jeronimos Monsastery, Belem Tower, and a bridge that looks exactly like the Golden Gate Bridge. The whole area was stunning and we were lucky to have captured sunset there.
We snagged gelato, hopped on a tram, and headed to the artsy portion of town – The LX Factory. This art district was full of restaurants, bars, bookstores, and other little local shops. I would have loved to spend more time there but unfortunately the restaurant, Nicolau, I had my heart set on closed soon so we had to book it to the other side of town to try it out. If you visit Lisbon, allot plenty of time to check out the LX Factory! You can easily spend hours wandering in between stores and listening to live music. If nothing else to rest your feet and skim read a book. It was such a cool place!
Overall, Lisbon gave us the city feels we were craving. It won’t take you long to fall in love with the cobblestone streets in the Alfama district. It really was such a sight to see with all the orange rooftops. While walking you’ll encounter Tram 28 which is one of the many infamous trams you’ll want to ride and snap a picture of. Walking can be brutal with all the different districts and hills but the transportation system is amazing. So easy to hop on and off. There are even elevators that will take you from one street to another.
We really did everything we wanted to do in 48 hours! The only thing we had to skip due to lack of time was Pena Palace which is an instagrammer’s dream photo spot. Take the trip out of town, hike up to the castle, and capture the palace’s colors. This place is breathtakingly beautiful and gives me another reason to come back and explore.
Have you been to Portugal or do you dream of exploring it one day? Let me know in the comments below! As always, I love connecting with you. Feel free to DM me any questions or send me photos of your upcoming trips on Instagram.
