How to plan a trip to portugal
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you're planning on traveling to portugal
well i just got back from a 10-day trip
to portugal with my mom and she said it
was the best trip she's ever been on in
this video i'm gonna share with you
everything you need to know to plan your
own trip to portugal let's go
[Music]
first things first how do you get to
portugal we took a direct flight from
washington dulles to lisbon airport
super easy super streamlined it got us
there all right the best way to get
around portugal is by renting a rental
car we rented with avis it was really
great it got us everywhere we needed to
go one thing to note about renting cars
in portugal is that if you can drive
manual then you'll probably be saving a
lot of money on rental car prices we
can't and so we rented an automatic car
and it was a little bit more expensive
but definitely worth it how long should
you stay in portugal i would recommend
10 days this fits in perfectly with a
corporate pto schedule where you can
take a week off and include two weekends
this gives you an adequate amount of
time to see all the top spots in
portugal and even fit in some relaxation
but this is definitely more of an
adventure itinerary this small country
although it's small it has so much to
see and explore portugal is seriously so
underrated as someone who grew up on the
east coast in virginia all i ever heard
of was spain france italy and england i
never heard of portugal but portugal is
such a beautiful country with so so much
to explore i was so blown away the
landscapes are so diverse and beautiful
the culture is fun and amazing the
people are kind and friendly the food is
delicious overall an amazing amazing
country what time of year should you
visit portugal so summer so june july
and august are the peak that's when
tourism is at an all-time high the
weather is sunny the weather is at its
best but it's also going to mean a lot
of crowds in a lot of places and more
expensive prices on just about
everything and so if you can the best
would be to visit in the shoulder
seasons like the spring and the fall you
might need a jacket because it can get
chilly there especially since porch goes
along the coast and there can be a lot
of coastal winds that would be a great
time to get less expensive prices and
avoid a lot of the crowds that being
said our trip was in june which was a
lot of tourists a lot of people
everywhere but honestly that adds to the
fun and it was a great trip anyways the
thing i would recommend though is that
to bring a jacket or a layer because we
were actually blown away almost
literally
at the winds and how cold it got
sometimes and so be sure to bring your
layers what should you pack so as i
mentioned in the previous point layers
and good walking shoes are perhaps the
most important so if you've traveled to
europe before maybe you haven't it's
your first time the streets everywhere
are like these cobblestone sidewalks and
paths it's just cobblestone everywhere
and just for getting your things around
if you pack a large 50-pound suitcase
you're gonna regret it so much please
learn from my experience i would
strongly recommend to take a backpack
and then a small carry-on even with the
small carry-on i'm like oh my gosh i
wish it wasn't so heavy because you are
gonna be dragging that around everywhere
with you so make sure it's as light and
efficiently packed as possible so good
walking shoes because you're going to be
walking a lot layers because it can get
windy and the temperature can change
quickly and then whatever you want to
enjoy your summer vacation in portugal
for winter vacation it can be any time
of year the other thing that i would so
strongly recommend is getting an air tag
for your luggage the europe travel
system right now is very overwhelmed and
bags are being lost left and right one
of my bags was lost when i was flying
from portugal laying over in amsterdam
and going to italy luckily i had an air
tag so i could tell the airline where my
bag was but i would strongly recommend
getting an air tag what should you do
when you're in portugal well i've got
the full itinerary let's dive into it
now this is for a 10-day adventure trip
where you want to see as much of the
highlights of portugal as possible and
this will cover almost all of them of
course you could spend an unlimited
amount of time sing as much as you
wanted but this is a 10-day itinerary
for the first couple days i would
recommend flying into lisbon staying
centrally in the city and exploring this
city this is a great way to help fight
off jet lag and also just stroll around
enjoy the city go to restaurants walk
around boutiques and shops and get to
see the culture and the beautiful
architecture of the city i was so blown
away lisbon is such a clean and
beautiful city we stayed at hotel lis
baixa and we found that it was a perfect
centrally located spot by the way i
speak spanish not portuguese i'm gonna
do my best with all these pronunciations
but please excuse me if i pronounce
anything incorrectly these are some of
my favorite spots that we went to in
portugal we went to the pink street the
miraduro das portal do sol miraduro da
gracia castelo de saint-george elevator
da pika we had seafood at uma prasha
luis
these are all awesome spots that we
loved exploring in lisbon it was
absolutely beautiful so we stayed in
lisbon for two days and then we went
back to the lisbon airport and took a 90
minute flight over to madeira madeira is
such a hidden gem i hadn't heard of it
until a couple months ago but once i
started seeing pictures and videos of
madeira i was like oh my gosh we have to
go as i started researching more i
learned that madeira is known as the
hawaii of europe and rightfully so when
we were there we felt all the hawaii
vibes mountains and waterfalls and
nature and coast and it's truly so
stunning it's so amazing that i'm gonna
make an entire video on what to do in
madeira i so strongly recommend visiting
and fitting at least four days of your
schedule into madeira there's also the
azores islands which are also very very
beautiful and also nicknamed the hawaii
of europe if you can fit that into your
schedule as well those are absolutely
incredible also for madeira i would
recommend staying in funchal and doing
an epic adventure tour with brave
landers we absolutely loved our
adventure tour with them it was the
perfect first introduction to madeira
because they took us all around the
island we were toured by a local and
really that's the best way to get to
experience a new place next you're gonna
fly back to lisbon pick up your rental
car and then go down and explore the
algarve coast this coast is known all
around the world for those beautiful
cliffs the bright blue waters and it is
truly truly stunning there are a lot of
really beautiful coastal towns down here
as well one of them is lagos that's
where we stayed during our time on the
algarve coast and we absolutely loved it
we stayed at the nature guest house that
we found on booking.com and we thought
it was absolutely adorable and such a
great place centrally located to stay in
lagos allowed us to explore all around
so the best thing to do down here on the
algarve coast is to beach hop so go
explore all the different beaches you
have a rental car it provides you the
perfect flexibility to drive all around
and explore all the different beaches
some of our favorite beaches that we
went to were as follows
beach is a secret beach on the west side
that's perfect for sunset
and we also did a get your guide
experience where we went to the benadryl
cave saw dolphins it was absolutely
amazing so strongly recommend this
experience and marina beach and al
bandiera beach these were all incredible
spots we loved seeing the algarve coast
and i will say when we went in june the
water was icy it was icy but it felt
really good because it was so hot
outside it was wonderful to be able to
cool off in the water but yeah prepare
for that portuguese food is world famous
and it is so delicious at night we
decided to scroll around lagos and we
went to castle dobrego and it is one of
the best restaurant experiences i've had
in my life we have the cheese the wine
and then the main dish with the grilled
tuna i'm not normally a huge tuna fan
but oh my gosh this was so delicious
mouth-watering incredible experience and
then we walked around got ice cream
explored all the shops and boutiques and
restaurants afterwards it was absolutely
amazing after you spend a few days beach
hopping on the algarve coast you're
gonna hop into your rental car and drive
up to porto porto is also a very popular
very beautiful tourist destination it's
a very cute city you can stroll around
similar vibes it's so aesthetic and
beautiful to look at we stayed in a
centrally located place in porto the
main things to do here are to do a
sunset cruise on the river so basically
what we did is we walked right up to the
dock booked the ticket had the boat
cruise that went all up and down the
river we got to see the beautiful homes
and the architecture and absolutely love
the experience the luis bridge is a very
cool and beautiful place to see and walk
around for sunset here you're gonna have
all the restaurants and shops and live
music and concerts in the summer it's
very very fun the jardim d'amuro is
absolutely beautiful as well you can
explore around clergyos tower livaria
leo bookstore and the bolhau area are
all awesome places to see in porto as
well we absolutely love stopping by
porto and on your last day if you have
time fit in a visit to sintra national
palace this place will make you feel
like you're walking around in a
storybook and definitely worth a visit
but be prepared for a whole lot of
walking there are so many different
castles and architecture and history
that you can walk around and see here
the pina palace is perhaps the most
popular spot that you can visit here and
there's also the quinta de la galleria
that you can see here as well it's very
beautiful and very charming so that's
what all that you should do in portugal
obviously this is a list to get you
started there are unlimited things that
you could do see and explore and
although this country is small like i
said before it has so much to see and
experience within the country we were
seriously so blown away the people were
all so friendly and kind and we don't
speak portuguese like i said earlier we
were able to communicate in english and
some spanish and we were able to get by
everywhere everyone was so kind and
friendly and welcoming and as female
travelers we felt very safe in portugal
as well where to stay so how to find
places to stay in portugal i booked
everything off of booking.com typically
i use airbnb when traveling but i found
that the best options were available on
booking.com i would basically put on the
filter for where i'm going when i'm
going mark available properties only and
then i would see what the reviews were
if it was clean and safe and in a good
location then i would book it and now
the foods to try in portugal like i said
earlier the food in portugal was so
delicious and amazing perhaps the most
famous food or pastry that you will hear
about is pastel de nata this is a
portuguese custard tart it's basically a
little circle and make sure you go to
one of the authentic places to get this
it is so delicious and i've never really
tasted anything like it it was so unique
and just so so good strongly recommend
trying that when you're in portugal and
then the other thing to try in portugal
is seafood portugal is located all along
the coast so obviously you're gonna find
an abundance of delicious seafood from
cod to sardines they love their sardines
there it's actually pretty funny they
have like souvenirs of sardines and all
these keychains and things and magnets
and all of them are sardines they have a
sardine festival it's it's very very
amazing they love for sardines but
that's also the thing to try there all
the seafood and then something else that
i was blown away in portugal by as well
was the wine and the cheese those were
both very delicious as well so there you
have it overall that is my entire guide
for traveling to portugal hopefully you
add portugal to your list we are so
grateful and happy that we went the
culture in portugal is absolutely
amazing it's really great for digital
nomads as well if you're someone who
wants to work remotely i found the wi-fi
speeds and the airbnbs and the bookings
that i stayed at were wonderful so if
you want to work remotely as a digital
nomad that's a great option as well it's
wonderful for a family trip couple trips
solo travel it felt very safe so
strongly recommend adding portugal to
your travel bucket list and hopefully
you enjoyed this video if you have any
further questions be sure to reach out
to me on instagram my handle is at mana
travel m-a-h-n-a travel and if you enjoy
this video it really helps my channel
out if you can like comment and
subscribe comment down below if you have
any questions and what you're excited to
see in portugal and i will see you in
the next video
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