Postcards from Portugal: What to pack, Where to stay, What to do
Hi Friends! I hope you all had a lovely 4th of July! My sister, Hilary, just got back from a trip to Portugal, and I convinced her to do a guest post sharing her experience and travel tips. Save this one for when you plan your Portugal trip - it’s definitely high on my list!
xo,
Abby
Hi all, I am Hilary! Abby is often my travel buddy, but she was not able to join me this time around. I thought about doing a solo trip, but then it worked out that I was able to plan this amazing 7 day trip to Portugal with my good friend Kristin. When in doubt, just book the trip! :) A few things before we get into it - although we secured our flights and hotels a couple months ago, we booked everything else very last minute…and it all worked out beautifully. We split the trip in half, spending the first 3 nights in Lisbon and the final 3 nights in Porto. I didn’t know what to expect, but I left feeling like I need to go back and see more. I loved Lisbon more than I thought I would because you typically know what to expect from a big city. And I knew I’d love Porto, but it surpassed my expectations. Something about the people, the energy, and culture drew me in - this place is hard to beat!
Packing List
I did my best to pack lightly and I pretty much wore everything that I brought. My top four items I packed were: the green dress because it was so airy for the 80 degree days, the apron top was perfect for nights out, I wore the Abercrombie top more than once because it’s versatile and goes with everything, and my Midi Sling Bag was perfect with everything I wore and carried everything I needed!
Green Everlane shorts (mine are old, but these are similar)
Dissh tie dye dress (old and not available anymore)
white shorts (mine are old, but these and these are a similar style)
Black gauze set (sold out), this one and this one are similar!
Vejas (I wore these on the plane and nowhere else because I felt no support. Luckily both of my sandals were amazing and handled the 20k+ steps great!)
Ivory Croco Midi Sling Bag (the best travel bag ever)
Where to Stay
In Lisbon we stayed at Hotel da Baixa, which we chose because it is in an ideal central location. We knew we wanted to walk to as many places as possible and see as much as we could in the three days we had in Lisbon.
We loved our stay there! The beds were very comfortable and we had more space in our room than we had expected. We got upgraded to a slightly better view looking out over a colorful street. The balcony gave us a birds eye view to the sights and sounds of the city.
As far as the decor, the rooms are pretty modern, including a lovely bathroom. I wouldn’t say the rooms were a traditional Portuguese style, but the restaurant and bar definitely were and if we had more time we would have loved to hang out there.
Another great perk was that they picked us up from the airport, which didn’t cost any more than an Uber, but really helped navigate through streets where cars aren’t allowed.
In Porto we stayed at Porto A.S. 1829 Hotel and again it was centrally located, but this one had a bit more of a Portuguese flair to it. Right when we checked in they greeted us with a bottle of port, so we had good vibes right away.
With traditional tiles in the bathroom, a claw foot tub, beautiful artwork, and comfortable beds, we really enjoyed our room!
More than the room, we loved what was just outside the hotel: restaurants, bars, sort of a town square feeling with lovely live music in the evenings. It was as charming as could be.
What to Do
Lisbon:
Tile Painting Class: We took this workshop in the instructor’s charming apartment and came away with our own tile souvenir that we designed, stenciled, and painted with her guidance. It wasn’t easy! The workshop was about 2.5 hours and if you have the time, I’d say it was well worth it. You get to know the other few people in your class (we had 6 total) and get to do something you wouldn’t otherwise do.
Tuk Tuk Tour: We booked a 4 hour private tuk tuk tour through Viator to get an overview of the whole city. We scoured the reviews to choose our guide and loved Pedro! He was fun, knowledgable, and really added to the experience. My two highlights were Alfama (the oldest part of Lisbon) and Belém (where we tasted the famous Pastel de Nata in the original tart shop)
Pub Crawl: While booking our tuk tuk tour we stumbled across this “Lisbon Night Pubcrawl” and decide to book it. This is such a great thing to do if you’re traveling alone or with friends and want to meet other travelers or locals. We had the best time!
Food & Wine Tour: This was something that I’d give mixed reviews. While we were able to taste classic Portuguese food and drinks (cod, a bifana sandwich, port) and visit neighborhoods we hadn’t explored, I wouldn’t say it’s an absolute must.
To know me is to know I love french fries, so I had to stop at The Potato Project, which is right downtown Lisbon. They claim they have the world’s best fries…and after tasting them, they might be right!
Palacio Chiado was probably the best we meal we had on the trip. It was both the fanciest and the tastiest - delicious cod ceviche and steak with fabulous cocktails in such a majestic old palace.
** On the way to Porto, we stopped in Obidos, which is a medieval castle town. It was cool, but it felt a little like a tourist destination. If I were to do it again, I’d probably stop in Sintra or Cascais instead. We booked this driver through Daytrip, which was affordable and convenient, and rather than taking a train, it gave us the option to stop on the way. Highly recommend!
Porto
Day trip to the Douro Valley is an absolute must! The Douro Valley is the wine region of Portugal and the only place in the world where port is produced. We booked an experience through Air B&B and it was excellent. The day included two wineries, a homemade lunch at their family winery, and a river cruise. I even tried my first sardine!
We walked a couple different street markets with local artists, where I created my own charm necklace.
We did another tuk tuk tour so we could see the many beautiful churches, bridges, visit Gaia (which is across the river)…basically so we could see a lot in a short amount of time! Our guide this time wasn’t the best, so maybe not quite the rave reviews we’d give the one in Lisbon.
We walked across the Ponte Luis Bridge to have a sushi dinner in Gaia that was recommended to us by our server the night before. We were craving sushi and it was a local favorite spot, but probably not on any travel list. :)
We drank vino verde, which is a white wine Portugal is known for, along the riverwalk with stunning postcard views.
My favorite meal in Porto was Italian food right across from our hotel at Puro 4050. We sat outside where the ambiance was delightful and food was divine.
I hope this helps you plan your next trip to Portugal!
Until next time,
Hilary
Loved this post! Always saving recs for my bucket list travel!
The apron top looks very happy there!