Travel Guide: Lagos and Lisbon, Portugal
Portugal is an incredibly diverse, high-energy, beautiful country. From the unique seaside cliffs in Lagos, to the fun restaurants and experiences in Lisbon, you can’t go wrong! This country is a melting pot of cultures, people, languages, and cuisine. This blog is just about my personal experience in the area, so if you plan to make the trip, I highly recommend doing some additional research to find some more things specific to what you like to do! This information is just touching the surface of all Portugal has to offer.
We visited Portugal the first week of November and the weather overall was very pleasant (50-70 degrees). It rained during our time in Lagos which was difficult in regards to the amount of time we planned to be outside - but we were still able to make our way to the coast and walk the town a few days and enjoy what the city had to offer!
I’ve separated the two locations we visited: Lagos and Lisbon. You can find my recommendations for each below!
Ponta da Piedade, Lagos
Ponta da Piedade, Lagos
LAGOS
A beautiful little town on the southern coast of Portugal. It’s known for it’s unique yellow cliffs, beaches, and caves that line the Atlantic Ocean. There’s plenty of local opportunities to get out on the water or spend a day relaxing on the beach. The old town of Lagos is painted white with stone walkways between each building. The energy in Lagos is really fun, there’s great food, and it’s a really special destination no matter how hard it is to get to!
TRANSPORTATION:
This one’s tough. We took a 4 hour bus ride from Seville, Spain to Lagos because there aren’t a ton of flight options to get to the area. Most people fly into Faro, but it’s still about an hour away from Lagos. On a positive note, the bus rides both went extremely smooth and all on time! We used the app Omio to book the trips. Within Lagos, we used Uber a couple times to travel back and forth from beaches, but the old town of Lagos is a walking-only area, and very easy to get around!
Old Town streets of Lagos
Praia do Camilo, Lagos
Boutique Hotel Vivenda Miranda
FOOD & DRINK:
Overall we loved the food we had in Lagos! Here were some of our favorite spots:
Beats and Burritos: Amazing make-your-own burrito spot with fresh food
The Green Room: Great staff, fun energy, and tasty food/cocktails!
Lagos Beer & Co: Fun spot to get a beer and watch some sports
Ilicit Burgers: Burgers (We had them delivered and were still amazing)
Vaca Galo: Burger spot closer to the marina
Bon Vivant: Fun several-story building with good music and cocktails
Boutique Hotel Vivenda Miranda: Upscale boutique hotel on the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic. Higher priced food and drinks but worth it for the view!
Lagos Marina Area - Fun to walk around the different restaurants and bars while overlooking the marina
HOTEL:
We stayed at the Hotel Marina Rio, which was about a 10 minute walk from the majority of restaurants in the old town area. It was a really nice area to stay since you’re close to the water and still have all of the restaurants in the Marina to explore nearby. If we visited again, we would try to stay at Boutique Hotel Vivenda Miranda in the off season. It’s further away, but an easy Uber into town. Much quieter spot to stay with incredible ocean/sunset views and a very relaxing setting with palms, pool, and Adirondack chairs.
View of the Atlantic, standing on top of the Lagos cliffs
Praia do Camilo
SIGHTS TO SEE / THINGS TO DO:
We didn’t visit all of these beaches, but the few we did make it to were incredibly beautiful! We visited in off season, so the beaches were very calm and almost completely empty. We heard lots about how this is a really fun beach town in the summers with lots of tourism!
LAGOS BEACHES
Ponta da Piedade
Praia do Camilo
Praia dos Estudantes
Praia do Canavial
PORTIMAO BEACHES
Praia da Marinha
Praia de Albandeira
Benagil Cave
LISBON
This city is one-of-a-kind. It sits on the western coast of Portugal, hugging the Atlantic Ocean. Whatever you’re looking to do in this city, you’ll be able to find it. There’s really tasty food (traditional and modern), tons of great local tours, beaches that stretch for miles, endless city streets to walk or bike, as well as lots of hiking and jeep tours just outside the city. The people living and visiting here are from all over the world, Lisbon is a great way to experience multiple cultures at once, all within this one beautiful city.
Arco da Rua Augusta
Quiosque Ribeira das Naus for sunset
Walking down R. Augusta
TRANSPORTATION:
In order to get to Lisbon, we had to take a 4 hours bus from Lagos (where we were staying at the time) to get to the city. It dropped us off at the city bus center and we Uber’d to our hotel downtown from there. Many people would likely make the choice to fly into Lisbon which is a great and easy option! Overall, Uber is very popular in the area and a great way to easily get around longer distances. We walked miles and biked (this bike tour) throughout the city while we were there, and wouldn’t have done it differently. The streets of Lisbon are unlike any other city I’ve visited. There’s old historic areas with quaint alleys (Alfama), and more modern parts of the city (Baixa and Rossio up to the Parque Eduardo VII), bar scenes (Bairro Alto), and hip coffee shops (Largo Conde Barão area).
FOOD:
The Neighborhood Cafe Lisbon: Great spot for coffee and breakfast in a more modern hipster-style area of the city.
Seagull Method Cafe: Another really great breakfast spot. We did have to wait for a table here!
Rooftop Bar at Hotel Mundial: This rooftop bar is the perfect spot for drinks with a beautiful view of the city.
Dallas Burger Joint: Super tasty burgers in a vintage-style American restaurant
A Ginjinha: We didn’t make it here, but our local tour guide told us this is a great spot to try the local drink “Ginjinha”.
Fábrica da Nata: If you want to try the local dessert “Pastéis de nata”, this is the spot to do it.
Irmão: My favorite. This spot is outside the city, in the middle of nowhere on the beach, but has the coolest wait staff, nice lounge cabanas, best sunset view, and turns into a party at night. Good pizzas too! 100% worth the Uber over there, this spot gives you such a different perspective of what Lisbon has to offer!
Manteigaria Silva: Family-owned spot that’s great for local meats, cheeses, and wine to-go (if you want to try Port Wine this is a great spot to try).
Cantinho do Aziz: A unique stop that serves really tasty Mozambican food. We had the Massamba (vegetable style curry with coconut rice), as well as the Camuças (veggies and beef).
O Trigueirinho: Family-run restaurant serving classic Portuguese dishes. We had the Codfish Trigueirinho style - served with potatoes. It was a really great way to taste the famous local meal!
A Muralha Tapas e Vinhos: A really beautiful tapas spot tucked away in the older area of town called Alfama. Here we had wonderful wine, but also tried octopus, canned sardines, chorizo, morsels, and flan. Many of the local meats and tapas!
Taqueria do Chiado by Espada: Cute spot in a lively area for Mexican food
Dallas Burger Joint
Irmão for sunset drinks
Rooftop Bar at Hotel Mundial
HOTEL:
We stayed at the Rossio Garden Hotel, which was perfectly located around everything. It was central to all of the neighborhoods and right in the heart of the city.
I would recommend finding a hotel in this area!
THINGS TO DO:
Arco da Rua Augusta: The famous archway into town from the water. People from all over the world hang out in this square, and when we went in November they had a massive Christmas tree in the center!
Parque Eduardo VII: A large garden/park that overlooks the city and ocean.
Walk the Neighborhoods:
Alfama: Historic part of town with tiny streets full of history, and great restaurants.
Baixa and Rossio up to the Parque Eduardo VII: More modern part of the city with lots of restaurants, bigger streets, and shopping.
Bairro Alto: Streets full of bars and wine shops, the spot to go out at night.
Largo Conde Barão area: Where the hipster-style coffee shops and bars are.
Sintra: We didn’t make it here, but this is a city in the hills outside of town that’s known for it’s unique architecture. There’s also a ton of jeep and beach tours in this area that we heard really great things about!
Miradouro da Graça: A garden terrace that has panoramic views of the city and famous Lisbon bridge
Costa Di Caprica: A gorgeous beach that’s miles long, full of surfers and fun beach bars. Really nice spot to escape and relax for a day, or to watch the sunset over the Atlantic (Visit Irmão too if you get the chance!)
Quiosque Ribeira das Naus: A great spot to watch the sunset in town, drink in hand, and hang with people from all over the world.
Walking the streets of Bairro Alto
View from Miradouro da Graça
Walking the streets of Bairro Alto
AIRBNB EXPERIENCES:
E-Bike Tour of Lisbon Portugal (Airbnb Experiences): We did this tour on our first full day in Lisbon and had the time of our life. The guides were hilariously honest and a joy to be around. We travelled miles around the city streets, seeing neighborhoods and viewpoints we wouldn’t have visited otherwise. It was a great way to start the trip and get an understanding of the city before exploring it the following days. We got tons of great bar and restaurant recommendations, tips for the area, as well as lots of local stories. Would recommend this to anyone and everyone!
Portuguese Cuisine Food Tour in Lisbon Portugal (Airbnb Experiences): This was such a fun experience! There’s absolutely no way we would have found all of these wonderful restaurants, all run by local families. We also tried lots of the traditional food (sardines, cod, octopus) that I wouldn’t have ordered on my own, but ended up liking! It was a really fun way to meet other people and get a taste of Lisbon. Our guide Adriana was so sweet and accommodating. Highly recommend!
CONCLUSION
It’s been so fun writing this blog and reliving the memories from this wonderful country. Portugal is a really unique place full of so many different things to do, see, and eat. If you’re able to make the trip one day, make sure you immerse yourself in this culture and step out of your comfort zone, there’s a lot of special dishes, people, and activities waiting for you.
I can’t wait to go back someday! As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out here.
Cheers!
