Portugal travel in review 2017

It’s only when I stop and take a little while to look back on 2017 that I realise how many places in Portugal I visited last year. Some had been on my wish list for a very long time and others were return visits to familiar yet beloved destinations for new experiences.

By sharing these adventures with you, I hope to give you some ideas for your own trips in Portugal.

I’ve organised them by region, from north to south, to make it easier for you to find what may be of most interest.

Note: I still have a backlog of writing and photo editing to catch up with so I will add links to this article whenever I publish additional information about any of these places.

Northern Portugal

Parts of 2017 involved a lot of walking in Portugal.

I walked (and cycled some of the way but the less said about that the better) along the Costa Verde from Matosinhos, just outside Porto, to Caminha at the very tip of the Minho.

I love how varied the Atlantic coastline is in this part of Northern Portugal. There are wide sandy beaches, pebbly coves, rocky shores and windswept dunes galore, not to mention great little towns and cities like Viana do Castelo.

Read more about my experiences along Portugal’s Green Coast in this post.

Morning at Afife beach, Green coast Portugal
Morning at Afife beach – I love this photo!

I also spent one glorious week hiking in the Douro wine region. Although it was late February and the grape vines were bare of leaves, there were puffs of almond blossom and evergreen olive trees to brighten up the always impressive landscape.

Find out more about the Douro Valley 

View from Casal de Loivos, Douro wine region, Portugal
View from Casal de Loivos, Douro wine region

I was back in the Douro again in April to try out some new quintas and yet again in September to participate in the grape harvest and get to know the São João da Pesqueira area.

Valeira dam, São Salvador do Mundo, São João da Pesqueira, Douro wine region of Portugal
Valeira dam, São Salvador do Mundo, São João da Pesqueira. A more rugged side of the Douro wine region

I finally made it to Chaves in the far north of Portugal, a charming town that’s been on my wish list since 2016 if not longer. My friend Jules and I stayed in the fortress hotel, a handy base for exploring the small city centre and its castle.

Since Chaves has been renowned for its curative waters since Roman times, we made time for a spa treatment which included getting hosed down by a man in shorts.

Chaves Castle and historical town centre
Chaves Castle and historical town centre

Porto always gets a few visits per year from me and this was no exception. Each time I go I find even more great places to visit including Taylors’ port wine lodge and traditional grocery store-cum-café, Mercearia das Flores.

Central Portugal including the Silver Coast

I found the mysterious ‘naval’ in the Serra da Estrela Mountains although the drought had removed some of the magic. Even the first photo doesn’t do it full justice – when the water level is higher, you can’t see the edges of the tunnel so it looks like a sinkhole.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On our way to Salamanca, we took a slight detour off the EN17 to see the historical village of Linhares da Beira. The castle offers sweeping views and was full of chattering and swooping swallows.

Although not quite on the same scale as the Flintstone-esque village of Monsanto, huge granite boulders form part of the local architecture in Linhares da Beira.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I finally got around to visiting the fourth of Central Portugal’s UNESCO World Heritage sites, namely Batalha Monastery.

Aside from the magnificently carved doorway, I’ll admit to feeling somewhat underwhelmed in comparison with the likes of Alcobaça Monastery, the Convent of Christ in Tomar and Coimbra University.

That is until we entered the unfinished chapel. Just wow! Sadly, my photos don’t do it justice.

Batalha Monastery, one of four UNESCO World Heritage monuments in Central Portugal
Batalha Monastery, one of four UNESCO World Heritage monuments in Central Portugal

The sculpture gardens at Buddah Eden and the Grutas d’Aire caves have also been calling to me for years. Neither disappointed. On a trip to explore more of the Silver Coast, I got to see both of these plus a gorgeous family-run winery.

If you want to explore Central Portugal in depth, check out my 10-Day Self Drive Itinerary.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On the journey home, we stopped at the curious inland salt pans of Rio Maior in the Serra Daire e Candeeiros. I even squeezed in a short walk through the natural park which has whet my appetite for more.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Although I’ve realised that I struggle with crowds these days, we braved a Sunday afternoon at the Cheese Fair in Oliveira do Hospital and come home with some delicious cheese and olive oil.

Serra da Estrela cheese, Oliveira do Hospital Cheese Fair
Serra da Estrela cheese, Oliveira do Hospital Cheese Fair

I also had the pleasure of attending an olive oil tasting session at Passeite, a new addition to Coimbra’s restaurant scene, that has taught me what to look out for when buying a bottle.

Passeite, Olive oil specialist restaurant in Coimbra
Passeite. Olive oil specialist restaurant in Coimbra

The Provarte Beer Festival in Sertã gave us yet more opportunities to sample Portuguese craft beers including one that tasted of smoked bacon!

The stripey cottages of Barra and Costa Nova drew me back to Aveiro via the Ria de Aveiro lagoon, a great spot for watersports and boat trips as well as learning about all the different shapes and sizes of local fishing boats.

Stripy houses, Costa Nova, Aveiro
Stripy houses, Costa Nova, Aveiro

Aveiro’s main museum proved to be worth the wait. I was captivated by the spectacular inlaid marble tomb of Princess Saint Joana.

Inlaid marble tomb and room where Princess Santa Joana lies in Aveiro Museum
Inlaid marble tomb and room where Princess Santa Joana lies in Aveiro Museum

Nazaré gets a lot of press because of the huge beach and surf but it hadn’t made a great impression on me on my first visit a few years back – it felt overly touristy to me. On a sunny Sunday afternoon in November, however, Nazaré is actually a very pleasant place to be.

Nazaré, Silver Coast, Portugal
Nazaré, Silver Coast, Portugal

Lisbon area

Although Nazaré has redeemed itself to some extent, it in no way beats the beaches in the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.

Mike and I began our exploration of the coastline with the clifftop village of Azenhas do Mar and walked down the steps to the small beach which has graced many a photograph.

We stopped at several others as we headed south but my favourite was Praia da Adraga. Partly because of the dramatic rock formations and archway and partly thanks to the delicious lunch we had at the beachfront restaurant.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I’ve been to Cascais several times but had never found time to see what Estoril has to offer until earlier this year. While it lacks the pretty town centre that Cascais has, the beach is nice and you can walk along the waterfront all the way to Cascais.

Praia Tamariz, Estoril
Praia Tamariz, Estoril

Or take the train to Lisbon like Mike and I did to see the recently opened Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology.

At that time, the new building had only one exhibition so we spent the time wandering around the exterior and revisiting the former Electricity Museum. Mike loves it here, thanks to the heavy duty machinery used in the the former power station. The unique building now hosts art installations inside.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

One of the places I’d been meaning to visit for some time was the Convent of St. Francis in the Arrábida Natural Park. It’s not open every day and you need to make an appointment so it’s not easy to fit into an itinerary but it was definitely worth a visit. You’ll see why in this post.

Higgledy piggledy construction, Convento da Arrábida
Higgledy piggledy construction, Convento da Arrábida

Our base for this trip was Setúbal, a city south of Lisbon that I’ve overlooked for far too long. Both Mike and I were surprised by how much we liked it.

The colourful street decorations and public artworks helped, as did the Museu do Trabalho which is largely dedicated to the sardine canning factories that were once the major industry in Setúbal.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A ferry ride across the Sado Estuary didn’t reveal the famous dolphins but we were able to explore the Roman ruins and white sand beaches at Troia, see the village and beach of Comporta as well as the ramshackle fishing jetty at Carrasqueira.

More on all these soon(ish).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Algarve

My sunbathing days are long over so I am perfectly happy with visiting the Algarve during the winter months.

Mike and I spent a week in December in the fishing town of Olhão and used it as a base to explore both east and west. We became quite fond of this no-frills town and its quiet cobbled streets.

Not to mention the great food and craft beer we had there. A blog post awaits.

AlgarveDowntown Olhão, Algarve Portugal
Downtown Olhão, Algarve

On Christmas morning, we watched groups of expats enjoying the sun and sandy beach at Fuseta with a glass or two of espumante. We then walked across the Ria Formosa near Tavira to see the anchor cemetery at Praia do Barril.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We explored the grid of streets in Vila Real de Santo António, purpose-built in the 18th century by the Marquês do Pombal, strolled along the beach in Monte Gordo to where the fishermen do their thing and understood why Praia Verde is so popular.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

To the west, Mike was particularly taken with Praia da Luz, a small village surrounding a rocky shore and sandy beach next to a soaring striated cliff.

The more commonly featured cliff stacks of Lagos beaches also made it onto our itinerary.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

In the meantime, I hope this offers some inspiration for your own holiday. Let me know if you need help with your itinerary.

9 Comments

  1. hi nice info here!!

    i m planning to visit portual with my wife and 2 daughters(9 and7 years)
    during the period from 26 nov to 6 dec,,

    i m planning to land in porto and spend 3 nights there
    then rent a car and spend 2 nights in douro valley and 2 nights in
    Serra da Estrela , than drop the car and spend 3 nights in lisbon,
    ,, i m unsure about the weather during this
    period , especially the rain,,,
    do ur recommend me to go with this plan during this time or not?can u comment on that plz?

  2. This is perfect as we’re looking at places to visit when we travel around Portugal in our campervan later this year. So this is really helpful!

    Paul

  3. Just a “thank you” for your interesting information and lovely photographs! Looking forward to your travel adventures in 2018. Have a great year!

    1. Author

      Thanks Elly, you too!

  4. Thank you for the wonderful photos and information. Elizabeth

  5. You have visited some great places Julie, half of them I’ve never been there. The only problem about going to visit is feeling we have to spend our time with the family, leaving very little time to explore other areas of Portugal. One day…
    Happy 2018!

    1. Author

      I know, I have the same situation when I go to the UK. There are lots of places I’d like to visit but family and friends take priority.

  6. you are so lucky to be able to explore so much of this gorgeous country. I hope we will discover more of the north in the Spring, so sorry to have missed you though when you were in the Algarve.

    1. Author

      Hi Becky. I’m so sorry – I didn’t realise we were staying in your home town! Not sure if you were there at the time or back in the UK but yes, it would have been nice to meet a fellow Portugal blogger. Next time, for sure. Or let me know when you’re next in my neck of the woods.

Over to you. Please share your thoughts in a comment.