From the Moorish Castle to Pena Palace in Sintra, Portugal
Portugal has been on my short list of travel for several years now. I kept reading about and hearing from others about how many people love it and plan to retire here in the future. Not just those from the U.S. either. It is popular with many expats from other parts of Europe as well. Why? The weather, the ocean, the culture, the people and the food. Obviously we had to check it out. We flew from Rome and landed in Lisbon. There we rented a car and headed south to the region known as the Algarve. Thankfully, after the heat in Rome, the weather was clear and cool.
Thom enjoying the patio in front of our “Quinta” in the Algarve.
Because we aren’t really beach people and figured it would be good to stay away from the summer vacation crowds, I found a “quinta” (better known as a farm house rental) in the hills above the coast. Even though we could see the coast in the distance, it was green and cool and our rental turned out to be a lovely converted property with even lovelier hosts–Laura and Jorge.
The cliffs on the southern coast of Portugal.
We did drive to the coast a couple of times. Once to check out the cliffs that the area is very well known for having. Another was to visit a well preserved castle in a nearby town and several of the coastal cities where were yes, (!) crowds of tourists.
From the Queen’s Terrace at Pena Palace.
We enjoyed our stay in this area for four nights before driving north to Sintra. Just about everyone who visits Portugal says that Sintra is one place you simply have to visit. And after our time there I would agree with them. We rented another vacation home near the center of the city, parked our car and walked from there. Luckily the weather stayed cool and comfortable for us because as it turned out, we did A LOT of walking.
Sintra is home to a number of gorgeous palaces, a castle and several parks. It also has a lot of hills and windy and twisty roads. There is no way a few photos can do the place justice, but I am including those from three major sites in the city. We stayed here for six nights and could easily have stayed longer because there is so much to see.
From one end of the Moorish Castle to the other…and yes we walked the entire way and then down to the city below. You can see the ocean in the background.
The mysterious Quinta da Regaleira palace in Sintra.
Of course it might seem that we are constantly on the go from all the photos Thom and I are posting on Facebook. However, we are actually relaxing and taking our time compared to so many of the other tourists we are talking too who just try to visit the city in a day or two. Here’s proof of some of our relaxation time.
Relaxing in the Algarve at our “Quinta.”
The patio at our rental in Sintra.
So far we are feeling very comfortable in Portugal. The language is a bit tricky…sort of a combination of Spanish and Italian from the sound of it. And even harder to pronounce. But the roads and driving are easier than Italy and, the food is tasty, and the weather at our first two locations was wonderful.
From Sintra we head north to Tomar!
Wonderful sites and photos! Portugal is on many people’s list, including mine. Have you noticed the word “Quinta” has popped up a couple of times during your Portugal time? Coincidence or a sign (that you might become an expat there)? 🙂
Hi Liesbet! Yep! Quinta is very popular here in Portugal. Basically it is a traditional farm…lots in wine country… But back home where we live “La Quinta” means “The Fifth” because it supposedly was the 5th stop for the stagecoach or mail coming from the coast. Feels very familiar for sure. As far as being a Portugal expat??? We are enjoying the visit and might return to during the summer because it is a great destination, but so far we haven’t bought anything! What about you? Are you coming to visit when you are in Europe??? ~Kathy
I’m only in Belgium for two weeks, Kathy. That’s just enough to see most of my friends and all of my family members without having to run around the entire time. There’s no sightseeing or traveling abroad while I’m here. Just talking, eating, drinking, and sleeping.
One day, I hope to travel around Europe extensively again and then Portugal will be the #1 on the list. With Iceland. 🙂
It seems as if every property you have rented all summer has been perfect. How do you manage to always find such perfect spots? We have rented enough through VRBO and Airbnb to know the pictures and descriptions don’t always match the reality, except for you and Thom!
Hi Bob! haha…none have them have been “perfect” but most have been just right. Like anything, when the owners “advertise” they are doing their best to promote their property. So I make most of my final decisions on reviews. I read everyone one and sometimes search multiple sites (a lot of times they have their own webpages and then list them on VRBO, Airbnb and Booking.com). Even when most reviews are positive if you read them all you can often find out little “details” that will make the difference for a positive experience. And I review every single property we stay in on Tripadvisor.com as a return favor for helping me choose (and I try to be as honest as possible so people know what to expect.).
More than anything it takes time–which I get that a lot of people can’t or don’t want to devote. Plus I book as early as possible. Most all of my reservations were made at least 4 months in advance and some 6-8 months! If you wait to long the best choices (and best prices) are usually gone. Luckily I enjoy the “research” of it! ~Kathy
Easy driving, tasty food, wonderful weather and lots of relaxing time — sounds very perfect to me. Please keep the photos coming!
Hi Donna! You said it. And we are taking TONS of photos. (I think you do the same on your adventures–you’re just better at posting them on your blog than I am.). It is HARD picking which ones to go with isn’t it? Where are you off to next? ~Kathy
Hi Kathy,
Loved the pictures of the Algarve. That is one place we’re really looking forward to. Shannon backpacked through Europe in his 20s and ended up spending a month in Portugal – mostly the Algarve region. He absolutely loved it!
I, also, appreciate they have a more temperate climate and it’s not too hot. From everything we’ve read and seen, yes there is definitely lots of walking and hills :-). I appreciate the pictures from Sintra. It looks so quaint. I can hardly wait to hear about Tomar. I didn’t know where it was situated and when I looked it up found it was linked to the Knights Templar. So cool!!
Bet you can’t believe how fast time is flying by! Enjoy and looking forward to all your adventures moving forward.
Hi Debbie! You both are going to love it. And I’ll bet you will spend a bit more time in the Algarve than we did. We were hoping to do a boat trip into the caves there but something came up so we couldn’t go. 🙁 Oh well, maybe next item.
And do spend time in Sintra, it is a beautiful little city. Yes it did seem like time was going pretty slow in Italy but now that we are winding down to the last few weeks it is hard to believe it will be over soon. Then I will expect you to start blogging about your adventures over here…okay??? ~Kathy
More beautiful pictures, Kathy! I am going to hire you to pick out my rentals from now on… you have a gift!
Hi Janis! You know I’m always available to “help” but definitely not looking for a job :-). Besides, I know what Thom and I like but you never know about others for sure! ~Kathy
Love the photo of your feet! That is my idea of a vacation! That’s interesting about the expats from many countries. I found that to be true when I lived in Thailand too. Have you found the quinta you are going to buy yet? Ha! I can see that as being a place to have a permanent getaway home.
Hi Galen! I think there are pockets of expats in certain “high-profile places.” Portugal did a big promotion to encourage expats to move here but I heard that some of those extra benefits are not dissolving because so many have. Things change. And no, we haven’t found anything we want to buy…we’re just too nomadic. We want to be able to visit and come and go when we want. If you buy a place you feel obligated to just go there over and over and we aren’t in that space mentally just yet. BUT…we are considering spending a month or two here next summer when it’s really hot at home. We just wouldn’t move around as much as this summer. ~Kathy
That makes perfect sense — a good plan!
Kathy, I like the way you are seeing Portugal. There is a lot to take in and each region is so different. It deserves to be explored slowly. My daughter and her fiance were there July 2 – 4 and hit the highlights of Lisbon and Sintra. They were smitten and will return. The last time we were there, we spent most of our time in Porto and loved it. Next time we plan to explore the Algarve. Thanks for sharing that photo of the Southern coast. What a dramatic coastline.
Hi Suzanne! Thanks for the compliment. I’m not sure I’ll ever consider myself to be a travel writer but I am enjoying telling a story of our travels and it’s nice to know that some of you are enjoying following along. As for those of you not crazy about this train of writing, just know that it will be over in a month!
And we are looking forward to Porto too…I’ll bet you could share some tips for ME about that city. Did you write about it? I should check your blog. And sadly I don’t think my photo did the coast justice…it really is amazing just couldn’t get that close and Thom was a bit impatient with all my photo taking!!! ~Kathy
Kathy, we highly recommend Viator for their small group tours in Porto. We took this one https://www.viator.com/tours/Porto/Douro-Valley-Small-Group-Tour-with-Wine-Tasting-Portuguese-Lunch-and-Optional-River-Cruise/d26879-12546DOUROVALLEY and loved it.
Personally, I am enjoying your travel blogs and have learned from them. I noticed that most of your accommodations are air b&B type lodging vs. hotels. We got burned on a VRBO once and have been hesitant to go that route since then. Have there been any disappointments or were they mostly what you expected? For a long stay, it really does make sense.
Hi Suzanne! Great! Thanks for the referral. We are actually staying in the Douro Valley for three nights and I have lined up a private boat tour already. Otherwise your recommendation looks great. Not sure what we are going to do about just wine tasting though…
As far as our vacation rental success goes so far it has been good. There have been a couple that didn’t live up to my expectations and everyone of them has one quirk or another, but so far nothing that made us want to walk away from them. Of course I do read every single review that is written about them and research them as to location, etc., so that helps too. We REALLY like having our own kitchen (small as some of them are) and I usually pick properties with balconies or patios because we are outdoor people and get claustrophobic in small dark properties. It also helps to be pretty flexible about your “requirements.” For example the place we are staying in now obviously needs some repairs that have been neglected–like a few random nail holes in several walls? Bathroom floorboards warped from the shower…that sort of thing. And sometimes the beds are hard. Sometimes they are too soft. Of course we’ve been in some hotels that had issues too. And I try to keep our expenses moderate. I don’t go for the cheapest but I also stay away from the most expensive. My goal is to pick some that seems like a very good value for the money. And so far so good. I can’t imagine staying as long as we have this summer in nearly all these locations in a regular hotel room though so it is a great option IMHO. ~Kathy
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing.