Portugal Tips and Must-See Sites

Portugal is a beautiful country that borders Spain and the Atlantic Ocean. I’ve been wanting to visit Portugal since college, after doing my study abroad in Spain so I stopped in Portugal while traveling from London to Morocco so it was a quick trip, but enough to make me fall in love with the country! I spent a total of 4 days there and saw a bit of Porto, where Port Wine comes from, and Lisbon, the capitol which also kind of reminds me on San Fransisco with the bridge and waterfront boardwalk.  

Tips

• Take a lot of cash. Surprisingly, a lot of places didn’t take card. And oddly, none of the ATMs accepted my debit card either, which made for a very long night when I couldn’t pay for my meal at a restaurant on my first night in Lisbon. S/O to google translate and my Airbnb host who ended up saving the day.

• Speaking of dinner, similar to Spain a lot of places are closed from 3-7. So plan your means (and nap times) accordingly to that time frame.

• Something that I was not prepared for was all of the smoking! People can smoke inside bars and clubs there and it’s fairly common to smoke. I went to one club and felt like I had a smokers cough after that even though I don’t smoke! My throat was recovering for the rest of the trip.

• & if you decide to go out, be prepared to stay out until 6am or later! This is very common in Europe but as Americans, we get kicked out of bars and clubs at like 2am for the most part so it’s a fun cultural difference to share. 

• I was actually surprised that a lot of people don’t speak English. Like I mentioned with my restaurant mishap when I didn’t have enough cash to pay for our full meal, none of the servers or people sitting inside the restaurant spoke English! So we had to communicate via google translate to the owners. Also, when I was traveling from Porto to Lisbon on the train, no one spoke English there either.

• Finally, I would definitely say SPEND MORE THAN 3-4 DAYS THERE. It’s such a beautiful country and there were so many other places to visit in Portugal that I think you can easily spend a week there and still want more time.  

Portugal Must-See Sites

PORTO LISBON

Ribiera Square

After a quick power nap, my first stop was at the Ribiera Square which is Porto’s central square right next to the river. It’s also a historical UNESCO site, which I learned a LOT of areas in Portage are! There are many shops & restaurants in the square so that’s where I got dinner on my first night in Portugal.

Vila Nova de Gaia

On the other side of the river from the square, is the Vila Nova de Gaia which is where you can find all of the Port houses on banks of the river duoro. One of my favorites Espaco Porto Cruz! Their terrace lounge has a 360 view of the city including another one of my recommendations… the Dom Luis Bridge!

Majestic Cafe

Majestic Cafe is the most beautiful café in Porto, and no surprise that it’s another historic site that dates back to 1921. It’s also on the list of the 10 most beautiful cafés in the world! So you’ve gotta try it!

Sao Bento Railway Station

The whole city of Porto is also covered in blue/azulejo tiles, includes the beautiful church/ Igreja de Santo Ildefonso. & one of my FAVORITES.. the Sao bento Railway Station. This is where I caught the train from Porto to Lisbon so it was one of my last sites in Porto before leaving. & guess what… it’s a Unesco world heritage site too! The station was declared a national monument of Portugal!

Pasteis De Belem

t’s important to say that the first thing I did when I was in Lisbon was visit Pasteis de Belem to try the pasteis de nata or Belem which are these delicious Portuguese custard pastries. You can also sprinkle powdered sugar and cinnamon on them if you have an extra sweet tooth like me.

Jeronimos Monastery

After curing my sweet tooth craving, I visited the Jeronimos Monastery which is another UNESCO world heritage site. The monastery took 100 years to build! Which makes me feel better about spending over TWO hours there looking at all small details in every pillar, every arch, every door, every hallway!

Belem tower

Another (UNESCO world heritage site) is the Belem tower which is right on the water. Definitely go see that and you can go down on the water front boardwalk to see other sites too, including the bridge which was designed after the golden gate bridge

TimeOut market

In Portugal, you have to eat a lot of seafood and TimeOut Market give you many options!

St. George Castle

Not only is the historic castle so cool to see, but the views from the castle were my favorite!

Rua Augusta

Rua Augusta beautiful street with lights that leads to a beautiful arch