Last spring, we visited Portugal and had an amazing experience! We landed in Lisbon, rented a car and drove south to Algarve region first. This region reminded me of Big Sur near the SF Bay Area with its cliffs and lovely beaches! What is unique here is that the porous, rocky cliffs have eroded over centuries and formed many interesting caves and tunnels. Some of these can be visited by foot along the beaches; or by a boat. This place also has many hiking opportunities with the most scenic views!
We stayed in Lagos and drove to many small fishing villages along the coast. One such place was Cabo de Sao Vicente; the western most tip of Portugal!
On the drive back to Lisbon, we took a detour to Evora and S.Pedro Do Corval. Evora is totally worth the stop with ruins of Roman temple from the 1st century AD and the most awe inspiring gothic style cathedral with the famous statue of pregnant Virgin Mary.
We loved walking around the town of Evora, taking in the historic sites and checking out the small neighborhood stores. One such was a small book shop called " Fonte de Letras" which had a poetry vending machine. My daughter and I had so much fun reciting our poetry fortunes!
Evora is also known for their Cork Oak trees and a number of hand crafted products made using the sustainable and renewable material "cork" that is indigenous to Portugal.
Our next stop was in Corval; this is a small town which is keeping alive the tradition of famous "Alentejo" handmade pottery and tiles! This small town contains more than 20 artisanal pottery workshops. We visited many and also got a tour of the workshops and picked out many beautiful pieces to bring back home!
Next, we went to the historic town of Sintra which is close to Lisbon. Here, we had our fill of castles, palaces and secret passages!
We spent the last few days in Lisbon, visiting the various regions each day. The Lisbon castle was definitely one of the highlights for me! It’s located in a beautiful hill top with well maintained grounds and serene surroundings. On the way to the castle, we came across many handmade workshops/ stores promoting the many traditional crafts of Portugal. You will also find many handmade "filigree" gold/silver jewelry stores; which is a delicate kind of jewelry metalwork popular in Portugal.
Kids loved a visit to the Lisbon Oceanarium, while I also thoroughly enjoyed the various handmade macrame art displays in their store.
Lisbon is very similar to San Francisco in terms of their year round pleasant weather; being located on the western coast, hilly streets, cable cars, and it even has a suspension bridge which looks similar to Golden gate bridge/ Bay bridge ; and was apparently even built by the same company.
Another highlight of Lisbon are the delicious foods; including the famous Pastel de nata- egg custard tart pastry. I especially recommend the time out market; where you can taste foods from many famous chefs and different cuisines all in one place with shared community tables.
Overall, this trip left us wondering why we didn't visit beautiful Portugal earlier. This little European country packs so many amazing sights and experiences!