Trip to Portugal and Spain: Days 4 and 5 (Porto)

Getting to Porto

We had initially considered renting a one way car to Porto, but after learning there were inexpensive bus fares from Liston to Porto we decided to travel by bus. Specifically we used FlixBus again and paid  84 EUR for 4 tickets. Our bus departed 11:30am from Porto and arrived close to 3pm at the Camelias bus stop, which was a short walk from our hotel at Sao Bento.

Where to eat

One recommendation from our Uber driver was to eat at Cafe Santiago, and try the Francesinha which is a typical dish from Porto. I actually thought it was pretty good, my for the rest of my family it was just OK. They will have this dish at most restaurants so you will have plenty of chances to try it even if you can't make it to Cafe Santiago.

Visiting the shore

Our first day we decided to do some sightseeing by walking from Sao Bento towards the shore. We walk past the Santo Ildefonso Church which is beautiful. Just down the street we stopped by Sao Bento terminal which is a must see.

On our way down to the shore we stopped by Chocolateria Ecuador and had a sample of their chocolate truffle with a glass of Porto wine, they were both delicious.

We then made it down to the shore and walked along towards the Luis I bridge and cross through the lower walkway. The view from across the river is even better as you can see from this postcard worthy picture.

On that side is where you can find most of the wineries, however they were closed as they open primarily in the morning through early afternoon. We ended up having dinner at Tabernha do Manel which was pretty good. 

We then headed up the hill toward Mirador da Ribeira to be able to view the sunset near the upper end of Ponte Luis I bridge. This was another beautiful view of Porto. We ended up heading back to our hotel walking as we were only about a mile away.

Livraria Lello

The next day we started by visiting Livraria Lello which is one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world and allegedly J.K. Rowling was inspired while writing the first Harry Potter books. You will need to buy tickets to enter but you can buy them online and will save you from standing on the longer line to enter. Next to the bookstore we stopped by one of our favorite ice cream shops: Amorino. 

A couple blocks away we visited Igreja do Carmo and just a block away we stopped by the Museum of Science and Natural History. Because it was under renovation, they only had to exhibits open, but admission was free so we decided to take a quick peek.

Igreja dos Clerigos

Our next stop was Igreja dos Clerigos which is a must see. It also requires timed tickets to go up the church tower. My wife says that every church that has a tower we must climb it, but this one in particular is a must see because as you are going up towards the tower they make you go around the church so you get to see the church from some very unique sides and the view from the top of the tower does not disappoint.

Igreja dos Clérigos

View from Torre dos Clerigos

Casa da Musica

My son wanted to visit Casa da Musica and because we had some extra time we decided to venture there. This location is about 2 miles aways from downtown so we decided to take the bus on our way there. Before entering it was lunch time and we ate outside on a restaurant called Ghrelador do Boavista 39. We found this restaurant by luck and my wife chose it because she said it looks like this is a place where most locals come to it. We had one of the best meals of our trip here, so I definitely recommend it if you head out this way.

You can only visit the inside of Casa da Musica by tour and the day we visited they only had tours at 11am and 4pm. Luckily we got there shortly before 4pm. I would stay this is a must see if you have musicians in your family, otherwise you may not enjoy it as much, but it is certainly a very unique music venue and the tour guide made it a very insightful visit. I would definitely would recommend attending a concert there if there is one and have the time.

Inside Casa da Musica

Spiritus

While we were visiting Tower dos Clerigos, they were promoting the Spiritus light show and we decided to buy tickets. We came back for the show in the evenings and it was really worth it. It was a little awkward to view it inside a church, but it was designed specifically for this church and it was by far better than the overly promoted Immersive Van Gogh.

<< Day 3 (Sintra) | Trip Itinerary | Days 6-7 (Seville) >>

Trip to Portugal and Spain: Day 3 (Sintra)

Sintra was not initially in our list of must see destinations until a friend strongly recommended it, and she was right. Sintra is about 25km away from Lisbon and about a 30 minute drive without traffic.

Getting to Sintra

We were initially going to take a train to Sintra but it would have taken us nearly an hour to get there from hour hotel. After seeing that it we could get an Uber for around 25 EUR and get there in 30 minutes we decided to go for that. I would still recommend requesting that the Uber drops you at the train station instead of downtown Sintra since that is where you can easily buy the local bus tickets.

Moving around Sintra

We love to walk when possible, but unfortunately the roads to the Sintra castles are very narrow and steep. From our research we learned that the best way to get around the Sintra castles was using local bus 434. We tried buying bus tickets ahead of time, but the agency website would not take my credit card because it assumed a local postal code which does not match the format for US zip codes. When we got to the train station, on the outside you will see the signs to get on the bus (#434). Before boarding the bus there were agents who you could buy the ticket from for EUR 11.50. This includes unlimited usage per day, as well as other routes, e.g. 435 to get to Quinta de Regaleira and Palace of Monserrate, as well as the bus route  that can take you to Cascais (1hr away). We heard great things about Cascais, but from my experience there would not be enough time to visit both places on the same day. 

Pena Palace

Pena Palace is a must see within Sintra. We bought tickets ahead of time on their website. I bought the ticket for both the park and the palace. The Palace ticket requires a timed entry, but not the park. I would allow at least 1 hour for the palace time entry from the time you estimate you will reach the Sintra train station. Bus 434 has frequent stops, almost every 10 minutes, but it takes about 20 minutes for the bus to get to the Park entrance and then another 20 minutes to walk up to the castle. The palace is beautiful on the inside, but if you are limited in time I would suggest only buying the park ticket. There is a lot you can see from the outside of the Palace. Also you will see from the picture that it was very foggy and windy. We were told by our Uber driver that is a typical Sintra wether and eve though it was warm in Lisbon, Sintra weather can be 10C/20F degrees lower, so bring a light jacket.

Where to eat

Our Uber driver recommended 2 spots. "Casa do Preto" we were told people from Lisbon come here just to eat here. This is towards the city entrance, but bus 434 stops there. We wanted to eat there but to maximize our time we decided to go with his second recommendation which was "O Melhor Croissant da Minha Rua", which means "the best croissant of my street" and indeed they were likely the best croissants in the area.

Palace of Monserrate

We chose to visit Palace of Monserrate next as it looked beautiful in the pictures and indeed it was. However getting there was not as easy. You have to take bus 435 which was a smaller bus and with much less frequency. We waited about 30 minutes on the way in and another 25 minutes on the way back, so if you are limited in time I would not recommend going here.

Inside Palace of Monserrate

On the way our bus stopped by Quinta de Regaleira which we would have stopped if the bus stopped more frequently. 

The other castle we wanted to visit if we had more time was the Moorish Castle which we left for our next visit to Sintra. We took an Uber back to Lisbon and since it was rush hour (around 5pm), it took a little longer to get back, but nothing too crazy.

<< Day 2 (Fatima) | Trip Itinerary | Day 4-5 (Porto) >> 

 

Trip to Portugal and Spain: Day 1 (Lisbon)

 Lisbon Airport

Our trip arrived almost an hour ahead of time before 10am. European airports always confused me in that you arrive at the terminal and can walk through the terminal instead of going through immigration first. The reason is because you are arriving at an International terminal and you must go through passport control to exit. The passport control line did not look too bad but we ended up in line for about 40 minutes. The good news is by that time our luggage was waiting for us.

Getting around Lisbon

Unlike other European cities getting around by train did not seem to be the fastest and not significantly cheaper option. When I checked for ride share options in the Google Maps app, Uber did not come up as an option. However I tried the Uber application directly and to my surprise the ride from the airport to our hotel was less than €10 euros. Granted the Lisbon airport is within the city, but it was still 8 km (15 minutes) away. Compared to rates in the US, the Uber fares were significantly lower. The pickup spot from Terminal 1 was at a parking outside the terminal named "Kiss and Fly". It's hard to miss, because it is very crowded.

We arrived at our hotel around noon and our room was not ready. We left our luggage and ate at a restaurant nearby named Banze. It was actually pretty good, but in general most restaurants we went to in Lisbon were pretty good. 

Lisbon Sightseeing

After we settled in our hotel room we decided to venture downtown walking. Our first stop was the Observation Deck at Park Eduardo VII which has a really nice view of the city.

From there we decided to walk towards the pier walking through Liberdade Avenue, which is one of their main streets with many stores and restaurants. In our way there we discovered "Fabrica da Nata" which sells the typical "Pasteis de Nata", which are pastries with Boston cream and are pretty good. They also sell croissant sandwiches and baguettes and it is very inexpensive so we ended up having dinner there. 

We walked past the Sant Justa lift on Aurea street and eventually made it to Cais das Columnas on the pier which is another landmark you can't miss! From there we took an Uber back to the hotel which was also surprisingly cheap (around €6 EUR).

Santa Justa lift

Cais das Columnas

Trip Itinerary | Day 2 (Fatima) >>

Trip to Portugal and Spain: Day 0 (Itinerary)

This June 2022, my family of 4 took a trip to Portugal and Spain with a custom itinerary. In this blog series I'll share some tips and suggestions in case you are venturing on a similar trip.

Our itinerary

Day 0: Washington Dulles (IAD) - Lisbon (LIS)

Day 1: Lisbon sightseeing

Day 2: Fatima

Day 3: Sintra

Day 4-5: Porto

Day 6-7: Seville

Day 8-9: Valencia

Day 10: Lisbon

Day 11: LIS-IAD

Pre-flight tips

We decided to fly out of Washington Dulles because we live 4 hours away driving and United had a direct flight. We booked our flight around February and was able to get a very good air fare ($600). 

Parking

Parking at Dulles is not prohibitively expensive compared to other major US airports ($12/day at Economy parking). However we were able to find much cheaper parking ($6) using SpotHero by parking at a nearby hotel. Specifically we parked at the Fairfield Inn Dulles and their shuttle service was very convenient and fast since it is a short drive away. 

Covid requirements

As of June 2022, the requirements to travel to Europe were fairly flexible. You essentially have 3 options: 

1. Provide a negative PCR or rapid (antigen) test
2. Provide proof of full vaccination no older than 270 days (unless you have a booster)
3. Provide a certificate from a doctor indicating that you had COVID and were already recovered

All of these 3 options can be provided no earlier than 72 hrs ahead of your flight time and only required for passengers older than 12 years old.

Our flight to Lisbon

Our flight to Lisbon was uneventful which is always good. It departed on Sunday 10:20pm. We arrived at the airport around 8pm and there were barely any lines or wait times. Our flight was on time and boarded promptly 40 minutes ahead of departure. The airplane was a 757-200, which is a relatively old plan, but it had TVs on all backseats as well as the option to use your device for in flight entertainment. We got served dinner close to midnight which is one of the few times I've declined a meal on a flight. Our total flight time was slightly under 7 hours which is not bad for a transatlantic flight. We were served a breakfast snack (yogurt and bread) around 9am local time, just one hour before landing.

Day 1 (Lisbon) >>