Category: Visiting Portugal

Our youngest daughter flew on a low cost flight to spend a weekend with us in Lisbon which is one of her favourite cities. Although we live in Portugal, her journey time by air was considerably less than our road trip!

Our first stop was for late lunch at ‘docas’ which is one of the old docks now being used as a marina with one side being lined with restaurants for open air and indoor eating. It is under the high level bridge across the river and the background noise of the traffic sounds like angry bees. Before the meal we had to have a drink at the Irish pub to see the end of a football match on Sky Television!

We stayed at the five star boutique hotel, The Beira Alta, which is the conversion of an old city stately home. It has an open air terrace bar with food and snacks on the top floor which looks over the city roofs to the river.

We chose this hotel since it is central. Nearby is the Brazileiro café where the famous Lisbon writers used to meet over 100 years ago. Also close is the ‘elevador’ which is a lift that takes you down to the main shopping area of the city.

This was a change from our usual hotels of As Janelas Verdes and York House which are two small hotels in interesting old buildings in the quieter embassy area of the city.

The following evening, we had a drink in the unusual Pavihâo Chinês where the walls are covered with old collections of many themes. This was followed by a taxi ride up the hill on the other side of the city almost to the castle. Here we went to the Chaperto restaurant which is reached through a graffiti painted door and through a courtyard full of students. A spiral staircase leads up to the high class restaurant where we had a table in the widow with an excellent view of the nighttime skyline to accompany our good food.

The next day we discovered Café no Chiado in Largo do Picadeiro near the hotel. An excellent small place for a snack or a light lunch.

The afternoon was spent on one of the trams which took us down to the city and up the streets in the old area on the other side. After a coffee, we made the return journey. A more structured sightseeing journey (and more expensive) can be made by the tourist tram leaving from the square by the river.

That evening we had another memorable meal in the A Travessa restaurant next to an old convent near the French Embassy. This is definitely a place to go by taxi since if you manage to find it, the parking is limited.

On Sunday morning, we visited the Jerinimos Monastery which with the nearby Monument to the discoveries and the Torre de Belem are the buildings in Lisbon most visited by tourists

Another night we went to a ‘Fado’ restaurant. The singing was excellent but when the bill came we found that we were being treated like tourists and I do not want others to share our expensive experience so the details are not given here.

Next day it was time to say goodbye to my daughter and we had a meeting scheduled at the Pestana Palace hotel followed by another at the nearby attractive town of Sintra. The Pestana Palace is the flagship hotel of the group that runs the Pousada hotels and many of their promotional rates apply at this splendid hotel.

What a difference was this visit to Lisbon compared with staying in one of the modern hotels. We did have the benefit of having been there before and the experience of someone who had worked in the city. Although the places were expensive by the standards of Portugal, prices were cheap compared to other European capital cities.

The Douro valley is the grape growing region for Port Wine and it has been producing wine since it was introduced into Portugal 2.000 years ago by the Romans.

The wine is taken to the Port Wine ‘caves’ at the mouth of the river in Gaia which is on the south bank facing Porto (Oporto). It used to be a perilous journey down the fast flowing river in the traditional ‘Rabelo’ boats but in the 19th. Century a railway was built along the banks of the river and its tributaries.

Now road tankers are used to transport the wine and the river is a series of dams with locks for boats to pass. Passenger trains are still running and the line is among ‘The Great Railway Journeys of the World’. These days the river is mainly used for tourist traffic including hotel boats taking a week to go across Portugal and return to Porto.

The Port Wine growing region is very attractive and has a hot, dry micro climate. The large Port wine Quintas are usually painted white and their estates go down to the rivers edge. A little known fact is that the walled terraces were built by black slave labour. The slaves were later replaced in the vineyards by labourers from Galicia in Spain. The slaves have left no trace behind, not even descendents of mixed race.

The Douro valley is an outstanding example of a traditional European wine producing region and has been declared a World Heritage Site. Further upriver is the Archaeological Park of Foz Coa which prevented the area being flooded when a proposed dam was built. It has also been granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO.

The accommodation in the area is limited but very diverse. Many visitors stay at the Pousada Pousada Solar da Rede overlooking the river at Mesao Frio. Another popular hotel is the Regua Douro Hotel. A famous Port Wine Quinta which has guest accommodation is Casa de Casal de Loivos which has spectacular views of the river below. Another option is the riverside Quinta de Sao Jose. Nearer to Porto is the recently modernised Quinta de Cao.

An interesting self catering quinta for rent is Casa de Povoa which is an old Manor house looking down to one of the dams on the river. Near Pinhao is Casa Amarelo which is located at the rivers edge on one of the wine producing quintas.

Cottages with a shared swimming pool include those at Quinta de Santa Julia de Loureiro on a beautiful Port Wine producing quinta looking down the hillside to Regua. There is also cottage accommodation at Quinta de Sao Jose upriver from Pinhao.

This area is truly spectacular and is not yet overrun with tourists.

If you want to like on the beach in the hot sun, the Algarve is the place for you. Many people however go to other regions which retain the original way of life unaffected by the tourist invasion.

The Algarve is the most visited tourist region. It developed in a hot and arid region with spectacular beaches which was deserted before mass tourism by plane. I like to visit this area of concrete buildings in winter when it is less crowded and it is nice to speak English to everyone. Not being a golfer, I cannot enjoy the many courses for which the area is famous.

However this Paradise for tourists is not the true Portugal.

To the north of the Algarve, across the coastal mountains, are the vast hot roling plains of the Alentejo. The old towns on the small hillocks used to be defended by castles. The government has converted many of these historical buildings into Pousada hotels.

Furhter north is the vibrant capital city of Lisbon where the main inter continetal airport is situated. The city centre has many hotels and historical sights. The nearby old fishing town of Cascais with south facing beches is worth visiting. Not to be missed is Sintra to where the King’s Court used to move in order to escape the summer heat of Lisbon. It has many old palaces, some dating from the period when the Moors ruled most of south Portugal.

The road to Oporto can include a visit to the old walled town of Obidos. If the Pousada is full, stay and have dinner at the inn, Casa das Senhoras Rainhas. Other places to visit on the journey include the modern pilgrimage sanctuary of Fatima or the old university town of Coimbra.

Oporto, or Porto as it is known to the Portuguese, is an industrial town with many fine buildings. In spite of this it is well worth staying a couple of nights, The main tourist attraction are the Port Wine ‘caves’ on the south bank of the river. I like to stay at the Pestana Porto hotel which is in the old riverside area in an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Oporto has an airport with flights to most European capital cities.

Upstream from Porto is the area in which the grapes for the Port Wine (capital letters by tradition) are grown on terraces going down to the river Douro. In this region it is possible to stay at some of the beautiful quintas. One of my favourites is Casa de Casal de Loivos near Pinhao.

I like the Alto Minho in the far north, an area not known to many tourists. This is view is obviously shared by the Portuguese who chose the area to build their Manor Houses in previous centuries. Their are few hotels but some Pousadas and many of the manor houses offer accommodation for paying guests. They also have tourist accommodation in modernised cottages.

This area of small fields, green valleys, high hills, old towns and Celtic traditions has many villas for rent. One of my favourites is Casa de Olival near the old town of Ponte de LIma.

The old roads of ten years ago have now been replaced by fast new motorways and it is now possible to go from north to south of this interesting and beautiful country in a few hours.