We traveled to Portugal after the Photopills camp in Menorca at the end of May. Our purpose was to visit several cities to discover where we might like to live.
Summary of Portugal Locations
Lisbon June 6 – June 9
Porto June 9 – June 14
Braga June 14 – June 19
Coimbra June 19 – June 21
Lisbon June 21 – June 22
Trip Diary
- Lisbon Day One (June 7th)
As I write this, Pam and I are at the end of our second full day in Porto. I’m going back to review Lisbon, so it doesn’t get lost in the brain fog 🙂 Pam … - Lisbon Day Two (June 8th)
We had a slow start for the second day, but we decided to check out a few of the iconic scenic sites. We felt mostly pretty energetic, but didn’t want to press our luck too … - Porto Day One (June 9th)
The train trip from Lisbon to Porto was fairly smooth and uneventful. The Lisbon Oriente train station had a beautiful geometric patterned sun shade The train was on time, we found our seats, and it … - Porto Day 2 (June 10)
Our Porto apartment, on Rua do Almada, had big glass doors at the back, overlooking gardens and backs of apartments and restaurants on the parallel street. It was a fairly open view and by opening … - Porto Day 3 (June 11) Atlantic Breezes in Matosinhos
Summer is not the best time to be a tourist in a city. It’s been plenty hot on these brilliantly sunny days. Being tourists, wandering around, is draining and we need frequent sit-down stops at … - Porto Day 4 (June 12)
We decided to get out of the tourist center of Porto and explore some parks. We walked to Santa Caterina, which is a popular shopping street and a central bus stop. We took the bus … - Lisbon & Porto – Street Music
It’s a holiday weekend here in Porto — Portugal Day. We need to learn more about its history, but for now, it means that locals are happy for a long weekend, and tourists are filling … - Porto Day 5 (June 13) Birds and Fado
We decided to find out if Porto’s large Parque da Cidade was a wild or tame park, groomed or natural, shady or sunny. Some pictures we saw online made it look a little boring and … - Porto Day 6 (June 14) Expats Meetup
We had originally planned to take the train to Braga mid-day, but we learned that a group we follow on YouTube, Expats Everywhere, was planning a meetup at a Porto hotel in the evening. So … - Braga Day 1 (July 15) History and Expat Friends
Our Apartment After arriving in the dark last night, we discovered that our location in Braga, Praça Velha, wasn’t just kind of close to historic things, but it was just inside the Arco da Porta … - Braga Day 2 (June 16) Bom Jesus do Monte
On June 16, we visited Bom Jesus do Monte, a beautiful Catholic Sanctuario in the hills northeast of Braga. You will see this beautiful hilltop spot with its dramatic staircase in almost any Braga tourist … - Braga Day 2 (June 16) – Evening
When we arrived back from Bom Jesus we missed the most convenient bus stop and got off at the next one a bit further from our apartment. As we strolled toward the apartment, we passed … - Braga Day 3 (June 17) Historical Museums
Back in Porto, at the meeting of the Expats Everywhere group, we met another David who lived in Braga. David C. offered to show us around, so this morning we met him outside Arco da … - Braga Day 3 (June 17) Evening
Praça da Republica was the place to be on Friday evening. The festival lighting had been rescheduled from Wednesday and there was a happy crowd waiting. The fountain had garlands and a statue of São … - Braga Day 4 (June 18) Parades
After seeing so many highlights of Braga’s history, we thought we would follow up on recommendations to visit the nearby historic town of Guimarães. But, it turns out that this day being Saturday, it was … - Braga to Coimbra (June 19)
We packed up, took out the trash as instructed, left 12 euros on the table for the city lodging tax, and got our bags down to the Tibias café as it opened at 9am for … - Coimbra Day 2 (June 20)
Having arrived in Coimbra yesterday, we’ve realized how tired we are. We can’t absorb any more churches, and remember them. The camera helps with reminding us of what we’ve seen. We’re sort-of ready to be … - Coimbra to Lisbon (June 21)
Today we headed to Lisbon for one more night before we fly back to the United States tomorrow afternoon. The house in Coimbra We were leaving at 10am, so Pam had time to sit in … - List of Restaurants
We didn’t succeed in finding the best food at first, but as the trip continued, we found some places we really liked. Lisboa June 7 A Padaria Portuguesa, morning pastries. Fabrica da Nata, Restauradores. 2nd morning … - Lisbon and Home (June 22)
It rained this morning. Rain feels unexpected in sunny Portugal. It’s good though since Portugal is having a severe drought. The winter rains have been a lot less than usual. We did our packing and …