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Portugal Another Lovely Trip to Portugal!
Another Lovely Trip to Portugal!
Again, my travels brought me to the warm and friendly Atlantic country of Portugal - this time, I wanted to explore the mainland.
From wine tasting in Porto to hot sandy beach experiences and from climbing a Moorish castle's steps to visiting intricate military museums, the experiences were plentiful and uplifting!
I haven't been to Portugal since 2008, when I visited Madeira. Back then, I only had roughly 3 hours for running in and visiting Lisbon...
Ever since, I was left with an insatiable hunger to see more of Portugal - I remained especially curious about the mainland.
So, I put the pedal to the travel - I got back to Portugal!
During this escape, I reached Lisbon again, Porto, Aveiro, Belém, Sintra, Cascais, Estoril and the Costa da Caparica... All of which are treated in details within the articles accessible from this page.
As my readers have gotten used to, I will dig deep, dissect and analize the locations, attractions, the look and feel of the places...
So come, join me - let's visit Portugal virtually!
Lisbon has changed substantially since my 2008 visit. It was a lot cleaner, buildings were better restored.
When exploring, I discovered it had a lot more to offer and it's far more diverse than I had anticipated.
A Few Hours at Costa da Caparica
During my first day in Lisbon, I decided to take a bus trip down to Costa da Caparica - for curiosity. The weather was just so good, too good: ideally beachy!
So, I hit the long road to the beach, but eventually, Costa da Caparica left me somewhat dissapointed...
My 2nd and 3rd days were scheduled to be spent at Costa da Caparica, where I had previously booked a hotel close to the beach.
Beach life, town exploration - there was quite interesting architecture there as well.
The peak of my Portuguese experience during this escape was exploring the city of Porto.
An amazingly well-preserved city with vast old quarters, a profusion of alluring old churches, azulejo ceramic tiles on walls and delicious wine!
Just across the Douro River is Vila Nova de Gaia.
A wonderful place for taking photos of Porto's panorama, watching boats and I even tasted Porto red wine... the taste was so magnetic, I had to buy a bottle to bring it home!
The small town of Aveiro reminded me both of Venice and Amsterdam.
It has water channels on which colourful canoe-like motorboats sail, but I liked the architecture a heck-of-a-lot more!
Traveled back to Lisbon for a few more days. A little more looking around and eating around, although I focused more on the nearby localities like Cascais, Belém, Estoril, Sintra.
Just under 10,000 people live in this town belonging to Lisbon's metropolitan area.
Some of the most prominent attractions of the entire Lisbon area are found here and,... you can also taste the delicious pastel de natas in Belém!
More mountains, more green, curious eating... a lot more walking until I wore my (already aching) feet down.
Visited the imposing Pena Palace and the Moorish Fortress, but I also ate at a Japanese-Italian restaurant and walked in the forest...
The seaside town of Cascais was roughly an hour train ride away from Lisbon's Cais do Sodré train station. Worth the trip, worth seeing the beautiful seaside town!
It used to be (and still is) a retreat area of the rich. Villas, palaces even... a bit similar to Cascais, Estoril is a seaside town in the vicinity of Lisbon.
I took photos as I walked around under the hot hot Sun, before rushing to fly out of Portugal...
As "Escape Hunter" - the curious incognito traveler with an insatiable drive to explore, I embark on slow and deep travels around
our beautiful World.
Join me and I will show you exciting destinations
"from within", through my
"escape" trips!
Travel Slang Dictionary
Guide to my personal travel slang vocabulary, which seasons my content...