10-Day Trip Covered the Country

Portugal | May 9 - May 18, 2024

We loved this hotel! It is charming and in a good spot. It did get a little loud late at night as it's near a few clubs, but we slept right through it. The breakfast is amazing. I believe the hotel is part of a former palace, and it has some of the old exposed walls that come along with it. We had a suite and it was roomy and clean. The room included a Nepresso machine which was convenient. Our bathroom had a double sink and large shower. There was ample storage space. Check in was easy and everyone was super friendly. We would stay here again, and highly recommend it.

I am not one to leave bad reviews but we did not enjoy this hotel. My husband and I were in the room. The room was very small and awkward. We could barely move throughout the room together. The closet was behind a curtain. The bathroom was tough to use. By this I mean when you leaned over to wash your face, your head hit the glass shelf over the sink. It was made more awkward because apparently many Portuguese hotels do not have bath clothes (small and square) but instead give you what at least an American would call an hand towel, and a large one at that. It's hard to wash your face with a hand towel, especially when you whack you head on the too-close shelf. For the breakfast, the food was very good and local, but the stated times were 8-10 am. Many times we had tours at 8:30, so we really needed the breakfast up and ready by 8 am. It was never fully ready until about 8:30 am, including the coffee. There was a very sweet lady setting up the breakfast, but it felt like she could have used some more help. Also, there was a sign that said coffee would be available pretty much all day, but it never was. (Coffee during breakfast was also an issue - it constantly ran out.). One day our room was not cleaned because the cleaning person didn't show up. Okay. Perhaps I am overacting, but we paid a lot for this room (including daily breakfast and a daily serviced room), we didn't feel this hotel delivered. Overall we didn't feel super welcome here - we felt like we were an inconvenience. Maybe it was just us - I noticed great reviews throughout the lobby. The only comment I can end with is I would not stay here again.

Loved, loved, loved this hotel. It is super convenient to the beaches and walking trails of Lagos. We love to hike and specifically asked for a vacation experience that made this easy. There are so many walking trails near this hotel. The city center is about 15/20 minutes by foot. It's easy to get there and you see a lot of people walking/doing the same. We always felt very safe here and while walking anywhere. The hotel staff was kind and courteous, and this hotel has an AMAZING breakfast. We didn't come to sit by the pool, we did go there for several hours one afternoon. The bar service for the pool was efficient and quick, and the pool side food was good.

We were in and out of this hotel quickly. Most people probably come in the night before an early morning flight (we did.). This would be a great hotel in which to spend more time - the room is modern and nice, there is a spa service, and the food was good. The breakfast starts at 4 am, which gives people with early morning flights time to eat before leaving. There is a shuttle that will take you to the airport, but if you don't mind a quick walk, you can also walk to the airport terminal (yes, it's that close). The breakfast here was excellent. We'd stay here again and highly recommend this hotel. The staff was very welcoming, and we enjoyed the "Lisbon" welcome cookies upon checkin.

What a great way to get to know Lisbon! We enjoyed this three-hour tour with our host Dani. We arrived in the morning, and took this group tour at 3 pm. There was less than 10 of us. It was the perfect way to 1) see the city 2) get a meal without having to think about it and 3) make some new friends.

This three-hour private tour of Lisbon was awesome. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, and we covered a lot of ground. He explained architecture, history, and so many other things. He hit all of the sites that we wanted to see, and provided introspective details that we clearly would not have gotten on our own.

We enjoyed the Fado show. The singers were soulful with their songs. We had read in advance that one should not clap at Fado shows, but everyone in the audience did, so we did too. This Fado spot is in a lovely spot by the Cathedral of Se, and made for a charming walk to/from our hotel. The food was fantastic.

This full day tour was incredible. Sintra was like walking into a fairy tale. We had a misty, cool day, and the castle decided it didn't want to be seen during our visit ;( but exploring the grounds was amazing. There was something at every turn. we loved seeing all of the different plants and trees, and hearing (and seeing a few) birds. We asked for options to hike during our tour of Portugal, and this spot didn't disappoint. We opted to hike to the top near the old Moorish fort. It's a good 45 minute hike pretty much straight up. Coming down was a good workout as well. Sintra is definitely a hilly adventure and well worth it.

We didn't have much time in Porto, and this three-hour tour gave us a great overview of the city. Our guide was born in Porto and knew the ins and outs of the city. He was clearly very proud of his city, and his enthusiasm was contagious. We covered a lot of ground, and Porto is a hilly city. We got a good workout!

For us a trip to Porto without going to the Douro Valley would have been incomplete. So we went to the Douro :) This day trip was extremely worthwhile. We were worried because the weather in Porto had turned wet and chilly. Everyone kept saying "The Douro Valley has its own microclimate - it could be raining or sunny." Everyone was right. It was sunny but windy. It's over an hour and a half drive to get where we were going, but wow, was every mile beautiful. The bends and turns each brought a different view. We had a great picnic with local wine and food, and enjoyed an informative tour of one vineyard. We saw a hawk and several falcons, plus a few other native birds -- we love seeing birds so this was a highlight for us. We stopped on the way back in Amarante and had a great (despite wet) walk around the town.

While all of our excursions in Portugal were awesome, this trip to Geres may have been our favorite. This park is simply gorgeous. We came to Portugal to get some hikes in, and that is exactly what we did on this full day tour. We had several challenging hikes throughout the day. The landscape was beautiful and at times rugged, but our guide made sure we always felt safe and were ready to keep going. The views from the day were incredible. The mid-day meal was exceptional - it was a lot of food. We enjoyed seeing the small village and learning about its history. We really liked how the tour company worked along with the community to help give back by letting us plant a seedling (oaks and chestnuts) that in the future would be replanted in the forest.

What a great tour to end our visit in Portugal with this adventure in the Algarve. This is more than a quick peek at the sunset. Our guide picked us up from our hotel in Lagos, and we made our way village by village over to Cape Saint Vincent, the most southeastern point in Europe. Because he grew up in this area, at each stop our guide gave insights into what made each little village special from his perspective. We ultimately made our way to Cape Saint Vincent where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic, but this is not where we saw the sunset. Our guide timed it perfectly, and we went further to a very secluded spot and celebrated the setting of the sun. It was an amazing day.