Portugal Trip Itinerary and Tips

We just got back from the best family trip to Portugal! We were celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary and we decided to take our kids along too. I’m so glad we did, because we had the best family time there. With only a few years left with our teenagers home, traveling/experiences with them has become a priority for us. I shared a lot of our trip on Instagram and promised a more in depth blog post to you all. So here is our Portugal trip itinerary and tips!

We decided on Portugal after my Cruise to Italy and Croatia last year. One of our tour guides there mentioned his family vacations in Portugal and it’s the most beautiful place. That intrigued me as well as the fact that Dan has a friend who lives in Porto, Portugal. Dan took the reigns on planning this trip and he did a great job! We decided to break our trip up into 3 places. Lisbon, Porto, and the Algarve region. We went for 12 days and it was perfect. I’ll share what we did and what we would do differently as well.

Two big tips before we get into the trip:

Tip 1: Car Rental – We started our trip in Lisbon. Don’t rent a car here! This is a very walkable city with tons of public transportation options and very little parking. We should have uber-ed to our airbnb, spent our time in Lisbon, taken a train to Porto, then rented our car to drive down to Algarve. We didn’t use our car at all in Lisbon or Porto and it was a waste of the money. We did, however, love having a car in Algarve to explore!

Tip 2: Get Your Guide App – The “Get Your Guide” app was so helpful to book all of our excursions and tours. It allows you to read reviews on everything, buy your tickets, and has all the info in one helpful spot. We loved everything we booked through this app.

Lisbon

DAY 1 – We flew into Lisbon and hit the ground running. We booked an airbnb for the night before we got there so we could go straight there to get rid of our luggage and freshen up a bit the morning we arrived. The airbnb we stayed in (linked at the bottom of this post) was a great location close enough to the city center to walk to shopping, restaurants etc.

We booked a private tuk-tuk tour our first afternoon and highly recommend it as a great way to see a ton of the city for tired/jet-lagged travelers.

We ate at the Timeout Market which is a market with all different food vendor stalls from local restaurants. It was a great way to try a bunch of different things and the atmosphere was so fun.

We ate dinner at Rocco which was beautiful inside, but I think may be a better place for drinks than dinner.

DAY 2 – The next day we booked a full day tour starting at Pena Palace, going to Regaleira to see the Initiation well, stopping for lunch and touring Cascais. We booked this tour and it was great because we were with a small group of 8 people total. Gi was our tour guide and he was knowledgeable and funny. He drove us everywhere in a sprinter van and it was a great way to see a ton of the Lisbon area without having to worry about parking/directions etc.

We love Pena Palace, it was stunning! Go first thing though as it gets crowded by early morning.

The Initiation Well was so cool to walk through and explore the caves.

Cascais was gorgeous to explore for a bit as well.

That night there was a huge parade/festival which was so fun to explore. We didn’t plan for out trip to coincide with all the of the Saint Festivals but it was so fun to experience.

We had dinner at Palacio Chiado and besides being one of the best meals of my life, the atmosphere was stunning inside as well.

We capped the night off with watching the parade and listening to live music in the street.

Porto

DAY 1 – We drove the next morning to Porto which is about a 3 hour drive, we could have taken a train which would have been easier. Our airbnb here was 3 stories right on the river which was so pretty. It was also walkable to a lot of restaurants and shopping along the riverwalk.

We explored the different vendors along the river and grabbed a pizza at one of the river front restaurants.

That evening we met Dan’s friend Miguel and his family for dinner at Entoca 1756. The food was delicious and it was so fun for our kids to spend time with their kids of the same age learning about how different our cultures are.

DAY 2 – It was pouring rain so we booked another Tuk-tuk tour to see the city. We didn’t like this one as much as the one in Lisbon, but it was covered so we were able to see a fair amount without getting soaked. It was still beautiful and there was gorgeous tile work everywhere you looked.

We stopped in the train station there because the tile work is a must see. We wandered around shopping and eating the rest of the morning as the sky cleared.

In the afternoon we took a boat tour on the river. This was a good chance to sit down and rest our feet, but I wouldn’t say it was a must do.

The Algarve Region – Carvoeiro

DAY 5 – DAY 11 – After all the castles, churches, and historic site seeing our kids were ready for some adventure. We drove down to the Algarve region which is in the southernmost part of Portugal and filled with beach towns. We chose to stay in Carvoero and we loved it there. Our airbnb had the most amazing view and location as long as you don’t mind stairs…lots of them.

Once again we were here during a festival (the Portuguese love to party). This time the Black and White Night festival. It was so fun, you can see our airbnb at the top of the hill there with the black door. The location was perfect and the view was insane!

We did a combination of relaxing on the beach, hiking, and kayaking.

The town of Carvoeiro has tons of restaurants and is super walkable. There was a market down the road from us where we would buy fresh bread and fruit every day for lunch. Our kids ended every night with gelato or crepes from the various shops there. Some of our notable favorite restaurants –

Boneca Bar – this restaurant is set right in the cliffs and the view is amazing. The Peri Peri chicken was delicious.

Pani – Delicious Indian food with a pretty view on the 2nd floor.

Earth Cafe – We enjoyed our breakfast here.

Black Salt – Wonderful meal and the staff here were so friendly.

One of our favorite days was hiking the Seven Hanging Valleys hike. Wow, it was unbelievably gorgeous.

Also equal parts heart attack inducing if you happen to have a curious 13 year old boy who liked getting close to the cliff edge…This is a 7 mile hike but we only did about 5 miles of it.

Kayaking the Benagil caves is another must do activity. You can also take a boat tour of the caves, but kayaking is really the way to go.

The boats can’t get in all of the caves and in the kayaks you have the opportunity to get out and explore a bit too.

Dan also took our kids to the waterpark there one afternoon for a few hours as well.

There was so much to see and do in Portugal that I feel like we barely scratched the surface. We absolutely loved our time here and I definitely want to go back someday!

Airbnb Information –

• Lisbon – 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment. Easy walking to shopping and food plus a parking spot. Clean and modern inside.
• Porto – 2 bedroom, 2 bath three-story condo. We loved this place, super charming inside yet modern. Great view right on the river and easy walking to shopping and food.
• Carvoeiro – 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment. So charming, small but very useable space. The VIEW!!! Great location, right by the beach, food, and shopping.

Thanks for reading my Portugal Trip Itinerary and Tips! If you are planning a trip soon feel free to leave me a question in the comments!