Portugal & Wales: An Unlikely, Yet Perfect Travel Pairing
One of my best friends and I took an unforgettable trip in 2019. Little did we know it would be one of the last international trips we would take for a while with Covid looming on the horizon, and man am I so glad we took the time to plan this one. It started out as a pipe dream, and then flights got cheap (like $600 round trip from Seattle) and it soon became a reality.
We had decided on Portugal because it was on both of our bucket lists and we definitely wanted to go somewhere warm, and we stumbled upon the idea of adding in Wales a bit later. The reason for Wales is because, as my friend Alex put it, ‘I’ve always pictured drinking a dark beer on a rainy day in the UK with you,’ and we never looked back. We spent about 2 weeks total, most of the time in Portugal becuase there were more things on our list to see there, but we ended up spending a good few days wandering around a little university town in Wales and it was exactly the kind of cloudy, rainy, contrast that we craved. There’s just something about me being from the Northwest and her being from the Midwest that made us crave a short little moody stopover after our sun-filled Portugal trip.
A fun little tradition of Alex’s that begun in college that we decided to integrate into our trip was to make a shared playlist together. We each added 14 songs (a mix of genres from both of us, and not to be shared before we got to the airport). This served as both a keepsake from the trip, and the soundtrack to it, so it now has a super sentimental value whenever I hear any of the songs that remind me of our fun little adventure. Alex and I became close friends by traveling Europe together early on in our friendship (our 2017 Eastern Europe trip was a girls’ trip for the books) and this first little 2-person vacation will always be super sentinmental to me. It’s when we found out that two introverted bookworms could travel well together, and that both our desire to travel by following our stomachs and walking literally everywhere was very complementary. I think about this trip often, and I can’t wait to get something else on the books with this sweet friend, who really took the reigns and planned most of our itinerary. She’s the best travel buddy and trip planner in the biz, hands-down!
Without further ado, here is our itinerary with some notes about can’t-miss activities in each place:
Portugal
Days 1 & 2: We landed in Lisbon after a quick layover in London Gatwick where we loopily scarfed down an english breakfast at Weatherspoons between flights. We stumbled out of the uber down cobblestone streets to our little green door where we met our host for our stunning little Aribnb with a picture window view of the water and the city. From there we walked up to Viewpoint Miradouro de Santa Luzia. We could see our little pink Airbnb from here! For dinner, we went to a little traditional tasca, which was recommended by many travelers saying ‘the more hole-in-the-wall it looks, the better the food is.’ We had our inagural listen of the playlist while sharing a bottle of Portuguese wine graciously provided by our host.
Day 3: We took a lovely walking tour from a local guide through Sandeman’s which was a great intro to the city. We then checked out Praça do Comércio which was beautiful at dusk. We popped into a flea market in Alfama where we bought cork bags (things made of cork are a staple throughout Portugal). For lunch, we went to Taberna Sal Grosso (recommended by many online guides) which had amazing tapas plates. We had pork belly and codfish croquettes and a pitcher of sangria. It was a very small restaurant with only 6 tables or so it was very cozy. From there, we walked to Miradouro da nossa senhora do monte — a beautiful lookout of water and city. Would highly recommend grabbing a bottle of wine and taking in the views. Later that night we went to Duque—one of the few craft breweries in Lisbon— very cute spot with big open windows, outdoor seating, and roomy wooden booths.
Day 4: We took a day trip out of town to visit Sintra, a beautiful city about an hour outside Lisbon. We stopped at Palácio da regaleira, a beautiful jungle-like park with tons of stunning greenery and lots of little sites. Quinta da regaleira had a huge Well that you could walk all the way down through the spiral staircase, where the air gets damper and colder as you get down into the cave exits. Castelo Dos Mouros was our second stop— a medieval castle with walled walkways where we walked up one side to a viewpoint of Pena Palace and the ocean beyond. Pena palace was surreal with its brightly colored pastel turrets and stunning views. The day-trip was well worth it, probably more so if you rent a car— the hop-on-hop-off bus experience made it feel a little like Disneyland. Back in Lisbon at night, we had dinner at Bao Bao, a chinese/Asian fusion place that was extremely good. From there, we wandered over to the bookstore Livraria Bertrand — the oldest continuously open bookstore in Europe. For our evening activities, we went to the bar Pensão Amor (recommended by our tour guide). It was a very cute bar with cushy armchairs, warm lighting, and a fake Sistine chapel ceiling. From there, we walked to Crafty Corner, another cozy little brewery. It had a fun vibe filled with candles with wax dripping down the sides and a spiral staircase in middle.
Day 5: Brunch at Nicolau — a restaurant with a cute teal and bronze scheme, beautiful food (beet red hamburger buns, for example). From there, we took the bus to the tile (azulejo) museum. In the evening we went to a Fado Show at Mascote da Atalaia. It was a full multi-course meal with a live music show up close (the musicians were 5 feet from us) playing traditional Portuguese music that can be traced back to the 1820s in Lisbon. Highly recommend, a not-to-miss activity.
Day 6: Destination: Aveiro, a little canal-based resort beach town a few hour train ride from Lisbon. We stayed at Hotel Das Salinas where we had in a room overlooking the canals. We took a boat ride on one of the old salt boats, which was a charming way to see the city. We hunted down dinner, most places were pretty expensive but we found a cool vegan place called Restaurante Musgo. From there, we went to Mercado Negro, a bar located in a huge old apartment which was kind of quirky and fun. Overall the city was a fun stopover, but in retrospect I do wish we had seen some of the beaches along the Portugeuse coastline.
Day 7: Travel day from Aveiro to Porto. Beautiful train ride through the countryside and along the water. We arrived at the gorgeous train station— with tile everywhere—and then out into sunny and bustling Porto! A 10 minute walk (with more hills than we wanted) took us past two craft markets on our way to our Airbnb located on a bustling shopping street. We had dinner at Bugo Art Burgers which were maybe the best burgers we’ve ever had. They came with port-soaked carmalized onions, Portuguese cheese, homemade chips, and prosciutto.
Day 8: Went on another walking tour to get oriented in Porto. After the tour we walked on top of the famous bridge, Ponte Luis 1 for a very cool view of the city. Managed to get some groceries, then walked to vegetarian buffet for dinner called DaTerra Baixa. So delicious and fresh! Tons of options so we nibbled a little of everything. Sat on swing chairs looking out the front window to eat.
Day 9: Wine tour in the Duoro Valley. We drove 1.5 hours to Pinhão in the Douro valley, stopped in town for a little coffee break. Our tour was all-inclusive, and came with a boat ride down Douro River (highly recommend), and a stop at 3 winieries, one which also used to manufacture olive oil, and lastly, a port winery. We also stopped for lunch at old firehouse with stunning beautiful views. Back in town for dinner, we went to A Sandeira Do Porto, a little sandwich shop a friend recommended that was a nice end cap to a beautiful day.
Day 10: Brunch at Zenith, for a beautiful hearty meal to start the day, highly recommend! We bought tickets to see the Livaria Lello bookstore which inspired Flourish and Blotts in Harry Potter. The bookstore was beautiful but packed full of people all day. I recommend looking at Google to see when the lines are the shortest! Then, we went on an afternoon boat tour of the Duoro River to see Porto’s 6 bridges, including the one out by the entrance to the Atlantic Ocean. From there, we walked along both sides of the river, checking out shops and grabbed drinks and a quick bite. On our way home, we stopped by this cool little acrylic jewelry store that we had seen at the market. Our last stop was a fancy dinner at Flor Dos Congregados, a place recommend by some friends as a beautiful last meal. We had amazing portuguese sausages and a cheese plate with some port to go along with it. And for dessert, their highly anticipated port-soaked pears which were an absolutely perfect end to our time in Portugal.
Wales & London
Day 11: We hopped a quick flight from Porto to Birmingham, and took a train to Aberystwyth, Wales. The train ride was stunning, filled with sheep and pretty Welsh countryside glimpsed through fog and mist. We went from 80 and sunny to 55 and rainy and honestly we were pumped! It was a quick walk from the train station to our Airbnb with adorable with views of little welsh town. Our first stop was a much-needed fish and chips at a spot on the water with called Chips on the Pier. From there, we wandered a little and ended up at little cocktail bar called Libertine around the corner from our Airbnb. We had a few fancy craft cocktails in fun little mugs and called it a night.
Day 12: Slept in and then went to breakfast at a museum cafe, which was a nice little coffee and pastry. Then we made a dash for the little steam train up to Devils Bridge through gorgeous welsh countryside and hills. When we got to devils bridge we had an hour to poke around so we walked down in a nature area, saw a waterfall, and got some hot tea for the ride back. When back down from the mountain, we had dinner in the Airbnb, and then ventured out to Bottle and Barrel — a cute craft beer spot which would quickly become our favorite find of the trip.
Day 13: We did some shopping in all the charity stores—so cheap and so many of them! Then we went to the dog-friendly cafe Sophie Bach, sat at little table to read and had some tea and carrot cake. In the afternoon, we took a funicular up the hill (a little wooden car) for amazing views of Aberystwyth. We walked around for a while taking in all the angles then got beers and read at a picnic table by the view. Very windy but well worth it. For dinner we went to Central Fish Festaurant for more fish and chips—cheap and hit the spot.
Day 14: We took a train from Wales to London for our last night to be closer to the airport. We made the most out of our one night in London by getting a ton of steps in. We walked by Buckingham Palace and the National Gallery. We saw Big Ben, bought some seltzer water and sat by the river. Then we walked down to Tower Bridge and saw the bridge being raised for a boat in the middle. By the walk back, our feet were hurting but we made it to dinner — Masala zone, which was an epic Indian feast for our last night in Europe. On our way home, we walked through a packed Piccadilly Circus and ended up at a bar in Kingly court for a last little cheers to our epic adventure.
