Sintra and Algarve, Portugal

WHY WE WENT

We wanted to go somewhere and be cheap but also didn’t want to go somewhere new because I was about six months pregnant and we weren’t sure if I’d need to take naps or whatever. So back to my trusted motherland it was. Plus, I missed it!

HOW LONG WE STAYED

June 1 - 16, 2018

WHO WENT

Dave, Ana (with child), Owen (3 years old)

WHERE WE STAYED

We always go to Algarve of course and always spend at least a night in Lisbon. This trip we also decide to visit Sintra since I had never been and Seville since Dave had never been. Read the Seville post here.

HOW WE DID PORTUGAL

Portugal is an easy country to navigate but it’s also where i’m from so we go there on autopilot.

Time change

There’s a 5 hour time change for us so we really get to play around with Owen’s schedule when we go. Since Portugal is so cheap, we eat out often and want to be out when everyone is having dinner. So instead of the 7am to 8pm schedule Owen normally has, we changed it to 9am to 10pm - that way we got to sleep in and enjoy late night dinners al fresco.

transportation

We rented a car and car seat at the airport in Lisbon and used it for the duration of our trip.

accommodations

We booked this AirBnb in Sintra which was lovely. They even left us a bottle of wine and pasteis de nata as a welcome.

For the Algarve, I do have a condo but there are plenty of options like AirBnBs and villas to rent.

Our days

In SIntra, we checked out some of the castles and popular spots but they do require a lot of hiking and stair climbing so i wasn’t able to do as much as I wanted, or as quickly.

Then I do have an itinerary for the Algarve that we loosely follow but we’ve done it before so we just play it by ear now. We go to our favourite restaurants, our beaches and visit with some lingering family I still have.

This was Owen’s second time in Portugal but first time he understood and so the trip was all about showing him how I see Portugal and he loved it.