When a promotion for vacation travel to Portugal popped up on our computer, Cathy and I began to consider going there for our first time. The package including flight (from Toronto to Lisbon), car rental , three night’s accommodation in Porto, four nights in Algarve and three in Lisbon was very reasonably priced.
Our small car, a Mitsubishi Space Star, was ideally suited for the two of us to get around both the tiny cobblestone roads in the towns and cities as well as cruising the freeways when the limit was 120 kph/75 mph.
I brought limited camera gear for this vacation, utilizing a Sony Rx10 iv bridge camera, an Osmo Action and a waterproof Fuji XP130. The XP130 would be very useful given the weather conditions and was fun to have when we ventured into the ocean for a dip. The Osmo Action was ideal for numerous time lapse videos of our drive.
We have previously joined free walking tours when visiting Boston and Chicago and found the guides to be excellent. Porto was no different as our sharp witted local guide was both sarcastic and educational. Note that the guides are paid by receiving a tip at the end of the tour by the guests. We walked more than 25,000 steps each of our two days in the hilly city of Porto.
The five hour drive from Porto to the Algarve region in the south provided my legs with the rest they required. Our ocean side hotel had a nice pool but the nearby beach was spectacular as it was surrounded by 30 meter/100 foot cliffs of jagged rock face. We could walk to local restaurants and grocery stores. It was only a 35 minute drive to the Autodome do Algarve track mentioned in a recent post. Given poor weather on one of our days here we ventured to the nearby town of Silvas to visit a castle monument and a museum.
Our drive to the Lisbon suburb of Queluz was less than three hours. Once off the highway the roads are very busy with numerous roundabouts, which is common for most of Europe. Our walking tour with a local photographer provided interesting photo opportunities but each of the participants, including the host, slipped on the slick sidewalks during the wet and rainy day. This was a good reminder that we should not walk with our hands in our pockets in such conditions!
John Larsen is this blog’s Senior International Travel Correspondent, whose website is www.photograffics.com.