Portugal is a country that I know we will continue to revisit. This country has so much to offer. There is excellent food, a wonderful culture, great wine, beaches, unique towns, and the whole country is very affordable travel wise. This is an example of a very summery itinerary. You wouldn’t likely spend as much time in these beach towns outside of summer as many things would be closed.
Although I am sure they would still be absolutely beautiful. You also would most certainly not be wrong for staying longer in any of these places and I hope someday we have the time to do so.
Sintra (1-2 nights)
Sintra is a fairytale… there really isn’t any better way to describe it. There are so many things to see and do, I have been there twice and still haven’t hit everything I’d like. The architecture and displays of past wealth are incredible, with The “Pena Palace” like something out of a dream, and the “Quinta da Regaleira”, which is beyond gorgeous and so fun to explore. The town itself is so charming, and though small, has some amazing places to eat, drink, and stay. The bakery by far one of the best we visited in Portugal. I would highly recommend staying overnight in this special town.
I HIGHLY recommend staying over at Casa Do Valle when in Sintra. The grounds are absolutely incredible and the views of so many of Sintras main sites are amazing. Plus they have a pool!
If you’re looking for more details on how to spend your time in Sintra I have a whole post about it here —–> Ditch the Daytrip to Sintra Portugal.
Tavira (2 nights)
The drive from Sintra to Tavira takes about 3 hours.
Every once in a while, you find one of those really charming places that you can’t believe isn’t overrun with tourists. Tavira was that place. We loved taking the ferry boat out to the beach, hanging out with the locals in town, and walking to Santa Luzia for the best octopus we’ve ever had in our lives. Many of the houses and buildings in Tavira are covered in tile, and I can officially say that tile is my style! It was low-key in the very best way, it felt like we were on a family vacation with people from Portugal.
I wrote a full post about this wonderful town, you can check it out —–> Tavira: the Hidden Gem of the Algarve.
Albufiera (2 nights)
The drive from Tavira takes about 50 minutes.
Albufiera was quite the opposite of Tavira. It was very large and busy, built up and touristy. During our initial walk around town, I thought I wasn’t going to like it. However, we slowly realized we actually really enjoyed this town, too, you just had to work a little harder to seek out the charm. We ate at some incredible places, saw beautiful beaches like nothing we’ve ever seen, kayaked to caves, and enjoyed cocktails in so many amazing spots. We ended up loving our time here, and can truly say we would stop here again.
Lagos (2 nights)
From Albufiera to Lagos the drive takes about 45 minutes.
We loved Lagos! Lagos felt like the perfect mix of Tavira and Albufiera. Although, to be fair, it was quite touristy also. It was wonderful to be able to walk to so many beaches, and hiking along the coast was one of our favorite things we did during this trip. We loved the food and the kindness of all of the people we met. Even the streets in Lagos were creative and decorative. If we had one more day in Lagos, I would have loved to take a boat tour to see the amazing views from the water.
Lisbon (1-3 nights)
The drive from Lagos to Lisbon takes just under 3 hours.
Lisbon is one of those cities that I know we’ll keep going back to throughout our lives. This beautiful city has so much to offer. The hills are a huge part of the charm, the views from so many different locations are breathtaking. The tile buildings here are beautiful and so unique. The trolleys and funiculars add to the experience and make traversing the city so much fun. The food is excellent, there are so many options, and so much to see. It is easy to understand why Lisbon is a popular place of residence for expats from all over the world, we could actually see ourselves living in Lisbon some day, too.
This post contains affiliate links, if you book through these links I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. This helps me to keep this blog ad free and easy to read.