Portugal is one of our favourite travel destinations in Europe. The cities of Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra have their own distinct vibes and it’s easy to get in the swing of the social scenes there. The rugged coastline by Sintra is a must-visit destination for hikers, whilst wine lovers will be bowled over by the sweeping vineyards of the Douro Valley.
Porto is small, walkable and easy to love, which is good news when you are deciding where to stay. Almost everywhere central puts you within a short stroll of the Ribeira, the port lodges and a taberna worth queuing for.…
Every “best winter sun” destination list says the same thing: Tenerife, Dubai, the Maldives. They’re not wrong, those places are reliably warm, but the lists all read like a travel brochure, written by someone who hasn’t necessarily been. This one…
Deciding where to stay in Lisbon shapes your whole trip: the city’s neighbourhoods are so distinct that the same holiday can feel completely different from one hill to the next. We have stayed in Lisbon three times, twice in Alfama…
Lisbon has long been held up as Europe’s budget-friendly gem, but is it still? We visited twice: once in September 2020, midway through the pandemic, and again in April 2026. Both times we stayed in the Alfama neighbourhood. The city…
Lisbon or Porto? We have been asked this question more times than we can count, and the honest answer has always been the same: Por que não ambos? (Why not both?) But if you are short on time and have…
Foz do Douro is Porto‘s well-heeled seaside neighbourhood at the mouth of the River Douro. Less than 20 minutes from the historic centre of Porto, it offers the beach, the breeze, and the fresh seafood without the crush of tourists…
Porto feels heartier, friendlier and more wholesome than anywhere else we visited in Portugal. We arrived after a weekend in Coimbra and Lisbon, and by the time we’d ridden a rented scooter out of the city into the Douro Valley…
Burgau is the Algarve’s best-kept secret. After finding Carvoeiro to be more like a tourist resort than the quaint fishing village we had hoped for, we feared that all of Portugal’s beaches had been overtaken by big hotels and become…
Carvoeiro in Portugal’s Algarve region is a beach town best suited to those wanting a smaller resort town with easy access to hiking, kayaking and day trips. In this short guide, we take you on a journey to Carvoiero’s best…
Portugal’s Douro Valley stole our hearts. We jumped on a rented scooter in Porto and headed out into the rolling, vineyard-covered hills of the Douro wine region. The winding road spiralled through vineyards. They took us past tiny hillside villages…