The Serial Expat

Planning a trip to Portugal in 2024? Seemingly everyone else is too, as it seems from the various feedback I have when sharing about our summer. So, I thought I’d share what I learnt when planning our summer Portuguese excursion. Save this post for your planning!

✈️ Flying in and out. If you’d like to see both North and South Portugal, I suggest you fly into Porto in the north and out of Faro (with a likely connecting flight in Lisbon back home). This will minimize backtracking and enable you to see more of the country using mostly public transport (outside Algarve/Alentejo where you must have a car).

🇵🇹 You can see tons of what Portugal has to offer in about 10-14 days. If you are ok with going at a very fast pace, you might shave off 3-4 days, but you won’t see me recommending that :)

🧩 Itinerary

📍Spend 3-4 or so days exploring Porto, and then the unique university city of Coimbra with potential stops in Ericeira, Nazare, and Mafra National Palace, as you make your way south.

📍Lisbon can be about 2-3 concentrated days, though it’s feasible to stay longer and not be bored. Build in days to visit Sintra and Cascais for day trips, though Sintra probably deserves 2 days — it’s one of Portugal’s gems.

📍From here, rent a car and spend at least 4 days exploring the south. We skipped Alentejo outside of Evora — but it can offer more affordable beach stays though the water is more choppy/colder on the Atlantic. Generally, the sea gets warmer the closer you are to Spain. There are TONS of delightful towns and villages to visit from but a few mentions here: Sagres, Lagos, Portimao, Faro, and Tavira should probably make the list. Ria Formosa and it’s beach islands too, though I find that you either need more days with smaller kids or…. Bigger kids to make more of the days! Algarve delivers in wonders — here you will find spectacular, clean nature - rugged coastlines with stories to tell, many blue flag beaches, salt marshes and plain amazing days at the sea where water sports of all kinds rule.

Happy planning!

You can’t visit Lisbon and not try Pasteis de Belem.

I came with a personal mission to overdose on pasteis de nata and pasteis de Belem just raised the bar for how amazing this combination of puff pastry, eggs, sugar, and milk can be!

You might be led to believe that these two are the same dessert but Pasteis de Belem has a unique history, its recipe developed by the monks of the Jeronimos Monastery in 1837. There is now a store and the name Pasteis de Belem is a patented name for what was a leveled up pasteis de nata. I can attest that Pasteis de Belem is far creamier, rich in its texture and the taste is spectacular!

Must stop when you are visiting Jeronimos and Tower of Belem!

Can’t wait for another visit to Bath this summer. The flight costs have been bonkers and while I managed to score a great deal to Portugal (starting tomorrow!!) where incidentally there isn’t a heat wave - couldn’t quite figure out how to get out to visit parents this summer. Thankfully - one of my parents WILL visit us himself again this year 😍 and we will absolutely to go to Bath, as it’s a MUST do day trip from London. Photo cred with whom we spent a glorious day here.
Roman Baths. Save for when you visit Bath, one of the most elegant British cities.

Fun London Westminster history time! Did you know that:

👑 As His Royal Majesty, you’d think that the King could do whatever he likes BUT he is only able to go as far as the throne in the House of Lords, but any further is an intrusion on the operation of the designated House of Commons.

😷 Parliament considered abandoning Westminster due to the STINK from the Thames? The debacle was otherwise known as the Great Stink of 1858. Subsequently they passed hygiene and plumbing laws, creating the modern London canalization system.

🏰 You’re not allowed to wear a suit of armor into Parliament, dating back to a law forbidding Bearing of Armour or Coming Armed to Parliament Act of 1313. Basically, to avoid armed conflict which is one the ways noblemen did business back then.

What’s the craziest fun fact about London you’ve heard?