Each year I round up my favourite trips I’ve taken across Portugal, and it’s a fun chance to reflect on where I’ve been and share a tale or two from cool places that I (often) haven’t had the time to write any blogs about (yet!).
For me, 2024 was a really good year personally and professionally. I managed to squeeze plenty of fun in the past 12 months while growing my site, working with travel clients, and you know, looking after myself and all that adult rubbish.
Anyway, let’s dive into my past 12 months of trips across Portugal.
Carnaval road trip to Aveiro and Lazarim
Carnival 2024 was the third annual dash north to chase some of Portugal’s weirder, more traditional carnavals. This year, with three girlfriends piled in my car, we headed north to hit not one but two different events. First stop, Aveiro to meet the “Cardadores”, who take to the streets of Vale de Ílhavo in wild and wonderful bird-like costumes. It was a tiny festival that’s cute if you’re in the area.
Then onto Lazarim, a small village south of the Douro Valley where the locals wear wooden masks carved from a single trunk, along with hay suits. Unsurprisingly, this was a big party with an effigy to burn, plenty of wine, dancing, and iron cauldrons of hearty soups booking over fire all afternoon. You can read about both in my article about the wilder Portuguese carnivals with pagan roots.
In between Fat Sunday and Carnival Tuesday – on the quieter Monday – we passed through Arouca Natural GeoPark where we enjoyed a sunny winter hike from Regoufe to the abandoned village of Drave. The reward for our 3-4 hours on the trail was a pre-ordered veal dish with potatoes (that had baked from 3-4 hours) at Adega Típica da Pena, a cosy restaurant in a tiny village called Pena. I also became besties with some local goats who loved ear scratchies in hard-to-reach spots near the horns.
Read next… Devil on the loose: 7 traditional pagan carnivals to attend in Portugal
April weekend in Évora by train
Soon after I returned from an April trip home to Australia, I dashed off to the town of Évora at the invite of my friend Lauren from Art With Friends (if you like art history, she’s your girl). Since the plan was to stay just in the small Alentejo capital, I took the train – an easy ride from Lisbon – and spent a few days walking every street, eating everything in sight, and discovering the city a whole lot deeper.
From those few days I wrote some great guides covering the best things to do in Évora, where to eat, and where to shop for locally made things.
Summer day trips to Arrábida Natural Park
One of my favourite Lisbon secrets is Arrábida Natural Park, a paradise 50 minutes south of Lisbon. Three of my favourite summer days were spent here, and part of me wants to keep this to myself.
On most day trips to Arrábida Natural Park, we’ll first head to Setúbal the nearby city to visit the incredible daily market, Mercado do Livramento. We always end up at the oyster stall, shooting back breakfast oysters before grabbing a quick bica (espresso) at another stall. This market is one of the best in Portugal, which I’ve detailed why here.
From there we’d either stay in town for lunch, enjoying the local specialty choco frito (fried cuttlefish) or drive the curving mountain roads along the coast to the village of Portinho da Arrrábida where I reserve a table (ideally on the waterfront) at O Farol for the seafood rice (and everything else on the menu).
Then the afternoon is spent with a good book on the sand, where if you’re lucky (or unlucky) a family of wild boars will leave the forest to join the beach party and cause chaos.
From here, we’ll cross the mountain until we reach the inland wine village of Azeitão. If there’s time (and interest among my companions), we’ll drop into Azulejos de Azeitão. The super nice owner usually shows us how tiles are made and we explore the atelier and showroom. You can do a tile painting workshop here if you book ahead.
One of the visit this summer, instead of the market we started with a cheese factory tour and tasting at Queijaria Simões and saw how one of my favourite Portuguese cheeses, Queijo de Azeitão, is made before eating our weight in cheese before 10am
Alentejo sunset at Monsaraz in June
Monsaraz is the most magical village in Portugal, and it’s somewhere I’d long wanted to A) return to, and B) take one of my best friends as I knew she would love it. We’d popped out to Évora for the weekend, starting with traditional sweets at a local bakery and a tavern lunch on the outskirts of town. Then we drove out of the city, stopping in Corval (Portugal’s pottery village) to do some damage before reaching Monsaraz.
I timed it perfectly – after an early evening stroll around the town, we squeezed in a semi-early dinner (with magnificent views) at Sahida before escaping to the castle walls for sunset. Finally, we returned to Évora to see a favourite artist, Dino Santiago, perform at the Feira de São João. 10/10 no notes.
Read next… 48 hours in Monsaraz
A summer weekend in Peniche
I get itchy feet in the summer, and seeing every person on Instagram at the beach doesn’t help. While I try to lay low in the summer months (when children are on holidays and prices are high) I can’t help but desire sunshine and the sea too.
“Ah, the Oeste,” a friend said when I described how the fog came in on a perfectly sunny summer day in Peniche. I can’t recommend this stretch of coast for sunshine, but we did enjoy a gorgeous blue-sky day there. We even spent a few sunny hours indoors at the National Museum of Resistance and Freedom, which I would say was a waste but the newly reopened museum is fantastic and a must-visit for anyone interested in Portugal’s anti-fascist resistance movement of the 1970s. It’s free for residents.
Peniche is a charming coastal fishing village with great seafood. We had an amazing meal at Tasco do Joel, a Portuguese institution that I’ve been wanting to visit for years. It’s long evolved from a tasca now, and they even had a free wine tasting at the front.
Peniche is also the launch point for the beautiful Berlengas Islands. We’ve been before and it’s well worth the bumpy trip out.
Slow summer escape to Melides, Alentejo coast
Melides was my “emergency summer holiday”. I had no summer vacations plans, and as the August summer heat hit and my energy and creativity waned, I knew I had to escape to the sea. I booked a mostly solo retreat in Melides, a beautiful and wild coastal area of Portugal just south of Comporta. I wasn’t sure what to expect – I’m not a huge fan of Comporta and it’s overpriced beach bars and laidback luxe vibe – and I’d say Melides is where it’s at.
There’s not much to do but beach hop, read books, laze by the pool, and eat at a handful of restaurants. For someone like me, who likes to go, go, go it was the ideal place to switch off and I hope to repeat this in 2025.
I did have a small mission – to explore every beach – and along the way I found adventure. I spotted a few utes, something common in Australia but very rare to see here, and some raw looking cork trees. When the bark is removed the trees are a vibrant terracotta colour. I almost pulled the handbrake to do a U-turn and spoke to Tiago, who was loading cork onto a truck with his father-in-law.
I whipped out my best Portuguese and excitedly word vomited that I wanted to watch them harvest the cork, se possível. Alone with my camera I trekked through a sandy field in search of a troupe of men with axes (sorry mum). I found them finishing up the harvest of a massive centennial tree, with six guys – young and old – carefully carving the bark from the ancient cork oak. Perfect.
People from the Alentejo region are always the kindest. Even though they were working extremely hard and fast, getting paid for the output rather than by the hour, they gave me the time of day and didn’t mind slowing down to answer my questions and let me take some photos. I followed them for a while, over to smaller trees, and one guy even carved me a cork fruteira (fruit bowl) that seemed demure in the field and it ginormous in my Lisbon apartment.
I stayed one night at À Espera, a brand-new guesthouse at the border of Comporta and Melides area. It’s a beautiful little escape with a delicious breakfast and pool to laze by. Then I switched to Ponte Pedra, an adults-only rural retreat with a big pool, cozy cabanas, bar service, free bicycles and a yoga deck. I’ll publish a full guide to Melides in the new year, closer to spring.
Late summer Algarve escape
A big group of Lisbon-based friends and I have made a new tradition of escaping somewhere with a pool in the first week of October. This year we headed south to the Algarve, where we had a huge house near the village of Moncarapacho. I’m in safe hands when two friends both show up with chef rolls filled with their own knives. Cue visits to the amazing market in Olhão, endless seafood dinners, and final summer swims.
My partner Jorge and I went down a few days ahead so I could do some “research” around the Lagos area. It had been a couple of years since I’d been in this popular part of Portugal, so I wanted to refresh my knowledge (for anyone booking a private video call) and to create some new articles for summer 2025.
Read more… Where to eat in the Algarve
Five family days on Madeira Island
Since our first trip to Madeira a couple of years ago, I’ve been anxious to return and hopefully hike a few more trails. With Jorge’s dad and stepmum visiting from Australia, we wanted to do a trip and so off we went. Here we drank plenty of poncha, and I finally did the half-day Levada do Caldeirão Verde hike and it was absolutely gorgeous.
My biggest highlight might have been the Santo da Serra Farmers Market, which happens every Sunday. I love food and local experiences and this one ticks both of those boxes – here I found a mix of locals selling produce grown on the island (nothing imported), street food stalls with local cider, wine and charcoal grills, and homemade sweets like bolo de mel.
We based ourselves in Câmara de Lobos, a little fishing village next to the island capital Funchal. If you don’t stay in the big city, this is a great base as we could park easily and walk into the village heart in the evenings.
Read more… The 4 best hikes (that I’ve done) on Madeira Island
Exploring the heart of the Alentejo in November
I was pretty pumped for my first-ever press trip – five days cruising around the Alentejo with Visit Alentejo. My hesitations were that I’m a hugely independent traveller, so would I have enough time to enjoy each place? Yes and no, so it’s just spurred the need to return. The Alentejo region was already one of my favourite areas of Portugal to explore. Here the pace of living slow down, giving you time to really relax and feel like you’re on vacation.
Now I need the time to return to Elvas, Marvão and Vila Viçosa to explore at my own slower, deeper pace. I usually travel very independently, but I will admit having a super knowledgeable guide with us at all times (shout out to Fernanda) was pretty incredible and added a deep richness.
We spent a couple of days in Évora, staying at the MAR d’AR Aqueduct Hotel, two nights in Elvas at the historic Hotel Vila Galé Collection Elvas, and a final night in Alcacér do Sal at the Pousada Castelo de Alcacer do Sal (with more time I would have taken at dip at the very cool pool). In between we explored towns, visited Fita Preta and Ervideira wineries, tasted olive oil in Marvão, and met one of the last artisan cowbell makers.
Read more… 18 best places to visit in the Alentejo: prettiest villages, towns and cities
A November week in Galicia….
In November I had to sit a Portuguese language exam, and for some reason there were no seats left in Portugal so I booked a spot at Santiago de Compostela. Yes, that’s a Spanish city in Galicia, the state that sits above Portugal. Apparently gallego the local dialect is the root of the Portuguese language, so I thought it might be the best spot to go for some quiet study.
We used points on HomeExchange to stay in a seaside flat at Malpica, a small fishing town on the Costa de Morte (Death Coast). Unbelievably we had almost a full nine days of sunshine, which is something you rarely see up north even in summer (I hear). Our time in Malpica was very chill. We had to work and study, so besides a couple of short morning drives to explore lighthouses and pretty landscapes, not much exploring happened. We saw the wholesale fish auction take place, moving nearly 300kg of octopus on a Monday afternoon.
After Malpica, we made our own pilgrimage south to Santiago de Compostela for my exam and holy wow, this small city is breathtaking. Our first steps in the old town were at dusk, and every corner felt like I was about to uncover some sort of dark secret you read about in a murder-mystery novel set in the past. We had a few good days to eat and explore after my exam. We ate so well here that I have drafted a full food guide to Santiago, coming soon.
Santiago to Lisbon was a 5.5-hour drive, so we spent the final night near Ourense, a Galician spa town. When in Ourense… after a late tapas lunch in town, we checked in and went to Termas De Prexigueiro, which are open-air natural thermal springs. We didn’t anticipate the crowds, so after a long wait we were in the hot pools under the stars.
…via Braga, Chaves & Viseu
As mentioned, it’s not a short drive to reach Galicia, so we made some stops in Portugal. On the way up we stayed at Villa Isobel just north of Braga, where we were warmly received at the most gorgeous guesthouse. Isobel is a fellow Australian and her farewell pack of home-baked Aussie cookies melted my heart. She’s an amazing barista too!
On the return drive, we woke up early in Ourense and set off south through mist-covered landscapes until we crossed the bordered and entered Chaves. I’ve long wanted to visit this northern Portuguese town and taste a pasteis de Chaves at the source, but I didn’t realise how cute it would be. The pastry is a super flaky crescent stuffed with mined veal and onions. We tried the two most recommended – D’Chaves – Fumeiro e Pastéis and Pastelaria Maria – and preferred the first. A quick stop for pastries and coffee ended up being a long walk around the gorgeous town, snapping photos by the river, tasting the thermal water, and visiting the free Roman baths archeological museum (building a car park beneath the main square took an interesting turn some years ago…)
From Chaves, we eventually continued to Viseu, a historic inland city with around 100,000 people that just happened to be hosting the World Cheese Awards that weekend. We dropped in, hopeful to taste cheese. Nearly 5,000 cheeses were submitted from around the world – but sadly they were off-limits. Boo. There was a cheese market of Portuguese producers, so we did walk away with seven wheels nonetheless…
In December…. Porto at Christmas
My little brother is coming to visit this Christmas, and since he’s here for a week the plan is to pop up to Porto for 48 hours by train. We’ve got two nights to explore, so I’m taking tips and advice for anything fun and festive to do in Portugal’s second city! We’re planning to do a port wine tasting at Cockburn’s, the only cellar with a working cooperage.
Where am I hoping to visit in Portugal in 2025?
If I write it down, there’s a better chance of manifesting these trips in Portugal, right?
- Cozy wine-filled long weekend in the Douro Valley
- A long weekend hiking between more of the 27 Aldeias do Xisto (Schist Villages)
- Slow summer days along the lower Alentejo Coast – Costa Vicentina down to Aljezur. Perhaps renting a van for the first time.
- More Azores: I’d love to visit the Pico, Faial, São Jorge triangle of islands.
- Weekend trips to Marvão, Estremoz, Mértola, Tomar, Serra da Estrela….
