when ellie and i caught up in new york last october, we floated the idea of coordinating a trip somewhere together for the spring. we each tossed around a few places until we settled on portugal, a country neither of us had been to but were very interested in seeing. we invited ben, ellie’s boyfriend, along on the journey, and we spent 8 days journeying around portugal and having a blast. below are some highlights from the trip.

lisbon.

after a cancelled flight on ellie and ben’s part and an all-day sleep on mine, we were all finally reunited in lisbon. we spent our one full day and two nights walking all over the city, stopping when we wanted some food or drink or when we found a shop that looked interesting. we stuffed our faces with burgers and seafood, gulped down lots of red wine, and got in a good workout with all those hills and steps. we rode tram no 28 from one end of the city to the other, marveling at the beautiful tiles and the colorful old homes and relishing the spring weather.

sintra.

our journey to sintra got off to a slow start after some issues with our rental car, but once we got that sorted we had a great time. our guest house was lovely and was run by one of the nicest women i’ve ever met, and it was such a peaceful place to read and relax. the next morning we took patricia’s advice and ventured over to the quinta de regaleira palace and spent three hours wandering through the gardens, climbing to the tops of towers, exploring underground tunnels and walkways, and oohing and aahing at the greenhouse and the fountains and the views.

along the coast.

one of the best decisions we made for our journey was to rent a car. it allowed us to move on our own schedule, and it meant we could make pit stops wherever we wished along the way. as we were leaving sintra, ben found a lovely cafe about 30 minutes away nestled high up on a cliff overlooking the ocean; it was a no-brainer that we would head there for lunch. after we finished our meal, we headed down to the beach to walk on the sand and enjoy the ocean breeze. it was so nice to be able to change plans on the fly and be able to take 45 minutes to enjoy a nice day and some sand between our toes.

porto.

porto was maybe my favorite spot that we visited. it was very windy and rained for a good portion of our time in the city, but i loved the feel as we wandered our way from one end to the other. it is almost as hilly as lisbon, has some lovely palaces and cathedrals and gardens, and is very laidback and relaxed. when rain threatened we holed up in a cafe for food and wine, and when the sun emerged so did we. before we left we walked across the bridge to see the city from afar, and it was lovely and colorful and vibrant. i could easily have spent the entire week wandering through porto.

peniche.

we had an extra night to play around with between porto and getting back to lisbon, so ellie booked us in to stay outside peniche, a town along the coast a little over an hour outside lisbon. it’s a small, sleepy surf town that appeared to attract mostly local visitors, but it has a lovely fort, some cliffs to explore, and a beach that was great for walking. we explored a bit, but we also just hung out at a beachside restaurant and chatted and ate and read and enjoyed the great weather. it was the perfect way to wrap up our holiday and spend some nice quality time with one another before we parted.

as you can see, we had a great time. it was the perfect combination of sightseeing and relaxation, which was exactly what i was looking for. sharing it with ellie and ben was such fun, and i am already looking forward to our next adventure.

have you ever been to portugal? what was your favorite place?

xx