Trip Report - Alentejo and The Algarve
Road tripping with family through the south of Portugal
Hi everyone,
Travel is a big part of why we moved to Europe, and this week I have another trip report for you.
My mom made her first trip to Portugal in March. She’s not a complete stranger to Europe but has never been to this end of the continent, and had yet to see our new home. Her friend Janey came from NYC to join for 9 days of the trip, and there’s no better excuse than a family visit to play tourist in our backyard. So we rented a car and drove south for a week, focused on finding a mix of nature, history, and, of course, wine.
Let’s (re)visit:
Alentejo
The Algarve
Quick Hits
Hop in, let’s go!
Alentejo
The Alentejo region of Portugal is simply massive, covering an area inland between Lisbon and Spain, and south to the Algarve. Known for its insanely good wine, medieval cities, and pastoral landscape, it’s been on my list since we arrived. This was my first visit.
Traveling to Alentejo by train/bus is possible, but it's not convenient unless you only care about hitting specific cities and don’t mind long journeys. A car is necessary to see and do as much as possible.
We set our sights on the Évora area, about a 4-hour drive from Porto, and booked two nights at Convento de São Paulo, a converted 15th-century convent on a hillside overlooking the valley that’s home to Évora.
This hotel is one of many converted historic monasteries and castles that you can sleep in around Portugal, and is a truly special place to stay. It has an insane azulejo tile collection, and just walking the halls of this old compound feels like sneaking into a museum to spend the night.
The rooms are a bit on the rustic side, but offer actual fireplaces (complete with firewood and starter), and modern amenities like HVAC, gourmet breakfast buffet, and an upscale restaurant with great wine cellar (reflecting the region). So we weren’t roughing it like the nuns who used to live up there hundreds of years ago.
We dropped into the ancient walled city (and UNESCO world heritage site) of Évora, which has one of the few ossuary churches in the world alongside well-preserved medieval walls and plenty of Roman ruins. People have been fighting over this hill for millennia. We spent the afternoon sightseeing and having lunch.
After Évora, we drove south across the gorgeous bucolic landscape shining in rare green form. Most of the year it’s hot and brown, but early spring is wildflower season, and we had blue-sky/fluffy-cloud days, making it simply stunning.
We landed for a night in Mértola, another ancient walled city on the doorstep of the Guadiana Valley Natural Park. This place is also steeped in history and today is on the adventure-seeker route, situated near kayak-friendly river rapids and home to Portugal’s wild cat, the Iberian lynx. It was a great stop to see more old things and soak in a bit of nature.
From here, it was southward to…
The Algarve
The Algarve is the southern rectangle of Portugal, south of Lisbon/Alentejo, spanning from the west-facing Atlantic coast to the Spanish border. It’s known for stunning beaches, coastal cliffs, and loads of British expats/tourists, who have been colonizing this area forever.
We booked ourselves two nights in Tavira at another convent. It was special and charming to stay in another converted historic building, but this one felt more like a regular hotel than the last. Pestana group manages a bunch of these around the country, including some castles, and I will definitely stay at more.
Tavira sits near the eastern end of the Algarve, which is flatter and less dramatic than the western side. It has a ton of history, cathedrals, etc. A good home base, and when the weather is better, some nice beaches nearby.
Our goal was to see as much as possible, so on our full day, we hopped in the car and drove the hour and a half over to Sagres, stopping at Lagos along the way. This got us a good lay of the land, passing by the obviously-resort-heavy cities along the way (no thanks!).
Our stop in Lagos led us to a broadwalk along dramatic sandstone cliffs overlooking gorgeous hidden beaches. I say hidden because they are shrouded from view, but easily discovered by the hordes from the gigantic resort hotels flanking the area.
Pushing on to Sagres, we found the far southwest tip of the European continent, which climaxes in multiple lighthouses atop simply stunning massive rock cliffs, with the blue Atlantic slapping up against the stone walls. We spent a good amount of time soaking in the sheer power of the scene laid before us.
Sagres is a cute surf town filled with fit, sunbleached-blonde folks speaking a variety of languages, all obviously doing whatever they do in between surfing. Definitely my vibe, and I will be back to drive north along the rocky headlands, basking in more wild beauty.
After the Algarve, we headed up the coast to Nazaré for a night, which is always worth visiting. Then back home. It was a lot of driving, but worth it to see some new backroads of Portugal. Fun was had by all.
Quick Hits
I recently rode my first-ever official bike race, the Aveiro Spring Classic, with my buddy Nicholas. It’s a nice, relatively flat (as these things go) route with 114.5 km distance and 653 m elevation gain. It was grueling but fun, especially riding on a bunch of roads closed to traffic, including quite a few gravel stretches. Now I have a taste for long, difficult, organized bike events. I celebrated the following weekend by hopping the train north to Viana do Castelo and biking 95km back home along the coast.
I bought myself a smart bike trainer just in time for the spring rains to set in. It’s my first home training setup since I sold my Peloton back in the States, and I love it. Are you on Zwift? Find me!
Hilary hosted her second Vegan Safari Week at the end of March, this time with even more restaurants, bigger hype, and a visit from at least one local vegan social media influencer. The project is picking up major steam and becoming much more work. But it’s been incredibly satisfying for her to make a ton of new connections and promote the vegan scene here.
It’s tax season, which for expats like us means filing two completely separate sets of taxes, paying two CPAs, and filing extra forms like the FBAR. Expat life sounds all sexy when it’s about travel and cheap groceries, but it has its downsides too. A small price to pay, but as you know, I prefer to show both the good and bad.
What have you been up to this Spring?
This week’s music is Bonobo’s new project, a soundtrack to the new Adult Swim show Lazarus. If you’re a fan of Bonobo’s sound, you’ll dig it:
Thank you for giving us a visual and written account of your trip that stimulated memories from years past. So many towns have changed over time, but Portugal still holds so much beauty. Sending love and wishes for your continued good health and happiness. Linda and Joel
We were there with grandkids a few years back and concentrated more on dolphins and dinosaur tracks. 🤣 On our first driving trip to Portugal we stayed in historic pousadas and loved this unique style of accommodation very much.