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Favourite places to visit in Portugal


timandjen

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We are planning a 4 week trip to Portugal in October, traveling the length of the country from North to South, having never been before. We have read the various articles in MMM and looked at a few top 10 type articles on the general internet. We would be interested to hear people's strong recommendations of places to visit/stay (or avoid!) and any little known gems. Our interests are broad - walking, cycling, nature, nice scenery, cities and the seaside (as long as it is not overly commercialised). Any info on things that we ought to be aware of (we know about the recent crackdown on wild camping and are likely to be using campsites for the most part). Apologies if this is an abuse of this forum, which we haven't used too often.
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When in a mountain mood we make a beeline to Unhais da Serra in the Serra da Estrela national park.

A pretty little hill town with superb road cycling (and driving), mtb cycling and walking on the doorstop of a nice camper stop.

You can even swim in the river pools adjacent to the aire/area.

40.255837, -7.623267

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We're in Portugal at the moment, currently staying at Praia de Mira on the west coast below Porto. There's a really good coastal work along the dunes in either direction. There's also a good walk around the lake which is opposite the campsite (the Municipal). Also there's a good selection of bars and restaurants nearby - easy walking distance. If you get the chance the town of Aveiro about 20 miles north (I cycled there - dead flat) is really beautiful. It's the Venice of Portugal. There are some campsites nearby but I haven't tried any of them.

 

However I'd really recommend is the place we stayed at before here, it's called Camping Lamego and is in the town of Lamego. It has a very nice garden bar which is open all day and the views from the site are really good - across to the mountains and down to the town below. There is no restaurant but you can order food in whicch is delivered from a nearby restaurant, which the staff will arrange for you (the staff are super friendly and helful). Or you can walk into town to eat. You can reach the town by walking out of the campsite by the private gate and up to the Santuário de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, then down the steps. It's about 40 minutes. The town is very pretty and there is a very nice looking open air swimming pool at one end though we never saw any one in it. The campsite is a bit pricey, but that reflects the quality of the site itself and the surroundings.

 

Another good site is Campsite Porto Covo near Sines, again on the west coast. The approch to the siite is a bit off-putting as some of the streets are not well maintained, but the site itself is lovely with really nice moho pitches. Again there are good coastal walks here, nice beaches and the nearby village (easy walking distance) has a couple of eateries and bars. We also vsitied a site in the Geres National Park called Ermida Gerês Camping. It's a basic site but has fabulous walks and you can do other activities like horse riding. Also the lake down in the valley, where there are other campsites, is a sight to behold. The scenery there is stunning.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks to you all for your replies. We didn't get to all the places you recommended but will save them for our next visit (we enjoyed it so much).

For future readers our favourites list is so long but we particularly liked from north to south: Bom Jesus nr Braga, Porto, Bacalhoa Buddha Eden nr Obidas, Sintra, Vila Nova de Milfontes and Tavira.

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We came back from a tour of Portugal in September. Found it difficult to park in some cities/towns to explore - Porto being a good example. But loved Sintra, Ponte de Lima, Port tasting at Symington Bomfim (challenging drive to the Port House), Estoril. Travelling by the motorways was the best way to cover distance given the state of local roads and not as expensive as thought they would be.
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timandjen - 2021-11-24 9:27 PM

 

Thanks to you all for your replies. We didn't get to all the places you recommended but will save them for our next visit .

Glad you enjoyed your trip an thanks for letting us know. Did you wildcamp if so did you encounter any problems or hear of anyone being moved on or fined by the Police ?

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We did the Duro valley inland starting from Porto. Keeping to the north side of the river in a 7.5 mtr van. Not sure how the new rules for camping may effect this as we did not see a single campsite the whole trip. Very pretty but care in some places a bit tight but ok.
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Parque de Pernoita de Autocaravanas

 

Not a campsite but great location for visiting the Quinta's in the Douro Valley. Free except for electricity (3€). Great walks, all overseen by the Sandeman statue on the hills. I expect that given energy price rises free or low cost electricity supplies will disappear

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cjrm1 - 2021-11-25 6:42 PM

 

Parque de Pernoita de Autocaravanas

 

Not a campsite but great location for visiting the Quinta's in the Douro Valley. Free except for electricity (3€). Great walks, all overseen by the Sandeman statue on the hills. I expect that given energy price rises free or low cost electricity supplies will disappear

https://ibb.co/QN1RhNF Another vote here for the Douro Valley beautiful, the address you posted for the Parque de Pernoita brings up a map for lots of others in their chain, looks good, we mostly wild camp everywhere but as things are now in Portugal it is good to see other facilities are out there thanks for the link

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cjrm1 - 2021-11-25 8:26 AM

 

We came back from a tour of Portugal in September. Found it difficult to park in some cities/towns to explore - Porto being a good example. But loved Sintra, Ponte de Lima, Port tasting at Symington Bomfim (challenging drive to the Port House), Estoril. Travelling by the motorways was the best way to cover distance given the state of local roads and not as expensive as thought they would be.

https://ibb.co/fqcrZdZ We overnighted here at RIO TINTO for PORTO, took the train/ tram into Porto, all very easy, parking a bit crowded when we arrived but later in day it thinned out so we moved the van to a better position on the parking, it was free and authorised not sure now though , we found it on the Park 4 Night app ,

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We never had to pay for parking. However Lisbon and Porto are reported to be risky for parking up. In Lisbon we stayed at the Monsanto camping - easy, cheap and regular bus into the centre and even easier down to Belem. In Porto we decided in the end to stay where we were on a campsite at Vila Cha and take a taxi to the metro station (3 euros each sharing) and metro (2 euros each, each way) - about 35 mins into Trindade station.
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We did Portugal this Autumn. Loved Costa Nova on the coast near Avila which is worth a visit just south of Porto. Also liked Porto Covo. On the Algarve the Motorhome parks outside Villamoura at Falesia have the nicest piece of coastline and only cost 9 euro.
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