After being in very hot Seville, we decided to change our trip to avoid other interior cities in Spain, and head for the coast instead. We rented a car in Seville and will return it in about a month up in northern Spain. We’ll make three stops in Portugal, first visiting Lagos in the Algarve region of the country. From there we will head north and eventually end up in the Douro Valley before heading back into Spain.

It was about a three hour drive from Seville to Lagos. We took a taxi to the airport to pickup the car (I did not want to drive in the city), which worked out very well. Jumped onto the highway and we were able to skirt the city, staying on highways most of the way. Thank goodness for Apple Maps! When you cross the border from Spain to Portugal there is a little exit for non-Portuguese. Thinking they wanted to see our passports we pulled over, but all it was for was to use your credit card to buy a 30 day pass for the automatic tolling system. Many of the toll roads use license plate cameras, and this way they can just charge you directly. We’ll see what hits our credit card in a month. Our place in Lagos was just outside of town overlooking a beautiful beach and was a great place to watch the sunset. The town is beautiful with limestone block streets, tiled buildings and just a great old city feel to it. Plenty of amazing street art here as well.

Lagos is famous for the cliffs and arches of limestone and sandstone at the Ponta de Piedade. There are many ways to see this, from paddle boards, kayaks, and various boat trips. We decided to take the roughly one hour trip on a small tour boat. Total cost was only about $25 each, and it ended up being one of the highlights of our visit. The views are also amazing from above - we took a short hike from our place to the lighthouse a few times to enjoy the views. It seems nearly every rock formation has a name, coming from the local fisherman over the years. There are many beautiful beaches here, some which can only be accessed by boat, or a very steep (and dangerous) hike.

We drove the coast here, visiting several beaches on the western coast before coming back down to Sagres which, as the most southwestern point in Europe was once considered “the end of the world”. The beaches are amazing all along the coast in this area of Portugal.

From Lagos we drove to Sesimbra, a small coastal town about an hour south of Lisbon. Here we stayed in a Fourpoints by Sheraton (using points of course). Budget matters for sure, and this was a great hotel with breakfast included and a beautiful pool to relax by at the end of each day, and just a short (but steep) walk to town. Total bill - $40 for three nights. We happened to be here on the final days of their local summer festival. A bit crowded part of the time, but this is a very charming old fishing village.

One day here we joined an AirBNB Experience, taking a 4 hour kayaking trip along the coast. It was a great way to see the coast in a different way and our host Afonso was fabulous. He provided a great tour and took great care of everyone along the way.

Next stop is in Pinhao in the Douro Valley. The wine country here is beautiful. We had taken a day trip here from Porto on our last visit, and this time wanted to stay in this region for a few days. Eileen had found the perfect place - the Casa do Visconde de Chancelerios - about two miles uphill from Pinhao, it is the old estate of the Count (no doubt). It had maybe 12 rooms, and with a beautiful pool and spa, which was very nice after hot days. We drove each day - but not far - to taste a few wines & ports and to explore the town.

The views are amazing in this region. Many people take cruises up the Douro - either multi-day trips or even just day trips. A good way to see this area from the river.

Time to head on. Back into north-western Spain to Santiago de Compostela. More on that in the next post. Take a look at all the photos in the Photo Album.

All the best,

Tim & Eileen