Tag - #portugal

“I Like This Place and I Could Willingly Waste My Time In It” – Peneda-Gerés National Park

August 1, 2018Lorraine Stokes7 min read

30/07/18 – 1/08/18 – Peneda-Gerés National Park, Norte Region On the recommendation of Joao, one of our Portuguese followers, we headed to Peneda-Geres National Park. From Guimaraes we drove 40km North using non toll roads, and after carefully navigating some very bendy mountain roads, just over an hour later we arrived at our luscious green location. It was pretty evident why the region is called Costa Verde (Green Coast). Also known simply as Geres, Portugal’s only national park was created in 1971. The park covers a massive area, has several lakes, rivers, waterfalls and mountain peaks, which many come to climb (not us). The highest peak, I believe is named Geres at 1545 m. We found the above free site(GPS 41.6758424,-8.1845612) via our Park4night.com a website and app that we use sometimes to find mostly free places to stay. We were the only moho there on arrival, but a few others did come and go during our 2 day stay. It felt a little cheeky as this is...

Moho Life’s Not Always a Bed of Roses in Guimarães

July 30, 2018Dan4 min read

29/07/18 – 30/07/18 – Guimarães, Norte Region This was a strange one, having been on a high form Porto, we arrived in Guimarães late on Sunday afternoon at around 18:00. There were 2 overnight parking places on our apps so we headed to the first one only to find that the road at the bottom leading to it was closed. We circled around a few times to see if we could find another way in but sadly not. The second camping spot directed us the middle of a roundabout so I had the bright idea of trying the first stop again but by avoiding the closed road on the sat nav. It was a 5 km detour, but we thought what they heck, lets do it. It took us up some narrow steep hills and tried to direct us through some ridiculous streets – I was learning to trust my gut by now, and if I had a bad feeling about a turn-off, we avoided it. We eventually got to a wide road leading back down the hill. The streets quickly became narrow and VERY steep. It was a good job we were heading downwards as...

Messing About on the River – Aveiro

July 28, 2018Lorraine Stokes5 min read

27/07/18 – 28/07/18 – Aveiro, Centro Region Just a 15 minutes drive from Costa Nova, we arrived at our destination, Aveiro. The area where we were staying (New Aveiro) was built to accommodate visitors during their hosting of the 2004 Portugal European Football Championships. We were situated on a large gravel carpark overlooked by tall residential apartments. (GPS 40.638963,-8.6506399,779) After enjoying our lovely green space at Tomar, it was going to be hard going back to appearing like we were camping again….all cooped up inside. On the upside, just a minutes walk and we were at the Jardim do Rossio a beautifully manicured park surrounded by palm trees which was adjacent to Aveiro river. From the river we decided to take a 45 minute tour on a Moliceiros boat. These are colourfully painted boats that traditionally were used to harvest seaweed. Each boat features either something religious, or sexual. What a strange contrast we thought, but they looked very cool...

Colourful Costa Nova

July 27, 2018Dan3 min read

26/07/18 – 27/07/18 – Costa Nova We very nearly missed visiting Colourful Costa Nova, down to me getting our loosely planned itinerary the wrong way around. We were half way to Porto when Lorraine said, Aveiro, aren’t we supposed to be going there as we approached the exit on the main road. D’oh. Nothing that a quick fingering of the sat-nav wouldn’t solve! Before we knew it we were rerouted and beach bound for Costa Nova. Costa Nova was originally a small fishing village that has expanded into a local hotspot for visiting the beautiful white sandy beaches behind the windswept sand-dunes. Its perhaps most famous now for its colourful stripy buildings that originally took their inspiration from the fisherman’s shacks dotted around the town. We arrived late afternoon in time to get a nice space about 100m or so from the entrance to the beach in one direction and 200m to the town centre in the other. We had a stroll with Marley along the wooden boardwalk on the edge of the...

The Worlds Largest Surfed Wave, Nazaré

July 20, 2018Dan5 min read

19/07/18 – 20/07/18 Nazaré We both remember watching the video on BBC Breakfast earlier in the year of some crazy surfer being towed on a jet-ski titled ‘The Worlds Largest Surfed Wave, Nazaré’ at over 30 Metres. See below (Obviously not our video..) Well, that amazing achievement was surfed in January 2018 and it’s now sunny July. I’m saddened to say that there were no giant waves to see…otherwise I would have hailed me a jet-ski and been out there like a shot! Seriously though, the sea was relatively calm compared to other places a just a few miles away. I guess it’s just not the giant waves season. As we arrived into the town (Coming from the South) we were greeted by a very busy carpark on the edge of the town that had no spaces big enough for us. We were both surprised by how scruffy the place looked, given what we had read. Lets stay in the Moho and drive through I said. It was very busy, we followed the line of traffic along the...

Something for Everyone, as long as it’s Wet and Windy….Foz do Arelho at Obidos Lagoon

July 19, 2018Lorraine Stokes3 min read

15/07/18 – 19/07/18 – Foz do Arelho, Centro Region Do you like wind surfing, surfing, kite surfing, body boarding, paddle boarding, kayaking, fishing, white sandy beaches and stunning nature? Well, Foz do Arelho beach situated on Obidos Lagoon (Lagoa de Obidos) will definitely be for you!! Obidos Lagoon is the biggest saltwater lagoon in Portugal with its lakes and waterways stretching over 6km. Foz de Arelho beach is on the Northern side of the lagoon, close to the estuary mouth and the town. It remains undeveloped and feels very traditionally Portuguese. However, venture a few kilometres outside the centre, there are signs of modern residential development in progress. Fortunately we’d read up Foz de Arelho and had the opportunity to stay for three very relaxing days. On two of the days we went out on the bikes and explored the area, which really is stunning. It’s pretty good for cycling, but there are some nice steep hills that got us quite out of breath...

Once Upon a Time in Obidos…

July 16, 2018Lorraine Stokes3 min read

15/07/18 – Obidos, Centro Region If you read our blog on Evora, it will make sense when I say that Obidos was similar, but on a much smaller scale, particularly in regards to its centre being inside the medieval castle’s walls that also has an aqueduct. It’s such a charming and picturesque place, with it’s cobbled streets and pretty houses. The centre is full of history,  really interesting and it felt quite fairy tale like. There were people dressed in medieval costume walking around like normal, and if you wanted you could hire your own outfit for €5, which would have been funny, but we gave it a miss! We initially thought it was like this all the time, but have since found out that during the month of July there is a Medieval Fair held. That’s reassuring as it would have been all too cheesey! We saw locals baking pao (bread) the traditional way and many selling the local alcoholic delicacy called Ginja, a cherry liquor for €1 per shot. It’s...

3 for the price of 1 – Sintra, Mafra & Praia Santa Rita in a day.

July 14, 2018Dan5 min read

14/07/18 – Sintra, Greater Lisbon We had been putting off going to Sintra for no real reason other than we were having a nice relaxing time at Guincho and perhaps the thought of a very touristy town didn’t really sit too well with us after relaxing for a few days. Still, after 3 days of not doing much, it was time to move on and brave the hoards. As we arrived it was nice to start to see some greenery again. It’s surprising how you get used to dry, sparse landscapes or coastal environments, but when you finally see grass and trees again, it reminds us of how much we miss it. It must remind us of England I guess. Sintra is a narrow, hilly town and I was getting that feeling again that perhaps being in the Moho wasn’t the best choice of vehicle to visit this place.  That said, we arrived Saturday morning and manged to arrive before 10:00 and bag a free parking space about 5 minutes outside the town. The big draw of Sintra are the many coloured villas and palaces...

A Surfers Paradise – Guincho

July 14, 2018Lorraine Stokes3 min read

11/07/18 – 14/07/18 – Guincho, Lisbon After Lisbon, we fancied a break from sightseeing and needed a good nights sleep so we took a short drive North along the coast to Guincho Beach for a few days. It is within the district of Cascais. I’d already read that Guincho beach is apparently one of the finest surfing beaches of Western Portugal, and having been there you can see why. It was so windy….enough to shake the moho. We stayed in a big car park for €2 a night overlooking the beach, which we shared with many surfers, surf schools and all the very cool camper vans that came with them!   Guicho is set amidst the beautiful Serra de Sintra Natural Park, which is clearly well loved as we saw many conservation projects happening at the time. The area has neat wooden walkways to protect the vegetation, which were great for walking Marley. The cafe, Duna Da Cresmina at the end of the walkway was a very nice treat. The cafe is very dog friendly in that they had 2 big...

The Castle on the Hill – Aljezur

July 6, 2018Dan3 min read

05/07/18 – 06/07/18 Aljezur, Alentejo Aljezur is one of those places that can be easily overlooked when planning an itinerary……read most published travel write-ups and they tend to cover the place in a couple of paragraphs. Like many places along Portugal’s West Coast in the Alentejo region, Aljezur has so far escaped the onset of big tourism and remains a place frequented by surfers and those wanting to get off the tourist trail of the Algarve less than an hours drive to the South. Our stay here was only brief but none-the-less memorable for it. Upon arrival we made a bee-line for Praia da Amoreira, approximately 7 kilometers from the town (the last 5 km along a Moho-shaking dirt track enough to give us both a headache by the time we arrived.) That said, being greeted by a wide stretch of sand with only a single restaurant and a lifeguard/surf shack on the beach the headaches soon shifted as we took it in turns to sunbathe whilst the other stayed with Marley...

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