I posted about this on another thread but I spent the entire month of June, 2021 in the Algarve in southern Portugal. My uncle had died and I had to go rescue my elderly aunt.
Honestly, I didn’t get to see very much. She was in ill health herself so I saw no museums, toured no castles or vineyards or olive groves. I never even got down to the beach a few hundred feet below their condo.
I only ate at a handful of restaurants but did a lot of cooking and loved the local grocery store.
I DID get to visit the emergency room in Portimao, the hair place in Lagos and the skin treatment place in Luz.
I say all that just to get to this: I LOVED Portugal. I loved the people I met. I loved driving the roundabouts. I loved the food, the wine, the climate.
We spent the last couple of days in Lisbon but again, I didn’t see much and there was much to see. If I ever “cross the pond” again, it will be to get back to Portugal.
Oh yeah, my point - spend a week in Lisbon. Take an overnighter somewhere if you want, (Porto/Douro), but Lisbon is awesome.
I look forward to your travelogue and photos.
One caveat, the trains are constantly on strike. I had two train rides planned, one from Lisbon to Faro on my arrival, and one from Faro to Lisbon on our departure. Both cancelled due to strike. I still get alerts from the Portuguese railroad when there’s a strike planned. It happens a lot. Just something to keep in mind.