As part of my trip 2023 trip, I visited Morocco, then Spain, followed by Portugal.
Lisbon – 3 days
After finishing up in Seville, I hopped on a trusty FlixBus to Lisbon (6.5h), except my FlixBus wasn’t so trusty this time. After getting all the way to the foot of the Vasco de Gama bridge, the bus broke down. I sat around for about 15-20 minutes waiting to see what would happen before giving up and getting an Uber the remaining 20 minutes of the journey – the Uber cost more than the entire bus journey 😬
I loved Lisbon, it’s probably one of the cheapest major capital cities in the EU, people are friendly, the food is amazing, the nightlife is great and it’s a perfect balance of nightlife, culture and relaxation. There are simply too many places to mention, and, this is a place for my photos not a step-by-step travel blog on what to see in Lisbon, so get Googlin’!
Cascais & Sintra – 1 day
After Lisbon I wanted some peace and quiet so I headed out to Cascais, about a 40-minute train journey from Lisbon. Cascais is pretty expensive, so I booked a hotel in the next town Estoril, which was just a twenty minute walk along the seafront promenade, or one extra stop on the train. I spent a few hours walking around Cascais town, visited the famous lighthouse and called it a day.
The next morning I took a taxi up to Sintra to visit Pena Palace. It’s absolutely rammed with tourists but it’s well worth seeing – I took a quick turbo tour around the castle and then spent most of my time wondering around the surrounding park, which was much quieter.
Note: it’s a long winding drive up the hill from Sintra to Pena Palace, so good luck convincing an Uber driver to come back and get you!
Porto – 3 days
From Sintra, I embarked on my trusty FlixBus yet again (they genuinely are really good in my experience) up to Porto (3.5h). Porto is nothing short of amazing, the architecture, the bridge, the river, the food, the port – the list is endless. Personal highlight was sitting at Jardim do Morro to watch the sunset, yes you can go to an overpriced rooftop bar, or you can get a drink for €2 from a street-seller and watch the sunset from a park with hundreds of other people ✅Other top things were: Mercado do Bolhão, port tasting and the Duoro River. Once I was finished in Porto, I ventured back into Spain, by, you guessed it, FlixBus, to Madrid.
