Wavy black and white calçada tiles pretty much cover the walking surface of Portugal. The mosaics aren’t just for walking on. Blue ceramic azulejos tiles decorate building facades and tell stories of its maritime past. You can find slices of modernity in thoroughly ancient surroundings. A rooftop bar next to a large stone church. Or a hillside terrace with a DJ spinning at sunset. 

Adventures | Must Sees: Lisbon | Must Sees: Sintra | Must Sees: Azores | Food

ADVENTURES IN PORTUGAL

Boca do Inferno

View the interlocking crater lakes and calderas by Sete Cidades

Parque da Grená

Stroll through an Azorean park with waterfalls, a lake, calderas, and mysterious ruins

Sete Cidades

Walk along the top of a massive caldera rim wall down to the village of Sete Cidades

MUST SEES: LISBON

Praça do Comércio

The open plaza greets the sea with marble steps on the Tagus River. It was a port for riches from afar between Portugal and colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The calçada pavement has a wavy pattern of black and white tiles.

Tram 28

Tram 28 climbs up Alfama’s steep curvy inclines and gets super close to some of the walls in the narrow streets, in some cases mere inches away. It’s surprisingly fast around corners as it weaves up and down the hills.

Parque Eduardo VII

At Jardim Amália Rodrigues, there are lakes, bridges, gardens, and a pond where you can have refreshments. There is also a sculpture garden with a plump statue of motherhood by the artist Fernando Botero.

Santa Justa Elevator

Santa Justa elevator has wrought-iron decorations and was designed to carry people to the different levels in this hilly city. The more you walk around Lisbon, the more you’ll notice how many hills you have to climb.

Pink Street

Pink Street is at the center of Cais do Sodré, formerly a rough neighborhood that has now been revitalized. This is the heart of restaurants and bars powering the nightlife of Lisbon that never sleeps.

Miradouro de São Pedro

Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara has the best views, especially of the hills of Alfama in the distance. There are amazing views of the city on multiple levels of terraces, with water fountains on top and statues on the bottom.

Belém Tower

Belém Tower is a 16th century fortified structure that was the embarkation and disembarkation point for the great explorers of Portugal. It served as the symbolic gateway to Lisbon. King John II had this built to protect the mouth of the Tagus River.

Mosteiro Jerónimos

Mosteiro Jerónimos of the Order of St. Jerome is a Portuguese Gothic monastery. The white stone spires, rooftops, and dome are covered with ornate bells and whistles similar to Belém Tower.

Padrão dos Descobrimentos

This monument honors the adventurers from the Age of Discovery. This was Portugal at its peak, exploring lands across the globe. What was it like to venture into the unknown?

Ferry to Cacilhas

Take a ferry across the Tagus River to Cacilhas. After a 20-minute cruise, walk along the riverside to the red Ponte 25 de Abril bridge. The abandoned buildings and homes have some really well executed graffiti on the walls.

Cristo Rei

With his outstretched arms, he resembles the Cristo Redentor statue in Rio, except that the lighting is so colorful with red, purple, and yellow. Make sure you get here before 6 pm.

Alfama

After a brisk climb, sit at a café table and soak it all in. The hills of Alfama have multiple churches and narrow medieval streets. There’s  two millenia of history down to the Tagus River. Occasionally, a tram will weave through this neighborhood.

MUST SEES: SINTRA

Palácio de Pena

In 1854, Ferdinand II built the Palácio de Pena. The whimsical palace has an exotic design incorporating bold red and yellow colors. Like a fancy Lego set, the palace includes vault arches, medieval and Muslim design elements.

Palácio Nacional

The Palácio Nacional de Sintra is located in the historic center of Sintra. The 15th century palace borrows architectural design ideas from both Moorish and Christian influences.

Quinta da Regaleira

Quinta da Regaleira is a Romantic-style estate.  Its most infamous owner, a wealthy Freemason, held rituals there. A mysterious inverted tower held initiation rites.

Castelo dos Mouros

The Moors constructed the castle in the 9th century. During the Reconquista, Alfonso I took the castle in 1147. Twenty knights stormed the castle while the Moors escaped through tunnels leaving one to surrender.

MUST SEES: AZORES

Furnas

Furnas is a village on the east of São Miguel in the volcanic Azores archipelago. It is situated on the easternmost of the three active volcanoes and has many hot springs, fumaroles, calderas, and geysers.

Caldeiras das Furnas

Caldeiras is a collection of volcanic hot springs containing bubbling water and boiling mud. Large wisps of smoke rise from the calderas and smell like rotten eggs. Wander around the many gardens and paths.

Parque da Grená

Grená is a microcosm of São Miguel with waterfalls, a lake, calderas, and mysterious ruins. From a highpoint, you can see the pea soup green Lagoa das Furnas surrounded by dark green juniper trees, yellow-green ferns, and light green grass.

Terra Nostra

Parque Terra Nostra’s winding paths lead you to a rust-colored geothermal pool. In a circular sunken garden walled off by hedges, there are exotic trees from other countries. There’s a monument to the viscounts of Praia guarded by griffins.

Casa Invertida

Casa Invertida is a house that has been inverted and flipped so that it is resting on its roof. What volcanic disturbance or primal force must have caused this home to go topsy-turvy? Mysteries certainly abound in Furnas.

Poça da Dona Beija

The heat and minerals in the volcanic water have a rejuvenating effect as your cares and aches melt away. Alternate between the hot and icy pools to improve your circulation.

Vila Franco do Campo

Vila Franca do Campo is a seaside fishing village on the southern coast. The main boardwalk leads to the main port and is across from lhéu de Vila Franca, a small uninhabited islet, basically a large crater filled with water.

Boca do Inferno

The big reveal at the miradouro is breathtaking as you finally see the iconic view of the twin lakes and the wall of the giant caldera. Lagoa de Santiago is inside a green volcanic crater. At the back, Lagoa Azul is on the right and Lagoa Verde on the left.

Sete Cidades

From Miradouro da Vista do Rei, there is a view of the lakes of Sete Cidades that royals can only dream about. From here, you can walk along the top of the massive caldera rim wall down to the village of Sete Cidades.

Caminho Velho

From Miradouro do Caminho Velho, you can see colossal spits of land jutting out into the Atlantic. The cliffs are sheer and steep. In the bay below, the frothy waves churn next to the eroded rock formations.

Ponta da Ferraria

The volcanic rocks are of all sizes and shapes. It must have been where the lava oozed from the Sete Cidades volcano into the sea. Watch the powerful white waves crash on the jagged black rocks and cliff walls.

FOOD

Pastéis de nata

Each pastel de nata has a flaky crust with many buttery layers. The custard is decadent, rich, and eggy. It is creamy, rich, sweet, and smooth with a perfect balance of flavors. The color is golden yellow just like an egg yolk. (Go to Manteigaria and Pastéis de Belém.)

Bifana

Ask the man tending the bubbling pot for a bifana and a double espresso. Crusty bread with sliced pork stewed in pork gravy. The pork flavor has intensified from basting in its own juices. Add sweet mustard or spicy oil as needed.

Lapas Grelhadas

When in the Azores, there’s not much better than a hot pan of grilled limpets in butter, garlic, and lemon juice. Limpets are round mollusks with a texture similar to clams and a flavor like mussels. Slurp the garlic butter sauce out of the conical shells.

Piri Piri Chicken

Frango Assado com Piri Piri is rotisserie-style chicken with crispy skin and slightly charred meat. Shake the bottle of piri piri sauce, which is vinegar, oil, garlic, and African bird’s eye pepper, for a spicy kick. Liver rice plays nice with this dish.

Cozido das Furnas

This is a hearty and comforting volcanic stew containing pork ribs, ham, beef, chicken, chouriço, morcela blood sausage, potatoes, carrots, taro, and leafy greens. The geothermal heat slowly cooks the meat and vegetables until they are tender and flavorful.

Grilled Octopus

The grilled octopus is perfectly tender and interestingly meaty at the same time. The garlic, olive oil, and parsley provides a robust flavor profile.

Lapsa Garden

Getting to Lapsa Garden is half the fun! It’s a sustainable farm practicing permaculture on a steep hillside overlooking the ocean. This is the ultimate farm to table. After touring the farm, enjoy a sensational five-course meal of their seasonal ingredients. 

Agulha no Palheiro

Agulha no Palheiro really is a needle in a haystack considering how great their food is and how hard it is to find this little tucked away spot in Lisbon. Each dish looks and tastes like a mini work of art!

Travesseiro de Sintra

A travesseiro is a flaky pillow-shaped puff pastry (like a turnover) filled with almond custard paste, egg cream, and a secret ingredient. In Sintra, Casa Piriquita has travesseiros and other delicious specialties.

Porto Tónico

The porto tónico contains white port, a fortified wine of Douro Valley grapes. It also has tonic water, ice, and a garnish of lemon and lime slices. It is fizzy, citrusy, and extremely refreshing.

Conservas

Visit one of the whimsical shops with walls of colorful tinned fish (conservas) like a carnival booth. Pop open a can and dive into the flavorful briny olive oil, garlic, and sardines.

Ginginha

A Ginjinha is famous for just one thing: ginjinha. Ginjinha is a liqueur made by infusing ginja (sour cherries) in alcohol and combining it with sugar and spices, such as cloves and cinnamon. The sour cherry soaks up all the flavor, so save it for last.

Bacalhau

Bacalhau is dried and salted cod. Since the Age of Discovery, there was a need for food that traveled well. Like Bubba and all his shrimp recipes, the Portuguese have hundreds of bacalhau recipes. The ubiquitous salt cod fritters consist of bacalhau.

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