Portugal
Algarve
4 days / 5 nights, October 2023
2 days: Lagos, 2 days: Tavara
Lagos old town is very cute. A walled old city, but unfortunately can’t walk up on the wall. Cobblestone streets lined with outdoor cafes, restaurants and lots of shops. Up to this point we hadn’t seen many Americans. Think they are all in Lagos along with a ton of other tourists. Seems laid back and a bit of a party town.
We stayed at Infante Guesthouse, 👍 which we highly recommend. It is a hidden gem in a fantastic location at the beginning of old town from the coast. Wonderful rooftop with amazing view and nice fresh room with a very comfy bed. Wonderful hosts.
First evening we wandered the streets and ended up randomly at Barbosa👍for dinner. It was very good, but smaller portions and more expensive than what we had experienced in Portugal to date. Eventually we learned that Lagos was just a more expensive tourist city than where we’d been.
Had amazing (but not cheap) gelato at Gelicia 👍.
Day 1: Lagos
Headed out at 8:30am for a kayak (with EZ rides) around the point. Fantastic way to start the day. Water was fairly calm. Enjoyable going in and out of the arches and grottoes. Paddled both ways although you have the option to get towed back. Glad we did an early trip out as we passed lots of boats and kayaks waiting their turn to enter the grottoes.
Dropped laundry off at Lavaderia. Large load wash, dry and fold for 12 Euro. Followed by brunch at Twin Fin 👍. Food was wholesome and fresh.
Dinner at Casa de Prego 👌. Food was good but again small portions, and more expensive than other parts of Portugal.
Pastry dessert at Padaria Central didn’t disappoint.
Day 2: Lagos
Walked 4 miles mostly along the boardwalk and the Fisherman’s trail to Praia de Porto Mos. Lots of view points along the way. One regret is we did not walk the seven valleys hanging trail.
Ate lunch at Restaurant O Antonio. We had monkfish kabob and swordfish. Very good. If you want a table by the window you must make a reservation.
Hung out at the beach after lunch but it had sand flys so ended up back at the beach near us that didn't have sand flies. Easy Uber ride back to our hotel.
Dinner at 7 Hills restrauant. Very tasty and authentic Indian food.
Day 3: Tavira
Took the train. 2.5 hours. Fairly scenic ride. Schedule showed we needed to transfer at Faro, but turned out our same train continued on to Tavira. Super easy. Purchased our tickets a couple of days in advance. Train was fairly full at times.
Couldn’t check in until 3:30pm so ended up around the corner at a very popular tapa bar - Come Na Gaveta 👍. Ordered a great and cheap bottle of Syrah wine accompanied by very good tapas.
Met a group of expats at Maria Nova rooftop bar. They meet there every Wednesday at 6:30pm. The organizer, Rui, was very welcoming and kindly helps people with immigration. We met an acquaintance there from our area and he was a wealth of information. What a view from the rooftop.
Our lodging at Travira House 👍 is wonderful. From the warm welcome, fabulous sitting room, rooftop lounge area, good size room, comfy bed, thick towels and very filling breakfast (outdoor and inside seating). Fun interacting with the other guests whether having a glass of wine in the evening from the honesty bar or at breakfast. Nice comfortable sitting room.
Day 4: Tavira
Tavira is slow paced like Lagos but full of older tourists. Not as much to do but still an enjoyable day.
Fully checked out the town before the drizzling rain came in at 3pm. Castelo de Tavira in the middle of town with great views from the walls.
Salt pans with big harvest of Tavira salt and lots of flamingos feasting.
Dinner at Mira Restaurant and Tapas, where we could eat at 5:30pm. Just wow. All was fabulous from the mushroom starter to the grilled salmon salad to the grilled octopus. And of course we loved our bottle of red wine, and tasty dessert, all for about 50 euros.
