Places to Visit in Portugal

When choosing where we wanted to travel for our honeymoon, my husband and I took everything into careful consideration. We didn't want to go just anywhere. We wanted it to be special. I came across an article in a magazine about Portugal. It looked absolutely beautiful. After speaking with our travel agent, our trip was ready to go!

Our first stop was in Lisbon. Due to it being our honeymoon, we wanted to stay at a top notch hotel. We spent our first week at a hotel called The Lapa Palace. This hotel was amazing! They did everything and anything you could ever ask for. It was in a good part of town as well. There were plenty of places to eat and it was very easy to get around.

Some of my favorite places included Saint George Castle (Castelo De Sao Jorge), Vasco de Gama Mall, and Torre de Belem.

The castle was probably my favorite. You were able to walk all through the castle and climb up to the high points that look out over the city. It was amazing to see the whole city from its central point. You can also roam around the outside of the castle. Honestly, you could spend hours at the castle without getting bored.

The Torre de Belem was a great spot because of its history. You can go up the narrow staircases all the way to the top of this structure. You can look out over the Tagus river and over to the other side. Lisbon is known for its large amount of history, and the Torre de Belem is a great example of living history.

The Vasco de Gama Mall is a neat place to visit because you get to see the more modern part of Lisbon. The structure of the mall is nothing like I've seen in Pennsylvania, where I'm from. It was interesting to walk around this huge mall and seeing the different stores that peak people's interest in another country.

For the second half of our trip, we rented a car and drove down to the Algarve. We specifially went to Albufeira. We stayed at the Vila Joya which is the most breathtaking resort I have ever been to.

This portion of our trip was more about relaxation and enjoying the beach rather than touring and taking in history. The hotel had its own private beach, which was only open to customers who stay at the hotel. They offered a 5 course meal each night (which was included in the price) which was prepared by a 2 star Michelin chef. It was an amazing experience to taste the food and enjoy the beauty of the seaside.

We did take an evening out into town. It was basically a strip of restaurants, shops, and bars. The nightlife was unbelieveable and the service even in small fast food places was top notch. Everyone is very humble and will do anything just to make you happy.

It was nice to have a few days of relaxation and being in the Mediterranean. The beauty of The Algarve is unmistakeable and it's amazing how different it was from Lisbon, which is only about 2 hours away.