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Planning a trip to Portugal.
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A suitable supply of robust condoms comes to mind.
KGB
Quite a saucy bloke aren't you?
Depends what you want to do - relax for a long time, go sightseeing, a combination of both?
The beauty of Portugal is that you can drive across the whole country east to west in about an hour, which means with a car, you can get almost anywhere.
If you are staying in the Algarve, there are some wonderful sandy beaches and three waterparks, if you like that kind of thing. Otherwise, Portugal is a massive Roman Catholic country, so there are some wonderful buildings to see too.
If you go in the Summer, the weather can be hot but not unbearably so. I came back last week from staying there, and even in late August/early September, it was 31-37 degrees Celcius every day. You are on the Atlantic though so there is usually a breeze, compared to Spain which is much more sheltered.
The best supermarket chain seemed to be Continente: they offered a wide range of food. We're all vegetarian and we found lots of things to eat there, and they have great gluten free sections too. In the Algarve, one of the best shopping centres is Aqua Portimão.
Be aware of pickpockets and petty thieves - we (rather stupidly) left our camera outside of our locked villa and it was stolen (alongside a pair of swimming shorts...).
Most locals understand Spanish but won't reply in it, and obviously if you go to a traditional tourist area most speak English - though you may not want that.
Anyway, have a good trip!
The beauty of Portugal is that you can drive across the whole country east to west in about an hour, which means with a car, you can get almost anywhere.
If you are staying in the Algarve, there are some wonderful sandy beaches and three waterparks, if you like that kind of thing. Otherwise, Portugal is a massive Roman Catholic country, so there are some wonderful buildings to see too.
If you go in the Summer, the weather can be hot but not unbearably so. I came back last week from staying there, and even in late August/early September, it was 31-37 degrees Celcius every day. You are on the Atlantic though so there is usually a breeze, compared to Spain which is much more sheltered.
The best supermarket chain seemed to be Continente: they offered a wide range of food. We're all vegetarian and we found lots of things to eat there, and they have great gluten free sections too. In the Algarve, one of the best shopping centres is Aqua Portimão.
Be aware of pickpockets and petty thieves - we (rather stupidly) left our camera outside of our locked villa and it was stolen (alongside a pair of swimming shorts...).
Most locals understand Spanish but won't reply in it, and obviously if you go to a traditional tourist area most speak English - though you may not want that.
Anyway, have a good trip!
Food-wise, their slow-roasted churrasquiera chicken is quite good, as are their delicious pastries. Enjoy that trip!
If you like fish (the Portuguese are reputed to have a great many recipes for salt and other types of cod - this is a country with a very serious and dedicated fish cuisine), or port wine, (the port wine caves are well worth a visit) you will be in transports of joy
The museums and music are pretty good, too ...
The museums and music are pretty good, too ...
I'm portuguese. Any particular question?
Algarve gives you great beaches, but I believe that the beauty of this country isn't present, there. If you really want to know the country, visit Sintra's gardens, the interior, the calm Alentejo, Porto (wine? Douro?) and obviously, Guimarães.
Portugal once had the whole world at their feet, and Guimarães is where everything started. Afonso Henriques kicked his mom's butt, we won against Spain in numerous occasions, 3x France invasions, 3x against moors (how do you say "mouros?"), etc.
Of course, nowadays we prefer to spend money in football stadiums and stuff like that, not to mention how we destroyed our wealth and Brasil's too, when we were ruling in there. It is what it is.
Anyway, we have a long history. I believe that anybody that comes here falls in love with our history, music (fado: Amália Rodrigues and Mariza say something to you?) and food. We have awesome food.
We are so sad and we have so many bad things, but once we think about it, it is amazing what we done and what we have done. Such small country, such greatness in the people.
We are just mission one thing to be considered the best country in the planet:
An Apple Store
Algarve gives you great beaches, but I believe that the beauty of this country isn't present, there. If you really want to know the country, visit Sintra's gardens, the interior, the calm Alentejo, Porto (wine? Douro?) and obviously, Guimarães.
Portugal once had the whole world at their feet, and Guimarães is where everything started. Afonso Henriques kicked his mom's butt, we won against Spain in numerous occasions, 3x France invasions, 3x against moors (how do you say "mouros?"), etc.
Of course, nowadays we prefer to spend money in football stadiums and stuff like that, not to mention how we destroyed our wealth and Brasil's too, when we were ruling in there. It is what it is.
Anyway, we have a long history. I believe that anybody that comes here falls in love with our history, music (fado: Amália Rodrigues and Mariza say something to you?) and food. We have awesome food.
We are so sad and we have so many bad things, but once we think about it, it is amazing what we done and what we have done. Such small country, such greatness in the people.
We are just mission one thing to be considered the best country in the planet:
An Apple Store
Thanks for all the replies. I LOVE fish, so I will be in heaven. If you think of any other awesome meals, let me know.
What about iPhones? Any reason to leave my 5S at home? That's my camera, haven't taken a point and shoot with me in forever.
I'm planning to stay/keep my base in Lisbon for most of the time. I'm hoping to travel all over the country... Do I need to rent a car or is public transportation good enough?
What about iPhones? Any reason to leave my 5S at home? That's my camera, haven't taken a point and shoot with me in forever.
I'm planning to stay/keep my base in Lisbon for most of the time. I'm hoping to travel all over the country... Do I need to rent a car or is public transportation good enough?
You should be fine taking it just be careful and don't use the phone part without at least a roaming plan, and preferably if you want to use it as a phone get it unlocked and get a local sim card. If all you're wanting it for is a camera put it in airplane mode and just turn wifi back on for when you have it. Enjoy your trip.
Excellent; Portuguese salt cod is justly famous, and there are - quite literally - hundreds of regional (and mostly delicious) fish specialities; poet wine is also worth exploring, as are the more standard Portuguese wines (as Portuguese wines are an increasingly appreciated, though, unfortunately still little known wine producing country ..)
And yes, the history, music, and culture are all well worth further exploration .