We made it to Portugal and had three and a half days to enjoy this beautiful, gorgeous country. But let me start at the beginning.

Flight. Survived a 6.5 hour flight without much fuss. The kids watched cartoons and napped while T and I read and watched movies. When we landed in Lisbon, it wasn’t even 6AM! But by the time we got through security, got our luggage (TAP made us check in our carry-ons :/), and finished renting the car, it was light outside.

Thank God T drove. Neither him or I slept on the plane, and we were bone tired. Our airbnb in Armaçao de Pêra stated that check-in is at 3PM. Well… What to do from 7AM and 3PM? We drove to Sines, then took a coastal road down south. Our airbnb host recommended taking this local route called Costa Vicentina and it did not disappoint! We made four stops total so by the time we arrived to Armaçao, it was almost 4PM! Checked in with no problems, unpacked, and got dinner.

R and I then walked to the market and got some stuff for breakfast, washing machine pods, a big bottle of sunblock, etc. I guess I was running on fumes because when we came back, I started doing laundry. I haven’t slept on the plane at all and I haven’t slept since we landed but I was like an energizer bunny! When we went to bed at 7PM, Portuguese time, I crashed.

Day 1 highlights are above. We all were dead tired and T had to drive. Lesson for next time: get a room to “recoup” on arrival day. Sounds frivolous but I think it must be budgeted for on future trips.

Day 2. Up at sunrise (me). Golden Hour with a breathtaking view in front of me. Once the kids were up, we spent pretty much the whole day at the beach. R fell asleep at the beach which never happened before! I guess we have to factor in travel fatigue+jet lag+time change.

Day 3. Up at sunrise (me). Up at 10 minutes later (kids). So, no Golden Hour today. We went for a walk around Armaçao de Pêra, got coffee and croissants, went down to the beach. They had a playground right by the beach! Then, around 10 AM, we got on a speed boat and did Benagil caves tour, only L and I so it was a mommy and me date. The caves were incredibly beautiful and the captain of the boat could squeeze into very tight openings in rock formations. I actually got a bit of anxiety. T and R stayed home, because the minimum age for this tour was five years old.

After the caves, we had lunch at a local fish restaurant and had more beach time!

A jumbo of photos from day 3. The combination of yellow rock formations, turquoise water and blue sky was incredibly beautiful.

Day 4. Leaving. *quietly cries* Up at 6AM (everyone). As I finish typing this post, we are getting ready to cross into Spain.

Observations

1. People were so helpful! And I am not just saying that because we are tourists and are being catered to. We talked to so many different people- expats, tourists, and locals. Traveling with kids has one major advantage: kids don’t sweat it. If they feel like it they talk to people. They don’t worry about language barrier, or anything else. For instance, R showed his plushie to a random person and the conversation will start. Or L will just “move in” and start playing with a family at the beach.
2. The Algarve Beaches are absolutely stunning. The sand is of deep yellow, almost orange, color. It’s very clean (of course a few cigarette butts here and there but nothing like it is down the Jersey shore). The color of water is turquoise and water is cold and salty.
3. Food we got was primarily underwhelming. BUT: all ice cream, a ham sandwich from some gas station and sea bass dinner from a local, whole-in-the-wall, restaurant was amazing.
4. Next time we are coming to Armaçao de Pêra and staying here for a week. We don’t feel like we had enough time in this lovely, relaxing town. I am happy we didn’t stay in a more touristy location such as Faro but opted for a more family-friendly town.
5. There are very few public bathrooms , and you just walk into any café or restaurant and use their bathroom. There is no need to buy anything or ask. There are no signs such as “bathrooms are for customers only.” This is a small detail but I thought it was important.