I went on a 10-day vacation a few weeks back, my boyfriend and I wanted to escape the cold so we did a roadtrip in Portugal! We wandered around Algarve coast and then went back to Lisbon along the Vicentina coast. I really enjoyed this holiday and I thought I could share my favourite places!
 |
| Casa mae |
 |
| Casa mae |
 |
| Casa mae |
 |
| Casa mae |
 |
| Casa mae |
 |
| Streets of Lagos |
 |
| Streets of Lagos |
 |
| Streets of Lagos |
 |
| Streets of Lagos |
 |
| Mar d'Estórias rooftop |
 |
| Mar d'Estórias and vinho verde ♡ |
 |
| Mar d'Estórias 🐦 |
 |
| Streets of Lagos |
 |
| Sunset in Lagos |
 |
| Lagos stairs playa |
 |
| Passion cactus |
Nous avons pris l'avion jusqu'à Lisbonne puis nous avons loué une voiture pour rejoindre Lagos. La ville a été notre pied à terre pendant les premiers jours et nous prenions la voiture pour visiter la côte.
Nous sommes restés dans un hôtel que je vous recommande les yeux fermés : la Casa Mae. Les bâtiments sont magnifiques, on s'y sent tout de suite bien, on s'y sent en vacances, relaxé. Les chambres sont très jolies, spacieuses et ils y passent une playlist vraiment très cool qui sent bon les vacances :) Le service est impeccable et le petit-déjeuner très bon ! On peut également faire tout le centre de Lagos à pieds, tout en ayant un parking pas trop loin. On a tellement apprécié le lieu qu'on y est resté une nuit de plus.
Le centre de Lagos, la partie fortifiée, a beaucoup de charme avec des petites rues pavées, de jolies places au détour de ruelles avec du linge à la fenêtre. On y retrouve le côté pittoresque de Lisbonne !
Depuis Lagos, nous avons également longé la côté à pieds, pour découvrir plusieurs plages à flanc de falaise et à l'eau turquoise. Si je ne dis pas de bêtises, vous pouvez marcher depuis Lagos jusqu'à Ponta da Piedade, de notre côté nous nous sommes arrêtés à Prai Do Camilo mais le fait de longer la falaise donne une perspective unique.
Nous avons testé quelques bonnes adresses à Lagos :
- Mar d'Estórias : c'est un concept store très sympa où vous trouverez sûrement de quoi ramener des souvenirs originaux / typiques du Portugal. Même si vous n'êtes à la recherche de rien, ça vaut le coup de se balader dans la boutique :)
Au dernier étage, vous trouverez un rooftop, avec une jolie vue sur l'église et les bâtiments aux alentours... Avec du bon vin ! Un peu cher pour le Portugal mais le staff est très sympa et j'ai beaucoup apprécié le vinho verde. Sympa pour prendre l'apéro !
- Taninos : bar à tapas et bar à vins. De notre côté, on y est allé un peu tard et sans réservation donc nous avons attendu un peu mais le service a été impeccable, le serveur nous a proposé un accord mets-vin très réussi et les deux plats que nous avons partagé étaient un régal, coup de cœur !
For this roadtrip, we flew to Lisbon and then rented a car at the airport. We directly drove to Lagos from Lisbon via the highway since we were planning on taking "the long way" back up.
We stayed in the coolest hotel: Casa Mae. I had read about it a while back and always kept it in mind and I'm so glad we stayed there because it was amazing. The building themselves are beautiful and there is just this really laidback and relaxed atmosphere that makes you feel that, that’s it, you’re on holiday. The rooms are really nice, they always play the coolest playlist and breakfast was awesome too. Location-wise, it's quite close to a parking and you're at a walking distance from the city centre, bars and restaurants. We ended up enjoy it so much that we stayed an extra night there!
We really enjoyed Lagos, it has a laid-back, quaint atmosphere with small paved streets, cute squares and laundry hanging from the windows. Reminded me a bit of Lisbon!
We also walked along the coast until Prai Do Camilo where you can spot several beaches with crystal-clear water and on the sharp side of the cliffs. Definitely something to do!
Wanted to share 2 cool places we've been to while in Lagos:
- Mar d'Estórias : the first two or three floors are a cool concept store which is worth a stop but they also have a nice rooftop. The building is not that high but you can enjoy a pretty view on your surroundings with a nice glass of wine.
- Taninos : tapas and wine bar. We went there for a late dinner so we had to wait a bit but it was completely worth it. The food was amazing and well-seasoned and our waiter suggested a really nice wine and food pairing. Would definitely go back!
For this roadtrip, we flew to Lisbon and then rented a car at the airport. We directly drove to Lagos from Lisbon via the highway since we were planning on taking "the long way" back up.
We stayed in the coolest hotel: Casa Mae. I had read about it a while back and always kept it in mind and I'm so glad we stayed there because it was amazing. The building themselves are beautiful and there is just this really laidback and relaxed atmosphere that makes you feel that, that’s it, you’re on holiday. The rooms are really nice, they always play the coolest playlist and breakfast was awesome too. Location-wise, it's quite close to a parking and you're at a walking distance from the city centre, bars and restaurants. We ended up enjoy it so much that we stayed an extra night there!
We really enjoyed Lagos, it has a laid-back, quaint atmosphere with small paved streets, cute squares and laundry hanging from the windows. Reminded me a bit of Lisbon!
We also walked along the coast until Prai Do Camilo where you can spot several beaches with crystal-clear water and on the sharp side of the cliffs. Definitely something to do!
Wanted to share 2 cool places we've been to while in Lagos:
- Mar d'Estórias : the first two or three floors are a cool concept store which is worth a stop but they also have a nice rooftop. The building is not that high but you can enjoy a pretty view on your surroundings with a nice glass of wine.
- Taninos : tapas and wine bar. We went there for a late dinner so we had to wait a bit but it was completely worth it. The food was amazing and well-seasoned and our waiter suggested a really nice wine and food pairing. Would definitely go back!
 |
| Benagil Cave - The Cathedral |
 |
| Sunset in Sagres ft. Super Bock |
 |
| Sunset in Sagres |
 |
| Sunset in Sagres |
 |
| Three Little Birds |
 |
| Praia da Marinha |
 |
| Praia da Marinha |
 |
| Streets of Faro |
Nous avons passé une journée à la très jolie Praia da Marinha, a flanc de falaise, très propre avec son sable fin et l'eau turquoise ! Il y avait du monde mais comme nous étions en saison basse c'était quand même très agréable. A ne pas manquer :)
Enfin, nous sommes allés jusqu'à Sagres, connue pour sa bière et ses surfers. C'est également le point le plus à l'est de toute l'Europe ! Pour notre part, nous sommes allés acheter des bières et des tremoços (il sembe que cela s'appelle des "tramousses" ou "lupins" en français mais je ne connaissais pas du tout !) que les portugais ont l'habitude de consommer pour l'apéro. Nous sommes allés à la Fortaleza pour admirer le coucher de soleil sur le Cap Saint Vincent et la baie.
Nous avons ensuite dîné au Three Little Birds, un restaurant qui propose des burgers et des tacos délicieux et qui a en prime une jolie carte de Gin. On imagine bien l'endroit rempli de surfers l'été ;)
C'est tout pour ce premier article sur l'Algarve ! J'ai déjà commencé un second article sur la côte Vicentine, qui devrait arriver dans quelques temps ;)
After staying in Lagos and its vicinity for a few days, we made the most of our car and went along the Coast. One of the coolest things we've done is take a speedboat to see Benagi Cave for ourseves. We took a speedboat from Lagos but you can also do it from a closer distance or swim to it from Benagil beach (which isn't anything special). The cave itself was simply fascinating! It's kind of mesmerizing, really.
We also spent a day at the beach and our favorite one was Praia da Marinha. Like most beaches in Algarve they're along the coastline, withe sand and turquoise water. It was one of the prettiest we saw on the coast.
The last thing we really enjoyed on the Algarve coast was Sagres. It’s well-known for its beer and its surfers! It’s also the most western point of Portugal and of Europe, I mean Saint Vincent Cape is at least. There we bought beers and tremoços (nice Portuguese snack) and waited for sunset at the Fortaleza. You can also go to the lighthouse at Saint Vincent Cape but I really enjoyed it from the Fortaleza because you can actually the lighthouse on the horizon.
Afterwards we went for a cool dinner at Three Little Birds a really laid-back restaurant where we enjoyed burgers and tacos, plus a really nice Spritz! Would definitely recommend it.
That’s about it for Algarve Coast! It was a really wonderful few days, landscapes are breathtaking, the weather was nice, the people are friendly and we enjoyed good food. Have you ever been to Algarve? I’m also working on a second article for the second part of our road trip and it will be about Costa Vicentina all the way up to Lisbon! Stay tuned :)
À très vite !
See you soon,
