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Started By
Message
re: Portugal Trip Review
Posted on 8/23/17 at 11:47 am to Bear-O-Dactyl
Posted on 8/23/17 at 11:47 am to Bear-O-Dactyl
Tomar
Duration: 1 night
Hotel: Hotel dos Templarios
We arrived in Tomar in the mid-afternoon. The main bridge into town, however, was closed due to a medieval festival right outside of our hotel. Yes, please. I immediately went to change clothes and dragged my reluctant wife down to the festival to shop for chain mail. We found $1 sangria, so she was happy. After spending some time at the festival, we headed to the city center to grab dinner at Taverna Antiqua, a medieval themed restaurant, which was just a happy coincidence. We were seated next to about two dozen drunken Portuguese men dressed in full chain mail and Templar garb. The venison and company was great. We headed back to the festival after dinner and I blacked out.
Our driver was scheduled to pick us up at noon the next day, so we went in to town and got a tour of the area via tuk tuk. It was pretty neat. The coolest thing we got to see were the old aqueducts. It has a maintenance path, so we were able to climb to the top and walk across.
If I could go back in time, I would tell past me to skip Aveiro and spend more time in Tomar and give the Templar castle more than just a cursory glance.
Budget Estimates:
Hotel - $90/nt
Tuk Tuk tour - $33
Misc.
Tuk tuk tour is cool, but we weren't able to go inside the Templar castle, which I would have really liked to do.
Medieval festivals are awesome.
Duration: 1 night
Hotel: Hotel dos Templarios
We arrived in Tomar in the mid-afternoon. The main bridge into town, however, was closed due to a medieval festival right outside of our hotel. Yes, please. I immediately went to change clothes and dragged my reluctant wife down to the festival to shop for chain mail. We found $1 sangria, so she was happy. After spending some time at the festival, we headed to the city center to grab dinner at Taverna Antiqua, a medieval themed restaurant, which was just a happy coincidence. We were seated next to about two dozen drunken Portuguese men dressed in full chain mail and Templar garb. The venison and company was great. We headed back to the festival after dinner and I blacked out.
Our driver was scheduled to pick us up at noon the next day, so we went in to town and got a tour of the area via tuk tuk. It was pretty neat. The coolest thing we got to see were the old aqueducts. It has a maintenance path, so we were able to climb to the top and walk across.
If I could go back in time, I would tell past me to skip Aveiro and spend more time in Tomar and give the Templar castle more than just a cursory glance.
Budget Estimates:
Hotel - $90/nt
Tuk Tuk tour - $33
Misc.
Tuk tuk tour is cool, but we weren't able to go inside the Templar castle, which I would have really liked to do.
Medieval festivals are awesome.
This post was edited on 8/23/17 at 1:56 pm
1
Posted on 8/23/17 at 11:47 am to Bear-O-Dactyl
Sintra
Duration: 1 night
Hotel: Tivoli Palace
Our Blacklane driver picked us up in Tomar to take us to Sintra, which is not far outside of Lisbon. The trip went very smoothly (I napped) until we begin heading up the hill to our hotel. Apparently the two lane roads in Sintra are wide enough for about 1.5 cars. So with a throng of tourists walking up the hill and bumper to bumper traffic, it took about a half hour to get a quarter mile.
We stayed at a hotel called the Tivoli Palace (above) and it was absolutely ridiculous. We dropped off our bags and reluctantly left the hotel to see the Qunita da Regaleira, a historic estate and garden complex full of caves and giant wells. It was big enough to get lost in. I know that from experience. Once traffic died down, we headed into town to grab dinner at a place called Incomum. Very good food and wine. Would recommend.
The next morning, we were picked up by Sintra Magik for a custom private tour of Sintra and parts of Lisbon. We began by seeing the Pena Palace, which was built by a monarch as his summer home. It even had a castle for ducks.
After Pena Palace, we walked down the hill to the Castle of the Moors, which was constructed in the 8th century when most of the Iberian people were conquered by the Moorish peoples of North Africa. It was a helluva hike.
To finish our tour of Sintra, we stopped at Monserrate Palace and its gardens. Monserrate Palace is difficult to describe. It's absolutely gorgeous and is the kind of place I would want to live in if I won the Powerball. Unfortunately it sat unoccupied for an extended period during a battle over ownership and was destroyed by squatters. The government now has ownership and has sunk a ton of money into restoration. It will be even nicer when they finish.
Budget Estimates:
Hotel - $375/nt
Private tour - $350
Misc.
Sintra is an absolute MUST SEE, but traffic is absolutely nightmarish.
We structured our private tour to pick us up in Sintra and drop us at our hotel in Lisbon to negate our need for transportation.
Duration: 1 night
Hotel: Tivoli Palace
Our Blacklane driver picked us up in Tomar to take us to Sintra, which is not far outside of Lisbon. The trip went very smoothly (I napped) until we begin heading up the hill to our hotel. Apparently the two lane roads in Sintra are wide enough for about 1.5 cars. So with a throng of tourists walking up the hill and bumper to bumper traffic, it took about a half hour to get a quarter mile.
We stayed at a hotel called the Tivoli Palace (above) and it was absolutely ridiculous. We dropped off our bags and reluctantly left the hotel to see the Qunita da Regaleira, a historic estate and garden complex full of caves and giant wells. It was big enough to get lost in. I know that from experience. Once traffic died down, we headed into town to grab dinner at a place called Incomum. Very good food and wine. Would recommend.
The next morning, we were picked up by Sintra Magik for a custom private tour of Sintra and parts of Lisbon. We began by seeing the Pena Palace, which was built by a monarch as his summer home. It even had a castle for ducks.
After Pena Palace, we walked down the hill to the Castle of the Moors, which was constructed in the 8th century when most of the Iberian people were conquered by the Moorish peoples of North Africa. It was a helluva hike.
To finish our tour of Sintra, we stopped at Monserrate Palace and its gardens. Monserrate Palace is difficult to describe. It's absolutely gorgeous and is the kind of place I would want to live in if I won the Powerball. Unfortunately it sat unoccupied for an extended period during a battle over ownership and was destroyed by squatters. The government now has ownership and has sunk a ton of money into restoration. It will be even nicer when they finish.
Budget Estimates:
Hotel - $375/nt
Private tour - $350
Misc.
Sintra is an absolute MUST SEE, but traffic is absolutely nightmarish.
We structured our private tour to pick us up in Sintra and drop us at our hotel in Lisbon to negate our need for transportation.
This post was edited on 8/23/17 at 2:18 pm
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