Aruba

Relaxing on Renaissance Island

Things to do: Aside from the obvious relaxing on the beach, there are so many activities available in Aruba. Of course, snorkeling was at the top of our list. We have heard many good things about Jolly Pirates, although we did not book with them. We went through Aruba Water  Sports. For a little over $100, we managed to do stand up paddle boarding, kayaking and a 2 stop snorkeling sail. We wanted to do more snorkeling than just the one trip. There are many stands set up on the beach that let you rent snorkel equipment for 24 hours. We took a cab ride and started at Arashi Beach, then snorkeled each beach on our way back to the hotel. It was quite a hike, but it was completely worth it!

Hanging out with the flamingos! 

If you are looking to relax (and on a private island yet too!) Renaissance Island is the place to go. There are even flamingos roaming around the beach! To get here you need to stop at Renaissance Hotel in Oranjestad. It will cost about $100 if you are not a hotel guest, but I think it is worth it. This also includes a meal, a drink and an activity on the island. The island has two sections; one for families and one adults only. There is a bar and restaurant on site. The snorkeling there was great as well! Tip: many people began leaving in the late afternoon. I would suggest staying until the last boat departure. There are hammocks to relax on and it was the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen!!

Renaissance Island

Baby Beach

Another beach many people may not be aware of or just haven't gotten to is Baby Beach. This had probably the best snorkeling we found on the whole island and we had gone to 7 different spots. The water is the clearest out of every location as well. It is also a little more relaxing than the busy beach filled with hotels. This is quite a ways away- about a half hour- and about a $50 cab ride each way, but we would go back in a heartbeat!
Tip: Had I known how easy the driving was, I would have just chosen to rent a car and skip the cabs.




Where to stay: After researching the many options available, we decided to go with Marriott Aruba Surf Club. I am glad we did! I loved that there were many grills located around the property so we didn't have to eat out every night. We took a cab to the grocery store and enjoyed fresh fish and steaks throughout the week. And did I mention the hotel has a lazy river??

Where to eat:

Costa Rica

Museum in San Jose

Tip: We flew into San Jose which required us to stay a night there to be close for an early morning departure. Had I known flying into Libera would have been an option, I would have done that in a heartbeat. It cuts down a lot of the driving time-our longest ride was about 6 hours. Flying into Libera will give you an extra day to enjoy the beach and/or rain forest. I would highly suggest cutting your trip into two as I did and staying in both locations. There are so many different activities to do at each, specific to each location. Transportation between cities is very easy to book and very reliable.

Arenal

Things to do: There are so many different activities to do in this area. The hanging bridges tour is a great way to talk a walk through (and above!) the rain forest. It's not as scary as it may seem. My favorite thing we did was horseback riding to the largest waterfall in the country. We had a private guide and it was amazing!
Another suggestion would be to try zip lining down to the waterfall!
We also enjoyed a night after a long day of activities at the hot springs. For this we went to The Springs Hotel & Resort. They had so many different hot springs to choose from on their property!

You can even swim by the waterfall!

Perfect spot for coffee!

Where to stay: We stayed at Hotel Arenal Manoa & Hot Springs. This hotel was perfect and I'm so glad we chose it! It's almost like a little neighborhood of bungalos. There is a good restaurant on site as well as a pool side bar. On a clear day you even get a view of the volcano from your room!

            

Guanacaste

A stop en route from Arenal to Guanacasta

Things to do: Like Arenal, there were so many choices of things to do, it was very difficult to choose! There are many people on the beach who will set activities up for you. We decided to do an ATV tour of 4 other beaches in the area. It was neat to see different beaches other than the private one at our hotel. 

Snorkeling is also a "must" activity whenever we are at a destination that allows for it. Andrew was able to get up close to a large sting ray!

Where to stay: We decided on the all-inclusive route for this part of our trip. I have nothing but good things to say about the Riu Palace! The restaurants there were delicious. The nicer restaurants have two seatings and require reservations. The meals are served course style. It is also adults only which we preferred. If you are looking for something less expensive or family friendly, try the Riu Guanacaste next door. Both hotels share a private beach between the two.

Azores

 Sao Miguel Island

How to get here: We flew direct from the Boston airport with SATA airlines prior to heading into Lisbon. It worked out perfectly because we had a 14 hour layover-just enough time to see what we really wanted to before leaving.

Things to do: We chose to skip a tour and rent a car because we had an idea of a few places we wanted to see and needed to squeeze it in all in one day. I was a little hesitant to attempt to drive around the entire island on our own, but the rental supplied a gps and we managed just fine. The places of interest we chose to see were:

Downtown Ponta Delgada
Furnas Hot Springs
Nordeste
Lagoa das Sete Cidades
Ponta Do Castelo

If we had more time, we would have definitely done a tour to swim with the dolphins! 

Places to eat: We just grabbed a quick bite here and there during our short stay on the island. I will say, though, that the ice cream stands downtown Ponta Delgada had the best ice cream I've ever had! We even had to go back for seconds during our layover on our way home from Lisbon to Boston.

Portugal

Tips: 

-If you are planning to head down to the southern coast, and do not want to deal with the busy European summer traveling, try going in September. It is still plenty warm, but not crowded whatsoever. Prices drop significantly during this time as well.
-Tipping is not customary. It is usually only done if you have received EXCELLENT service

-When you order wine, remember you are ordering an entire bottle (I made this mistake once while grabbing a "quick" lunch)

Albufeira

How to get here: We took the train (RailEurope) which leaves directly from Lisbon and takes about 3.5 hours to get to the Albufeira stop. Once you get there, cabs will be lined up ready to take you to your hotel. I would actually suggest the bus over the train, though, because I found it to be more comfortable. 

Where to stay: There are so many choices, but we were looking for a place we could relax during our time here since we knew we would be non-stop going when we got back to Lisbon. We stayed at Salgados Palace 5 which was AMAZING. The property was gorgeous and our room was huge. 

Things to do: Looking around town is probably the most popular thing to do in this city. It is a touristy area with a lot of night life. If you are looking for a quieter area, try Lagos. During our stay in Albufeira, we spent most of our time relaxing. There is a nice trail on a nature preserve next to the hotel which is worth taking a look at as well.

Lagos

Things to do:

We didn't have much time to do everything we had wanted but we were able to do a Grottos tour. If you walk into town down by all the boats there will be tour groups and you can sign up, pay, and go usually right away. It was pretty neat to see what the formations looked like from a different point of view. We also enjoyed just walking around town. I wish we had access to a stove-everything in their fish market looked amazing! Another activity we would have liked to do, but was booked, was the vineyard tour by sidecar. 

Grottos tour

Fresh seafood!

Places to eat:

Although the food may not look to be anything "special" Onda Norte was one of our favorite restaurants during our entire trip. The steak kabob is a must try!

Where to stay:

Although our stay in Lagos was short lived, we really enjoyed our stay at Carvi Beach Hotel. It was a perfect location right next to one of the best beaches in town. It was also walking distance (about 15 minutes) from town. They also have a rooftop pool with great views!

Lisbon

Things to do:

Casa Ermelinda Freitas

I would HIGHLY recommend doing a wine tour. If you really want to gear it to your own personal tastes, this will take quite a bit of research with the number of vineyards to choose from, but it is completely worth it. We used Portugal Premium Tours as our tour service and I have nothing but good things to say about them. They will work with you to inform you which places you can visit with your time schedule, book the tours for you, etc. We were picked up at 8:45 am and visited 4 vineyards throughout the course of the day. The four we visited were Casa Ermelinda Freitas, L'and Vineyards, Herdade Do Esporao and Cartuxa. I would suggest each one for different reasons. At Ermelinda Freitas, we were able to get a private tour and even try each of the different types of grapes. They also had a nice little spread to eat along with our tasting. Their 2005 Syrah won best wine of the year a few years ago. If you stop at L'and, make sure to check out the Michelin star restaurant. I have never had such a good vegetarian dish before. Herdade Do Esporao had probably the largest selection of wines to taste out of all four we visited. They had some very delicious dry reds which we particularly enjoy. And finally, Cartuxa offered a great tour and tasting with a very small group. We ended up purchasing 3 bottles of their red blend to bring home, which we were lucky to get back all in one piece! I used the site Wine Tourism in Portugal to do research on each vineyard. They offer a very extensive list and will set up tours for you as well.

View during lunch at L'and

Our final stop, Cartuxa

I would also suggest doing a pub crawl (if that's your sort of thing) during your stay in Lisbon. It was nice to be able to get out and visit places we normally most likely wouldn't have just the two of us and also have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. The company we went through for this was Funky Monkey Pub Crawl with Wild Walkers Tours and they were great guides!

Lisbon club!

Places to eat:

I wanted to have one night where we dinned at a fancier place and ended up deciding on Largo. The seafood was delicious! I never really thought I'd find myself enjoying octopus until I tried it here. And how could you not want to be able to have dinner next to a jellyfish tank?!

Where to stay:

The hotel we chose to stay at in Lisbon was Fenix Garden. It was reasonably priced and had the most amazing view! It is also walking distance to many attractions or a short cab into the main area of town.

View of the city from our balcony!

Sintra

How to get here: We took a cab directly from Lisbon because we were pretty pressed for time. This, however, can be a little pricey. If you have more time, check out the train schedule and take it into town. 

Things to do: The best way to see Sintra, in my opinion, is to take a horse and carriage ride. You can book them in advance or just show up by the town center and there will be horse and carriages lined up and waiting. We pre-booked our trip using Sintratur. You can pick your tour route, but I would suggest doing one of the tours in which you are able to see Pena Palace. It is beautiful!

Aside from the horse and carried ride, we really enjoyed just walking around town and checking out all the little shops. The whole area was so cute!

Purchasing the first of many wine bottles!

Places to eat: We were only here for an afternoon, but we were able to make a stop to have lunch. We ate an Vinhos and Sabores. We were happy to be able to eat outside with a view of the castles right behind us. 

Our view during lunch

Menu Brasil was delicious!