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!