We were in Lisbon over Easter weekend and we had a really difficult time finding an available hotel. After much searching for alternatives, we stumbled upon Residentas Áurea, a luxury apartment building in the Baixa district. Residentas Áurea offers the following apartment options: studio, classic 1 bedroom, 1 bedroom duplex, 1 bedroom loft, and premium 1 bedroom. The building was locked with a coded entry system that was a little finicky but we got used to it. There is a lobby area but it is not staffed by anyone. The hallway was oddly gray and completely flat. The doors were …

We booked our Benagil Cave boat tour through South Explorers as a tour that included round-trip transportation from Lagos, a boat ride from Carvoeiro, and a walk along the Algar Seco boardwalk. Antonio from South Explorers booked the boat tickets through Carvoeiro Tours. With more than 30 years in the business and 4 boats leaving from two different locations (Carvoeiro and Portimão), Carvoeiro Tours is a well-respected and experienced tour company. Their operation ran smoothly from the stand on the edge of the beach. They fitted us all for life jackets (which were more comfortable than most!), showed us where …

When we added the Algarve to our trip, one of the main reasons was to see Benagil Cave. But choosing to stay in Lagos without a rental car made a trip to Benagil a little more complicated. There were plenty of boat tours that left from Lagos to Benagil but I read that it was a long, bone-jarring, sea-sickness-inducing trip. I posted a question about alternatives on the Travel Portugal FaceBook group and Antonio from South Explorers responded that he offered a Benagil by Boat and Algarseco tour that included ground transportation from Lagos to Carvoeiro. It was exactly what …

Located in Lagos less than 5 minutes from Porto Mós beach, Belmar Spa & Beach Resort offers apartments of various sizes from studio to 3 bedroom. The resort has 4 pools, including an adults-only pool and an indoor pool. There is a full service restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as an indoor bar and a poolside bar. We had a standard 2 bedroom apartment and it was a great space for our family. The shared space included a living room with plenty of seating and a kitchen with a small dining area. The kids room had …

We hadn’t originally planned to spend a night in Sintra but thought it would be a good way to break up the trip from Porto to Lagos, as well as keep us from having to use one of our Lisbon days for a day trip to Sintra. We are so glad we ended up spending the night at Chalet Saudade. Chalet Saudade is more of a bed and breakfast than a traditional hotel. Built in the 1890s and completely refurbished starting in 2009, this beautiful old home is full of charm. There are 15 different rooms, all named after trees: …

When we booked 3 consecutive days with Igor Araujo of Porto Tours & Transfers, I knew that he had the potential to make or break a large portion of our trip. But I had read so many overwhelmingly positive reviews that I wasn’t too worried. And I was right not to be – he was phenomenal and definitely took our trip to the next level. I first heard of Igor on the FaceBook group, Travel Portugal. I had read some posts where people were glowing over his tours but what really attracted me were the posts that he made himself. …

Even though our boys are getting older (and bigger!), we still prefer to stay in the same room while we travel so we have to look for hotels that have larger rooms or suites. The Family Room at the Hotel Catalonia Porto worked great for us. This 86 room boutique hotel is located in an historic building just up the street from Batalha Square. While not close to the river, we liked the location. It was close to Rua de Santa Catarina, which was nice for dining and shopping (since I had no luggage!). We walked everywhere from the hotel …