Portugal - where to stay
Are there boutique hotels in Portugal? Does anyone know of a medium priced, interesting hotel with breakfast that's located where you can walk or take public transportation to most things? I want to stay in Lisbon for a couple of days and then go somewhere else. Porto or Algarve region?
sally
Edina, MN United States 11/15/09
Send Private Message
Sally
RS's book on Portugal gives you insight to all areas. You will need a car to get to the Algarve region or bus- Some trains out of Lisbon to more concentrated areas We stayed at Pension Mare in Salema(a sleepy fishing village) and drove around the back country. There are other larger towns to visit as well - Lagos, Tavira. Do read the book. May is a good time of the year to go.
Not sure that the Pension Mare in Salema quite fits the boutique hotel category but I also like it and highly recommend it! Salema is very small and you can easily walk from the hotel to the beach and great waterfront restaurants.
Love Porto, it is a great place. We liked it better than Lisbon. Take a train from Porto for the day to the World Heritgage listed Duoro Valley.
What time of year are you going? This could make a big determination on where you might want to visit.
We stayed in Lisbon, Porto, and Tavira while we were in Portugal two XMass ago. We loved all three! Each had something different to offer.
Lisbon has fantastic transportation, and is fun to walk around. In Porto we took the bus or just walked, and just absolutely enjoyed ourselves.(except for the rain during that time of year)
In the Algarve area, Salema and Taviara, etc, are SMALL and fun, but we needed a car to explore the Algarve. We really enjoyed the warm weather and walking in the warm water on the beaches.
Read RS Portugal book. Everything he had to say was "right on the money"!
Check Trip Advisor.com for more reviews on the type of place wher. you are thinking about staying
In Lisbon, we stayed at the Sofitel Lisbon Liberdade, which was something like 125 EUD/night. We really liked the hotel, and it was in reasonable walking distance to everything for us.
In Porto, we stayed right on the rive at the Pestana Porto. We had a river view room (it was my birthday, so we splurged) which was around 170 EUD/night.
We started in Porto and then took a train to Lisbon, from which we took a taxi to the hotel. It was a bit of an uphill haul, but we walked from the hotel in Porto to the train station.
My daughter and I also stayed at the Sofitel in Lisbon this past summer It is a lovely hotel, modern and clean rooms. In a convenient spot for walking to many sites and public transport. Taxis were also very reasonable. Breakfast was not included but the rate was reasonable as I remember or we would not have stayed there! Have fun.