It’s safe to say I have a soft spot when it comes to Portugal. The country where your life was saved tends to have that effect!
But embarrassingly, I’d spent so much time in the Brit-filled Algarve on warm weather training camps as an athlete, that I’d only scratched the surface of this beautiful place.
That was set to be rectified when, in July 2021, mid-pandemic, I decided to take advantage of Portugal’s hospitality once again, and see a little bit more of what this country had to offer.
After spending a few days sightseeing in Porto, my husband and I picked up our hire car and headed due West until the roads became windier, the scenery more beautiful and the river Douro kept on peeking out between the trees. After 90 minutes or so we reached our base for the next couple of days, the delightful A Padaria Farmhouse close to Cinfães. We paid 85 euros per night which included a gorgeous breakfast every morning.
I was so pleased to have discovered this hidden gem where host Maria made us feel so welcome, and where the breakfasts (which included fresh produce from the farm) were the absolute highlight of our trip. We spent our days hiking in the gorgeous northern Portugal countryside, and the evenings eating home made food and sitting on our balcony overlooking the Douro.
Travelling further west took us deeper into the gorgeous vineyards of the Douro Valley, and the showstopper of a village Pinhão. COVID restrictions meant that shops were shut and cafes closed, but we had lunch on the balcony of the gorgeous The Vintage House Hotel, where I instantly wished I’d booked in for at least a night’s stay.
After lunch we were back on the road, travelling back through picture perfect Douro before finding our way onto a main road and heading south to Coimbra (pronounced Keem-bra).
This historic university town has so much to offer, and once again I regretted that we’d only booked for one night at the grand but never stuffy Quinta das Lagrimas. I found a great rate of 120 euros for the night, which included breakfast as well as access to the gardens and grounds, an area where entrance is usually chargeable for the public.
We shunned the expensive looking on-site Arcadas restaurant for the more affordable gastro bar next door, where the service was excellent, a common theme of our visit.
The next morning we were glad that we took the advice of the receptionist and ordered an uber to take us through the extremely steep roads into the city, where we explored the university grounds and walked back to the hotel via the medieval town centre.
From Coimbra we drove on to Lisbon, dropping our car off at the city centre car rental depot, leaving us free to explore the capital on foot (and scooter!)
Road Trip Tips
Don’t automatically hire your car from the airport. If you’re going to spend a few days in a city, consider if you actually need a hire car from the very first moment. We used Porto’s excellent public transport from the airport to our hotel, picking up the hire car on day 3 of our trip. Similarly, we dropped off our car in Lisbon city centre rather than holding on to it just for the sake of it. Having a car would have cost us extra in hire days, car parking and airport pick up and drop off charges, so if you can avoid it, do.
Take out car hire excess before you leave for holiday. Typically your car hire will come with the absolute minimum of insurance coverage, meaning you’ll pay an excess of up to £1000+ for any damage you incur (or another driver inflicts on you). Car hire companies will often charge you more than you actually paid for the car hire to reduce this excess down to zero, so always look at taking out excess insurance before you leave your home country. Yes, it could mean a sizeable hold on your credit card, and if any damage takes place you’ll have to pay and claim back, but to me it’s totally worth the hundreds you could save in the short term. I’m fortunate that I’ve never had to make use of them, but https://www.carhireexcess.co.uk/ has a straight froward website, and I’ve always found their rates to be reasonable.
Comments are closed.