You won’t have to talk to too many people to find many who are in love with Portugal. Typically the enthusiasm they have for this country will convince you to go to. So you want to go to Portugal. Where do you start?
This page provides a link to the many pages about our first trip to Portugal and the intricacies of arranging and being there.
Where do you stay in Portugal?
A logical place to start is figuring out where you will stay when you go. Where that is will, logically, depend on how old the travellers are and what the budget for lodging might be. Based on our experience quite decent single bedroom flats can be rented for about 800 Euro a month with more luxurious or multi-bedroom flats being available from 1,150 Euro a month and up. The UP is based on what your budget can afford with more luxurious accommodations costing quite a bit more.
Need to find a place to stay in Portugal? Follow this link.
Getting to Portugal from YYZ (Toronto)
Since we live in eastern Ontario, Pearson International Airport (YYZ) in Toronto is the logical spot for us to get a flight to and from Portugal. As with all things, there are many options in airlines. We’ve done it, and are happy to share the info with you via the next link.
When all was said and done, in the spring of 2024, we decided on one airline over others. For details click here.
Getting from Lisbon to Albufeira
After a few days in Lisbon to get our internal clocks on Portugal time we headed for our two-month rental in the Algarve. Research provided many options including chauffeur, bus, plane or train.
From the photo above you can guess. Click here to see why we used the transport we did in getting from Lisbon to Albufeira.
When you get to Albufeira
The Flixbus service delivered us to their in-town stop which was, we found out after we’d explored a while, about two hundred yards north of the Old Town Albufeira. Our digs were the other way, however. And then comes a bit of culture shock about actually being there. We learned some of the tips the hard way.
Can you speak English in Portugal? How does the money work? Can I drink the water? What about coffee? For information about these topics and more, follow this link.
And then there’s the issue of health care, of how the pharmacies work, washing and drying clothes in Portugal, and lots of detail about finding your favourite foods, all of this and more if you click right here!
Wandering Albufeira
From talking to many people that have already made the winter-time trek to the warmer climate of Portugal, the place where many go is the Algarve. About in the middle of the Algarve is the town of Albufeira.
From the Old Town to the modern streets and buildings of Albufeira, this town if full of things to see and do. For a short term visitor there’s more than can be comfortably seen in a week or even two. We had the pleasure of staying there for about two months in early 2024, and as a result of our first visit, plan on going back again in early 2025.
The Albufeira Marina
I refer to the market at the Marina in another page. The Albufeira Marina is a must see for most folks when they visit the Algarve.
There are seasonal rentals at the Albufeira Marina as well so if you are searching for a place to stay the next time you visit this wonderful country, it’s worthwhile checking out the rentals. For information about The Albufeira Marina please click here.
Are we going back to Portugal?
We had such a wonderful time in Albufeira how could we not? The location, the ocean, the beaches, the food, the people and regarding the people, there are so many Canadians visiting the Algarve and lots of them stay in the greater Albufeira area.
Are we going back? All things being equal health wise, we sure are. In fact, we already booked for 2025 while in Albufeira in 2024. Information about our second trip to the Algarve will be linked below when that trip is underway. See you then.