Meet ya in Ericeira: packing for, eating in, and driving around Portugal.
My top 25 things to do and love in Lisbon, Cascais, Ericeira, and Aveiro/Costa Nova this year.
Bom dia! Welcome to First Rodeo’s 2024 Portugal issue. I was so surprised by how many of you specifically requested this when I’d written it off as probably not all that interesting to you. I love when you surprise me!
Quick note: this letter is LONG. I’d recommend settling in with a beverage or if you’re planning a trip, bookmarking it to save the useful bits for later. Click here to read it in browser so you can do that.
Part of my reticence to bare all here was partially that I think there can be a bit of “I’m the first girl to ever do this” energy when recapping travel or sharing recs. I want to be really thoughtful and strategic about how I share, because I’m not Portuguese! I am lucky enough that my life partner is, so he gives me lots of extra context and experiences I don’t think I’d have had as a regular degular American going to Portugal.
That said, there’s nothing like being close to someone who is from a place to understand just how much you don’t understand about that place. Yes, we spent ample time in Lisbon, Cascais, Ericeira, and the Aveiro area. But we also spent a lot of time in the center of Portugal, in areas where tourism would likely never bring you. My boyfriend’s uncle said it better than I will here, and I hate to paraphrase him (likely incorrectly), but essentially: what the tourists are drinking in around hyper urban Lisbon or lavish Cascais is not the reality for most Portuguese people. This (*gestures around to home in small town where there is a sheep hanging out with a very cute stray cat in the backyard*) is maybe closer to the bullseye.
I’m lucky that said duality and access to both family time spent with people who were born and raised in a small town in Portugal and that tourist/coastal elite time spent drinking a Hugo Spritz on the beach have painted a rich but also hopefully realistic picture of a country that I suspect I will call home in at least some capacity in my life.
Indeed, by the end of our time, we were both itching to get home— and also hatching a plan to try to snag an apartment in a certain part of Portugal. Duality for you again.
Here’s what I am SO GLAD was stuffed inside that puppy! MVPs of my nearly month-long trip that I couldn’t have done it without…
Packing cubes (killer value on this set that I own and love) and a basic but get-the-job-done toiletries bag.
When you’re moving bathrooms almost every day, you gotta have a strategy. Travel sized leave-in conditioner from Crown Affair, my mini travel razor, my mini Kosas palette, mini Kosas concealer and mini Rare Beauty blush were my workhorses. These are either mini versions of what I use on the daily, or in the case of makeup, I actually often buy mini sizes, since I very rarely can use everything up fully before its expiration date.
Portugal weather is much like my native Northern California: the sun was hot in the peak of the day, but mornings and evenings required a sweater at the very least. Sweaters were easily my most worn items— a vintage white crochet cardigan (similar here or here), a beloved blue and white striped button-up, and finally, the GOAT, the best sweater I’ve ever purchased. This navy number, which is marked down to a VERY good price right now considering it’s one of those items I think I’ll have forever. I wore it constantly and still every day my boyfriend (not a women’s fashion guy) would say “God, that is such a good sweater!”
Speaking of workhorses, my other MVP was my beat-up pair of way-too-oversized denim Levi’s, which I recently paired with this blanket stitch belt, also from J. Crew. The belt performs the essential function of keeping a beloved but too baggy pair of shorts on, and the contrast between frayed vintage denim and a more polished suede belt feels very nice to me.
A simple crossbody big enough to fit my lip balm, my one pair of sunglasses, my Kindle, and hand sanitizer. I packed a thrifted Clare V chocolate suede number and this classic one, another sale score.
I wrote this piece below when dreaming of Portugal. I was surprised by how popular it’s slowly become! It seems a lot of you are dreaming of respite in Portugal too.
Lisbon: an obviously metropolitan city with distinct San Francisco lookalike energy, but much stronger vibes, eons more history and better food (I can say this since I’m from the Bay)
Cascais: one of the more posh beach towns with a few gorgeous beaches and a very cute and walkable town center with lots of shops
Ericeira: one of Portugal’s best surf towns with a distinctly surfer-y population of expats to match, also with a few gorgeous beaches and walkable town center, but much more relaxed and easy breezy than Cascais
Aveiro: a large university town a few hours North, closer to where my boyfriend grew up
Costa Nova: the beach nearest to Aveiro, famous for their striped houses, with large, pristine expanses of open beach and a quiet, calm feel
Our formula (tried and true) looks something like this: red eye from NYC, land in Lisbon, stay up as long as you can without a nap, walk around, spend a few days acclimating and walking our butts off in Lisbon. As we left Lisbon, we rented a car and headed to Cascais, a half hour North. (I’d recommend not having a rental car while you’re staying in Lisbon…) It was both of our first times in Cascais! I loved getting to do something that was new to João too.
Then onwards to Ericeira, one of our favorite places, where we shifted from fun hotel stays to a more economical Airbnb, and we simply… lived for a while. This is around the part of the trip where you’re really relieved to have access to a washer and a drying rack.
After over a week of just living and chilling in Ericeira, we drove up North to the small town that João is from, where his family was gathered. (For those who know the area, Aveiro is the nearest big city!) João’s mom generously let us stay in her apartment in Costa Nova, which was also heavenly. Costa Nova has WAY less American tourists, and has a much more serene and local tourism energy. I am surprised I’m saying this, but the best food I had in Portugal this year was in Costa Nova, despite going to a lot of places known for great food!
If I were to do this trip again, and God willing I will, I’d invert it so the family time up North came first, and then we rolled into vacation, ending with the reprieve of a lovely hotel to soften the blow of going home to regular life.
One thing I noticed this year was a dramatic decline in how much American English I heard everywhere. This was a relief! It bugs me when Americans show up in other countries and don’t bother to learn a word of the language and instead expect that everything be in English. My Portuguese is mid at best, but I’m a strong believer that the gesture of trying counts more than the grammatical integrity of your sentences.
Despite what I said about there being less Americans, pretty much everyone I know went to Portugal this month or is about to go next month. Alas, many of them missed out on my favorites! You, dear reader, shall not!
Below are all the spots I’d recommend: hotels, restaurants, cafés, beaches, boutiques to bookmark.
Another POV I have when traveling is that I am not really interested in the Resy culture that dominates New York. I don’t want to dine at restaurants that are full of other people from New York and have the menu prices to reflect it— I’d rather pop into a hole in the wall or a great spot my boyfriend’s brother recommended. (And boy, did we!) There are no buzzy zeitgeisty “it” restaurants on this list, save for one that I walked into on accident.
I mined travel blogs and Yolo Journal for great Portugal recs in Lisbon, Cascais and Ericeira, and found very few places I actually wanted to go. Luckily enough, I have some gems to share anyway! Scroll on for my Top 25 recommendations of 2024. :)
Lisbon
Hotel São Vicente Alfama // I’ve stayed here two years in a row, and I love the (free!) cozy breakfasts on the veranda, the area (Alfama is my favorite neighborhood), the hotel bed, and the extremely nice staff. I’d heartily recommend! I have yet to try Memmo Alfama, but I’ve heard good things and we likely will give it a go next time should they have availability (they often don’t). As with many hotels, this was one we booked with credit card points— high key recommend that strategy.
Most hotels in Portugal (at least all that I’ve stayed at) offer a free breakfast. You’re a fool if you don’t take them up on it.
