The Portugal Tips I Give My Friends | Chris + Melissa

When a friend tells me they’re going to Portugal and asks for my Portugal travel tips, an hour passes by before I take a breath. JK. I’m not that overbearing. At least not quite. 

Chris and I lived there for over a year and a half. Some of what follows, I learned the hard way. As I tell my daughter, I’ve made the mistakes to better help you.

Here is everything I’d tell you over coffee if you told me you just booked your flights:

Slow Down. No, Slower Than That.

Portugal operates on its own clock. On time is early. As a guide told me, things happen “just in time.” That’s about right. Take a breath and embrace it. If you’re like me, take three. 

I still recommend showing up to any scheduled activity about fifteen minutes ahead to be safe. Exceptions prove rules. 

If you’re a Midwesterner from a small town or modest-sized city, chances are you’re used to eating dinner at around five or six. A restaurant might be scheduled to open at six, but the host might not open the doors until 6:05 or maybe 6:10. 

Many restaurants close between their lunch and dinner service. 

While the pacing is relaxed at restaurants, if you’re too late for your reservation, you might lose your table.

Dining Out

There are fabulous restaurants throughout Portugal. Reservations are typically recommended, especially in the evening. We’ve had great luck using TheFork.com for making reservations in Portugal. They have an app on their site that you can download. If there’s a restaurant that I know I’m interested in, I typically start at its website. 

For some of our favorite restaurants (restaurantes) and bakeries (padarias) in Portugal:

Date Night in Porto: 7 Romantic Restaurants for Couples

Best Breakfast & Brunch In Porto: Favorites from a Year in the City

Where to Drink Port in Porto: Our Favorite Spots

Porto’s Sweet Side: Best Pastries, Chocolate Shops, and More

5 Romantic Restaurants in Albufeira We Loved

Best Pastel de Nata in Lisbon: Where to Try This Iconic Treat

When You Sit Down to Eat

Once you’ve made your reservation and found your table, there are a few things that sometimes catch American travelers off guard. 

Couvert. Shortly after you sit down, bread, olives, little snacks, sometimes cheese or a spread, will appear at your table. They’ll be set down in a way that feels complimentary. They are not. If you don’t want the extra charge, just say no thank you. No one will be offended.

Water. Água com gas or água sem gas. Water with gas or water without gas. Sparkling or still. Both come bottled. You can request tap water, but we treated Portugal like Paris, not Reykjavík, and ordered the bottled water. Chris became obsessed with sparkling water while we lived there and is so disappointed when places in the United States don’t have it. 

Ordering. Once you’ve decided what you want, set your menu down and look up. Portuguese waitstaff typically don’t hover because they aren’t there to rush you. If you’re still looking at your menu, chances are they’ll leave you alone out of politeness. 

Another reason the restaurant servers might not be hovering is that it’s not uncommon for restaurants to want you to order your drink, appetizer, and entree all at once. It seems like proper meal pacing is a point of pride there. I know we appreciated (and now often miss) it.  

From the American side, it can feel like you’re being ignored. You’re not. You just haven’t signaled that you’re ready. Put the menu down, make eye contact, and your server will be right over.

Tipping. It’s less expected than in the States, but wages in Portugal aren’t high either. We tipped at least ten percent as a general rule. Be aware that some card machines don’t have a tipping option, so it helps to carry a little cash for that purpose.

Dining Al Fresco. It seems romantic, but if you’re easily annoyed by secondhand smoke, you might prefer a table indoors. There is no public ban on smoking outdoors or on restaurant patios, and many al fresco dining spots have ashtrays on their tables. 

A Little Portuguese Goes A Long Way

You don’t need to be fluent, but a little graciousness goes a long way. Learn Bom Dia (good morning), Boa Tarde (good afternoon), Boa Noite (good evening), Por Favor (please), and Obrigada if you’re a woman, Obrigado if you’re a man. People will be delighted.

One phrase you’ll hear at shop checkouts: “Querem um saco?” Do you want a bag? Once you know it, you’ll hear it everywhere.

The answer:

“Sim, Por Favor.” Yes, please. 

“Não, obrigada(o).” No, thank you.  

English is widely spoken in Lisbon, slightly less so in Porto, and less still in smaller towns. Anyone working in tourism or the service industry will almost certainly speak English. When you sign up for tours or experiences, you’ll often see the same offering at different times in different languages, with English as the default. We’ve done tile painting classes, wine tastings, and a New Year’s Eve yacht cruise alongside people from Germany, the Netherlands, and France conducted in English.

Painting Portugal: Art of Azulejos in Porto

A word about Spanish. Mostly, avoid it. Portugal and Spain share a long, complicated history, and the Portuguese are proud of their language. I once said “siete” instead of “sete” at a market, and a vendor let me know, a bit gruffly, that they speak Portuguese here. Some words overlap, like por favor, which can make things a bit confusing. 

My Portuguese dentist told me I was being ridiculous and that a grandma at the market would rather understand me in Spanish than be confused by my English. But my advice for a visit is to stick with English, a handful of polite Portuguese phrases, and kindness. They’re onto our big American smiles, but kindness still works. 

Which reminds me, José sounds closer to what it looks like to an English speaker’s eye, not ‘Ho-ZAY. It’s pronounced more like “Joe’s Eh?” (for my Minnesotan and Canadian friends), but with a softer “j” sound.

Getting Around

When planning your trip, consider flying into one city and out of the other. Start in Lisbon and end in Porto, or vice versa. If prices are comparable, it lets you travel from one end of the country to the other without circling back. That said, the drive from Porto to Lisbon is less than four hours, so doubling back isn’t the end of the world. In my experience, flights involving Faro in the Algarve tend to run more expensive, so Porto and Lisbon are usually your best bets.

Don’t rent a car in Lisbon or Porto. You don’t need one, and you’ll save yourself the stress of navigating narrow streets, the cost of parking, and the headache of returning the vehicle. Ubers are easy to get and remarkably affordable in both cities. When we relocated from the Algarve to Porto, we decided to go without a car and never regretted it. It only took one week of driving in the city to give up. 

We’ve also driven in Lisbon and found it easier than Porto. In 1755, the great Lisbon earthquake destroyed the city, and they had to rebuild, so their streets are wider than Porto’s. 

If you’re driving from one city to the other with stops along the way, or exploring the Algarve, a car makes sense. Get the damage insurance. Take photos. I have never encountered people so meticulous about inspecting a rental return. And don’t let the person at the counter talk you into upgrading to a bigger car so your luggage is “less visible” because of crime. More on that in a moment.

For longer distances, trains are wonderful. You can book tickets a couple of months ahead for popular routes, and first-class seats are very reasonably priced. Pay attention to the news. Strikes do happen, and if one disrupts your scheduled ride, you can get a refund. They schedule their strikes, so if you’re paying attention, you should know days in advance. My only complaint about Portuguese trains is the snack selection. For a longer journey, bring your own.

One more: don’t drive to the Douro Valley. The roads from Porto into the valley can be genuinely dangerous. Take a tour, go by boat or rail, or hire a local driver. Douro Valley Day Trip: Wine, Views, and History

While you’re there (or really anywhere in Portugal), try Port wine. It’s delicious, and the story behind it is fascinating. The British-Portuguese alliance goes back centuries to a time when Britain and France were at odds, and the British needed a wine source that wasn’t French. They found Portugal. To keep the wine from spoiling on the long voyage to England, they fortified it. That’s Port.

Safety

Portugal is an extraordinarily safe country. I feel like a lot of the anxiety Americans carry into European travel is overblown. In my opinion. Not to say that bad things don’t happen. A friend of an acquaintance was pickpocketed on the famous Tram 28 in Lisbon. That’s one story, and on a crowded tram with a lot of bodies pressing together, there are other possibilities; mind your possessions. 

We’ve walked the streets of Porto in the early morning hours after the São João celebration. Apart from a few hammer hits to the head by exuberant young adults unfazed by squeaky sounds, we were unscathed. 

In Porto, on São João, it is a tradition to be armed with a squeaky plastic hammer and lightly hit one another on the head. Young, old, everybody is involved. Get Hammered the Right Way: Celebrate São João in Porto. 

I walked alone in Porto almost daily when we lived there. Once, I inadvertently walked through what I’d later learn was one of the roughest neighborhoods in the city. Chances are, as a tourist, you won’t go near it. I was walking between the hill across from Ponte da Arrábida, where we lived, and Foz. Both areas are considered upscale and very safe. A little over midway between them, there are a few blocks of apartment buildings that looked like they went up in the eighties, a bit institutional, terra cotta-hued bricks. Maybe lighter.

I noticed a van full of police and a couple of people who gave me pause for a moment, but I was fine. They didn’t deter me from walking the same way home. 

The next week, on the same route, an Uber driver explained how rough the neighborhood was as we drove through it. 

“Oh, I walked it last week.” 

“Brave girl.” He then explained that the worst that would likely happen is that someone would offer me something I shouldn’t have. Drugs. That sort of thing. 

I only went through the area regularly to get to my weekly hair appointments with my favorite English-speaking stylist. By Uber, after I knew better. 

If you see graffiti on buildings or structures that look like they’re crumbling, don’t panic. Portugal has inheritance laws that require all family members to agree before a deceased person’s property can be sold. Sometimes that agreement never comes, and a building sits empty for decades, collecting weather damage and street art. Graffiti in Portugal is everywhere. It is not a signal to clutch your bag tighter.

A Couple of Things I Do for Safety:

I wear a crossbody purse everywhere I go in the world. I do the same at home unless I’m out for a special evening where that style of purse would be a faux pas. 

If I’m walking alone and need to use a map app on my phone, I put in earbuds and listen to the directions. If I’m also listening to a podcast, I keep the volume low enough to hear my surroundings. This way, I don’t look lost because I’m not staring at my phone and street signs. Instead, I’m hearing “in 300 feet, turn left.” I’m aware. If someone wants my attention that I’d rather not interact with, I have a logical excuse. I “can’t” hear them. It’s something I started doing when we lived in Vancouver, B.C. 

Common sense. If other people are around, going about their business, all is well. If it’s two in the morning or later and you’ve drunk more than you can handle, you’re a target anywhere in the world.

The Practical Stuff

• Bring a European adapter. You’ll need the two-round prong type (Type C or F). A universal adapter works too.
• Do not bother bringing a blow dryer or similar hair tool. It will not work. Even if you get a special converting adapter, it’s highly unlikely it will work. We’ve had guests visit us who thought they had it right, only to have the power in our house go out. It was a quick fix, but save your suitcase space. Most hotels will have a blow dryer. Getting your hair styled in a salon is unlikely to set you back more than €40. Failing that, you can go to a Fnac and get the styling tool you need. 
• Sunscreen. The Portuguese sun feels stronger than you’d expect. Bring real protection. 
• Cell phones and SIM cards. I recommend talking to your provider before you leave. I’m not a tech person and won’t pretend to be.
• This may seem like an odd one, but check for toilet paper before you sit down. I have never in my life encountered so many public restrooms (malls, airports, you name it) without a roll. Just check.
• If you’re in Porto, especially in autumn or winter, the rain can go sideways. Be prepared with a decent jacket and sturdy shoes. The calçada, those beautiful patterned stone sidewalks, become slick when wet. I’ve nearly fallen a few times with good shoes on. 

Shopping

For shopping, checkout systems in many stores use numbered registers. You’ll stand in one long line and then be called to a caixa by number. It’s similar to T.J. Maxx. Bigger stores also flash the number on a screen, which is a nice touch if you’re still getting your ear tuned to Portuguese. This is a good reason to learn how to count from one to twenty in Portuguese. 

Grocery stores are affordable, and you’ll find a lot of familiar items. Packaging often includes several languages, English among them. An EU thing. At open markets like Mercado do Bolhão in Porto, ask before grabbing produce rather than helping yourself. I developed an appreciation for the nuances between British and American English at the grocery store. Say you’re looking for a zucchini and you ask someone who appears to speak English well for help finding one. You might be met with a blank stare because courgette is the word for zucchini in British English. Aubergine is eggplant. Beringela in Portuguese. 

While you might need British English for certain words, I’ve had more than one person in Portugal tell me they appreciate American accents. Movies are subtitled, not dubbed, and American movies are popular, so our accents, as varied as they can be, sound more familiar.

Airports and Flying

Porto’s airport is laid-back. Lisbon’s is busier and a bit more chaotic, and it has designated indoor smoking areas. Porto’s are outside. The smoking areas surprised me. 

There’s a feeling you might get in Portugal that the infrastructure doesn’t always quite meet the moment. But that’s where the people come in. Once, coming off a TAP flight, the portable stairs didn’t quite reach the plane. I think it was the pilot himself who came out and held each passenger’s hand as they stepped across the gap and onto the stairs. That’s Portugal. The stairs might be a little short, but someone will hold your hand.

TAP, by the way — Portugal’s national airline — is safe, reliable, and a great option if you’re adding Madeira or the Azores to your trip.

Go.

That’s my biggest tip. Go to Portugal. Be kind, be patient, eat the food, drink the Port, and enjoy the pace. You’ll have a grand time.

Planning to spend time in Lisbon? What I’d Tell a Friend Visiting Lisbon for the First Time.

Prefer to skip the research and have someone build the perfect trip for you? I’m also a luxury travel advisor specializing in Portugal — let’s plan your trip together →

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