Three week road trip across Portugal: Part 1

I went on a three-week road trip along Portugal’s west coast. I went to scout places where I might buy property for a retreat center. Portugal isn’t that big, but I feel like I just barely scratched the surface. It’s a lovely country, with beauty everywhere you turn: lush landscapes, rolling mountains, interesting architecture and town squares, kind, friendly people, and some of Europe’s most affordable vegan food options. It definitely won me over in no time! I started writing this blog thinking I could fit everything into one post, but it really needs to be split into two parts. So we will split Portugal in half, and this post will cover everything I visited north of Coimbra. Then we’ll do the south in part two. And honestly, all the great food I ate needs its very own post, so you’ll find that here. Enjoy!

Porto

My first stop was Porto, Portugal’s second-largest city. It’s located in the north on the west coast, and you either fly into Lisbon or Porto when you visit Portugal. If you ask a travel group on Facebook to choose between the two cities, Lisbon tends to get all the recommendations, but Porto gets a lot of love from locals and travelers in the know. For my one full day in Porto, I took a free walking tour and learned about its rich history. Let’s just say, it’s complicated! Portugal has been through A LOT. Porto in more recent years overcame a dictatorship and then had a serious heroin epidemic that left the city in shambles. No one wanted to visit. It’s come a long way since then. And Portugal is now the 3rd safest country in the world!

Portugal is known for the colorful tiles covering nearly every building in Porto. Many beautiful churches tell stories through the tiles. Even the train station is filled with epic scenes from Porto’s history, and it’s one of the most beautiful train stations because of it. Of all the cities I visited in Portugal, Porto had the best architecture and buildings with cool tiles

Since Porto is one of Portugal’s larger cities, it has all the benefits that come with it. Like hipster coffee shops and really nice vegan food. Highlights include the gorgeous toast featured above from Bird of Passage Coffee. I was also happy to discover the vegan chain DaTerra, with branches across Portugal and affordable vegan buffets (around 8.50€ for lunch). I didn’t have enough days in Porto to explore many options, so I ate twice at DeTerra!

Guimarães

After two nights in Porto, I picked up my rental car and headed to Guimarães. This would be my base for the next three days while I explored more of the Minho valley. This cute little village is known as the birthplace of Portugal because the country’s first king was born here. In 2011, Guimarães became a UNESCO World Heritage Site for being an “exceptionally well-preserved and authentic example of the evolution of a medieval settlement into a modern town” in Europe.

The one thing I noticed most was the many adorable squares throughout the city. I’d wander down its tiny streets and would come upon a square like the one above, or a smaller one with cute cafes or artwork. It was my favorite thing about the city, next to the very kind and friendly people. You’ll find a beautiful castle, many churches, and other sights to enjoy, and you can see everything on foot. Definitely stop here, or make it your base for exploring northern Portugal.

There are a few vegetarian or vegan restaurants but they are only open for lunch so I couldn’t try them all sadly. Since I was only eating breakfast and dinner there, I found one restaurant that has a separate vegan menu called Xisko, and one burger place called Dan’s that has two vegan burgers on their menu and it was pretty tasty.

Braga

I took a day trip to Braga, and I was glad I did! It is bigger than Guimarães, with many beautiful squares, buildings, lush parks, and churches (of course, Portugal has a TON of churches), plus some great vegan food, too. One of the biggest attractions just right outside of Braga is Bom Jesus do Monte, a religious site with impressive gardens and hundreds of stairs leading up to a beautiful church. It’s a must-see.

I also did a walking tour here, but since no one signed up for the English tour, I took the Spanish one. The guide translated a bit for me, and I understood about half of what he said in Spanish. It wasn’t the best tour, but he did take us to some lovely spots like the Garden of Santa Barbara above and told us the story behind the Arco da Porta Nova. There’s more to see, but I generally like to just wander around and then have a planned itinerary.

I had lunch in Braga at Hibiscus, which has a vegan buffet with different-sized plates, plus soup and tea. The food is healthy, plant-based, and a great deal. There are a few other nice options for vegan food, so if you are spending a day or two here, you’ll be fine!

Aveiro

I headed south because I was on a mission to see as much of the west coast as possible. Now that I’m back reminiscing about my trip, I want to spend more time in certain areas and I’ll need to visit even more places. One town that was kind of overrated in my opinion was Aveiro. Maybe I was let down because it is hyped up so much – the “Venice of Portugal” it is called. Maybe it was the mobs of tourists taking little boats around the tiny channel. I wasn’t impressed, but I only spent an afternoon there. But I had two cool experiences happen. The first was at the nearby saltwater lagoon. I came upon a flock of flamingos hanging out, and supposedly all kinds of wildlife live here and nearby. Also, my Airbnb host and I hit it off because she teaches vegetarian cooking classes and is a great cook! Small world.

A wonderful little vegan cafe called A Mulata (NOW CLOSED) has the best coffee and pastries. I ate the one pictured above in the middle, called a “Berlin ball”. Since I live in Berlin, I was curious why this pastry is called that, because I’ve never seen it or had one in Germany. I guess the Berlin ones are filled with jam or icing. Whatever you want to call it, it’s tasty af. Then I ate another vegan buffet at DaTerra, the best meal I’ve had at this chain so far. Mmmm it’s just so awesome to have this available (though the one in Lisbon wasn’t that great).

Costa Nova

I had read good things about Costa Nova beach, so I drove through to check it out. I didn’t stay here, so I don’t have much to say except the beach looked gorgeous, and I love the well-known striped houses along the coastline.

Even though I couldn’t see all of northern Portugal, what I did see was beautiful, and people were so nice. I definitely plan to spend more time exploring, though I think it rains too much for me to call this area my future home. Stay tuned for Part 2 of my three-week road trip.

Have you been to Northern Portugal? What was your favorite city? Tell me in the comments!