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August in Portugal is peak season: heat, crowds of tourists, and accommodation prices approaching outer space. It feels like all of Portugal packs up and heads south to the Algarve. Planning a holiday right in August is a very bad idea, but this year, due to some personal circumstances, that is exactly what happened to us. We found out just a week before the holiday that the trip was actually happening. Staying within four walls any longer was not an option. By then, all the affordable accommodation in popular places had been snapped up like hot cakes. There were options, but none of them appealed to us — either “sheds” with bad reviews at the price of a perfectly decent hotel, or decent hotels at indecent prices.
After spending several hours on popular accommodation booking platforms, I wanted to cry, because my holiday dreams were melting away before my eyes.
After sleeping on it, I decided to give up on the south, because the ocean is only a 20-minute drive from our home anyway, and focus on less popular summer routes — central and northern Portugal.
So, this was what I was looking for:
- accommodation for around €100–150 per night. Of course, I would have preferred something cheaper, but I realised that was not very realistic. I had very few requirements for the accommodation. The main things were parking, because we were travelling by car, and three proper sleeping places. The sleeping arrangements turned out to be the biggest problem, because when you add a child to the search criteria, for some reason most of the suggested options have one double bed. That absolutely did not work for us, and I wanted to break the hands of whoever had set up that damn search like that. It made the search harder because the filters could not be trusted. A kitchen was a plus but not a key requirement. Once I applied the parking filter, the choice narrowed down to just a few options, and they were not the best ones
- walking distance to the sights or good transport connections, so that after arriving in the afternoon we could go for a walk and have dinner
- an interesting location with history or nature. As it turned out, in Portugal that is literally almost anywhere, but I did not know that while I was searching
When I realised I was not going to find anything this way on the booking site, I took a different approach. Throughout the time we have lived in Portugal, I have been saving interesting places I hear about as bookmarks on maps. I opened the maps, copied out all those saved spots and loaded them into an AI tool.
The request was to build a two-week route based on my criteria — affordable accommodation, parking, sights nearby and/or places we could reach without spending too much time on the road. It did not have to include everything on the list, only what fitted into a logical route without wild detours. The route also had to be circular, starting from Lisbon on 17 August.
That gave me the first draft of the route.
The AI suggested places, I checked the map, looked at accommodation on Booking, and if an option worked, I asked it to tell me more about the place. I read reviews of attractions on Google Maps and looked up information on websites.
It took me around 10–12 hours to plan the holiday route. Without AI, I would not have managed it at all — I would have randomly picked places and hoped for the best.
While thinking through the route, I realised that a travelling holiday needs to be shortened so there is still time to rest after the holiday. I am sure I am not the only one who needs a couple of days to recover from a holiday. It is a classic.
So what did I get, apart from a splitting headache by the end of the day? In the end, I had a clear 12-day plan with 5 stops of several nights each
I will share our guide. And I want to say in advance that this is not so that you have to repeat it exactly (although of course you can if you want), but so that you know it is actually possible to put something like this together and stick to the plan. Of course, we had some failures in the plan, but they were related to the weather — I will mention those in the comments for each stop
Our holiday plan
17 August - 13:00 departure from Lisbon to Évora
Évora (stop 1)
17 August (Day one)
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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15:00 - check-in Casa das Borboletas - Rua Engenheiro Tomás Silva 6, 7005-263 Évora, |
The apartment turned out to be good and had everything we needed, and the city centre was only a 15-minute walk away. That allowed us to combine our walks with a glass or two of refreshing relaxing drinks |
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15:30-20:00 - walk around the city
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The Chapel of Bones caused a certain amount of disgust in our child, and she went out into the corridor. One ticket covers all the interior rooms. |
2.1. see from the outside on the way 2.2. jardim Público open until 21:00 2.2. Ruínas Fingidas located in the park 2.3. Palácio de D. Manuel see from the outside
3.1. on the way Igreja da Graça, Igreja de São Vicente 3.2. Fountain 3.3. Santo Antão Church 3.4. Chafariz da Rua D' Alcouchel Wander around the area and the little streets |
Overall, points 2 and 3 can vary depending on what you feel like doing and how much walking you want. The town is beautiful, and we wandered around without really following the plan, but overall the walk wore us out quite a bit because the temperature was close to 40+ |
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Dinner or or TasCastiço 19:00-22:00 A Gruta 18:30–22:00 |
We were heading to one of the restaurants on the list, but on the way we realised it was still early and that without a reservation we might not get a table, so we went into an open tavern and had dinner for a perfectly reasonable amount of money. We came home unable to feel our legs. |
18 August (Day two)
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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8:00 - wake up, breakfast
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It is definitely worth visiting |
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Nothing special, but it is a place with history. There were a lot of tourist groups with guides, and I think that if you have the opportunity, it is probably better to walk around with a guide. |
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Free entry if you have a physical resident card |
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Entry is €3, children free. Access is only to the rooms on the ground floor; they are all very similar and mostly connected with religion. The walls still have preserved azulejo “paintings” |
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12:30–13:00 Termas Romanas is located in the town hall Câmara Municipal on Praça do Sertório 09:00–17:30 |
We did not make it here because we were very tired and it was very hot. We were an hour behind schedule because we woke up and left an hour later. |
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13:00 - Return home, lunch, change clothes 15:00 - 19:00 - municipal swimming pool Piscinas Municipais |
The pool is absolutely fantastic. There is one large pool with lanes, one with diving platforms of different heights, a smaller pool and one “paddling pool” for little kids. You can bring your own chairs, umbrella and food and spend the whole day there. The complex is completely outdoors and is open to everyone from July until mid-September. The water was warmer than I expected. Our child swam until her teeth were chattering. Residents of the municipality get discounts, but you need to have a physical card showing your address. There is free parking next to the pool. I recommend bringing a padlock so you can leave your things in a locker. The lockers are free, but there are no locks (this is common practice in pools and gyms in Portugal: the lockers are available, but you bring your own lock) |
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20:00 - go into town for dinner, order food delivery or choose another option |
We did not feel like walking anymore, so we had dinner at home, putting together a meal from the food we had brought with us. After all, we were going away for two weeks, so leaving food at home did not make much sense. |
19 August (day three)
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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departure at 10:00 Évora → Sobral de São Miguel (Do not count on mountain grocery stores) Stop in Portalegre for a snack and groceries here Modelo Continente Portalegre or here McDonald's - Portalegre |
So, we stocked up at the supermarket because our next stop was a private house in a small mountain village |
Sobral de São Miguel (stop 2)
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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14:30-15:00 - check-in at Casa Alice - Aldeias do Xisto - Sobral de Sao Miguel rua do Val 25, 6225-328 Sobral de São Miguel, Portugal Walk around the area - a beautiful old village |
Check-in did not go very well because nobody was expecting us and nobody was answering the phone. So we stood in the middle of a narrow street blocking everyone, but there was nowhere else for us to go. After finding a spot where our presence annoyed people a little less, we stayed there waiting for someone to let us into the house, which, I should mention, had been charged in full immediately when we booked it. A pleasant bonus of the accommodation was a fig tree with ripe fruit. An unpleasant one was the very narrow driveway, which left marks on the wing of the car. |
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Optional 1: Swimming area Praia Fluvial de Sobral de São Miguel |
For our walk after checking in, we chose the municipal river beach. The water in the river was cool, but not icy. After a hot day, it was actually a very pleasant swim. |
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Optional 2 : go out onto a section of PR1 Caminho do Xisto Start somewhere around here |
A walk along this route may be disappointing. After the 2025 fires, almost all the forest around it burned down, and walking over the hills under the blazing sun may not be much fun. In the end, I am glad we chose swimming in the river, because it was only a 10-minute walk from our house through the beautiful village |
20 August (day four)
Visit Piódão + Foz d’Égua
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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08:00 — wake up, breakfast by 10 in the village, stay until lunch leave the car in one of the village car parks 1. Estacionamento Piódão or 2. Estacionamento Outeiro - Piódão Just walk around the streets of Igreja Matriz de Piódão, |
lunch can take a while — for example, our order was forgotten, and after an hour we decided to leave without waiting for it. The waiter could not tell us how much longer we had to wait, and when we got up to leave, our order was finally brought out. My meat had apparently simply been forgotten in the oven; it was dried out and completely inedible, so after picking at the side dish I barely ate anything. The slate village of Piódão itself is small but very unusual. Everything there is geared towards tourists, and it feels less like a lived-in village and more like a film set for a medieval movie. If you are nearby, it is worth visiting, but I have no food recommendations there. |
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around lunchtime, go to Praia Fluvial de Foz d'Égua. park the car here Walk to the suspension bridge Ponte Suspensa de Foz d'Égua and then on to the viewpoint Santa Virgem Maria Mãe Deus by Carlos Borges |
The beach turned out to be very crowded, and we could not park in the car park. You can drive a little farther and leave the car by the suspension bridge along the road, walk across the bridge and then go down to the beach. The place is beautiful, but very crowded |
21 August (day five)
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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Departure at 09:30–10:00 on the way — 1 stop for coffee/a snack and, if needed, groceries. |
We had plenty of time, so I did not mark anything on the map. We had food and drinks with us, so there was no need to stop for groceries. |
Marco de Canaveses (stop 3)
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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15:00 check-in CANAVESES RIVER HOUSE - Apartamentos com piscina partilhada 457 Rua do Monte, 4635-384 Marco de Canaveses, Portugal Just relax by the pool |
We checked in and went to relax by the pool. There is nothing within walking distance — not a single café or shop. On the property there is only the pool and a few sun loungers. |
22 August (day six)
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience: |
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10:00 Tongobriga - Freixo Archaeological Area (09:30–13:00 and 14:30–18:00) These are the remains of a real Roman city near Marco de Canaveses: residential quarters, forum, baths, road, archaeological area. The site covers around 15 hectares. |
The place is completely confusing. We arrived, paid for entry, looked at the excavations in the courtyard, and were told that next we had to go to the museum. There is no map, no signs, no tickets, and it is completely unclear where to go. We wandered around the area but never found the museum. Even the AI tools were helpless here. We decided not to waste time roasting in the sun. Our Portuguese was not good enough, and the employee just rattled something off without caring whether we understood where we were supposed to go next. We left. They do not speak English here, so if your Portuguese is not good enough, I would not recommend visiting this place. |
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around lunchtime Praia Fluvial de Bitetos the beach is not on a small river, but directly on the Douro River. In the past, there was a dock here for rabelo, which carried barrels of wine down the river to the cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia. 12:30–13:30 bring your own lunch or there are several bars/cafés on site Bitetos Bar, Hamburgueria & Bar When you have had enough, return to the hotel and hang out by the pool |
Because we had overheated quite badly near those ruins, we did not feel like going anywhere else. We stocked up on beer and went back to chill by the pool. But if you still have energy, the beach option works — there is parking nearby and lots of cars. We drove past it and heard happy shouts from children jumping into the water. |
23 August (day seven)
Family amusement park
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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parking Parque Magikland (10:00-19:00) - this is a family amusement park in Penafiel with swimming pools Prices here https://magikland.pt/precario |
A proper heavy rain set in for two days, so neither the pool, nor the water park, nor especially the amusement park happened |
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Alternative Hike. There are lots of mountain routes in the area. |
I did not research this option because the plan was to make it a day for the child |
On day 7, during a break between downpours, we went out to see the excavations
24 August (day eight)
Water park
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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Water park Parque Aquático de Amarante, Fregim (10:00–19:00) has its own parking |
We also stayed in the room because it poured all day, with strong gusty wind as well. |
25 August (day nine)
11:00 departure
Have lunch and take a walk, parking Estacionamento de São João near the bridge medieval bridge Ponte de Lima
Stop at a supermarket, for example Lidl and head to the glamping site
Vila Nova de Cerveira (stop 4)
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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15:00 check-in Glamping de Cerveira 1 Rua de Badão, 4920-020 Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal |
The weather was still not suitable for relaxing by the pool. We arrived two hours early and, luckily for us, they let us check in. |
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Go to the park Parque de Lazer do Castelinho large car park here water area 14:00–19:30, and the playgrounds until 22:00 |
We dropped off our things and went into the centre of Cerveira. We walked around the old centre and clocked up around 10,000 steps. We explored every little corner. The weather improved a little. The riverside park is modern and there is plenty for children to do. We went to a miniature water park where our daughter splashed around under all the fountains. Entry is free. We were the only people there, which really surprised us. Then we went to the water museum Aquamuseu do Rio Minho. It is connected with the village's fishing history — nets, crab traps, fish from the local river. About an hour for everything. Not many people, quite comfortable |
26 August (day ten)
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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Trip to A Guarda, Spain Parking on the mountain Parking — Monte de Santa Trega, 9, A Guarda On the way, stop at the viewpoint Castro de Santa Trega 360° views of the Miño estuary, the Atlantic, Spain and Portugal walk to Miradoiro de Santa Trega, Miradouro de San Francisco and MASAT / summit Museu Arqueológico Monte Santa Trega (MASAT) If you feel like it, hike |
The weather in the morning was not encouraging at all. It was windy, there was occasional light rain, and the air temperature felt more like autumn than August heat. We were already thinking of staying at the campsite, but the forecast showed no rain before lunch, so we decided to drive to the viewpoint Miradouro do Cervo and see the big Deer we had spotted from the town centre the day before. We found it on the map and drove there. Once we climbed to the top, we could see that the rain was currently over Spain (yes, Spain is just across the river) and moving towards us. That meant that if we went there, there was a chance we could miss the rain. After studying the weather and the map a little, we decided to take the risk after all — it was only a half-hour drive. That is how we ended up in Spain. We walked in the mountains. With some difficulty, we found somewhere to have lunch, because in Galicia all establishments are closed from 15:00 to 19:00. We found a restaurant at a hotel that was open. Parking on the road was free. The lovely waitresses did their absolute best to help us and we managed to place an order. The food was different from Portugal, but tasty too. Service was fast. Then we walked along the beach — another river flows into the ocean here, and on the opposite bank is Portugal's northernmost Atlantic beach. A few people on the other bank were running around and flying a kite, but the weather started getting worse again, the wind picked up, the rain returned, and we headed back. During the night a heavy downpour started, but our “home” on wheels stayed dry, raindrops drummed on the metal, and we slept restlessly under a warm blanket. In the morning it was time to move on. |
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After the mountain walk Best Doner Kebab A Guarda (13:00-00:00) After lunch, go to the beach Praia A Lamiña. Leave the car in the car park Parque de Estacionamento Praia Santa Trega When we have had enough, back to the campsite |
Note: There is also another town nearby, Valença and the campsite owner strongly recommended that we visit it. Perhaps we would have done so if we had had a little more time. Maybe we will return to that area someday and explore the surroundings in more detail
27 August (day eleven)
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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11:00 departure for Porto parking Estacionamento Santa Luzia Have a snack at the café Sanctuarium caffe |
We did not stop for a snack on the way because we were not hungry. As we approached Porto, we decided to stop at a shopping centre. By the time we bought what we needed and ate, it was already time to head to the accommodation. The apartment owner agreed to let us check in an hour early |
Porto (stop 5)
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience: |
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If there is time before check-in, there is the shopping centre Centro Comercial Londres. |
we could not find any information about parking at this shopping centre, so we went to another one. |
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15:00 check-in Studio indépendant à Senhora da Hora - PORTO Rua Haia 38, 4460-282 Senhora da Hora, Portugal Parking - Cardosas Parking Evening walk Porto São Bento Famous station with lots of azulejos Átrio da Estação de São Bento Catedral do Porto until 18:30 walk to Praça da Ribeira views of Ponte Dom Luís I |
We stayed, you could say, in the suburbs. The parking was right under the building where we rented the apartment. The Senhora da Hora area turned out to be very convenient. There is a metro and you can get to central Porto without any problems, but because there were three of us and the journey required a transfer, we decided to use Uber — it was better in terms of both money and time. Rides cost around €7, which is very inexpensive considering the traffic closer to the historic centre. |
28 August (day twelve)
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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Parking Parque de estacionamento Saba Praça de Lisboa 1 Igreja do Carmo from the outside 2. Torre dos Clérigos from the outside 3. Livraria Lello from the outside 4. Neonia Porto tickets every 15 minutes Lunch 5. Jardins do Palácio de Cristal free views of the Douro, Gaia and Ponte da Arrábida parking Parque Dantas Jardim do Morro → upper level of Ponte Dom Luís I → walk across the bridge → turn around → return to Jardim do Morro. The bridge is free and open; the upper level connects the Sé area with Jardim do Morro Either have dinner there or return home for dinner |
Overall, the route here can be absolutely anything. We visited Neonia, then had lunch and went wandering around the old centre; we covered the places we had planned quite quickly. We did not need the car park because using Uber turned out to be a good decision. As we walked, we changed direction several times, crossed the bridge and reached the other bank. There are indecently large crowds of people and everyone moves chaotically, creating endless “traffic jams” in the narrow passages. It is tiring. We sat down at an outdoor café for a snack, and after dinner we no longer felt like walking. |
Note: If possible, I highly recommend using a guide, because wandering aimlessly around a city like this means missing the chance to have a compact route that covers the maximum number of sights.
We will definitely come back and arrange a guided tour for ourselves.
29 August (day thirteen)
Departure by 11 - 10:00-10:30
Aveiro (stop 6)
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Our plan |
What actually happened/Our experience |
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On the way to Lisbon, stop in Aveiro Parking Parque de Estacionamento do Rossio You come out of the car park and you are basically already in the main part of Aveiro Canal Central Cais dos Moliceiros - take a boat ride Have lunch somewhere there |
Aveiro, also known as the Portuguese Venice, is definitely worth visiting. By the end of the holiday we were exhausted and were already thinking of just going home, but after pulling myself together and whining to my husband that I still wanted to go there, he agreed. Driving there specifically from Lisbon just for a walk is rather far, but stopping on the way from Porto makes perfect sense. Many bloggers recommend visiting Aveiro if you are in Porto and can spare one day for a trip. There is a very convenient train from Porto's main station directly to Aveiro. You really can spend a day there walking along the canals and across the bridges. Interesting buildings, amazing photos. It is a place for photo shoots and boat trips. There is a shopping centre in the centre where you can grab something to eat at the food court and maybe even browse the shops. Of course, visually it is very far from Venice, and the name is not about the buildings but about the city's position on the water — it is covered with canals and bridges. Salt is produced here, and while taking a boat ride along the canal you will definitely see how it is done. I think there is more to see there than we managed to see, but we did not have much time because we still had another 4–5 hours of driving home ahead of us. |
After walking around Aveiro, we finally headed back to Lisbon.
Final route and accommodation
In the end, over 13 days we had a circular route through central and northern Portugal:
Lisboa → Évora → Sobral de São Miguel → Marco de Canaveses → Vila Nova de Cerveira → Porto →Aveiro → Lisboa
This is what the final accommodation table looked like. I am intentionally not including the prices because they change and, in my case, were only needed to get a general idea of the budget.
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Dates |
Place |
Accommodation |
Price |
Check-in |
Check-out |
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17–19 August |
Évora |
room with a kitchen |
€xxx |
15:00–18:00 |
08:00–11:00 |
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19–21 August |
Sobral de São Miguel |
detached house |
€xxx |
14:00–18:00 |
by 12:00 |
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21–25 August |
Marco de Canaveses |
studio with kitchen + pool |
€xxx |
15:00–23:00 |
by 11:00 |
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25–27 August |
Vila Nova de Cerveira |
mobile home |
€xxx |
15:00–20:00 |
by 11:00 |
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27–29 August |
Porto |
studio apartment |
€xxx |
from 15:00 |
by 11:00 |
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29 August |
Aveiro |
stop without an overnight stay |
– |
– |
– |
Conclusion
We brought home three bags of dirty clothes, several gigabytes of photos and videos, a sea of impressions and the feeling of a holiday well spent.
Over the next few days I did laundry and mentally prepared myself to go back to work. But, as it turned out, there is no preparing for that: the first week back at a desk job after the holiday felt almost physically unbearable.
Eventually I got back into the work rhythm, autumn arrived, and I felt like revisiting this trip and sharing our experience.
Planning trips like this is definitely something you have to learn. After Montenegro, where you could reach almost any border in 2–3 hours and spontaneously decide to spend the weekend in the mountains or by the sea, Portugal feels completely different. The distances are greater here, and accommodation prices mean you have to plan your holiday more carefully.
By the way, I have already collected plenty of ideas for places you can visit on a day trip from Lisbon. I will add new routes and share them here whenever I can.
Disclaimer: All articles are based on our personal experience and impressions. Your experience may be different, so before travelling I recommend checking up-to-date information yourself and taking your own interests, budget and preferences into account.
Have a great holiday, everyone!