Hello, we have just completed a wonderful sit in Tavira Cabanas, lovely area and are now in Olhao for a few days. Plenty of accommodation on Airbnb, beautiful waterfront and heaps of places to eat, totally unspoilt by the package tour tourism. There also a Lidl nearby. The town also had a train station. You may want to download the train app. We registered (needs passport info) and bought the tickets online. Very easy to do. Enjoy your time here.
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We’re going to Lisbon at the end of March, I’ve had searches on THS for a housesit but it’s not looking very likely - so what are your recommendations for places to stay? Best area, great Airbnbs, must sees?
Fado bars to listen to typical fado songs (good list on Guide du routard, avoid too touristic ones)
Marvellous pastry near Belem when you visit monastero jeronimos,
I guess all is indicated in Lonely Planet guide
In english too
Walks are rather tiring as all the city spreads up and down hills…
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Lol yes I see it’s very hilly ! Good for my fitness 
Yay, it’s a lovely city! We couldn’t find a suitable housesit either, so we spent a lovely week in an Airbnb in Estoril…
This allowed us to take the train into Lisbon, all along the beautiful coast, I think 20-30 minutes? It also allowed us to walk to Cascais along the coast, also 20 minutes. And it had 1 parking spot included, so we could drive to Sintra and the hills behind Lisbon for walks. It was a wonderful stay, although one of our pricier ones at about USD 100 per night.
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That sounds lovely 
Lisbon is pretty pricey so we might end up doing a shorter time there then staying out of the city.
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This might help too:
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You must visit Sintra and stay at least 1 night there! It is so lovely…
Not an AirBnb but we stayed in this little hotel in Principe Real for a week last January and loved it. We thought it was a great location, really easy to get around walking from, and our room was beautiful. Excellent breakfast as well.
Lisbon is wonderful! There are so many great museums and the food… oh, the food…
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You’re going to love it!
As @Smiley has shared, lots of great input from forum members on that thread. I also did not find a sit during my 5 weeks in Portugal but things in March were still a bit challenging and iffy with travel post the great pause.
I spent two nights in Lisbon, one night on arrival and one on departure in hotels., and a month in an Airbnb in Coimbra.
Fabuloso!
Everything.
Here is a recap of my trip.
Wherever you choose to go, it will be wonderful.
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Lisbon is massive and fun to take in with small bites, focusing on a community a day. I enjoyed staying in Aflama, one of the oldest areas not destroyed by the 1755 earthquake and home of Fado (music) bars, the Fado museum, amazing overlooks, and of course the grandma’s little ginjha bars out of their doorway.
Bairro Alto is lovely as well, and heading to Time Out is a great mecca for foodies.
I’m off to a sit in Aveiro this week, but really loved riverside Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia (where the port wine caves are) - worth at least a few days!
And on it goes…but be sure to eat pasteis de nada daily!
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@ampara, we took our granddaughter to Portugal as her high school graduation gift last summer. We have told all our grandkids they get to pick a place to go and she was the first!
Lisbon was great…but wow, was it ever busy! So many people and so much traffic. Coimbra was beautiful an quaint as was Porto. Learning the history of the area was fascinating…I think I could live in Porto and sacrifice to drink port wine every day…LOL.
We haven’t made it to the Algarve region yet but that is on our list within the next couple of years…we think that is a trip in itself and want to devote a great deal of time there.
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Hi @Debbie-L the Algarve is an amazing part of Portugal with some really nice towns and villages and amazing sandy beaches that stretch miles. I first went to Vale do Lobo golfing resort as a kid when my parents briefly owned an apartment there. I was lucky enough to do a weeks sit just before xmas North of Albufeira. Was amazing to go from the crazy cold and -7c to a rather nice 18c on the Algarve. I went from worrying about frostbite to worrying about burning through the glass sat in a restaurant in the same day!!
Here’s a picture I took of the Grand beach near Armacao De Pera on the Algarve taken on December 19th! Think it was 17c that day!
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@richten1 we can’t wait to go! Love that pic and it is making me crazy to get there.
We have done walking trips in Portugal (about 6 thus far) and will be doing one more this spring. I absolutely love Portugal. The people are so friendly (we got lost several times on our last walking trip and were rescued by locals) the scenery is beautiful and the food and wine/port are delicious. I think we have seen pretty much all of the country from the tip top to the bottom.
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This accommodation is worth checking it has a beautiful view and a lot of attractions you can visit by foot. Also, if you’re considering a local guide, this private tour might help you, you can opt to customize your trip.
Post moderated to consolidate links
Hi there,
I found this thread helpful as we were planning our trip to Portugal so I thought I’d come back and share our experiences. I still have a couple of blog posts to write, but they will show up at the same link when they’re available. So, here is a link to our posts for about 2 1/2 months in Portugal November 2022 through January 2023. I hope these are helpful to someone!
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Fabulous 
X infinity Coral.
@lifephasenext Thank you for sharing all your great recommendations.
Heading to Madeira in the winter!