Portugal

Whenever you have the chance to visit Europe, consider putting Portugal on your to-go list.

Portugal has a couple of big cities, like Lisbon and Porto, who are rich of history and have beautiful old city centers, with delicious pastries and wines, but is also very well known for its southern beaches, its surf spots, for example the beaches of Ericeira are amazing spots to catch awesome break lines and tubes, and its port wine from the Douro region, with travel option all year around.

The country's mainland has a small population, making it great for outdoor traveling, discovering and driving through the country's national parks.

Do you want to see lava stone islands or majestic lush green islands? Then visit the Azores or Madeira to find unique flora and fauna and great wines. (  Madeira is still on my list)

I have had the pleasure of visiting both Azores and the mainland of Portugal. Let me take you on a trip to these parts of Portugal and to show you the beauty of the country. 

Azores

Welcome to the island of São Miguel, part of the Azores in Portugal.

Situated in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, and traveled for many centuries by different nations and discoverers, this island is the main island of the 7 Azores archipel. The weather is very dynamic on this island due to the volcanic mountains and the winds from the Atlantic ocean.

Due to this, It is very common to find yourself in a rainstorm at one point and 15 minutes later in sun covered hills. 
A warm welcome at Ponta Delgada’s bridge nordeste, while you drive or walk over this curious bridge. The lava stones have been used all over the island to build the houses and also bridges. The colonial style is easily recognised and the bridge is beautifully decorated with flowers of different colours. It's a treat to walk here and be guided into the village, where, in the back, you can find the town halls church tower.

Did you know that all over the island, you can find so many flowers? The grass lands covering the slopes on the islands are separated by bushed, showing the villagers who owns what piece of land. The Hyacinth flowers are spread out all over the island, making the island feel very welcoming and cosy,

Leaves on the road in the mountains of San Miguel. The cars leave trails of lights when passing by

When driving on the many beautiful mountain bendy roads, there are times where you enter a mountain in sunshine at 25 degrees, and exit it 10 minutes later with humid, foggy clouds, where temperatures have dropped significantly to about 10 degrees, and winds have a huge impact on the overall mood. Altho its lush and green mountains are great places if the sun is shining, the mood changes so quickly and roads become foggy, fairytale-like places, as this one as you can see.

The island of Soa Miguel has proper roads, but it can take a while to go from all the way west to east, as the island is fairly wide and the maximum speed is of course low on the bendy roads. There are some highways you can take in the central part of the island.

When you visit 1 of the volcano lakes, you can find a little pier here overlooking the Lagoa das Furnas. This lake is usually covered in a thick fog, because of the high humidity and warm geisers still active around the lake. If you want to take a hike on the mountains slides, you can go for a hike, but be careful, its super slippery, and weather changes within 15-30 minutes, making a hike even more dangerous.After you visit the lakes, drive around and find loads of beautiful waterfalls, spread around the island.

Visiting Azores again is high on my list. A great place to visit all year around because of the constant temperature and great variety of weather around the islands.

Ericeira

Welcome to the surfers city of ericeira. It has a great variety of beaches, with empty spots all year around.
Figuare del Foz. An incredible empty beach line, where you can walk for hours, and see nobody. A truly unique experience when visiting a touristic country like Portugal. The coastline is filled with beautiful dunes, long and wide beaches and surrounded by forrests. Shot in late September, you have different weather in this season, from scorching hot day’s to rainy and even stormy weather to get some epic and moody sky’s like this picture.  

Continuing my journey from Porto down south, you come across a city at the beach, that has no appealing center, but the beaches around are one of the most beautiful beaches i have seen yet. Wide, open and without any other people, you. can really relax and enjoy the sound of nature.

Vila Real

A magical sunset over the granite mountains of Villa Real, north Portugal. The granite is visible to the eye and the mountain range is easily accessible by car.

Douro

One of the best kept secrets of Portugal, by far, is the Douro Wine region. Some of the best wines in the world are produced here, made from traditions that are more than 350 years old.

On one of the quinta’s, the Quinta Nova Nossa Senhora do Carmo, spectacular views are guaranteed, overlooking the hilly, with grape-covered landscapes. Visiting in September gives you a high chance of seeing the harvest of the grapes. Visiting early summer or mid-summer will give your lush grape vines.

Lagos

Typically known to attract many tourists, but due to corona virus bullshit, we where asked to stay at home. I don’t believe so much in all this so I went off after my birthday to the south of Portugal; Algavre. 

I choose to stay in Lagos, a place with great photogenic scenery. I met some interesting people there, and my colleagues in a small place called monchique, well known for its natural water and springs.

Waking up early in the morning always pays off. If not for foggy mornings, long days or just the silence when the world hasn’t woken up yet, the sunrises can be very epic and memorable. Here In the Algavre town called Lagos, you have a perfect sunrise spot. Of course a popular place, but during the epidemic in 2020, I was able to take my time and create a remarkable moody scene and epic sunrise with a very moody rocky place. The location itself is accessible by some stairs, that leads to a parking place for campers. Especially early morning, this is worth visiting.

Lisbon

The capital city of Portugal is Lisbon, and we know it from many tram photo’s going up the steep streets. Because this has been photographed so many times, I choose to showcase another part of Lisbon. Situated at the water, and connected to the Atlantic Ocean, the 5 star hotel of the Marriot is a great place to enjoy some sunrise and sunsets, and overlook a fast area around the outskirts of Lisbon.

As you can see, it was autumn when I arrived and leaves where coloring brown. I celebrated my 36th birthday here, enjoying a nice 5 star room, and a Michelin star restaurant diner for 1. Of course, there was some port wine as deserts ;)

Great architecture can be found everywhere, but this bridge, the … is something else. Very long and low, the bridge connects land that 

Porto

Saving the best till last. Porto, a bit colder then most places but, with phenomanal gastronomy, views. nature and history, definaltly the best place and region of Portugal

What is not to like in Porto? This city has got so much to offer. From coastal clouds drifting in the city from the ocean, portwine tastings all year around and a very down to earth mentality of the people and locals.

As you can see, the scenery is breathtaking. The amount of picturesque scenes are countless.  

Strolling though this city, you will be amazed about the difference in height, the separation of the two parts of the town; on the north lies the hearth of the city, the cathedrals and the amazing small streets with many stairs to climb, but on the south bank of the Douro you are able to chill down at the river, after excursions in 1 of the many lagars of the big and smaller port brands. The Quinta’s produce their wines many hundreds of kilometers up the river, far to the east. Usually in pipas, the barrels that are being used to transport the wine to porto, they are collected on the river banks.

The streets are easy accessible for transport to have a quick transport from the dark and colder warehouses, keeping the pipas on the right temperature before the wine is ready to be sold. 

This shot was made in 2015/2016. It shows a colorful sunset and clouds rolling in from the ocean. A sight, quite normal for late summer as weather is changing rapidly.

Left is Vila nova de Gaia, and on the right side you see porto.