This post on visiting Portugal with kids contains affiliate links, but all opinions are 100% my own. That means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through my link, but it doesn’t affect your price at all. Thank … Read More
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Time for the next dinnertime-friendly, kid-friendly global learning guide… our Portugal guide! I hope you can go over a few of these things with your families to get to know this warm and beautiful country a little bit. Enjoy! Click … Read More
We’re so excited to share our first learning video with you – on Morocco! We hope it helps you as you’re learning with your families at home or abroad. Enjoy!
This post on travel tips for Morocco with kids contains affiliate links, but all opinions are 100% my own. That means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through my link, but it doesn’t affect your price at … Read More
This travel with a baby post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are 100% my own. That means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through my link, but it doesn’t affect your price at all. Thank you … Read More
We’re so excited to be virtually re-visiting Morocco with kids this week!I For those of you who are just joining here, our family is starting a weekly Family Explorers Dinner Club for the month of May in which we’re studying … Read More
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I’m thrilled to be starting the Global Family Dinners with all of you! Here’s the first resource for Morocco – a shorter, dinnertime-friendly version of a Global Learning Guide. I hope this sparks some conversation with your families about Morocco’s … Read More
I’m so excited to start this series about global learning with kids! If you follow along on my Instagram, you know that I’ll be leading a virtual weekly dinner group focused on global learning – the Family Explorers Dinner Club. … Read More
Are you thinking of visiting the Southern Utah National Parks with kids? We took a one week road trip around all 5 Utah National Parks, plus a couple of state parks, as well. Keep reading to see how we divided … Read More
Hopefully my last post with reasons to visit India with kids got you excited about this beautiful land! India for kids is an incredible and diverse experience. The country tends to be very welcoming overall to children, and there’s plenty … Read More
Portugal has been a hot travel destination for a little while now. Before we went, it appeared photogenic and culturally rich, but I wasn’t sure if it would be overrun with tourists. I also didn’t have a good sense for how amenable Portugal was to families.
Turns out, Portugal is extremely family-friendly! It felt like such an easy destination to travel with little ones.
Like much of Western Europe, the tap water in Portugal is just fine to drink. This makes things like filling water bottles and brushing teeth easy. It’s not the very best tap water you’ll ever have, but we weren’t bothered by it at all. However, most restaurants will not provide tap water, even when asked, so either plan to purchase drinks or bring your own water bottles.
While in big cities like Lisbon and Porto, there’s really no reason to have a car – the streets are narrow, parking is tricky, and public transportation is efficient. We stayed in central areas in both cities, so we could walk most places. We loved the atmosphere and being able to get around on foot. It was also super easy to take the train between the big cities.
We did, however, rent a car to go down to the Algarve. There’s not really a good way to access the beaches there without a car, so if you want to head there, definitely plan on having your own vehicle. It was an easy drive and while it was quick, it was doable as a day trip. The roads were smooth and driving was uncomplicated.
Even for a place like Sintra outside of Lisbon, public transportation was available but lengthy. We would’ve had to take a bus to the train station in Lisbon, then the train ride, then another bus up to Pena Palace. All in, it would’ve taken nearly 2 hours from our Airbnb – which was right in the heart of Alfama (a central area). Instead, we opted to take a taxi, which took about 40 minutes. We were tight on time, so that just made sense for our family. It would’ve been easier if we’d still had our car, and given us more flexibility to stop at other sites.
We tend to fluctuate between staying in the heart of things for easy accessibility, and staying further out in a more residential area for a more local feel. In Portugal, we opted to stay in the historic areas, and I’m so glad we did. Portugal felt much less sites-and-museums-intensive than other places we’ve been. We felt ourselves leaning toward wandering and strolling and getting lost. This was so much easier and more enjoyable when we could just walk out our front door and dive right into the beautiful neighborhoods and walls and churches.
