July 8, 2025

Portugal

Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “Wait… that epic trip I took was six months ago?” Same. Time is wild.

It feels like just yesterday (but was really six months ago) that I was in Portugal for my Executive MBA program at Kellogg. Part of the curriculum involves taking an immersive class abroad. And of course, I took the opportunity to extend the trip…I mean, I was there anyways, right?!

So many of you (hi, Mom!) have asked for Portugal recommendations, and I’ve been meaning to sit down and recap it. Here I am. This post will cover about five days in Lisbon, two days in Porto, and two days in Cascais.

LISBON | Days 1-4 (Friday a.m. to Wednesday a.m.)

I followed some amazing local recommendations from my friend Lisa. Her husband is from Lisbon so they had a very extensive list, which I will share at the bottom of this post for anyone who is in Lisbon more than a few days.

As I was balancing school, I didn’t have a ton of time to explore, but enough that made me feel like five days in Lisbon was plenty.

Accommodations—and class—were located at the Pestana Palace. It’s a Leading Hotel of the World, and while the rooms lean old-world (think heavy drapery, ornate wood furniture, and plenty of Baroque charm), the grounds were stunning.

Pestana Palace is located about 20 minutes from city center. Ubers are easy to navigate here and very economical.

With that said, I knew I didn’t want to go 20 minutes into city center every time I walked out the door, so I was grateful when I found out the LX Factory was a 10ish minute walk from the property. I popped into the epic bookstore Ler Devagar and then stopped for some tapas and vino verde at Central de Avenida. I am surprised to see mediocre ratings for this spot as I thought it was great. They had wonderful gluten free bread, too! There was some nice shopping, but knowing I had a full week ahead of me, I just browsed.

We did a walking tour downtown through the school which was great. I’m not much of a tour girlie, but it was nice to have a local lead us through the various squares and learn a bit about Portuguese history.

Kellogg did a great job of organizing thoughtful events and dinners, like our tasting menu and wine paring at Zun Zum Gastrobar, a Michelin Bib Gourmand. That evening was a perfect example of what I love most about travel: thoughtful food, great conversation, and a deep sense of place. We had a lot of laughs.

A few other Lisbon eats to consider:

- JNcQUOI is a VIBE. Go for drinks & a snack (& people watching).

- Solar dos Presuntos for dinner! Super authentic, eat all the apps (yes, they charge you, yes, its worth it).

- Maria Azeitona for dinner! I was able to walk-in. It is on a small side street in Amadora. No one spoke English. It was awesome.

PORTO | Days 5-6 (Wednesday mid-day to Friday a.m.)

After wrapping up the academic portion of the trip with Justin’s arrival, we were off to our next stop: Porto.

I had a few options in mind for how to get there — a girlfriend of mine from the program had taken an Uber up when she did the same course a month earlier. But we opted for the train, and I’m so glad we did. It was so easy to navigate, incredibly affordable (around 60 euros for first class), and surprisingly relaxing.

We had assigned seats in a quiet, comfortable car and coasted through some stunning Portuguese countryside…the kind that makes you stare out the window.

I completely fell in love with Porto. If I’m being honest, I might have liked it more than Lisbon.

We bounced around the city, ate incredibly well (I’ll list our top restaurant picks below), and soaked up every second of this charming, coastal gem.

We stayed at the adorable Editory Boulevard Aliados. I loved our room. They had a great breakfast that was included in our stay.

While Porto is known for port, and it is EVERYWHERE, we didn’t do a tour of any kind, maybe next time.

Food & drink reccos as follows:

- Brasao Aliados for lunch was good. This is a bit of a chain but lunch was good. I wouldn’t go here for dinner.

- Casa Guedes for snacks and drinks.

- Gruta Porto for dinner. We had a lovely dinner here. Highly recommend.

- Petisqueira Volataria for lunch! MUST go. Blink and you’ll miss it, it’s a bit hidden. They are only open until 4.

- Pedro Lemos a 1-Michelin Star. One of the best meals I have ever had. We did the wine pairing as well. My gluten-free selections were creative but simple. We loved it.

CASCAIS/SINTRA | Days 6-7 (Friday mid-day to Sunday a.m.)

There was contemplation of returning to Lisbon after Porto (we didn’t even have a hotel room anywhere) so that we could easily get to the airport at the end of our trip but I am SO glad that we instead ‘met in the middle,’ and stopped for two nights in Cascais.

After a quick Expedia.com search, we landed on Grande Real Villa Italia Hotel & Spa. We were in room 501 which had an oversized bathroom with two sinks, what I think was a California king, and an incredible view of the pool and ocean. Basically, if you book there, ask for room 501.

Cascais is a great little beach town with small shops and little restaurants. It definitely felt more ‘local’ than hotspots Lisbon and Porto.

Sintra came highly recommended to us as a place to visit with the sprawling castles and medieval history, and since we were closer in Cascais than Lisbon (people often day trip here from Lisbon) we decided to venture into Sintra.

We started at the National Palace of Pena. It was easy to uber here, but it is definitely a trek to get to the actual palace. There are small buses for those with limited mobility, I would just check into this beforehand. YOU ALSO MUST ARRIVE ABOUT 30 MINUTES BEFORE THE TOUR STARTS TO GET IN LINE. They are kind of sticklers. Since we are DIY tour people (Justin can’t hang much over an hour) we walked through, it was cool. Then we tried to get to this other castle by walking there through these very intricate paths. We got a little lost (imagine how the Vikings felt, at least that’s what I was thinking). It was a beautiful hike, but very long and confusing, and finally we ended up in the Sintra city center. After a snack of wine and cheese at Tascantiga we walked around the area a bit before going back to Cascais.

We had two lovely dinners in Cascais: Mare and Mar do Inferno. And I highly recommend both—and make reservations. Mare was a recommendation from Pedro Lemos himself, so we had to go.

At Mare, you must order the barnacles. Yes, like Spongebob Squarepants barnacles. What a fun food. They snap open and are salty goodness. Oomph I would love some with a dirty martini right now. And the seafood platter with lobster and shrimp and clams oh my!

At Mar do Inferno, you have to get the crème brulee, they torch it tableside. It was a lovely meal to end the trip.

Stay

Pestana Palace (Lisbon)

Editory Boulevard Aliados (Porto)

Grande Real Villa Italia Hotel & Spa (Cascais)

Eat & Drink

Central de Avenida (Lisbon)

Zun Zum Gastrobar (Lisbon)

JNcQUOI (Lisbon)

Solar dos Presuntos (Lisbon)

Maria Azeitona (Lisbon)

Brasao Aliados (Porto)