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16 May 2024 - Seville to Caceres
It was a lovely sunny morning when we left Seville but the temperature dropped to 14 degrees centigrade as we drove north towards Cáceres. It was a big change from the 31 centigrade that greeted us on Sunday when we arrived in Seville!
We stopped off at Merida to visit the Roman Colony that Augustus founded in 25 BC to resettle soldiers who had been honourably discharged from the Roman Army. The main sites are a Roman amphitheatre and a very impressive Roman theatre.
We had bought a combined entry ticket for Eur 8 that covered the theatre, amphitheatre and a few other Roman sites in Merida. The Roman House of Anfiteatro was included in the ticket and we visited it as it was nearby
The Roman house was thought to belong to an important family and there were some impressive mosaics. The most famous ones are a mosaic showing three men treading grapes and a mosaic of fish, a symbol of good luck for the house.
We drove on to Cáceres. After checking in to the excellent Barceló Cáceres V Centenario hotel we had a pleasant walk around the historic centre of Cáceres. It was founded by the ancient Romans. It is encircled by 12th century Moorish walls and has a mix of Gothic and Renaissance architecture with cobbled streets.
17 May 2024 - Trujillo
We drove 30 minutes from Caceres to visit nearby Trujillo which is the birthplace of Francisco Pizarro who conquered the Inca empire. Trujillo is an unspoilt small historic town with numerous attractive old stone buildings. We parked in an underground car park that had good parking spaces and was cheap.
We expected there would be a lot of other visitors but there were very few and fortunately only one group. We spent a very pleasant morning wandering around and then drove to Caceres for lunch. We preferred Trujillo to Caceres and it was easier to find our way around Trujillo.
18 May 2024 - Caceres to Lisbon
We drove from Caceres to Lisbon today. We had driven in Spain for 3.5 weeks without paying a single toll for using their good highways. Unfortunately Portugal charges for the use of their highways and it cost Eur 18 to drive 190 kilometres from the border with Spain to Lisbon.
We arrived at our apartment in the outskirts of Lisbon at 15.00. That was the earliest we could check in and we were met by the very friendly owner of the apartment. He spent an hour chatting to us and explaining everything about the apartment.
We were very happy with the one bedroom apartment that we had booked through Booking.com for Eur 123 per night. It is only a minute's walk away from the metro station and then a 15 minute ride to the historic centre.
As we had 4 nights in Lisbon we decided not to go into the centre until tomorrow. We did some shopping at the nearby supermarket and bought some delicious chicken from a restaurant for dinner.
19 May 2024 - Lisbon
We took the Metro into the centre of Lisbon. We started by walking around the main downtown area which is known as the Baixia. This area was built in grid formation after the earthquake in 1755.
First we visited Rossio which is one of three squares forming a triangle around the old Baixa area. From there we walked to Arco da Rúa Augusta which is a huge arch adorned with statues of historical figures and acts as a gateway to the city. It was built to celebrate Lisbon's reconstruction after the earthquake.
There are hills on both the western and eastern sides of the Baixia. The area on the eastern side is known as the Alfama and we walked up to it after seeing the Baixia area. It was a Sunday and there were quite a number of Portuguese and foreign tourists.
The Castle is the top tourist attraction in the Alfama and when we reached the castle there was a long line up at the ticket office. Tickets cost a whopping Eur 15 and we decided not to enter! There isn't much to see at the castle anyway and it is mainly visited for the views of Lisbon and to wander around the grounds.
We went back to Baixia for lunch. As we were walking I felt someone touch my back pack and immediately turned around. There were two guys behind me and I think they had tried to open the top zipper as I found it partially open. Luckily my back pack is very old and the zip often jams.
We had lunch at a restaurant in one of the more touristy streets in Lisbon. When I asked for the bill they asked me to go inside to pay. They then told me that their credit card machine wasn't working and I had to pay cash. Instead of giving me a printed bill I was shown the bill on a mobile phone.
The amount was much more than I expected. Upon close examination it was because they charged an extra Eur 3 for each of our main courses and had also added an Eur 5 service charge. I got them to reduce the bill by Eur 11 for these items.
I am sure they tried to scam us and the waiter deliberately didn't want us to pay by credit card so he could keep the amount over charged. This is the first time we have had such an issue on our road trip.
20 May 2024 - Lisbon
We took the metro into Lisbon and explored the Biarro Alto area. We wanted to go up the hill on the Elevador de Bica, a funicular railway built in 1892, but it wasn't working so we walked instead. We then wanted to visit the Church of Sao Roque but that was closed!
The Convent and Archaeological museum do Carmo was open! It was once Lisbon's greatest church and was built in the 14th century. It was badly damaged in the earthquake of 1755 and never rebuilt. Among the items displayed in the museum were an Egyptian sarcophagus dating back to 3rd century BC and 2 Peruvian mummies.
Afterwards we took a 40 minute train ride along the coast to Cascais where we had a good lunch of seafood. We walked back to Estoril along the esplanade before catching the train back to Lisbon.
21 May 2024 - Sintra
We went on a day trip from Lisbon to Sintra today. We would have driven the half an hour there but I had read on the internet that cars often get broken into in Sintra. I thought our UK registered car would be particularly vulnerable. We therefore went by train and it took about an hour.
Sintra has Unesco World Heritage status and it's famous for its Moorish Castle, palaces and country estates. I had pre-booked tickets on the internet for two of the palaces and the castle.
We first visited the Palacio Nacional which is in the actual town of Sintra. The palace dates back to the 14th century and has some very impressive rooms. The exterior is less impressive except for the 2 chimneys that provided ventilation for the kitchen. It wasn't too busy but we did keep bumping into 2 noisy groups.
The next 2 sites were high up on a hill above Sintra so we had lunch in Sintra before visiting them. We could have taken a bus up the hill but it is slow and expensive. We also could have walked up but it would have been a 40 minute uphill slog with hardly any views. We ended up taking a taxi for only Eur 7 more than the bus would have cost.
We had bought tickets for the gardens and terraces of the Palacio de Pena which was built in the 1840's. We didn't buy tickets for the interior as Tripadvisor reviews stated it was very crowded and there was little to see.
The Palacio de Pena looks as if it should be in a Disney Park. It is the top attraction in Sintra and there were crowds of tourists there. The park was disappointing as it consisted of woodland. However, the views of the Palace and the views from the wrap around terraces made the visit worthwhile.
Afterwards we walked 20 minutes down to the Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors). It was built in the 9th century and captured from the Moors in 1147. It was much quieter than Pena Palace and we walked along, and up, the ramparts to 2 towers.
We could have also visited the Quinta da Regaleira estate, the Monserrate Palace and the Convento dos Capuchos in Sintra. However, we had seen enough for one day. We walked half an hour down to Sintra and took the train back to our apartment.
22 May 2024 - Lisbon to Porto
We drove 3.5 hours from Lisbon to Porto and paid Eur 23 in toll fees. It seemed very expensive after driving on the free highways in Spain. Petrol also costs more in Portugal than in Spain and the UK.
We had booked a 3 bedroom apartment in the suburbs of Porto for Eur 102 through Booking.com. We were met by the owner who was was very helpful. He spent an hour going through the apartment with us and telling us what to see in Porto.
We decided to leave visiting the historic centre of Porto until tomorrow.
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