Common Planning Errors That New Visitors to Portugal Make
June 07, 2022
Portugal is a land of legends: Lusas, companion of Bacchus founded it - naming it Lusitania. And the city of Lisbon is named for the hero Ulysses. There are some bits of wrong info that seem to live online, and we, as lovers of all things Portugal, want to help.
There is no place called “Duoro.” That would be the Douro River Valley - and it is pretty amazing. Some say it means River of Gold, or De Ouro. Some say it comes from the Latin Durius, perhaps from Celtic dubros or “water."
Either way, check it out, and please go beyond Pinhão (the river does not stop there). But, please don’t misspell the great river’s name.
Sinatra was a great American singer of the 20th century, Sintra is a royal town set in the mountains near Lisbon.
Lisbon’s Monument to the Discoveries is a bit of Fascist propaganda, put up by the Salazar Government to glorify colonization. Sorry…
No, you don’t need a car in Lisbon, And the best place to buy train tickets (the only place?) is on the site www.cp.pt - if you bought it elsewhere you got overcharged.
There is something between Lisbon and the Algarve. The Alentejo, and if you just drive though it you're really missing something amazing. Spend some time!
No, you shouldn’t tip like an American in Portugal - because if you do, Europeans could start to tip like Europeans in America, and that’s not going to go over well.
Natas are great, but there are a lot of other pastries in Portugal -please- try one!
Any eatery with a dude holding a menu outside is worth skipping.
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