Funny enough, for all of my returning readers, the company “Wines of Portugal” originally interested Dan and me in visiting Portugal several years ago – Wines of Portugal did a wine dinner in Princeton, New Jersey and we attended! Little did we know that we would be returning in 2017 to get married in Portugal! Thanks Wines of Portugal!
Map of the wine regions of Portugal.
Ericeira, Portugal is a beach getaway town located about 30 miles outside of Lisbon. Ericeira hangs on the cliffs of the Atlantic and is relatively unknown to foreigners, with the exception of serious surfers. Dan and I have visited Ericeira a few times, as we got married not too far from Ericeira last year and stayed in Ericeira during our wedding!
Gorgeous flowers in Ericeira.
If you’ve read my blog at all in the last six months, you know that Dan & I married in Portugal last year! We got married in Gradil Portugal, but our closest friends and family spend a few days in Lisbon with us before our wedding! These few days were really fun and brought the group together, and it was really cool to share Lisbon – a LOVEY city – with those closest to us!
Lisbon from the water!
Sintra, Portugal. Billed as a fairy tale castle city outside of Lisbon that, while not a household name, must be on every traveler’s bucket list. I visited Sintra in 2014, and I definitely had my doubts. Sintra was rumored to be terribly grandiose and was compared to the likes of Neuschwanstein and Disney castles. Despite my doubts, Sintra totally won me over! So much so that I organized a day trip to Sintra for guests at my wedding in Portugal!
Sintra Centro
After Sete Cidades, Lagoa do Forgo is probably the most popular “bucket list” site on São Miguel Island. Like Sete Cidades, Lagoa do Fogo, or in English, Fire Lake, is a crater lake in the middle of another of São Miguel’s dormant volcanos. Lagoa do Fogo is located in the middle of the island high on a mountain – its the highest of São Miguel’s three crater lakes. Go to Lagoa do Fogo for stunning views and hiking if you are into that! Also, tourists should now that Lagoa do Fogo is protected by the Azorean government and swimming is NOT allowed.
One of the hiking trails to Lagoa do Fogo.
Since Dan and I spent a week on São Miguel, we visited Lagoa do Fogo twice. Once on a tour (the same tour that we took to Sete Cidades) and once on our own as a detour on en route to way to Furnas! As you know from my Sete Cidades post, São Miguel had horrible weather the day of our tour so we really did not get to see Lagoa do Fogo at all…
