I recently went to Barcelona in Spain as well as Lisbon and Lagos in Portugal. I wanted to share the good, the bad and the ugly of the trip. I haven’t done a trip recap in a while.
We flew into Barcelona on August 14 and landed around 6:45 a.m. local time. We stayed there until August 18 before flying to Lisbon. My girlfriend and I had a lot of fun. A couple of her friends also joined us for the first half of the trip.
Barcelona
We got to see the famous cathedrals and walk around the city while taking in the Gaudí architecture. American Airlines put a damper on everything by leaving my bag in Philadelphia. I had to wait a full day to get all of my clothing. They did reimburse me for the things I bought. It was still a terrible way to start the trip in my opinion.
We weren’t in Spain for too long. Honestly, I don’t have many great things to say about Barcelona. There were a lot of vendors trying to sell us cheap souvenirs and random stuff that we would never use. One of the biggest letdowns for me was the food. I had heard good things about it. Nothing we ate really stood out though. We went to a steakhouse one night that was pretty good but not excellent. I’ve had better. Overall it was just nothing special.
I can’t really see myself wanting to go back anytime soon. I’ve heard Mallorca and other parts of Spain are a lot of fun. As far as Barcelona is concerned, I don’t think I need to return.
Lisbon
Lisbon was a really good time by comparison. I thought it was more beautiful. The narrow streets and tiled sidewalks made it such a pleasant place to walk around.
They still had their fair share of people trying to sell garbage and cheap stuff every other block. The wine was great though. I thought the food was much better in terms of quality. I really enjoyed our time there.
Driving to the Algarve in an EV
We finished our time in Lisbon and rented a car to drive south to the Algarve. That’s where Lagos is. The rental company only had an electric SUV even though we wanted a gas car. I’ll say that was a huge mistake. Gas is just way better for a trip like this.
The charging infrastructure was more developed than I expected but still very lackluster. There were few charging stations between where we were and where we needed to go. Charging the car also took about 40 minutes. Trying to figure all of this out for the first time in a foreign country was incredibly frustrating. After the struggles we had down there, I would never rent an electric car for a trip like this. I definitely wouldn’t buy one based on that experience either.
Lagos
Despite the car situation, Lagos was beautiful. The caves and openings carved into the limestone by erosion create some really cool scenery. We went on a hike and took a boat ride to explore the caves and other rock formations. It was one of the highlights of the trip.
The beaches weren’t as packed. There were also far fewer people trying to sell you dumb things while you were relaxing. I felt safer there than I did in Barcelona.
The trip home
We flew home out of Lisbon. The Lisbon airport is honestly a joke. I think they really need to improve how passengers move through it. The airport just isn’t set up properly for international travel. That seems like something they have overlooked.
I loved Portugal overall and would definitely consider going back. It just won’t be anytime soon since there are other places I’d rather visit first. Barcelona may not represent the rest of Spain. There are probably other parts of the country that I would enjoy more. It is definitely not a place I need to revisit though.
We got a bunch of great pictures and had a great time. We ate some great food. The trip wasn’t overly expensive either so that was a plus. We were gone for almost 14 days including travel. In my opinion, that’s a little too long. From now on, I would rather keep trips to 10 days or less if possible.
Catching up with work is also a nightmare after you’re gone that long. It’s good to be back in a routine. You also start to miss the comforts of your own apartment after a while. I missed my dog too so it was great to see him when we got back.
Overall, I enjoyed the trip and would definitely do it again.