Lisbon in 2023 was Even More Crowded Than We Expected

Plus first impressions of beautiful Madeira

This month’s newsletter comes to you from a place much warmer and sunnier than Lisbon. As the average temperature in Lisbon dropped and the grey clouds rolled in, we made the quick hop over to the island of Madeira, not far off the coast of Morocco. 

Madeira is our third destination in Portugal and, honestly, it was love at first sight. After four years of travel, we’ve seen many a scenic old town and lovely coastline; we often worry that we’ve been overly spoiled by our many wonderful travel experiences. 

However, as soon as we caught our first sight of this island from the sky, arriving in a new destination felt fresh and exciting again. The capital city of Funchal seems to have everything we enjoy all in one place: European architecture, glorious sea views, a temperate climate — all against a backdrop of spectacular green mountains. 

Even though we’ve only been here a few days, we feel that Madeira has already found a spot on a very exclusive list of…

Places we want to return to 

One of our missions while we travel is to find places that merit a return trip. We’re not searching for a long-term home; just a few places where we could see ourselves settling in for a while. 

This has been surprisingly difficult to find. Often after we spend a month in a destination, we feel that we’ve experienced it relatively thoroughly — certainly in more depth than the average vacationer. 

Of all the cities we’ve visited over the past few years, only a handful have made it on the list. Here are a few examples:

• Antalya – After making three trips to Türkiye and staying in five different cities, Antalya was the one that found a place in our hearts. It offers everything we love about Türkiye — delicious food, a vibrant street life — but on a smaller, more accessible scale than Istanbul. We also couldn’t get enough of the cliffside views of the Mediterranean.  

• Mexico City – We normally shy away from large cities and Mexico City is of mega-proportions. However, we were quickly charmed by our neighbourhood of Roma Norte and nearby Condesa, particularly all the green walking paths and lovely architecture. The abundance of interesting street food didn’t hurt either.

• Brasov – Romania was a highlight of our summer travels and Brasov was our favourite stop in Romania. We loved the views of the old town ringed by green hills and the easy access to great hiking. It’s also a corner of Europe that has yet to be overrun by the international tourist crowds — for now.

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Desperately seeking the less-touristy side of Lisbon

Speaking of crowds, from the moment of our arrival in Lisbon a month ago, we were absolutely shocked at the number of tourists crammed into this lovely city. 

Certainly the massive cruise ships parked mere blocks from our Airbnb can take some of the credit. And we visited during the off-season; I can’t even imagine how busy the summer must be. 

Instead of joining the lineups at every major sight, we made it our mission to find a less touristy side of Lisbon. It’s likely that we missed a few (or many) of the must-see attractions. However, we managed to have our own unique experience of Lisbon and the surrounding region — one that we didn’t have to share with crowds of other tourists. 

If you’re looking for the same, we’ve got our top recommendations in our latest video. And, as usual, we’re sharing what it all costs.

For a sneak peek of our adventures in Madeira, be sure to check out our Instagram Stories. 

See you on the road!

Stephanie & Gillian