Vacation Rentals: A Learning Experience

Our recent trip to Portugal and Spain lasted four weeks, which was longer than any trip we’ve taken previously. Most of our previous vacations have been seven to twelve-day cruises, usually with two or three nights in a hotel before and/or after, or a week at an all-inclusive resort. In 2022 and 2023, we took 12-night land tours in France and Portugal, respectively, where we stayed in local hotels that included breakfast buffets.

This time, we stayed in rental apartments for several reasons. (We’re choosing not to call them B&Bs, since none of them offered breakfast.)

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Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

For our last leg of the trip, we visited Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands. We stayed in downtown Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital.

We enjoyed our visit. We both agree that this was our favorite stop on the trip. We stayed three days, and could have stayed a day or two more. Santa Cruz was modern, safe, and inviting, with plenty of culture. It had a good vibe. It seemed very livable to us.

Royal Poinciana trees were everywhere!

In this post, we’ll share some photos from the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts), Museo de las Ilusiones (Museum of illusions), and Parque Garcia Sanabria, a beautiful city park with sculptures and colorful plants. We’ll also share a few photos from Piramides de Güímar, a short drive south of Santa Cruz.

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Puerto de la Cruz and Mount Teide, Tenerife

On our second day on Tenerife, we drove from our apartment in Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Puerto de la Cruz, on the north side of the island. The main points of interest there are the Jardin de Aclimatacion de la Orotava (botanical garden) and the Agatha Christie painted stairs.

We parked in the parking lot adjacent to the botanical garden (Adequate, convenient parking! A rare commodity on our trip.). After visiting the garden, we walked twenty minutes to the stairs. Our walk took us through a charming, upscale area of resort hotels, restaurants, shopping, and nice homes. (more…)

Carvoeiro, Portugal (and Portimão)

For the third stop on our month-long Portugal adventure, we stayed in Carvoeiro, a beach resort town on the Algarve coast.

Carvoeiro differs from most other Portuguese towns in that it doesn’t have several centuries of history. While it started as a small fishing village, its development began in the 1960s in response to the growing tourism industry. Almost all of the buildings are noticeably newer than in most other Portuguese towns. (more…)

Sand City – Lagoa, Portugal

Sand City, near Lagoa, Portugal, claims to be the largest park of sand sculptures in the world, with at least 120 sculptures spread over 12 acres. We believe it! We spent an hour and a half wandering around, admiring the work and taking dozens of photos.

Yes, it’s touristy – sort of like Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. But the sculptures were impressive! We enjoyed our visit.

Here is a sample of the sculptures on display.

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Benagil Cave Boat Tour & Algar Seco Boardwalk

The highlight of our Portugal trip so far is a 90-minute boat tour along the Algarve coast from Praia de Carvoeiro (Carvoeiro Beach) to Praia da Marinha. During the trip, we saw (and often entered) 15-20 caves, plus spectacular cliffs, arches, and beaches. The tour included the famous, often-photographed Benagil Cave.

It was incredibly beautiful. The pictures don’t do it justice. We hope the photos and videos below give you some idea of the awesomeness of these stunning caves and rock formations.

Two days later, we walked the full length of the Algar Seco Boardwalk, which allowed us to view some of these cliff formations from above. Those photos follow the boat tour photos.

Praia de Carvoeiro (Carvoeiro Beach), where our boat tour started and ended

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