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
After Cascais, we visited Tavira, a relatively small city at the eastern end of the Algarve, Portugal’s southernmost region.
Tavira is charming and quaint. It still retains the feel of an old Portuguese town. It’s very walkable; there was little vehicular traffic and plenty of pedestrian-only spaces. Everything we wanted to see was within a few blocks of our apartment. We walked no more than 15 minutes to get to the farthest restaurant and grocery store.(more…)
Cascais (pronounced “kesh-kysh” because in many cases the Portuguese pronounce “s” like “sh”) is a popular seaside vacation destination about 30 km west of Lisbon; a one-hour train ride. It’s the westernmost point in continental Europe. We stayed in a nice little one-bedroom vacation rental apartment that was a 15-minute walk (uphill) from downtown.
The area within a few blocks of the ocean is definitely touristy, with hotels, restaurants (most with sidewalk tables and menus in four languages), gift shops, etc. Given that Cascais is one of the more expensive places in Portugal, it caters to a middle- to upper-middle-class clientele.(more…)
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We began our Two Years of Travel in May, 2025 with a four-week trip to Portugal. Since then, we have returned to Europe twice, taken a Southeast Asia cruise, and visited New Zealand and Australia. Most of our trips lasted four weeks, but our New Zealand/Australia trip lasted an epic seven weeks!
In June, 2026, after completing one year of travel, we’ve adjusted our plans. Going forward, we will travel less frequently and take 2-3 week trips. We have rejoined many of our community college musical ensembles, and we will squeeze trips in between semesters. At this rate, we’ll keep traveling beyond two years.
Our approach to travel is to visit less touristy cities and towns to experience the local culture, cuisine, and character. We like to explore the local museums, parks, and architecture. We enjoy visiting places with natural scenic beauty or unique features. We spend several days in each place, rather than rushing from one place to the next on a tight schedule.
Along with a selection of pictures, we’ll also share our impressions of each place and our experiences with longer, slower travel.
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Here’s a quick look at the places we visited in 2025:
In Melbourne, as with the other Australian cities we’ve visited, we loved the architecture and designs. Here are some photos of the interesting buildings there.
Praia de Carvoeiro (Carvoeiro Beach), where our boat tour started and ended
