Portugal: The Dont's of Visiting Portugal

[Music] hey there fellow Travelers Mark here with wers world and today we're back in Lisbon Portugal for the don'ts of visiting Portugal now we spent a lot of time here in Lisbon I mean I was here for 5 years and I love living in Lisbon I love traveling all throughout Portugal there's a lot of really great things you do want to do when you're here and we've got stuff the 10 shocks of portugals what to see when you're in Portugal things that here in Lisbon all kinds of stuff what we want to focus on today are the what shouldn't you do when you do come here to Portugal cuz it is a fantastic country great people great food great wine great weather all kinds of stuff and the first don't I have for you actually is going to deal with the biggest complaint I get from tourists that come to this amazing country and that is don't think that everything they put on the table for you at a restaurant is free now you know when you go to the US and you go to a Mexican restaurant they'll give you chips and salsa and it's free or you go to a restaurant and they give you bread and butter and it's free here in Portugal those things they put on the table they are not free okay you will pay for the bread you will pay for the butter you will pay for the olives the cheese the ham all those things out there so do have a heads up for that and if you look on the menu they're actually in the menus now too okay so have a heads up the thing is though it's not usually that expensive for the smaller things so we'll take the bread and we'll take the olives but the cheese or the ham those on we kind of push off because those can add to the price of your meal really really quickly cuz in general it's a really affordable place to go and that's one of the ways you can add on a couple two to5 just by accident so have a heads up for that another don't I have for you is about eating and that is don't think you can eat early for dinner look I'm coming from the us and we dinner like 5 6:00 at night that does not happen here in Portugal the kitchens and the restaurants will close a lot of times between 3:00 and 700 p.m. now the restaurant may be open they might have sandwiches for you or or some desserts like their chocolate mousse that's so good here but if you want to have the the Feb Porco the Porco the POR here or with the Sardinia as the sardines and stuff like that you're not going to be able to get that most places between 3:00 and 7 so make sure you're preparing to eat later in the day cuz otherwise you're kind of out of luck or you're going to go have to go to the tourist spots you know maybe it's a mall or maybe if you're here in U lison you're going to have to B and stuff and you go to more tourist restaurants that will have food all day long but it's not as much of the experience you really want here but it is a thing that you do have an option for it so do have a heads up for that another thing I'm going to tell you about you know don't get it started don't don't try to do things early is don't try to party early here in Portugal the Portuguese they start things late they eat dinner late they they they go out partying late all kinds of stuff so don't think you're going to go out early when you're here this is more of a late night start culture if you're going to go out cuz I'll be honest por is a great place to come and have a good time all right and they kind of wrap up that time theme don't expect much to start on time when you are here look in Portugal being fast Rel late is what you're supposed to be if you come on time it's almost kind of kind of rude okay so do have a heads up for that now maybe business meetings and the train that's a bit different in your plans but in general things if you meet the Portuguese and they invite you out to dinner they say hey come over to my place like seven well they'll probably meet us yeah come about 7:30 okay so do know that there's kind of a a time difference here from what people saying is what they actually do when you are here okay so those are some time things I want you to know about now Portugal STS for its wine okay and there's lots of different gray wines here but I want to give you a few dots in terms of the wine and stuff like that when you are here one don't think that port wine is the end all be all of Portuguese wine I mean yes people have a bottle of porn at their house and things like that but it's not like they're drinking it every day you're drinking normal red wines and white wines and green wines when you are here in Portugal and it's fantastic but but the PK wine I know in the guide books and stuff they're like oh you must drink the PK wine you must have pork yes if you're in Port to definitely go to the POR wine caves okay and guy across the river go do that it's fantastic but don't think that port wine that everyone's knocking it back every single day they're drinking other kinds of wine okay so I want to get that out of the way and one of those wines the green wine that has another don't for you don't drink green wine unless it's cold green wine is a young white wine okay so it's got a little bubble to it so I like to think of it as like 80% white wine 20% like a like a like a bubbly wine kind of stuff and it's really good but you need to drink it cold and so when they serve it to you it should be cold one and then a lot of places they'll put a sleeve over it to keep it cold because that's the way you enjoy the wine when you're here my last little wine thing I have for you is don't feel that you have to buy expensive wine when you come to Portugal Portugal makes some of the greatest Wines in the world we drink it anywhere we go we see port Portuguese wine we're going to drink it one cuz it's fantastic and two it's got a good price so when you go out to eat here you can get the house wine no problem it will be good so don't worry about busting your budget on your wine when you're doing that and that kind of goes into another dut Portugal don't think you're going to bust your budget Portugal is a very affordable destination to go to Transportation actually flying here um the hotels the airbnbs the hostels oh my gosh the hostels in Portugal are fantastic it's not really that bad the thing is I want to say is don't think it's cheap it's just really affordable okay cuz so many tourists have come here to Portugal now it has raised the prices up a bit for restaurants and hotels in popular places like here in Lisbon the algar but still it makes a very affordable family vacation or solo vacation or a buddies trip and stuff like that so don't worry about your your wallet too much in terms of the money side of it and I guess that's another don't I have for you you don't have to worry about your wallet too much either either when you're here in terms of safety Portugal is a very safe country now of course if you're on the Metro or something like that in elizan or if you're walking in a busy tourist area obviously do use your usual kind of Street smarts and travel smarts but in general Portugal is super safe to visit I know I loved living here for 5 Years cuz I never wore it my kid wants to go play no problem we want to go to some El no problem to get you life let good just up by yourself no problem that's what's so great about Portugal whether you're in south or you're going up to brag in the North or wherever you can have a great time and you can have a safe time and that's one of the things I really love about coming here that I don't have to worry though it is very safe I will say I do have one big safety dunk for you don't be lack aicle when you're walking on the sidewalks and this is in two fold one the drivers here they're a little bit crazy there's a little rally driver in them sometimes when you take your first taxi you'll understand when you're here but the thing is when you're walking on the streets you got to be careful when you're when you're out there cuz the cars and the buses but what actually is really kind of the thing that gets tourists is actually the pavement here they use a lot of tile they use a lot of small stones and stuff like that and it looks really really cool but the thing is if it rains and it gets slick it is very slick and I've seen people wipe out young old all kinds of stuff and nobody laughs because it happens so often so do be careful maybe try to bring some like non-slick shoes when you're here just because that can be one of the things and I will say one thing with the driving um don't be afraid to rent a car when you do come here to Portugal so you can go explore because there's a lot of small towns you might want to get to going to obus and having some Ginga the ginger the the cherry liquor and the chocol of Cups oh they have a Medieval Festival there that's great just drive to there Evra or you want to go see some of the castle ruins in the South and stuff randic car really makes it easier to kind of explore Portugal a lot better okay so don't be afraid to rat one when you come here but I will say this don't drive your car in Lisbon Lisbon traffic just sucks okay and the drivers are crazy it's just really frustrating so what I recommend if you're going to use Lisbon as your base and fly in and then go explore the country I would say fly into the airport get your car at the airport and then go explore the country and then come back to Lisbon drop off the car and then explore Lisbon without the car cuz the parking the driving the headaches it's not worth it when you're here okay so just know that when you're in Lisbon but great to explore the country which is another don't I have VI don't forget to explore more than just Lisbon I know all the cheap flights and flights from the US and Canada and stuff they're all kind of flying in here to Lisbon because honestly it's one awards for being the best weekend destination in Europe because it's a fantastic City but the whole country is fantastic so if you get a chance go explore the north yes Portu is just gorgeous yes you can have the port wine there and see the bridges and stuff you go to bra and see B you can go walk up to the the church there gim the true B place of Portugal you can see that or see the University Town of quebra and the CRA Coast it's like the hill like this the back breaker oh my god when you get up there and you see the library in the queenb at the University oh my God it's gorgeous or if you're going to be here by Lisbon there's lots of great day trips you go to S see the Palaces there obviously the coastline anywhere in Portugal is amazing okay but also if you want to go towards the South seeing the alar for the beaches there and going to losos and taking the boat trip through you know the the grados there it's just so cool are going to see the bone Chapel in Evra there's so many cool things to see here I get sad when people only stay in Lisbon so don't forget to explore outside of Lisbon when you're here now some other don'ts I have for you one don't worry if you don't speak Portuguese too well the people here in Portugal do speak English very well and honestly they have some of the best accents when they speak English we're talking like Netherlands Scandinavia and Portugal have the best accent for non-native speakers when they speak English it's awesome okay and I'm going to tell tell you if you are scared don't be scared of the the nasal sound in Portuguese look as long as you're trying to speak Portuguese they may chuckle but they'll really appreciate it when you are here so know a few words like Obrigado is thank you poror is please you know Den is you're welcome and I know it sounds like Spanish but it's not and that's our next don't don't think Portugal is just an extension of Spain I've lived in Lisbon I spent months and months and months in Spain and they are not the same okay you got to understand the culture is different the language is different the people the temperament all kinds of stuff is very different here in Portugal than it is in Spain and that includes the language okay Portuguese here Spanish there all right and speaking of languages another do I have for you is don't expect to speak or hear much Portuguese when you go to the algar this south of Portugal has become kind of a retirement community for a lot of different uh nationalities in Europe so you you'll hear German you'll hear Spanish you'll hear English you'll hear Swedish you'll hear all kinds of stuff but you might not hear Too Much Portuguese so that kind of surprises people when they go down there but it is one thing I want to give the heads up for since Portugal like I said is pretty affordable to visit I want to say is don't use big bills okay don't bring big Euro bills when you come here the 50s The Hundreds the 200s don't bother because most of the time people are not going to have change so make sure you have lots of tens and 20s and fives and stuff like that to pay for your tax you pay for your pela Bain or your pastela NAT and things like that because you don't really need the big bills here what's cool is if you go to a bank ATM here they give you tens and 20s but don't expect to get more than €2 200 EUR out of most of the ATMs here because they Limited at 200 okay so there is that but don't worry there are tons of ATMs throughout the country so you won't have any problem finding ATM when you are here to get money out now one of the things you need that money for is the food when you're here and my next St for you is don't be carb intolerant when you come to Portugal look rice and fries fries and rice rice and fries with more rice look if you get meat here it's going to come with fries fried potatoes and probably come with rice as well so you're going to have a lot of carbs when you're here and it can get a bit heavy on you so just have a heads up for that if you want less carbs I would get a fish dish the Dorado bakal the bream sea bream sea bass the the fish and stuff like that the fish tend to have more of a salad and like boiled potatoes versus fries and rice the thing is though the fries and rice come with the pork Ceta the black pork which is fantastic it comes the B the beef that's here so you can eat really really well and one of the things I want you to eat and want you to know when you are here is don't think sardines are just those little tiny fish that come in those little tiny cans if you're here in the summertime especially in June sardines grilled sardines are the thing to eat and they'll Grill them up about this big and serve it to you on a platter and so make sure you order some and a don't I'll have for you for that is don't be afraid to ask your waiter to show you how to skin it gut it take the stuff out because if you're not from Portugal you might not know I know when I was here for Santos my first time in Portugal all the sardines were there my friends gave me a plate of sardines I'm like what do I do here the heads on I'm they're like oh this is what you got to do and they show me and explained it to me and so it's always been kind of a funny thing when tourists come they get their sardines like what the hell do I do here don't be afraid to ask your waiter okay like hey can you help me out here all right hey when you're in those restaurants where you're looking for restaurants don't worry if the restaurant looks a little run down usually those kind of rundown mom and pop looking places they're called taskas that's where you want to go for like the legitimate Real Deal Portuguese food okay those taskas are family run places and yeah maybe they don't have the money to make it all fancy and look like it's a a brand new Chic restaurant but their food are 10 times better than those Shiki restaurants so definitely hit those tashas and don't worry if it looks a little rund down or a little beaten up it just is all the effort goes to they get some great food when you're there also if you're here with your kids and you got little ones don't be surprised if the grandma or the mom that works the Taska comes out and feeds your kid for you while you're eating Maria Jesus God bless you she would do that all the time for us when we were here at Lisbon at other restaurants we go to you'd have that than you'll see parents here will feed their kids a lot longer than we do like in the US and it's more like well my kid just sits there they just kind of feed them it is pretty funny to see but it is really nice cuz Jos and I got to have a lot of kind of dates with little kids there cuz cuz man was feeding Caleb and we are just there eating enjoying ourselves so my last few kind of don'ts I have for you one is you're taking public transport here in Portugal this is one thing I've seen with all the tourists coming here you might not realize is uh don't forget to give give your seat up for pregnant ladies women with small children um older people things like that because the Portuguese are very much into helping out the elderly there'll be special lines for pregnant women there'll be special lines for people with kids and for some tourists they don't realize that those seats are reserved for them okay so if you're sit in those seats get up or if you're in a Metro and you see an old lady just get up I mean it's the nice thing to do and you'll see that the Portuguese will do that okay so be cool like the Portuguese be polite by the Portuguese and give the seats up for people another kind of tourist don't I'd say for you and I've been doing my research I see all these things oh go to a photo show go to a photo show look if you're not sure what foto is foto is this very melancholy music they have here in Portugal and it's great okay I've gone to a ton of shows and I've enjoyed every single one but my thing for you is don't think you have to pay to hear fot look a lot of restaurants will have a foto singer coming up every so often or a bar might have a photo singer singing sometimes so you don't necessarily have to pay for the dinner and the show you can find photo singers lots of different places you might want to ask your hotel hey we're going to hear some Futo you know or a bar or something like that and they can help you find a place cuz I lived in Lisbon for 5 years okay I never have paid for flat one time but I got enough that I feel like I know MAA I know we're like this okay so you do have that opportunity and my last not for you as a tourist there's one thing that happens is when you see that stores are closed there's a holiday you didn't know about be ready for that here don't be surprised if there's a random holiday when you're here in Portugal look Portugal has multiple Independence days they have multiple Saints days there's all kinds of festivals here in Portugal and so there might be a random day when you're here that random stuff is closed just know it's not going to ruin your vacation it just might make it a little more complicated sometimes but don't be surprised that there's like limited hours for for some reason there's not the store is not open that day because of some holiday but honestly I'm not going to lie to you if you're looking for a great country to go to that's safe that's affordable that has beautiful people beautiful people looking like I mean I can't tell you how many tourists have told me please tell one of the P Portuguese policeman arrest me um beautiful food fantastic food the beer here is really good too the wine I mean there's so much you're want to do when you're here it really is a fantastic country to visit that's why I lived here for 5 years and I love it it's very close to my heart Liam my youngest son he was born here like it'll always be a part of me and it should be a part of you cuz this country is fantastic so don't pass up on Portugal all right so if you want to learn more maybe the 10 shocks of visiting Portugal like about the bull fighters that catch the bows when you're here yeah don't freak out about that they actually catch the Bulls in the bowl fights here it's it's a little crazy or if you want to learn about the food here in Portugal or maybe just some basic tourist advice what to know before you come to Portugal check us out on our website at walterworks on Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube and we really appreciate your likes subscriptions and if you do like travel videos like that click that subscribe button click that notification Bell and you get videos like this every Wednesday and Saturday from all over the world so I'll say adus bye from here in lison Portugal

Channel: Wolters World

Views: 76,180

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Id: teDutNYk88I

Length: 18min 16sec (1096 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 13 2024