This Expedition is designed to prioritize Photography and genuine travel experience. 

Photography. Culture. Gastronomy. Traditions. 

All in one expedition.

It is easy to travel through Portugal on your own. It’s a small country, very safe and with a great road system. However, getting to know the Real Portugal and exploring off the beaten path often requires time, dedication and location scouting. This is what we have become experts at. This trip has taken around 6 months to prepare and the time invested provides the itinerary the quality it requires for an unforgettable experience!

From a photographic point of view, expect the opportunity to shoot all kinds of Photography. Landscapes, Seascapes, Cityscapes, portraits, street photography, Architecture, Documental, etc.

From a cultural point of view, you’ll visit a wide range of locations giving you the modern and also the most traditional Portugal.

From the Gastronomical point of view, you will be surprised! Portugal is a small country but the food culture is serious and highly diversified from region to region. Therefore, this tour will give you the chance to try all kinds of different food, from the freshest fish in the coastline to wild boar meat in the countryside. Portugal has also joined the trend of vegetarian and vegan recipes so you’ll also find lots of options if this suits you.

QUICK PROGRAM

Day 0 – Arrival in Porto (Meeting, Dinner, Rest).   3 June

Day 1 – Viana do Castelo (Cerveira, Caminha, Moledo, Viana) 4th June

Day 2 – Geres (Soajo and Lindoso Castle) 5th june

Day 3 – Geres (sistelo) 6th june

Day 4 – Porto
(center, Ribeira) 7th june

Day 5 – Porto
(Cristal, Serralves, S.Pedra sunset) 8th june

Day 6 – Buçaco (Castle, Forrest, Viewpoint) 9th june

Day 7 – 
Nazaré and Peniche (Lighthouse, Beaches) 10th june 

Day 8 – Peniche and Sintra (Berlengas, Pena, Regaleira) 11th june

Day 9 – Sintra and Cabo da Roca (Castelo de Mouros, Adaga, C.Roca) 12th june

Day 10 – Lisboa (Bairro, Belem, Jeronimos, MAAT, Comercio) 13th june

Day 11 – Lisboa
(Oriente, Oceanario, Vasco Gama) 14th june

Day 12 – Monsaraz (Fluvial, Town) 15th june

Day 13 – Monsaraz & Vila Viçosa (Town, Paço Ducal) 16th june

Day 14 – Piodão 17th june

Day 15 -  Foz D’égua – drive back to Porto 18th june

Day 16 – Porto, Fly back home. 19th june

Arrival in Porto – Check in at hotel and free time to rest or go out on your own to shoot or go for a stroll. 

Day 1 – Viana do Castelo – We travel north for 1 hour into Viana right after breakfast. The high point of day 1 is the sunset on a high mountain in Viana with a massive Cathedral in the foreground and the coastline in the background. 

After checking in, the first stop will be a small village called Moledo with a Castle in a sand island in the middle of the ocean. Lunch will be in an old town called Caminha filled with traditional houses and a city center that dates back to 1665. After lunch we visit a viewpoint of the river Minho with a gorgeous view (Cerveira) and then move to Viana do Castelo and explore the city.  Last stop of the day is the Cathedral next to our hotel. We will decide if we shoot the sunset by the cathedral or the balconies of our hotel (which allow for the view of the picture below).

Day 2 – Geres National Park – Soajo and Lindoso Castle.

1st day in the national park of Geres, a wonder of nature full of local wildlife and locals that live in the simplest ways according to old Portuguese traditions. Geres national park is a protected UNESCO location. 

We will go to soajo and visit this medieval location alongside the Lindoso Castle. 

This is will be the first day of full immersed experience on what is “the old Portugal”. Expect to meet very kind people willing to be photographed and to share their life stories.

Day 3 – Geres Sistelo – on the second day in the national park of Geres, we will go through the Sistelo paths. 

Sistelo was awarded one of the 7 wonders of old Portugal. This small village has a mix of traditional houses and nature treks with some of the most stunning views in the north of Portugal. It is nicknamed “the Portuguese Tibete” due to the stunning nature and calm environments. 

We will do a walk of about 10kms through rivers and forest where nature and light blend and give amazing photographic opportunities. After the walk we drive back to Sistelo and enjoy a relaxed lunch of typical traditional food from the area. 

We drive after lunch heading to Porto to be able to arrive before sunset, check in and enjoy the city views.

Day 4 – Porto – City center – during this first day in Porto we will explore the mandatory areas of the city center. You’ll visit the biggest tower overviewing the city (Clérigos), the famous Harry Potter Lello Library, one of the oldest train stations in Europe with amazing hand-painted tile work (São Bento), the city’s main avenue and city chambers as well as the Port wine area by the river on the side of Gaia. 

The Luis I bridge is one of the iconic locations and of course we will visit some wine cellars where you can learn about the history of Port wine and understand the production process of this famous wine.

Our sunset on this day will be in the terrace of the most famous hotel in Porto, overviewing the city being engulfed by the golden hour, sunset and blue hour. 

This is a long but very cultural city day. 

Day 5 – Porto day 2 – on this second day in Porto we will look at a more green side of this city. We will visit the gardens of a Palace overviewing the river (Palácio de Cristal) as well as the famous Serralves Museum gardens. We drive 10kms to photograph the sunset on a chapel by the sea (Senhor da Pedra), a very special landscape opportunity with rocks in the foreground creating lots of leading lines into the chapel. 

Day 6 – Buçaco – we drive south into one of the most beautiful Palaces in the country. Buçaco used to belong to monarch families back in the 1800’s and it has been converted into a luxury hotel In the 90’s with it’s restoration focused on preserving the old style of the building. The surrounding area has a gorgeous viewpoint and the famous Buçaco forest which is beautiful and provides an amazing small relaxed walk in nature. We will dine and overnight in the palace enjoying the chance to shoot in the area as we please. 

Day 7 -  Nazaré. Peniche – We drive for about 2 hours heading into the famous spot with the largest waves in the planet – Nazaré. During this season big waves are not expected but you can enjoy the view into the ocean from the famous lighthouse which gives you great vistas of the atlantic and the Portuguese coastline. After this quick stop we drive for a few more minutes and arrive in Peniche. This town is considered to be the Surfer’s Paradise of Portugal. Besides a unique and strong surfer-cultured town, Peniche also has the Berlengas Islands. We will be doing a boat tour into these islands. 

Dia 8 – Sintra - Quinta da Regaleira / Palácio da Pena / Sintra Center

Sintra is a mandatory location in this itinerary. This is one of the epicenters of tourism in Portugal and it brings you to a small town that looks like a real Disney world full of castles and deep forests.

We will explore some of the most amazing locations in Sintra such as the Well of Quinta da Regaleira, the mystical Pena Palace and the traditional city center of Sintra.

Dia 9 -  Sintra & Lisboa – Castelo de Mouros / Praia da Adraga / Cabo da Roca. 

On this day we visit a castle and an amazing beach for long exposure photographs. We move to the most western point of Europe for a sunset session before heading to Lisbon.

Dia 10 – Lisboa City Center – on this first full day in the capital we will explore the city center. Filled with Architecture dating about 250 years (after the famous 1755 earthquake the city was fully rebuilt), we can find in Lisbon a mix of Colonial, Arabic and gothic influences. This day will give you an insight to amazing street photography as well as architecture and culture.  The main attractions will be the Belem Tower, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, the M.A.A.T Museum, Elevador Santa Justa and a few more locations in the city center. We will try to go to our hostel mid afternoon to get a bit of rest as during the night time, you’ll experience the biggest festival in the City – Santo António – where all the streets fill up with people and small parties in the entire city center. 

Have a look at this Youtube video if you wish to have an idea of how Santo António is celebrated in Lisbon : 

Dia 11 – The new Lisbon – we move to the area known as Expo due to a famous Expo show in 98 that rehabilitated this area and transformed it into the new renovated Lisbon. This new area is by the river Tejo close to the biggest bridge in Europe, Ponte Vasco da Gama, with 17kms connecting Lisbon to the otherside – Alcochete. We visit this modern side of the city and end up with a sunset shot of the bridge. 

Dia 12 – Monsaraz – We leave early morning from Lisbon and head into Monsaraz. This 2h30 trip goes through a scope of landscapes that changes from city to country field and from green and foresty to yellow and arid. We dive into the Alentejo region, where the weather is the hottest in the country. We will do a few stops for images along the way and arrive in Monsaraz mid morning. After a quick check in, we move into the viewpoint and then into the River Beach to enjoy a relaxed lunch and enjoy the flat shallow water at environment temperature. After lunch we move to the Town of Monsaraz to photograph. We can enjoy the sunset by the swimming pool of our hotel with a scenic view of the landscape and a perfect orientation for the sunset. 

Dia 13 – Monsaraz and Piodão - Still in Monsaraz, the bravest people are welcome to wake up before sunrise for an amazing session that this location usually provides. After breakfast we move into a close town called Vila Viçosa. Here we will visit a massive palace that used to be the king’s holiday house 400 years ago. Inside this location we are not allowed to photograph but it still is very worth to visit and get to see how big the monarchs used to live. We’ll move to Piodão and arrive before the sunset, check-in and move to a spot where you can photograph the town all lit up during blue hour. 

Day 14 – Piodão – This town is one of the oldest and most traditional towns in Portugal. Only 47 people actually live here and they still live under very old traditions. 95% of the town is built in shale stone. This impressive small town transports you to the past and in here you can photograph the locals wearing their traditional clothes and try the local delicacies such as Jam and Cheese. We spend the entire day wondering through town to make the most of this unique location.

Day 15 – Foz D’Égua – after an early breakfast, we move into Foz D’Égua which is just 3kms away from Piodão. This unique location is best to visit during the morning when the wind hasn’t picked up yet. The water and house blend together in the middle of all the green and with the use of filters and long exposure, you can create a stunning image. There’s a plus here, the water is extra clean and it feels amazing to swim in this location.  After relaxing and enjoying this location we move into Piodão to pick up our bags and have lunch and drive back to Porto where we spend our last night. 

Day 16 – Departure day - This final day is reserved for your own free time and to fly back home. Those who have afternoon flights will have a free morning to roam around Porto for a bit longer.