Trip motivation In summer of 2025, our family took a trip to Portugal! We loved spending a few days in Lisbon with some history and museums and then took the train down to Lagos and the Algarve area where we soaked in the sun and beach vibes.  We love European travel as it always has family-friendly towns, easy navigating with trains and so much history and beauty. Traveling internationally with kids can be daunting but with a little preparation and research and tips from other travelers, we had a successful trip! This post covers our flights, itinerary, planning process, and international logistics such as using the subway, getting a phone card, and finding budget restaurants. For more on our Portugal Adventure, see our posts here Summer Portugal Adventures with Kids- Lisbon and Algarve Itinerary and Logistics 3 day Lisbon Itinerary for Families 4 day Algarve Itinerary for Families Planning our Itinerary I love planning trips, especially through well-traveled places where there’s a ton of information to read through and make plans for. Many online blogs were really helpful! We were in each home-base for around 4 days and read numerous blogs and books (Rick Steves is always a must-read for Europe trips). One tip for traveling with kids is take a 3-day best of guide and cut out half of it to make it actually realistic to manage in those same 3 days. Mix in some kid-focused/less touristy options like malls, playgrounds, hotel pool. We did a lot of bus and train travel on this trip and our kids loved reading their new kindles on the trains and this was a great time for just chatting and reconnecting with gorgeous views. Several months before, I sketched out our plan in excel and on google maps with a balance of activities, rest time, food, rest, and fun. We made sure to research how far areas were and tried to schedule several anchor points with a few optional activities so we didn’t overstuff our schedule. Overview Day 0: Layover in Ireland Day 1: Lisbon city walks and Belem sights Day 2: Parque das Nações Science Museum Day 3: Side trip to Sintra sights with evening ferry to Cacilhas Day 4: Train to Algarve and beach walk Day 5: Benagil kayaking and town exploring Day 6: Lagos walk and Meia Praia beach bike ride Day 7: Train to Faro and ferry to beach hangs Day 8: Return home Flying to Portugal We used American express points transferred to Aer Lingus for our flights (Nashville to Dublin, Dublin to Lisbon) and United Miles for our flight from Faro (Layover in New York)   Chase Sapphire Preferred Apply Here Chase Sapphire Reserve Apply Here Chase Hyatt Apply Here Tips for Long Plane Rides Sleeping on planes West to East: Plan to sleep! For the overnight red-eye flight to Europe, we emphasized that after dinner service, everyone was going to try and get some sleep. I gave each kid a dose of melatonin and they passed out pretty immediately. We packed these cheap pillows from Amazon (They came with eye masks!). On arrival, get outside and try to limit naps so you can readjust. Activities for long flights East to West On the long flight, the kids were happy playing with the personal screen and alternating between coloring, reading, tv, games, and snacks. Ellie has been loving the Magic Treehouse books and when they were little, they used to love activities in the Magic Ink and small play pack coloring books (Amazon links).  We have one Nintendo Switch that the kids love. For more on our favorite activities and tips for flying, see our post here. Transportation in Europe Train travel and public transportation is one of our favorite things about Europe. Everything is pretty straightforward and inexpensive. We did learn that the trains are not always on time and to make sure you’re on the right stop when you stop! In Lisbon, we did a combo of walking, bolt/uber rides and public transportation.  One top tip for international travel is to download the city map to google so that it doesn’t continue to use data every time you load. We took trains between Lisbon and Lagos and between Lagos and Faro. We should have purchased tickets ahead of time as prices went up closer to departure. We also got a little “lost” on our way to Lagos as the train was delayed and the number of stops and timing made us get off at the wrong stop. We ended up calling a taxi found through rome2rio In both cities, we stayed at apartments found on booking.com/recommended by friends. These were bot in the old town section and very convenient to walking. If we had a slightly younger kid, it would probably be more important to stay close to a main train line. We didn’t have a car for either portion of our trip. I love how easy train travel is in Europe. We mapped destinations using google maps and compared the time/cost/effort to use a taxi, train, bus, or walk. We used bolt/uber or the train depending on where/how far we were going. If you have little ones, it might be harder to use a taxi due to the car seat. If you plan on using a stroller on the subway, many have elevators, but be prepared to fold it and carry up stairs. Eating in Portugal We stopped by grocery stores for breakfast meals to start our day and snacks for the hotel room. LIDL and Pingo Doce bakery items are amazing and so cheap. During the day, we tried to balance quick meals with sit-down meals. We did do a few fancy meals like a waterfront seafood restaurant in Cacilhas and a Brazillian steakhouse. We also did sandwiches and quick meals.  A few restaurants had kids menus or we would get entrees to share. We always say trips are for eating. We ate a wide variety of yummy foods (Yum Pastel de Nata!)There are

Background In summer of 2025, our family took a trip to Portugal! We loved spending a few days in Lisbon with some history and museums and then took the train down to Lagos and the Algarve area where we soaked in the sun and beach vibes.  We love European travel as it always has family-friendly towns, easy navigating with trains and so much history and beauty. Traveling internationally with kids can be daunting but with a little preparation and research and tips from other travelers, we had a successful trip! This post covers our days in the Algarve area with a base in Lagos and Faro. For more on our Portugal Adventure, see our posts here Summer Portugal Adventures with Kids- Lisbon and Algarve Itinerary and Logistics 3 day Lisbon Itinerary for Families 4 day Algarve Itinerary for Families Arrival in Lagos After a blast in Lisbon, we hopped a train to Lagos for four days, ready to explore Portugal’s gorgeous southern shores. We love European train travel, so no rental car for us! But, word to the wise: not all train rides are created equal. Our journey began smoothly enough: a cab from our Lisbon apartment to the Entrecampos train station, then a train heading for Faro with a transfer in Tunes. Except, I totally messed up and we ended up in Santa Clara, a town with literally nothing. Seriously, nothing! But we survived! Ben went for a run, the kids got creative, and we all laughed about how it was just like The Amazing Race where contestants get lost. The station was super remote. We eventually split a cab with some other lost souls and finally made it to Lagos by late afternoon. Transportation in Algarve We used Lagos as our home base for 3 evenings. We could walk everywhere, exploring the town or to the nearby beach. This was a big “pro” for us in skipping a rental car. A car gives you more flexibility, but for our trip, the costs for transport were reasonable, and we absolutely loved the walkability in both Lagos and later, Faro. For bigger adventures, like our trip to Benagil, we called Bolt ( like Uber, but cheaper). About $30 each way. We also rented bikes from Coast Bike Shop right near our place and had a blast cycling to a close-by beach. Getting around was never an issue; there’s a few buses and Bolts were always super easy to find. To wrap up our Lagos leg, we bought our train tickets for Faro, our final quick stopover. This train station was a little far walk so we again called a bolt. The train to Faro was a little older but it was fine. (Carry toilet paper though :-P) When we arrived at the Faro station, we used Bolt to take us to our apartment. From there, it was a pleasant walk to get a ferry (hourly?) to a gorgeous beach. Also accessible by taxi/bolt. On our last morning, it was an easy 10-minute ride from town to the airport. Hotel While we’re usually total hotel people (Hyatt, almost always!), there just weren’t any in this part of Portugal. We took a recommendation and booked an apartment called Henri’s Apartment (Available on Booking.com). It was wonderful! It had three large rooms, which meant the kids could really spread out. The manager even left us some snacks and wine, which was such a lovely touch! Something we might remember to look for next time is a pool, but honestly, all that beach time was more than enough. Our location was fantastic too. We were right next to some amazing, delicious restaurants and, conveniently, the bike shop where we rented bikes for a big beach adventure. Our 3 day itinerary in Algarve Day 1: Arrival and Praia da Batata Beach After our late afternoon arrival, the summer daylight allowed us to keep adventuring (Late May)! We immediately purchased a $5 shovel and bucket  and headed straight for Praia da Batata. This beach is beautiful, with incredible natural bridges and rock formations. The kids loved  playing in the sand and ocean. We went back to our apartment for a quick change, and then just a short stroll around the corner to a fantastic spot for some delicious seafood. A perfect introduction to the southern Portugal vibes! Day 2: Benagil kayking and more 45 minute drive to Benagil We kicked off our big adventure day with some delicious pastel de nata pastries from a nearby shop! Then, it was a quick Bolt ride to the small town of Benagil, home to the famous sea caves. This is a super popular spot, and there’s tons of boats and people buzzing about. Some opt for skippered boat tours, zipping past, while others even make the longer journey all the way from Lagos. But for us, kayaking was the clear winner to truly experience the magic. It allows you to get right inside the caves and explore at your own pace, unlike larger boat tours that often just pass by the entrance or don’t allow disembarkation. Kayak Algarve: Secret Algarve  We booked our adventure with Kayak Algarve: Secret Algarve. Prices were reasonable ($35 per person)and our two guides were incredibly knowledgeable and helpful, making the whole experience seamless and safe. We took out double kayaks, one adult and one kid per kayak. Our two-hour journey was exhausting but so, so much fun! We paddled into the famous Benagil Cave with its iconic “eye” to the sky, but our guides also led us to nearby dark grottos, under incredible natural bridges, and even let us disembark at a secluded beach to play and snap some selfies. It’s truly a unique way to see the Algarve’s incredible geology up close. We refueled with  lunch at Restaurant Litoral, a short walk up from the meet-up spot Evening relaxing and Italian for dinner Back in Lagos,  we lounged at the apartment with kids on Switches, and adults doing some light email catch-up