Julie O'Rourke's Road Trip Through Portugal Has Us Dreaming of Summer
Last summer, artist and designer Julie O'Rourke hopped into a '92 Synchro VW van with her husband Anthony and two-year-old son Diogo and drove up Portugal's coast. The sunny, southern European country is quickly becoming a popular vacation destination among the well-styled set, and the photos O'Rourke snapped along the way provide compelling evidence: voluptuous grape vines, pale pink walls, and sardine-fueled picnics on impossibly beautiful beaches. It's enough to make anyone want to abscond to Lisbon. Check out O'Rourke's photo diary from their trip through this dreamy, lush land.
Photo by Julie O'Rourke1/9On the Road
We drove across Portugal, and it was very exciting to be able to see all the different places, the beautiful beaches and olive groves. We found a van through this company called Camper Tales—they just rent out old VWs. It feels like how you'd set up your own camper, because they include everything, like dishes and real glassware. It also didn’t feel cheesy or have any vinyl lettering saying it was a rental, so it felt under-the-radar, which is nice.
Photo by Julie O'Rourke2/9Shopping & Strolling in Lisbon
We started in Lisbon, and stayed a tiny family-owned hotel called Santa Clara. Everyone who visits Lisbon goes to this store A Vida Portuguesa —we spent we spent all our money on sardines there. On the days we really nailed it, we’d have dinner with our two-year-old Diogo at the micro-restaurants in the Time Out Market, take him for a walk, and go out for a later dinner with him asleep in the carriage. One night, we took a ferry from Lisbon across the Tagus River to a waterfront restaurant called Ponto Final. We ate sardines and salt cod and took in the beautiful view of Lisbon.
Photo by Julie O'Rourke3/9Taking in the View
Ponta de Piedade is a cluster of rock formations along the coast of a town called Lagos. It is kind of touristy when you first arrive, but there are pathways down the cliffside with epic views of the rock formations. You can book boat rides from Lagos to some of the sea caves, but we chose to stick to the land and take in the view.
Photo by Julie O'Rourke4/9Biking Through Olive Groves
Along the way, we stayed in the most beautiful hotel: the São Lourenço do Barrocal, which is in a former olive farming village. You can ride bikes and horses through the olive groves, and out your window you can see a medieval castle high up on a mountain: Monsaraz. People bike up to the top to tour the castle and wander the village’s cobblestone streets. Be sure to get an espresso and a little pastry at Casa Tial, a gourmet grocery store that also sells beautiful olive oils and sardines.
Photo by Julie O'Rourke5/9Exploring a Hidden Beach
There are so many gorgeous beaches in Portugal, but this beach in particular was so beautiful. It's called Praia do Carvalho. It's in the Algarve, which is the southeast coast of Portugal, and it feels hidden. We parked in this residential neighborhood and walked down the path in a tunnel—and it opens up to this crazy beach.
Photo by Julie O'Rourke6/9Relaxing in the Sand
The best thing about this beach was that it wasn’t packed, it was just so beautiful and really tiny. I've heard that there amazing boat tours you can take that go to other caves and formations, but we didn't take any because it was a little choppy that day. Instead, we packed lunches and ate in the sand.
Photo by Julie O'Rourke7/9Picnicking & Family History
My husband Anthony (pictured here) is Portuguese—his father was born in Portugal. He passed away, and Anthony doesn’t know much about his Portuguese side of the family, so this trip was really a quest to see where his dad was born and where his family was from: Melgaço.
Photo by Julie O'Rourke8/9The Spread: Coffee, Sausages, Sardines
Melgaço is the northernmost town in Portugal—you can see Spain from the house we stayed in—so we got the van to drive up there. We stayed in this villa that we found on AirBnb. It was so beautiful, and it had the craziest views of this valley and olive groves.
Photo by Julie O'Rourke9/9Dinner Under the Vines
We ended up not going out to dinner in Melgaço. Instead, we just sat in this beautiful house and ate food in our camper and grapes off the vine. It was beautiful.
