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Portugal by van – my journey in 20 photos

December 29, 2015 by Mike 17 Comments

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I spent 11 days driving north to south through Portugal in my van. I love this country and it has to be one of the most van friendly countries I’ve been to!

Here’s my journey through in 20 photos, driving from north to south:

Exploring Porto

See other post: 17 photos of Porto that made me want to stay

Porto-portugal-by-van-bridge-from-deralict-building

A stop over in Coimbra

A nice historic town built down the side of a hill on the bank of the River Mondego and home to one of the oldest universities in Europe

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-coimbra

Through the forest

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-forest-trees

To the coast

This is the town of Nazaré. This is right near where the biggest wave (nearly 100ft) ever surfed was a few years ago

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-nazare-cliff

I spotted some vans

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-beach-nazare-waves-vans

Just in time for sunset

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-sunset-nazare

I stayed the night. I can’t miss this sun rise…

Living like this makes me love getting up early in the morning. I’ve learnt how watching the sun rise completely changes the whole day.

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-vanlife-nazare-camping-on-beach

Surfing is the main thing around here

This guy is an architect but he also lives in his van, travels and surfs

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-surf-van

I moved along the coast to Baleal

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-baleal

And down to Peniche

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-peniche

Another amazing bit of Portuguese coast

These huge beaches have to be some of the cleanest and nicest I’ve ever seen… and the waves are huge

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-big-beach

Now to the town of Sintra

I did a separate post on this. See Exploring the slightly surreal town of Sintra

sintra-portugal-town-family-walking

A quick stop in Lisbon

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-lisbon-tram

I camped here

Right in front of the Rua Augusta Arch

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-lisbon

I continued south via some backroads

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-backroads

I found this lake

This was just north of Odiáxere

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-lake-moon

So I camped here for the night

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-lake

Then in the morning I met chris, he’s a follower of the blog

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-skydive-algarve-chris

We jumped out of a plane at 14000 feet

See this post: Jumping out of a plane with Chris, a follower of the blog
skydive-algarve

I camped under the stars thinking about what the hell just happened

travelling-portugal-by-campervan-by-lake

And the next day (Christmas day) I got a ferry to Morocco

See my video: Vanlife – Christmas Breakfast Video

Portugal, I will be back

I was surprised how much warmer Portugal was than Greece, where I spent last winter. I didn’t have to use my heater once and could easily get up before sun rise.

Feel free to share your favourite places and spots in Portugal below in the comments. And thanks to the people who suggested some of these great places above

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Filed Under: Living and travelling in a van Tagged With: portugal, travel

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Comments

  1. Cyn says

    January 1, 2016 at 9:05 pm

    Its my dream to be able to do that. Living in a van and traveling, just wow and I know that life style is not for everyone I also realize that I must work my ass off to achieve it!
    I would love some advices through email or something.

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  2. Pookiehair says

    January 2, 2016 at 12:58 pm

    Amazing…. thanks for sharing your great pics. Portugal looks lovely. Looks like you have the sun inside your van on last pic 🙂 ….. or your bacon is on fire :O

    Reply
  3. Jane Longshaw says

    January 2, 2016 at 6:27 pm

    Wish I was 40 years younger and had the courage to do what you have done!

    Reply
  4. Pär Lundell says

    January 2, 2016 at 6:59 pm

    Amazing inspiration !! I’m 46 and in a few months i’ll be on my way….quit job in mars 2016. gonna travel europe by van .!!!

    Reply
  5. Brady says

    January 5, 2016 at 4:47 am

    Portugal is an amazingly diverse country. My favorite experience was in Coimbra at their University student parade. Each faculty constructs massive floats and drives them through the historic downtown. Unbelievable…from what I remember anyway 🙂

    Reply
    • Mike @vandogtraveller.com says

      January 18, 2016 at 1:08 pm

      Ahh sounds cool. I missed that

      Reply
  6. JD says

    January 8, 2016 at 9:54 pm

    Great photos! The last photo was very impressive!

    Reply
  7. Devin Harris says

    January 11, 2016 at 12:16 am

    Just bought your ebook. Don’t know when I’ll get started but hopefully soon

    Reply
    • Mike @vandogtraveller.com says

      January 18, 2016 at 1:05 pm

      Coool. Thank you for buying it and supporting me. Enjoy

      Reply
  8. Danny Do-little Sturrock says

    January 12, 2016 at 5:57 pm

    Mike I’m intrigued by the man who is an architect but still travels in his van – I’m inbetween finishing my undergrad and starting my masters in architecture (which I need to have to be an architect in the uk). I’m torn though, I just want to live nomadically but architecture is the kind off career you need to be fixed in one place. How does he do it? Does he work some of the year then tavel the rest or does he somehow do both simultaneously? Loving your posts btw, tipping me closer and closer to persuing full time long term travel!!

    Reply
  9. Sam Willis says

    January 25, 2016 at 1:21 pm

    Great sum up. We spent 31 days in Penichebaleal in November/December 2015 and about 20 days in December 2014 great place. We also have a blog
    Marcsamandmax.blogspot.com

    Reply
  10. Ruben Santos says

    January 27, 2016 at 8:11 am

    Search in internet for “serra do geres”… the google images will speak for themselfs why you have to go there

    Reply
  11. John Kirk says

    January 29, 2016 at 5:16 pm

    All I want to do is travel like this!!!

    Reply
  12. Angharad Sait says

    February 28, 2017 at 4:53 pm

    Hello 🙂 my husband and I have recently finished converting a Ford Transit as our ‘honeymoon’ – we take our first trip at the end of the week for 3 weeks travelling around Spain & Portugal – what are your findings about wild camping in Portugal?

    Reply
  13. Faro car says

    April 17, 2017 at 8:54 am

    Amamzing! Traveling by van is one of the greatest ways to spend your vacation.

    Reply
  14. Lisbon Cars says

    November 1, 2017 at 10:53 am

    So old school…. Traveling by va is a really awesome way to explore the country.

    Reply
  15. Vegan Ambassadors says

    February 2, 2018 at 12:25 am

    Very inspiring. Love Portugal and looking forward to exploring by van soon!

    Reply

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