Portugal recommendations

I just came back from Portugal last week, so naturally, it's my personality currently. Here's a list of some of my favorite places and discoveries from my trip.

Erin Ashley

Aug 16, 2026

FYI: This week’s newsletter is a little on the longer side because I have a ton of recommendations from my recent trip to Portugal.

Hopefully, you will read and enjoy the recommendations.

I have officially hit that point in life where I keep talking about my vacation.

I told the random barista at Starbucks.

I told the two women who work at Paper Source when I went to buy a new journal.

I told the man at work who needed help getting a video added to YouTube.

I told my neighbor who asked if I had been sick because he hadn’t seen me in a few days.

I told my doctor during my telemedicine appointment.

I told my favorite cashier at UPS when I went to return my Nuuly package.

And since I am writing this newsletter currently, I am also telling you, but yolo, or whatever we say these days.

I just got back from Portugal, specifically Lisbon and Porto. And as someone who always travels with a laptop and a sea of work emails to sort through, it was both beautiful and necessary to be unplugged for an entire week. I went with my parents who have both recently retired so it was nice to spend quality time with them, and also see how they enjoyed themselves without having to think about going back to work.

Portugal is just as beautiful as people say with beautiful people, great food, vibrant colors, and so much to do. I enjoyed drinking lattes and espresso shots after dinner, eating an excessive amount of octopus and olives, people watching, exploring, and observing the street style from all the cool girls: lots of linens, and relaxed fit pants in vibrant designs with cool tanks, see below:

On my trip, I finished two books, A Very Special Episode by Camille Acker and Dèy by Edwidge Danticat and start a new book Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan.

I also fully enjoyed Larry June’s new album Who Coppin and Somi’s new album What Does it Take to Bloom? both of which became the soundtrack to my trip.

With that, I wanted to share a few of my recommendations from the trip as it relates to music and books. I also have a few other recommendations for places to eat, travel, and stay at, which are below.

Book spaces and anecdotes

When I was in Porto, we went on a Tuk Tuk tour, and our tour guide told us about J.K. Rowling living there for several years teaching English, and how the city inspired Harry Potter. I will admit, I have never seen nor read Harry Potter, but from the imagery and things I know about the world that lives in the books, I can see the influence. Our guide said some of the places that inspired Rowling were the Livarira Lello bookstore, the University of Coimbra and the Maria Pia Bridge.

Lisbon: Good Company Books

I saw this as a recommendation on TikTok I believe so I added it to my list. It’s a super cute and quaint bookstore that has a cafe with both coffee and wine. They have a selective and curated assortment of books and I found a few that I have read and enjoyed including Widow Basquiat by Jennifer Clement, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo and Heart the Lover by Lily King. They also had other books that I have been wanting to read like John of John by Douglas Stuart. This is a great bookstore to visit if you want to be off the beaten path.

Lisbon: Livraria Ler Devagar at LX Factory

Let me start by saying, LX Factory is such a cute area. We went here and started with breakfast burritos and coffee at Selllva LX Factory, then did some walking around and ended here. I really enjoyed the layout of the store – they had a table full of music books for one thing and I had no idea Questlove had a new book. This is an aesthetic bookstore and I got two books, which the bookseller told me was an interesting pairing. The books I got were Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan and Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams.

The only note is since this is an aesthetic store, there are tons of people all over the place. I would suggest going early just so you can move around freely.

Music discoveries

When I went on a food walking tour, our tour guide taught us about the musical genre, Fado. The genre got its origin in Lisbon in the 1800’s and is essentially the soundtrack for longing and mourning. Our guide mentioned that the style tends to be heavily emotive, dramatic, and sad, and was started by prostitutes, dock workers, sailors and other working class people. While I have some digging and exploring to do with the genre, what I have heard thus far has been beautiful. I watched these videos to help me learn more:

I discovered lots of music in coffee shops, on surround sound systems, in Uber rides and just around so here are some of the things that I discovered.

Jitram - “Temptations”
I discovered this song at the coffee shop next door to my Airbnb and I loved it. It then made me go through a rabbit hole listening to the full album, Honeycomb, and some of his recent music.

Berlioz - “Miro” featuring Ted Jasper
While I was already familiar with him, I never heard this song so it took me down a spiral which had me ending up at “hot house,” which is jamming. I also discovered the jazz is for ordinary people EP which is pretty good as well.

Sajmoonn - “From the Music Within You”
I loved this because it made me both want to dance in a circle, but also dance offbeat with coffee in my hand. Yes, I’m aware that’s oddly specific.

CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso & Anderson Paak - “Ay Ay Ay”
I heard this song when we were at LX Factory and it was playing on some speakers outside. I was like this sounds like Anderson Paak, and in fact it was. Such a quirky song once I listened to the full song.

Winta - “I Still Believe in Love”
Last year, I think from TikTok, I discovered Winta. I stopped listening to Winta because I am 76% sure that Winta is AI, but I must admit this song, and album is jamming.

Other recommendations:

I have a few more recommendations in terms of places to eat, and things to do, which I am putting below. I have also put them into this Google Map. The list also includes a few recommendations from my tour guides as well. The only thing I wish I would’ve done that I did not do was go to Livraria Lello in Porto.

Sintra is definitely worth the day trip. As a Bay Area gal, it reminded me of Sausalito or Tiburon with more hills. Also, if you get the chance to get close to the water there, it was absolutely beautiful. We went to see the castle, which gave good views, but was a little rough on my knee. I will say, I enjoyed the views from the castle more than I enjoyed the actual castle.

Douro Valley is absolutely beautiful. Even if you’re a little meh on wine like I am, it was so beautiful. We took a boat ride, did wine tasting, and had lunch and I enjoyed it so much. I feel like truthfully, greenery and water is where I thrive — maybe I’m meant to be a land mermaid since I can’t swim in the sea.

Amarante which is in Porto and on the way to Douro Valley is such a beautiful and quaint place. If you get the chance to visit there, you should. When I go back to Porto, I plan to stay here for a night or so at a bed and breakfast.

If you go to Porto, we stayed at the cutest hotel: Village Aparthotel by BOA. My aunt who recommended it to us stayed here for a month, and it’s the perfect place for that. It’s cozy, cute, and relaxing. If you want the Airbnb’s I stayed at in Lisbon, let me know.