23 Jun The Anti-Itinerary: How We Spent 16 Lazy Days in Portugal

So here’s the thing: I plan everything. Every transit, every day, sometimes even every meal. I do an extensive research on where to eat, what to eat, where to shop, what to shop, what to carry in my beach bag, what stones the cliffs are made of. And, honestly, the list is never-ending. But something has shifted recently. I cannot pinpoint whether it is motherhood or simply the need to declutter my head, but I’ve started taking vacations a little more casually than usual. On our last trip to the Netherlands during Christmas 2025, we were visiting family, so naturally, it was very anti-itinerary; a first for me.

The moment we got back, I immediately started “planning” our summer trip to Portugal. This one felt special because me and dear husband both were turning 35, literally four days apart. Naturally, I went down a rabbit hole of all-inclusive stays, yacht rentals, sunset birthday cruises, wine tours, car rentals, and enough spreadsheets to run a small nation. And then we ended up doing none of it. Instead, I booked the flights, two stays, and a transit from Point A to Point B and back.

That was it. If you know me personally, you know this is deeply concerning behavior.

Portugal is a beautiful country. It is laid-back, sun-kissed, and surprisingly perfect for travelling with a child. Had I been travelling with friends, I would have explored the length and breadth of the country, from the Douro Valley in the north to the Alentejo plains in the south, and probably a few places beyond that weren’t even on the map.

Instead, we chose just two bases: Lisbon, and Lagos in the Algarve.

We had more than sixteen days at our disposal. We could easily have spent them sprinting from one destination to another, collecting attractions like Pokémon cards. Instead, we chose to simply be. To do whatever felt right in the moment without the pressure of seeing this, doing that, or checking another landmark off a list.

To give you an idea of how radically relaxed this trip was, we skipped Sintra. Yes, Sintra. If you’ve been to Lisbon, are planning Lisbon, know someone who has been to Lisbon, or have accidentally opened Instagram while researching Portugal, you’ll know that people do not skip Sintra. We did. Entirely by choice. How very anti-itinerary of us!

Over the years, travelling with a child, especially through Europe, has changed the way we travel. These trips have become less about seeing everything and more about convenience, comfort, and making memories together.

At heart, I will always be someone who wants to see more and do more. But this time, I wanted something different. I wanted to be still. I wanted to live in a place rather than simply visit it.

The trip began with a flight from Delhi to Helsinki, where we had a 22-hour layover. We did absolutely nothing ambitious. We slept, rested, ate, and generally behaved like people who were no longer trying to win awards for efficient travel. The next day, we boarded our flight to Lisbon.

We arrived a day before my husband’s birthday, which gave us enough time to settle in, unpack, and ease ourselves into holiday mode.

We spent six nights in Lisbon, where we mostly wandered through different neighbourhoods, shopped our hearts out at Feira da Ladra, visited Time Out Market more times than I can count, went to LX Factory twice, admired countless miradouros, ate exceptionally well, and discovered what felt like every children’s playground in the city.

The first few days felt strangely chaotic because we weren’t used to moving this slowly. Usually, we have a plan. A backup plan. And occasionally a backup plan for the backup plan. But eventually, we found a rhythm.

We did a guided tuk-tuk tour around Belém and the riverside, and dedicated one full day to Nazaré and Óbidos. Beyond that, we simply wandered. And honestly, wandering turned out to be enough.

Next, we moved to Lagos for seven nights. Once again, we did remarkably little.

We drank beer and ate pizza on our Lagos Airbnb‘s beautiful balcony. We spent four entire days at the beach and returned looking like a family of well-roasted chickens. We built an embarrassing number of sandcastles, I somehow managed to finish two books, consumed heroic quantities of gelato, developed affection for sardines, grilled chicken, and Mexican food, and generally forgot what day of the week it was.

The highlight of Lagos was undoubtedly the evening boat trip through the Algarve caves combined with dolphin spotting. Our son had the time of his life. Every now and then, we found ourselves feeling slightly guilty for not doing more. Years of fast-paced travel habits don’t disappear overnight. But then we’d watch him race across a beach, collect shells with the seriousness of an archaeologist, or squeal at the sight of dolphins, and the guilt would disappear.

And, I am incredibly grateful we could give him that experience in a place that felt tailor-made for children his age.

The trip ended with one final day in Lisbon, which we spent at a book fair and, unsurprisingly, another children’s park. From there, we headed to Helsinki for our layover. Instead of squeezing in museums or attractions, we spent four hours walking from one end of the city to the other and somehow ended up discussing whether Finland deserved an entire summer of its own next year.

I won’t call this the best trip of my life but it was certainly the slowest; the most laid-back. It was the kind of trip where my mind had only a handful of tabs open instead of the ten million it usually insists on running simultaneously. Perhaps that’s exactly what made it special.

I’m attaching a few photos below, partly to show you the beauty of Portugal and partly to convince you that everyone should take one gloriously slow, unapologetically snail-paced trip through this country at least once.

xoxo