Travel Diary – Visit to Évora

On today’s post, we are going back in time and I will be sharing a “good old” travel diary! And no better way to do so, then share my experience in the beautiful city of Évora! If you are looking for tips about what to do in Évora, then the good news is: there will be a travel itinerary very soon!

But for now, let’s get started with this travel diary – Visit Évora

A little background

Évora was the official first destination of my last summer vacation in Portugal, late August. For most Portuguese, going to Alentejo, the province where Évora is located, during August is quite a crazy idea since it’s always very warm during the summer months. But that didn’t scare me off; on the contrary! I was craving for warm days!

This summer was particularly different than many others, due to the Pandemic we are currently in, and I’m not going to lie: it did make the whole summer holiday planning a bit more complicated than usual.

To start with, I even didn’t know if I could go at all; travel advice to Portugal was not so favorable at the time, but I had to go home! I planned things out so I would not spend much time in potentially dangerous (concerning COVID, of course) areas. In August, that was the Lisbon area.

So, I started thinking of places to visit in Portugal that would be far away from the Lisbon area and that I had not been in a long while. It was no surprise that soon enough Évora came to mind!

I believe the last time I visited Évora was about 7 years ago, so it was about time to go back.

While in Évora

I spent a total of 3 days in Évora, and in my opinion, it gives enough time to visit the city.

In the beginning, I had to get used to all the new regulations put in place, due to the pandemic, since everything was more strict in Portugal than in the Netherlands.

Masks were (and still are) mandatory in every indoor space, while in the Netherlands, at that time, you didn’t have to wear masks, with the only exception being in public transportation.

It felt a bit awkward but once I got used to it, it gave a good sense of security. And this, friends, was the key to be able to enjoy my holiday during these pandemic times.

During these three days, I stayed in the Vitória Stone Hotel, just a short walk from Évora’s center. The hotel is great, the room was spacious and it smelt so good and clean, the staff was super friendly, and I will never forget how thoughtful they were towards me when I was dealing with a very uncertain situation.

Oh, and the hotel even has an outdoor pool on the rooftop. This was the selling point! And trust me, on a summer afternoon, when it’s +35C, you want to be able to go to the pool! haha

Another super important thing to mention is the fact that in Évora there are many good restaurants. I had the best meals in Évora, to be honest with you, and in most cases, didn’t cost so much. I will make sure to include some of my recommendations on the travel itinerary of Évora.

Favorite sights of Évora

This is probably the most difficult part; Évora has way too many sights that can easily be anyone’s favorites. But the ones that got my attention are:

Giraldo Square

It may sound a “safe” option or even easy, but honestly, I don’t think anyone who visits Évora will be indifferent to it. I dare to say that Giraldo Square is “the heart of Évora”.

I liked to sit at the terrace tables, enjoying a drink (or even a meal) while appreciating the surroundings. The buildings surrounding the square and their architecture are some of my favorites! And obviously, all the cute streets leading to this square.

There is just so much to appreciate…

The Roman Temple of Évora

Whenever I get to visit roman sights or monuments, it always gives me a feeling that I’m going time traveling. And it was no different while visiting the Roman Temple of Évora.

Interestingly enough, I always knew this temple as the Temple of Diana (the goddess), but apparently, that is not its official name.

Diana’s Garden

And right in front of the temple, there is this super cute garden, with a kiosk and a viewpoint. Lovely!!! It makes the perfect place, in my opinion, to relax, read a book, unwind…

Houses built within the aqueduct

One of the trademarks of Évora is the aqueduct, that as you can imagine, was built to bring water into the city back in the early days. Worth checking out just for its architecture but not only! If you walk along the aqueduct, you will find some houses builtin in the arches of the aqueduct. It’s really cool and I had never seen anything like it before.

My travel companions were cursing me when we were walking (what felt like an eternity) to find these houses, but once we did… Oh, they loved it!

Final thoughts

Even though I had an amazing time during these three days visiting Évora, there were some really bad moments (health-related) as well. I know this is a travel diary post, but forgive me for not going into details here; it is due to privacy reasons.

Luckily, things improved and the holiday could continue and everyone was in good health again!

I totally recommend everyone to visit Évora, but just take good footwear with you! haha Trust me, I had to get proper shoes while in there; my regular sneakers weren’t doing it for me and my feet were complaining.

The cobbled streets of Évora can be quite challenging for your feet! haha

And that was it for today’s blog post about my visit to Évora. I must say that it felt very good to write another travel diary, in my “old style” of posts, also to avoid repeating myself in the same formula of travel itineraries and so on.

I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. But, in a couple of weeks, I will be publishing a complete travel guide for Évora. It can be helpful for those who want to visit Évora. So stick around, follow me on social media (links are on sidebar and footer) so that you are always up to date whenever there is a new post!

But before I go, let me ask you something:

Have you ever been to Évora?

If so, what were your highlights?

Let me know in the comments.

See you next week!

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