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Planning a trip to Portugal?


SUp3rFM

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So, you have some days to spend and though of a nice place to visit. Portugal should be in your mind (maybe it is now!).

 

As some of you know, Portuguese are very friendly and helpful. This topic pretends to be that, too.

 

If you're planning a trip to Portugal either for geocaching or for something else, let us know. We're glad to help you out. You can count on everyone here to point you the best cache locations and many points of interest you can't miss.

 

Get to know a bit of us here: http://www.visitportugal.com/Cultures/en-US/default.html

 

As for geocaching, the activity is now definitely taking off. It all started back in 2001 and so far we have almost 5000 active caches. Lots of them are hidden near interesting places. You can count also with many cache listings translated in English. If not, let us know. We'll translate it for you.

 

If you're looking for a way to get all the portuguese caches on several pocket queries, visit this thread on the local forum. Fast forward to the last page and you'll get the right settings to get the information for all caches.

 

Besides this thread, you can also visit our Portuguese community site @ www.geocaching-pt.net and our statistics site @ http://geostats.geocaching-pt.net/

 

Got any questions? Go ahead, post them!

 

Boa viagem! (have a nice trip!)

Edited by SUp3rFM
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Got any questions? Go ahead, post them!
Can I stay at your house? :D

 

Seriously, I do not have pans to go - at least not at the moment. Someday .....

 

You can stay, for sure! (and I'm being serious about that).

 

I can assure you that we don't need extra pans, but thanks anyway. Let me know when you got a plan, someday soon...

 

:(:):D

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Bom Dia!

A little short notice but I will be in Lisbon from 29Jan - 2 Feb to clean up many caches.

3 days around Lisbon, and 1 day in Sintra.

I'll also be hitting #2000 somewhere along the way, but I'm not too bothered if it's a a special cache.

I'm looking forward to my 3rd trip to Portugal, Algarve and Porto before I started this mad hobby.

I'm also looking forward to a few glasses of fine Portuguse wine and a drop of your 10 year tawny port too.

...and we all know that Portuguese sardines are the world's finest. :D

...and some temperatures above 5 degrees too. :)

It's good to see many cache pages also in English, but there are many disabled caches, which is a shame.

But then again I have one or 2 disabled myself back in London. :P

 

I'll write another note here when I get back next week.

Wish me luck!

I wish you all a good 2009.

 

Kevin

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Hi all,

I'm now back from my 4 day trip to Lisbon.

My legs can still feel those hills.I walked for about 35 hours in 4 days and I enjoyed it a great deal.

The weather was not so good, but I only got damp rather than wet.

I must admit to more DNF's than I had wished for, but I now know how clever your locals are with your hides. :lol: I had trouble in Sintra as the terrain is not so walker friendly as expected. :bad:

The overall experience was memorable, and the Lisboans made me welcome, usually with a tipple of porto or two. :lol:

I won't mention my favourite or least favourite caches as it's not for me to judge.

Just a BIG thanks to you all, and I look forward to my next Portuguese visit soon

Don't forget to drop a line in the UK forums if you come to visit us and I'm sure 1 or 2 locals will

make yopu welcome too. :lol:

 

PS....now I'm at 2000 too.

Edited by currykev
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Planning a trip - yes! Me and Tero2k shall be in Lisboa in three weeks..! Now studying some Portuguese and listing caches with descriptions in English. Gonna drop some TB:s and stuff there. See you soon, you wonderful city!

 

That's great news!

Let me know if you need any help on choosing the caches - and/or anything related to the trip. I'll be around :unsure:

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btrodrigues's Bookmark list for tourists in Lisboa already checked out! Nice list indeed, thanks man! Is it due to tourist season (=muggle season) that quite many of Lisboa caches are temporarily unvailable?

 

Gonna visit at least three earthcaches - so few of them near my home coordinates. Also been puzzlin' with some mystery caches on home sofa. Eagerly waiting for the trip! So nice there are caches near all sights I've planned to visit anyway. How about the Sintra region, it's easy to reach by train but are there bike rentals or how would you recommend to fetch the Sintra caches?

 

23 days to go... ! :blink:

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The "tourist friendly" bookmark compiles a few caches that offer either good views or a decent english translation (preferably both). I'll try to take a look at it in the meantime.

 

If you could share a list of the caches you're planning to visit (or the places you'll plan to visit) we could help you out, suggest a few more caches, warn you about the louzy ones (eheh) or even give you a hand on those misteries that eventually end in the area.

 

Sintra is easily reachable by train (and so is Cascais, as Hugo suggested). I don't know about bikes for rent, but walking around Sintra is the best way to get to know it - and there will be buses to take you to Palácio da Pena or other relevant landmarks). In Cascais, there will be bikes, mopeds and segways to rent.

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Are you considering setting an event? A get-together would be great! You're still in time for that. :-)

 

A visit to Sintra is well worth it! Definitely a must if you're staying for that long. You can also visit Cascais, which is some what near. Both are easily accessible by train. There's plenty of caches on both.

 

We're only staying for 5 nights, and don't want to "waste" all time on geocaching :( But it's so handy, that bookmark list. Already solved "Mastermind" or at least the final spot seems to be logical :blink: Now working on with What's the time?

 

I've heard beautiful things of Cascais from a friend (actual seaman, a REAL navigator) and definitely spend an evening there. Almost all miradouros seem to placed a cache - nnnnice!

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btrodrigues's Bookmark list for tourists in Lisboa already checked out! Nice list indeed, thanks man! Is it due to tourist season (=muggle season) that quite many of Lisboa caches are temporarily unvailable?

 

Gonna visit at least three earthcaches - so few of them near my home coordinates. Also been puzzlin' with some mystery caches on home sofa. Eagerly waiting for the trip! So nice there are caches near all sights I've planned to visit anyway. How about the Sintra region, it's easy to reach by train but are there bike rentals or how would you recommend to fetch the Sintra caches?

 

23 days to go... ! :(

 

1) Just for your knowledge, peak season is actually time to Lisbon to get empty of people. Although beeing a destination for foreigner tourists, main attractions are not concentrated, like it happens, for example, in Prague or Krakow. Therefore, the city you will see will be quieter than usual. Tipically, "lisboners" flee to beach areas, especially Algarve, leaving the city "empty".

 

2) As SuperFM mentioned, geting to Sintra and/or Cascais is extremely easy. To Cascais you will find the train station in Cais do Sodre, which, by the way, has plenty of caches around and it's a secondary hub served by metro. From there, it's a 30-40m trip, offering excelent scenic views. Once in Cascais you will be able to walk around downtown, with easy access to main sightseeing locations. To Sintra there are several alternative train stations, the trip time is the same, although it doesn't offer top quality views (quite the oposite). Once there, you may explore the village / town but geting to some of the best spots will be potenbtially time consuming.

Edited by Torgut
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If you could share a list of the caches you're planning to visit (or the places you'll plan to visit) we could help you out, suggest a few more caches, warn you about the louzy ones (eheh) or even give you a hand on those misteries that eventually end in the area.

 

It's only 6 nights and we're there! I've been doing some puzzling with mystery caches and planning some caches between other activities. I'd still have few questions:

 

1) Could you recommend some internet cafés where we could do logging? Actual addresses would be nice :blink: We're staying in a hotel near Marqués de Pombal, but they don't have a real customer internet. Also our logged caches will be from that area (fetching few before the lunch, fetching few when going to sleep etc. )

 

2) Could you recommend "idiot safe caches" and boxes size more than small where we could drop the GC:s and TB:s from Finland - I'm just worried about the travelers, if their journey ends up. Would the Sintra area be muggled, if people have left the city?

 

Now, gonna study the main phrases in portuguese. Thanks for all tips - I'm soooo excited. Obrigado!

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If you could share a list of the caches you're planning to visit (or the places you'll plan to visit) we could help you out, suggest a few more caches, warn you about the louzy ones (eheh) or even give you a hand on those misteries that eventually end in the area.

 

It's only 6 nights and we're there! I've been doing some puzzling with mystery caches and planning some caches between other activities. I'd still have few questions:

 

1) Could you recommend some internet cafés where we could do logging? Actual addresses would be nice :blink: We're staying in a hotel near Marqués de Pombal, but they don't have a real customer internet. Also our logged caches will be from that area (fetching few before the lunch, fetching few when going to sleep etc. )

 

2) Could you recommend "idiot safe caches" and boxes size more than small where we could drop the GC:s and TB:s from Finland - I'm just worried about the travelers, if their journey ends up. Would the Sintra area be muggled, if people have left the city?

 

Now, gonna study the main phrases in portuguese. Thanks for all tips - I'm soooo excited. Obrigado!

 

Answering #1 - I think (please confirm) there is a "Broadband Internet access spot" in IPJ (Portuguese Institute of Youth). Its located in Av. da Liberdade (the avenue that starts (or ends?) in Marquês de Pombal roundabout. Number 194. Phone: +(351) 21 317 92 00. The price is: free. 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. Anyone can use it but its mostly dedicated to the younger people. Time limit: 30 minutes.

 

:D

 

Lijealso

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2) Could you recommend "idiot safe caches" and boxes size more than small where we could drop the GC:s and TB:s from Finland - I'm just worried about the travelers, if their journey ends up. Would the Sintra area be muggled, if people have left the city?

 

If you're worried about this, tell us. We can sort out some informal meeting and trade some items.

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A lil feedback on my four days spent in Portugal (22-25/1/11).

 

This was my first time in your country and the first impression was it is sunny and windy. Basically it was the same throughout the four days we spent there, was funny to have my winter coat on in 15 degrees. We had been on a Budapest - Geneva - Porto - Ovar - Aveiro - Coimbra - Lisbon - Sintra - Lisbon - Geneva - Budapest trip and tried to see as much as possible of the country. We'd only four days and I knew it won't be enough to discover all the bits and pieces. Our couchsurfing host in Geneva told us a day is enough to see Porto, well, I can't say I visited a single quarter of it properly. For the first two nights we were hosted by K!nder at his plac by the ocean. The only city we'd enough time spent in was Aveiro, have seen dodgy areas, beautiful gardens and a lovely canal there. Lisbon? We'd half a day which we spent trotting around the steep streets and didn't have much time for proper geocaching, I didn't even find the boxes closest to the event site (we'd an event set up to enable us to meet local cachers)! In a nutshell, I was amazed by the tiled facades, the poverty that keeps people down to earth (because money often goes with pride and looking down on foreigners, turning people to be introverts and less able to be open to the world), the amount of EU funds spent on public transportation (in my opinion, that is something that will last for some time), the local foods and the hospitality of this great nation.

Will come back, hopefully soon!

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South Africa visits Lisbon, Portugal: 3 - 15 April

 

I will be visiting Lisbon (mainly for business) from 3 - 15 April. Naturally the weekdays will mostly be taken up with non-geocaching business, but the weekends (and perhaps early mornings and evenings will certainly be used to find some caches in central Lisbon.

 

I will be staying at N38 43.418 W09 08.847 and will welcome the opportunity to interact (and perhaps share some finds) with local cachers. Unfortunately, I will not have wheels at my disposal, but it seems as if there are many caches in central Lisbon, and that there is also a good public transport system.

 

Perhaps someone can organize a short event at a popular bar / restaurant so we can swap caching stories - that would be great!

 

Looking forward to getting some replies soon. :)

 

Pete

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Planning a short visit to Lisbon and sure appreciate the "not to be missed caches" list for Lisbon, thanks!

 

How long will you be staying, mandello?

Any idea of where your hotel is?

I run a bookmark with some selected caches in Lisbon, but to be honest I haven't taken a good look at it for a while. Tell me where and when will you be staying, if you're planning on renting a car or rely on public transportation and I'll try my best to give you a few pointers.

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How long will you be staying, mandello?

Any idea of where your hotel is?

I run a bookmark with some selected caches in Lisbon, but to be honest I haven't taken a good look at it for a while. Tell me where and when will you be staying, if you're planning on renting a car or rely on public transportation and I'll try my best to give you a few pointers.

Hi, right now I have a hotel booked near the Campo Pequeno Arena (chose it for it's proximity to the airport and promise of good bus and subway connections) and have planned on using public transportation in the city and perhaps a train trip west of the city (along the shore). I'm in town for 2,5 days. I'll be alone, so I plan to do my caching during the daytime.

So far, I've listed LIS Spotter's Place as something I plan to log, given how old a cache it is.

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How long will you be staying, mandello?

Any idea of where your hotel is?

I run a bookmark with some selected caches in Lisbon, but to be honest I haven't taken a good look at it for a while. Tell me where and when will you be staying, if you're planning on renting a car or rely on public transportation and I'll try my best to give you a few pointers.

Hi, right now I have a hotel booked near the Campo Pequeno Arena (chose it for it's proximity to the airport and promise of good bus and subway connections) and have planned on using public transportation in the city and perhaps a train trip west of the city (along the shore). I'm in town for 2,5 days. I'll be alone, so I plan to do my caching during the daytime.

So far, I've listed LIS Spotter's Place as something I plan to log, given how old a cache it is.

 

LIS Spotter's Place may be a little hard to get since it doesn't have public transportation nearby and personally that's not a very safe area to be walking around. Your call.

 

You do have good public transportation around your hotel area. Here's a map of the metro service: http://www.metrolisboa.pt/Default.aspx?tabid=79 - Campo Pequeno is right on the middle of the screen, on the yellow line.

 

GC178D1 and GC1M2GY can't be missed and are really close. You can easily see by the number of favorite points :)

From that point forward, I would leave up to you to choose your plan.

 

Some things not to miss in a 2.5 day trip:

 

* Spend a few hours on Parque das Nações (Metro: Oriente - reference GC8C23), former ground of the World Exhibition in 98 and completely rebuilt from scratch. Plenty of caches within walking distance. Some tourist attractions such as the Oceanário de Lisboa and Ponte Vasco da Gama.

* The earth of the old city lies around the Baixa/Chiado area (Metro: Rossio/Chiado). Lisbon is known as the city of the seven hills and from here you'çç have access to two of them. The one with the castle (Castelo de S. Jorge - GC513F) and the one with Bairro Alto (where most of the nightlife revolves about). The Chiado area is known for its stores and the Praça do Comércio (GC1RF71) with its view towards the river is just a stone throw away (or else, Metro: Terreiro do Paço) Again, plenty of GOOD caches within walking distance.

* The Belém area, with most monuments, the monastery of Jeronimos, Centro Cultural de Belém (one of the best museums in Lisbon, entirely free) and the traditional custard pies "Pastéis de Belém". The subway network doesn't get there, but there are plenty of buses heading there. Use GC1PJWF as a reference point.

 

I usually recommend people from abroad to try one of the panoramic buses that cruise around town. They'll sure be taking you to these places and then some more. It's a matter of choices.

 

Let me know if you need some help. If you need a local SIM card for your phone, I can get you one.

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LIS Spotter's Place may be a little hard to get since it doesn't have public transportation nearby and personally that's not a very safe area to be walking around. Your call.

...

GC178D1 and GC1M2GY can't be missed and are really close. You can easily see by the number of favorite points :)

From that point forward, I would leave up to you to choose your plan.

 

Some things not to miss in a 2.5 day trip:

 

* Spend a few hours on Parque das Nações (Metro: Oriente - reference GC8C23), former ground of the World Exhibition in 98 and completely rebuilt from scratch. Plenty of caches within walking distance. Some tourist attractions such as the Oceanário de Lisboa and Ponte Vasco da Gama.

* The earth of the old city lies around the Baixa/Chiado area (Metro: Rossio/Chiado). Lisbon is known as the city of the seven hills and from here you'çç have access to two of them. The one with the castle (Castelo de S. Jorge - GC513F) and the one with Bairro Alto (where most of the nightlife revolves about). The Chiado area is known for its stores and the Praça do Comércio (GC1RF71) with its view towards the river is just a stone throw away (or else, Metro: Terreiro do Paço) Again, plenty of GOOD caches within walking distance.

* The Belém area, with most monuments, the monastery of Jeronimos, Centro Cultural de Belém (one of the best museums in Lisbon, entirely free) and the traditional custard pies "Pastéis de Belém". The subway network doesn't get there, but there are plenty of buses heading there. Use GC1PJWF as a reference point.

 

I usually recommend people from abroad to try one of the panoramic buses that cruise around town. They'll sure be taking you to these places and then some more. It's a matter of choices.

 

Let me know if you need some help. If you need a local SIM card for your phone, I can get you one.

Thanks for the tips, I like it when local attractions are combined with the phrase "plenty of good caches" smile.gif

Also thanks for the warning on LIS, I'll keep it on my wish list, but with caution.

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Wow, time has flown by and now we are 2 weeks from our trip to Portugal!!! We will be spending one week in Estremoz (and exploring the surrounding areas and the second week in Cascais. This is going to be so much fun!

 

I remember at one point seeing a cache that was in an area of menirs, does anyone know of one?

Edited by WanderWomen
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Obrigado btrodrigues, I'm coming to Lisbon 31 Oct - 3 Nov with my Brazilian wife and our cache-crazy son. I'll print off your information. Looking forward to our first visit to Portugal (Lisbon Airport on the way to Recife doesn't count, really...), falando um pouco de portugues (brasileiro!!!) and getting at least one cache for the sake of a new country. It'll be furthest S & W for OS Junior too (mine are in Vegas).

Any tips on the best safe area to choose for self-catering accommodation, much appreciated.

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Obrigado btrodrigues, I'm coming to Lisbon 31 Oct - 3 Nov with my Brazilian wife and our cache-crazy son. I'll print off your information. Looking forward to our first visit to Portugal (Lisbon Airport on the way to Recife doesn't count, really...), falando um pouco de portugues (brasileiro!!!) and getting at least one cache for the sake of a new country. It'll be furthest S & W for OS Junior too (mine are in Vegas).

Any tips on the best safe area to choose for self-catering accommodation, much appreciated.

 

Uh.

I believe most of the information on this topic is outdated now. It's been two years since we touched it.

 

To be honest, there are far too many caches in Lisbon now (and they get published and archived much quicker than I can find them in order to update the bookmark). I'd say to try and look at caches with the most favorite points.

 

Is an event out of the question? I believe that would be the perfect way to get in touch with a few geocachers and get some pointers on where to go next. Or head on a small group city tour searching for some caches.

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Quick update - we had a great time and found 14 caches in Lisbon. Most recent at the top:

 

O Cauteleiro da colina de S.Roque - interesting container, I think a bottle top with the bottle neck somehow melted to form a container?

 

Praça Luís de Camões [Lisboa] - met some German cachers here

 

A great view of Lisbon [Lisboa] well up my 'oldest' list along with some Las Vegas virtuals and the UK's oldest cache.

 

The Love Boat FAVE - well it has to be!

 

Vasco da Gama [Lisboa] - well we found a bit of paper in a tree, signed it and it wasn't actually the cache... should possibly DNF. Strange one.

 

[332] O pontão da expo... the fisherman had his stool in the way but knew the cache was there!

 

Vasco da Gama Tower FAVE, enjoyed the climb

 

Peixanário de Lisboa

 

The Pavilion of Knowledge of the Seas - Expo98 FAVE, just a nice cheeky hide

 

Feira da Ladra left a TB which has already gone on its way

 

PARQUE EDUARDO VII nice place for it!

 

Museu Militar

 

Estação do Rossio [Lisboa]

 

Regimento de Transmissões - first one, about 250m up from our flat, then we got the 28 tram

 

All good fun. But we put tourism 1st, caching 2nd (didn't go more than 100m out of our way for a cache), enjoying the various districts, forms of transport, views and food. Obrigado Lisboa!

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Hi all

 

Me and Peter are off on our holiday to the Algarve at the end of August - any recommendations for caches in this beautiful area would be much appreciated. I am also after a link to download a map to my GPS - a Garmin etrex 20.

 

Many thanks

Marina

 

Hi Marina and Peter

I'm not really sure about which caches are best and suitable for you - it's been a long time since I've last been on a caching spree around the area, but I'd say you should look for caches with many favorite points (thank you, captain obvious). If you get a chance to visit the west coast, facing the Atlantic Ocean, that's where most of my personal favorite caches are: http://coord.info/GCED51 and nearby caches are quite challenging and worth all the time you can devote to them.

 

Regarding the maps, have a look at http://mapas.alternativaslibres.es/ - they create maps based on OpenStreetMaps - they're free to download and offer good coverage and turn-by-turn routing information. Let me know if you need any help with the translation.

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Hi all

 

Me and Peter are off on our holiday to the Algarve at the end of August - any recommendations for caches in this beautiful area would be much appreciated. I am also after a link to download a map to my GPS - a Garmin etrex 20.

 

Many thanks

Marina

 

Hi Marina and Peter

I'm not really sure about which caches are best and suitable for you - it's been a long time since I've last been on a caching spree around the area, but I'd say you should look for caches with many favorite points (thank you, captain obvious). If you get a chance to visit the west coast, facing the Atlantic Ocean, that's where most of my personal favorite caches are: http://coord.info/GCED51 and nearby caches are quite challenging and worth all the time you can devote to them.

 

Regarding the maps, have a look at http://mapas.alternativaslibres.es/ - they create maps based on OpenStreetMaps - they're free to download and offer good coverage and turn-by-turn routing information. Let me know if you need any help with the translation.

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I'm coming to Lisbon on Saturday and planning to go to caching and seeing sights to Sintra on Sunday. Anything I should know or be aware of? I'm traveling alone and will make the trip by train.

 

I'm also caching around Lisbon on the next week based from Campo Grande, but only on evenings since it's a work trip and I'll be on a course every day from 9-16. Planning to do at least the virtuals and a few nice sites I've been able to google but any suggestions are welcome. I was originally planning to host an event on some evening but it's too late for that now :/

 

-rixu

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Hi Rixu

 

I only managed to see this right now, so you're probably around here already. Sintra is definitely one of the mandatory sights while you're here. The castle and the palace on top of the hill will take you some time, there will be a few caches around for sure. While you're at it and if you manage to get a transfer, have a look at Cabo da Roca. It's the westernmost point of the european mainland.

 

There should be plenty of time for you to do some caching and some sightseeing if you manage to get out of the training at 16. It won't get dark until 19:30 and it's perfectly possible to get a table for dinner somewhere even at 22:00. I'd recommend you take the subway and have a look at Parque das Nações (around GC8C23), Rossio and the whole downtown area (GC1RF71) and then the Belém area (for which you'll have to take a bus, the train or a tram, as the subway doesn't reach it: GC339B5). I'll leave up to you to choose the caches (I might be biased) and recommend those with the highest score of favourite points.

 

I hope you enjoy you week around here. Lovely weather forecasts :D

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Thanks for the hints, I read them just in time and took a bus from Sintra to Cabo da Roca. Too bad the caches there weren't on my geocaching app and for some reason it would not download them on site. So the great place I saw but could not log anything there, not even the earthcache since I didn't remember what to do. Anyway, a site well worth visiting even without logging the caches :)

 

Will look into the rest of your hints on the evening cache trips starting tomorrow :)

 

-rixu

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