shopping in portugal

[wintertexancruiser]

Suggestions of gift ideas to buy in Portugal. Thanks

[Sauer-kraut]

Cork

I bought my Mom a cork purse from a local artisan type shop.  It was really cool.

[Hlitner]

Second the cork stuff.  I say "stuff" because you can find all kinds of items made from cork including purses, wallets, ties, hats, shows, and more.  It is something we first saw in Lisbon about 20 years ago and the selection of cork items seems to increase every year.  You will have to browse multiple shops to compare prices and quality.  Besides Lisbon, we have also seen cork stuff sold at a few shops in Sintra.  About 10 years ago we noticed that some of these cork products had found their way to some of the weekly French markets in the south of France.

 

Hank

[JimmyTheSaint]

The Portuguese make some great wines and of course Port Wine from the Douro valley.

[cruisemom42]

Portugal has a wide variety of beautiful regional pottery, everything from decorative pieces to plates and dinnerware. I especially like the pottery of the Coimbra tradition, which is widely available, including in Lisbon.

 

More info here, or Google Coimbra pottery to see tons of images:  https://caldeiraodacati.com/articles-coimbra

 

Small items make nice souvenirs. 

[Ski Mom 2]

I bought beautiful cork purses and bracelets while in Lisbon. I also saw some gorgeous ones in Sintra. I will say, there are lots of shops that sell cork purses that may not actually be made in Portugal. Many of these shops are geared towards the tourist and aren’t owned by the locals. Please try to locate those shops owned by the locals and shop there. You may pay a few dollars more but you will get the real thing. 

[gtaylor]

On 9/23/2019 at 3:04 PM, Ski Mom 2 said:

I bought beautiful cork purses and bracelets while in Lisbon. I also saw some gorgeous ones in Sintra. I will say, there are lots of shops that sell cork purses that may not actually be made in Portugal. Many of these shops are geared towards the tourist and aren’t owned by the locals. Please try to locate those shops owned by the locals and shop there. You may pay a few dollars more but you will get the real thing. 

Earlier this year my wife bought a beautiful cork purse in Sintra, and at what I thought was a good price.

 

We will be calling  Lisbon in a few weeks, and wonder if there are any good shops for cork within walking distance of the cruise port, as we don't intend to take any tours this visit.

 

We have walked the narrow winding streets/paths across the street from the cruise facility and have seen many small shops and restaurants, but were not interested in purses on those visits.

 

Do you think that we can find some 'local' purses when we revisit?

 

Thanks,

 

gary

[dogs4fun]

8 hours ago, gtaylor said:

We will be calling  Lisbon in a few weeks, and wonder if there are any good shops for cork within walking distance of the cruise port, as we don't intend to take any tours this visit.

Where will your ship dock? There are several docking locations in Lisbon.

[gtaylor]

12 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

Where will your ship dock? There are several docking locations in Lisbon.

We have docked in Lisbon many times, on NCL, Carnival and MSC.

 

Always at the same position.

 

I believe it is called Santa Apolonia.

 

gary

[dogs4fun]

10 hours ago, gtaylor said:

I believe it is called Santa Apolonia.

As you know, it's a short walk to Praca do Comercio from where your ship docks & there are many shops in the area that sell cork.

 

2 shops that specialize in cork that we liked:

 

Cork & Co (Rua Salgadeiras 10) – great selection & walking distance is a little over a half hour from port (you can also use public transportation to save on wear & tear on the feet).

 

Forms (Largo da Trindade 15) – again, great selection & walking distance is a little over a half hour from port (and again, you can utilize public transportation to save on wear & tear on the feet).

 

[gtaylor]

Thanks for the recommendations but they appear to be much more upscale than l was looking for. We were more looking for the local 'hole in the wall' shop up a back street.

 

That's what we found in Sintra, and we were very happy with that purchase.

 

gary

 

 

 

 

[Ski Mom 2]

The company that made the cork purses that we bought in Lisbon is Montado. I also saw the same brand in Sintra. They are absolutely beautiful! They have a website that shows all their beautiful products. I thought I had the name of the shop that we found them in Lisbon but I can't locate their card. They had two shops with one being close to the fort. If I find the name I will come back and post it. When do you leave?

Edited October 28, 2019 by Ski Mom 2

[gtaylor]

We leave home tomorrow, but Lisbon is November 10th.

Edited October 29, 2019 by gtaylor
Correct date

[bennybear]

Their linens and pottery are great as well.  I bought a small cork makeup bag and Love it! 

[Alaskanb]

On 10/28/2019 at 12:11 PM, Ski Mom 2 said:

The company that made the cork purses that we bought in Lisbon is Montado. I also saw the same brand in Sintra. They are absolutely beautiful! They have a website that shows all their beautiful products. I thought I had the name of the shop that we found them in Lisbon but I can't locate their card. They had two shops with one being close to the fort. If I find the name I will come back and post it. When do you leave?

Some Montado purses are available on Amazon!