You guys, Portugal. What a stupidly beautiful, historic, magical place. And, one of my new favorite places I’ve visited. Needless to say, I highly recommend it. My trip to Portugal was somewhat planned, and somewhat impromptu. Come early to mid-February every year, you can typically find me traveling unplugged somewhere near or abroad. It’s a tradition I started several years ago for my birthday, which falls on the day before Valentine’s Day.

But while I often road trip (Valentine’s Day weekend isn’t cheap for travel), this year I couldn’t pass up a long-haul trip when flights to Europe (and the Euro) are so low. Being one of the last Western Europe countries I had left to visit, Portugal was the easy choice, thanks to pleasant weather (hello, 60-degree winter days) and how easy, accessible, and affordable it is to travel around Portugal.

And it didn’t disappoint. In fact, Portugal is now one of the best trips of this amount of time that I’ve ever taken. The word that keeps coming to mind is, “magical.” A number of times it felt a bit like a fairy tale, such as walking the cobblestone streets and alleys of Lisbon during the middle of the night or looking up at the walls of an 11th-century castle.

So today I’m coming to you with some of my favorite photos from my trip to Portugal, starting with a round-up of Lisbon, Portugal in photos.

Lisbon, Portugal in Photos