Portugal is one of the easiest countries in Europe to cook on holiday: every town has a morning market, the supermarkets are cheap, and apartments outnumber hotel rooms in the old centres. We list 92 stays with kitchens in Portugal and checked the appliances of each, so here is how Lisbon, Porto, Madeira and the Algarve compare for someone who wants to cook.
Shares of the stays we list in each region. Appliances count when the property's own website or photos show them. “Fresh food” and “Supermarket” mean within 500 m on foot, among stays we mapped against OpenStreetMap (57 of the 91 stays have a location precise enough for that).
| Region | Stays | Full kitchen | Oven | Dishwasher | Fresh food | Supermarket | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lisbon | 37 | 70% | 73% | 59% | 83% | 93% | 4.53 |
| Porto | 20 | 30% | 40% | 40% | 89% | 89% | 4.71 |
| Madeira | 15 | 53% | 60% | 47% | 38% | 63% | 4.45 |
| Algarve | 19 | 42% | 68% | 47% | 45% | 73% | 4.39 |
Lisbon has the most choice (37 stays in Lisbon) and the most full kitchens. Many are apartments in restored buildings in the flat grid of the Baixa and around Chiado, and 20 of them have a confirmed stove, oven, fridge and dishwasher. By area: Baixa (14), Chiado (6), Bairro Alto & Príncipe Real (5), Avenida da Liberdade (4), Avenidas Novas & Arroios (3), Cais do Sodré & Santos (2), Alfama (2) and Parque das Nações (1).
For shopping, the old Mercado da Ribeira at Cais do Sodré still sells fruit, fish and meat in the mornings next to the food hall, and Campo de Ourique has a neighbourhood market. Small Pingo Doce and Continente Bom Dia shops are everywhere in the centre: the median stay we mapped is 180 m from a supermarket.
The 20 stays we list in Porto are mostly aparthotels in the centre, and only 30% have a full kitchen; the rest are kitchenettes, often without an oven. If you want to cook more than breakfast, filter for an oven (8 stays have one confirmed) or book one of the serviced apartments. By area: Bolhão & Santa Catarina (7), Baixa & Aliados (5), Ribeira & Miragaia (4), Cedofeita & Boavista (2), Paranhos (1) and Ramalde (1).
The Mercado do Bolhão, restored and reopened in 2022, is the city's main fresh market, with fruit, fish, meat and cheese stalls. 89% of the Porto stays we mapped have a fresh-food shop within 500 m.
The 15 stays we list on Madeira are almost all apartments, in Funchal and along the coast to the east and west. 53% have a full kitchen. Funchal's Mercado dos Lavradores sells the island's fruit and the morning's fish, and Pingo Doce has several shops in the city. By area: Lido & hotel zone (6), Funchal City Centre & Old Town (5), Caniço & the east (2) and Funchal hills (2).
We list 19 stays across Albufeira, Alvor, Carvoeiro, Faro, Lagos, Portimão and Vilamoura. Many are resorts and aparthotels outside the town centres, with large kitchens: 68% have a confirmed oven and 47% a dishwasher. Shops are further away than in the cities: 73% of the stays we mapped have a supermarket within 500 m and 45% a fresh-food shop. The town markets are worth the trip, for fish especially. Intermarché, Pingo Doce, Continente and Lidl have large stores on the edge of every town.
Town pages: Albufeira, Alvor, Carvoeiro, Faro, Lagos, Portimão, Vilamoura.
Elsewhere in Portugal we list Nazaré. See all of Portugal.
In our listings, Lisbon has the highest share of full kitchens (70%) and of stays with a confirmed stove, oven, fridge and dishwasher (54%). For buying fresh food on foot, Porto does best: 89% of the stays we mapped have a market, greengrocer, butcher or fishmonger within 500 m.
Most of the Lisbon stays we list do: 26 of 37 have a full kitchen, 73% have a confirmed oven and 59% a dishwasher. Many of the full kitchens are in apartment buildings in the Baixa and Chiado rather than in aparthotels.
The main supermarket chains are Pingo Doce, Continente (with small Continente Bom Dia shops in city centres), Lidl, Aldi, Intermarché and Auchan. For fresh produce, fish and meat, use the municipal market (mercado municipal): most towns have one, busiest in the mornings and mostly open Monday to Saturday.
At a resort outside town, usually. 73% of the Algarve stays we mapped have a supermarket within 500 m and 45% a fresh-food shop, against 93% and 83% in Lisbon. Resorts outside the towns are the furthest from shops; stays in town centres such as Faro and Lagos are usually close to one.
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