Portugal and Spain

Sherry,

have you looked at any travel books for those places?

Lisbon and Madrid are on my list for next year including some other cities/countries, but i just used some travel books in addition to a friend at work and google.

are you interested in any museums and such?

happy trails.

Hi Sherry. Portugal is on my list, but I haven't been there yet. I never thought any country would grab me more than Italy, but then I spent 3 weeks in Andalusia and fell in love with Spain. It's 2 years later and I'm counting the days until my next trip there in February.

Spain and Portugal are not well-connected . . . no major roads or train lines. Also there are hefty charges for renting a car in one and dropping it off in the other. Spain has a very good train system, with high-speed trains on major routes. There are, of course, parts that it's more efficient to visit by car.

My favorite sights were the Alhambra in Granada and the Mezquita in Cordoba, but there was so much more that I enjoyed.

You have plenty of time. Watch some travelogues (public library, internet, including Rick's). Browse through the digital scrapbooks made by people on RS tours that went to Iberia http://www.ricksteves.com/tours/scrapbooks/tour-alum-scrapbooks and go from there.

I've spent time in Lisbon and Porto and like them both, but enjoyed Spain far more. Unless you like to spend a lot of beach time, I'm not sure how you would spend a whole 4-6 weeks in Portugal. So I would for sure recommend including Spain.

As Chani mentioned, the two are not well connected. Renting a car can make some sense, but doubling back might not and dropping off the car in the other country will incur hefty fees. There is an overnight train between Lisbon and Madrid. Most people fly. You can also rent a car in both and cross the border by bus.

As to locations, Iberia is a really big area and one could spend months there and not see everything. I'd pick highlights in Portugal and 1-2 regions in Spain to see. Fly open-jaw (multi-city) so you don't backtrack.

Have to disagree with some of the answers. September is a great time to visit and there is enough to keep you busy in Portugal and you can connect to Spain. You mentioned you love small cities and villages. You could fly into Lisbon and maybe out of Madrid. If you do, here is one preliminary itinerary:
Lisbon: 5-7 nights doing day trips via train to Sintra (or you could spend 1 or 2 nights there), Queluz (palace modeled on Versailles), possibly Mafra National Palace in addition to spending time in Lisbon/Belem itself. From there you could rent a car and drive up the coast and visit
Tomar: 2-3 nights; visit UNESCO World Heritage Site of Convent of Christ and villages in the vicinity
Nazare: 4-5; visit Obidos, Roman ruins of Conimbriga, Alcobaca, Batalha and Coimbra (or spend 1 or 2 nights here).

Porto: 2-4 nights; visit Guimaraes and the archaeological ruins of Citania de Briteiros, the port wine cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia, in addition to the sights in Porto. You could also drive northward to visit Braga and Braganca
Douro Valley (Pinhao is a cute place to stay along the river): 2-3 nights; visit the 15,000 and older cave paintings in Foz Coa (reservations needed) and/or wineries
Castelo Branco: 1 night; We've never been here but it seems to be a convenient overnight stop and a pretty stop
Evora: 2-4 nights; Roman Temple of Diana in Evora and you can visit several nearby sights with prehistoric cromolechs, Chromolech dos Almendres is one; Monsaraz, a medieval village
Quarteira: 3 or more nights; This is on the Algarve and you can spend a few days driving west to visit small fishing villages; nearby are Roman ruins of Cerro da Vila; you can also visit Faro and Tavira and there are also archaeological excavations in nearby Silves

From Quarteira you can cross the border and go to Spain. If you drive into Spain you will probably want to return to Portugal to return the rental car as it is cost prohibitive to return a car in a different country, so we wouldn't recommend that. You can probably return your rental car in Faro fly or bus from Faro to Spain. Here's a link I found regarding the bus from Faro to Seville, if that's on your itinerary. http://gospain.about.com/od/transportation/qt/faro_to_seville.htm We don't have much experience in Spain so will not make any itinerary suggestions.

You can google the above locations to see if any interest you and start planning your itinerary. There are also many other historic small towns you can visit from the above locations. As you can tell, we love Portugal and have been there several times for weeks at a time. Have fun!

See this recent thread for my notes about limited transportation across the Spain/Portugal border, and perhaps other comments that may apply to you.

Sherry, I went to both Portugal and Spain this September and had a wonderful time. It's true that the two countries don't have train links to them but there are plenty of low cost flights between Lisbon and various cities in Spain. For food and wine, you're going to the right places. Hard to beat a plate of huge fresh sardines (you'll be there at the end of the season) for about 8-9 euro and an excellent glass of wine for 3 euro.

Just a tip: Portugal is VERY hilly, and the sidewalks in Lisbon are beautiful tiles. Have extreme caution when it rains, as they can be slippery. The hills can be exhausting, but the views are fantastic.

Thanks everyone for your responses. We do have a 2012 RS Portugal and an older DK Eyewitness guide that friends have lent us. I see that new RS book for Portugal is available early next year and will purchase it. We are friends with a Portuguese couple living in Estoril and plan to visit them as part of our itinerary. I appreciate that it isn't easy to use public transportation between these two countries and will be happy to fly to make it all work. We have our work cut out for us but wanted a few ideas to investigate and you have given us that. Do you have any recommendations for day tours or guides that you have enjoyed? Thanks again and keep the suggestions coming please. Sherry

Oh dear, I certainly didn't mean to limit the trip to one country, just that the logistics need some planning.

Given your stated interests, you probably won't want to spend much time in Madrid or Barcelona, though one or the other is probably going to be your final destination for your flight home. There are many small cities and towns that are near both and worth visiting.

It will be a lot easier to suggest an itinerary for Spain once you've decided roughly how much time you want to spend there . . . . 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks?