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11 Day Itinerary questions - Obidos, Coimbra, and bus or train?

Posted by (Atlanta) on

Would love some help with our upcoming trip, we are a family with 16 & 20 year old daughters. Our itinerary is below, along with questions (in bold). My main questions:
- Between Lisbon & Porto, we would prefer train travel, but it seems that the bus is more reliable & available (we plan to rent a car to drive to Lagos)? Or should we do a one way car rental for the Lisbon portion as well? We plan to travel with lighter carry on luggage
- Can we squeeze in Obidos on the way from Porto to Sintra? Or, when headed from Lisbon to Coimbra?
- Does it seem too much to stop at Coimbra on the way from Lisbon to Porto? Is it on the way with regard to the train/bus routes? It seems to be when I look, but its hard to tell with the timings it seems to be longer if we add this stop.
- All hotels are booked through Lagos, still need to book Coimbra & Porto (InPatio is not available)
Any other advice & recommendations appreciated!!
Thank you!

July 11 - Two of us fly in to Porto, meet third who is in Portugal already
July 12 - Train or bus to Sintra, stay the night, see a little of Sintra. Stop at Obidos along the way?
July 13 - Day 1 : Lisbon (Our 4th person flies in that morning) - Explore Lisbon/Alfama
July 14 - Day 2: Lisbon
July 15 - Day 3: Day trip to Sintra
July 16 - Day 4: Lisbon - possible day trip to Obidos?

July 17- Day 5: Drive to Lagos, check in
July 18 - Day 6: Lagos/Algarve
July 19 - Day 7: Lagos/Algarve

July 20 - Day 8: Drive to Lisbon, return car, train or bus to Coimbra
July 21 - Day 9: Tour Coimbra & then train or bus to Porto?
July 22 - Day 10: Porto - Tour city
July 23 - Day 11: Porto - Braga daytrip
July 24 - Day 12: Porto - fly home

Posted by
25 posts

In October of 2022, my wife and I traveled by bus from Porto to Coimbra. Toured the sights, stayed in the old town one night. The next day we took a bus to Alcobaça to see the monastery and then took a bus to Óbidos, arriving late in the afternoon. We checked in at our AirBNB and then walked through the village (town?) as many day trippers were leaving. We enjoyed walking through the streets and on the wall in the evening when the place was very quiet and again in the morning before we took a bus to Lisbon.
Personally, I wouldn’t make an Obidos visit as a day trip from Lisbon. There are too many other sights to see there and Obidos would, likely, be crowded. You could look into the bus connections to stop in Obidos on the way to Coimbra. There really isn’t too much to do in Obidos but walk the walls and the few streets in the village, shop, have a meal, visit an art gallery or a church or two. A few hours there would be enough and you should be able to get to Coimbra to enjoy some time there in the old town, do part of Rick’s walk. In the morning visit the library at the university, if interested. Make a reservation, if you want to visit the library.
I reserved specific bus seats for most of our rides. There are a few different bus companies. As you are traveling in July it would be good to get seats on the shady side of the bus as you ride north. Hope this helps.

Posted by
7 posts

These were so helpful, thank you! Matt, I will try to plan for doing Obidos early or late, and may use the bus there for more flexibility. GeofB I had seen your trip report but hadn't seen the follow up notes below the main post, I'm glad I looked at it again. Your Coimbra hotel was booked, but I found one near it that looks amazing. Getting more excited for this trip!

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