14 night trip to Portugal (and Spain?)

Fourteen nights is perfect for Portugal. You would shortchange both Portugal and Andalusia by trying to visit both places. You ( like us) like three days per location so you would need to add - four to five nights Sevilla, one day trip from Sevilla to Cordoba, and lastly, Granada, three nights.Since your greatest expense and effort is flying to and from Europe, adding more time than a few days to complete this itinerary is also cost effective.

I’d suggest you limit your visit to Portugal, or Spain, but not to both.

You could do something like this:

• Fly to Lisbon and head over to Sintra on day of arrival (3N)

• Train to Évora (3N)- take the megalithic tour

• Train to Coimbra (3N) - take the University of Coimbra guided tour

• Train to Porto (4-5N) - day trip to Guimarães.

• Train to Lisbon (5N) - day trip to Cascais.

• Fly home from Lisbon.

Enjoy your trip!

P.S.
Here’s our trip report if you’re interested:
Portugal! Our trip in progress…

Save Spain for another trip.
When in Porto, don't pass up the Douro River Valley, it is amazing. Take the train up to Regua or Pinhao and spend a couple of days exploring the valley.

Do either Spain or Portugal - not both. For those of us of a certain age especially, trying to do two countries in two weeks is too much.

Portugal is perfect for slowing down and enjoying long lunches with beautiful views, a few museums and churches - and really savoring them all.

I did two weeks before moving here spread out between Porto, Lisbon and the Silver Coast area. I actually prefer 5 days in a place. I had a car in the Silver coast area and visited Alcobaca, Batalha, Nazaré and São Martinho do Porto - where I stayed. If I had it to do again, I would exchange a few days for Coimbra.

Day trips from Porto to the Douro are easy with a small group tour. Or, if you are really into wine, a couple of nights at a Quinta is great - especially as September is crush time.

You can day trip to Evora from Lisbon either with a tour or by train on your own.

Thank you so much for the suggestions and please keep them coming. There is a travel agency we have used in the past that has two itinerary options that could be changed as needed that sounded like the might be a good basis for modification. We wouldn't necessarily arrange through them, but might if I was feeling lazy. I thought I would post them and get any additional comments along with any suggestions for adding or subtracting nights and locations. We have at least 14 nights to work with. The private tours are offered but optional.

Itinerary sample #1 - We would change to at least 3 nights each.
3 Nights in Lisbon
2 Nights in Coimbra
2 Nights in Porto
2 Nights in Douro Valley
Private Tour of Lisbon with a Licensed English-Speaking Guide
Private Tour of Estoril, Cascais & Sintra with Licensed English-Speaking Guide
Private Tour of Coimbra with Licensed English-Speaking Guide
Private Tour of Porto with Licensed English-Speaking Guide
Quinta Visit and wine tasting in Douro Valley

Itinerary sample #2 - Again, we would change to at least 3 nights each.
3 Nights in Porto
3 Nights in Lisbon
3 Nights in Algarve
2 Nights in Alentejo
Private Tour of Lisbon with Licensed English-Speaking Guide
Private Tour of Porto with Licensed English-Speaking Guide
Private Tour of Douro Valley with winery visit, tasting, lunch and cruise
Algarve Full Day West Tour
Traditional cooking and bread-making class on a farm in Alentejo

Thanks!

Sample itinerary #1 would be my choice hands down. In two weeks, you really don’t have time for the Algarve and since it’s 95% about beaches, it doesn’t really fit your preferences. I would change to three days each place and add another couple of days to Lisbon.

You don’t need a guide for Estoril and Cascais. Estoril is really small other than the beach and Cascais is really about strolling in the old town and along the water. A one day guide of Lisbon would be good. And, you might consider doing a food tour of either or both Lisbon and Porto. You get an intro to the city plus a number of good places to eat and emblematic food.