On the RS Tour the first stop is Lisbon and last stop is Porto. Would like to get my return international air flight in the next few days for my tour that ends in October. Two things I'm kind of curious about. For selection and prices is it "generally" advisable to fly out of Lisbon the much larger of the two? And the tour stays two nights in Porto -- are extra nights recommended? Yes -- I know, and will check flights myself, plus may even have AAA run the numbers. Just interested what has worked for others. Thanks for any suggestions.
Posted by
franktown, colorado
2252 posts
Hi. I just took this wonderful tour last October. We did just as you have written, flew RT Lufthansa from home (Denver-Munich-Lisbon) into Lisbon and from Porto in the late afternoon to Lisbon (one way on TAP Air) where we spent one night at a nice hotel within walking or shuttle distance to the airport before our early morning flight home. We did stay two extra nights in Porto at the tour hotel and are so happy we decided to do that. It's an amazing city and there is a whole lot to see and do there. This is a terrific tour and I bet you will love it. Certainly our meals and accommodations were among the best we've ever had on a tour and I have been on a bunch. We even had a food tour in Porto included on the tour, a big perk for me! This plan worked wonderfully for us.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15794 posts
I think you could easily fill another day or two in Porto, maybe a day trip to Aveiro. It's just under 3 hours on the AP train from Porto to Lisbon and tickets aren't expensive. Use the official site to find schedules and prices. The earlier you buy, the cheaper the tickets. I don't know how old you are but I'm guessing retired if you can take 6 weeks to tour. Discounts for seniors on full-price (refundable/changeable) tickets can be a good deal too. Which city you fly from depends on the route, time, and price options. You'd probably have to spend at least 1N in Lisbon before the flight. If you don't spend much time in Lisbon pre-tour, you may want to spend more days there post-tour, including a couple nights in Sintra and a day trip to Cascais.
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1826 posts
On my scouting trip before moving here, we flew into Porto and out of Lisbon. It worked quite well. But, if you want to spend more time in the Lisbon area, taking the train back to Lisbon is easy and cheap.
Since you must have some ideas of itinerary in both cities, you might want to do a bit of research to see which city might have more things to see after your tour. While RS does a good job of covering his favorites, there are many other lovely places in Portugal he doesn’t cover.
And, yes, staying a couple of days (or more) after the tour would allow you to slow down a bit, which is really a lot of the charm of Portugal - the slower pace of life.