Hi all!
My mother and I have booked our flights for an 18 night trip to Portugal. We are flying in to Lisbon June 24 and departing Lisbon July 12. Our first 4 nights are in Lisbon, and then we were planning on driving south down the coast before turning a bit inland and staying for 4-5 nights in Alentejo (but by the coast). After that, we’re having a tough time. We both want this to be a very relaxed trip, with priorities being great scenery, great food, relaxing days, getting to know the country and it’s culture, surfing for me, wine for mom, great beaches, a few small towns and the history/architecture there, and a bit of the bigger cities. We don’t want to be in tourist traps/lines, or be rushing anywhere. We’re interested in Lisbon, Alentejo (coast and more inland near Monsaraz and Évora), Douro Valley, Porto, and beach towns between Lisbon and Porto such as Nazaré/Peniche, etc. Towns like Monsanto, Obidos, Aveiro also interest us. We were thinking of heading to a Évora after the Alentejo coast, then to Douro Valley, then Porto and back down via a beach town to Lisbon. However, we don’t want to be jumping spot to spot too much, but then don’t want to miss out. It’s 18 nights so we hope not to have more than 5 airbnbs, 3 of which already include our first and last nights in Lisbon, and Alentejo. We were originally doing this loop the other way (up to Porto first), but this seems to work better. Any advice after Alentejo on where to stay and for how long, in order to have the trip we want? We’re open to anything.
Thanks!