1st Portugal Adventure April 17-May6

I am sure you can get lots of advice on here, unfortunately much may be adding places you never thought of, but try to keep your list short.

For your time, figure at most 4 or 5 stays, do not get into the habit of one night here, two nights there, look at 3 and 4 night stays at least.

While I am not a big fan of renting a car, Portugal seems to be best for renting for at least part of the trip. However, you need to plan Porto and Lisbon for when you do not have a car. When I went last time, I spent one night in Lisbon, just to recover a bit, then picked up the car. We went South to the Algarve, then North, hitting a number of places, both as stays, and as stops. Obidos for example, we spent an afternoon, and that was plenty, went through Nazare as well, could have stayed, but had other plans. We did go to Evora, worth the trip, but stayed in a smaller town for a few nights. Coimbra was a nice stay, as was Tomar, we also opted to stay a few nights in the Douro valley, better than a day trip from Porto.

I will say though, Aurora and Thom just do not ring a bell, or a google search, for me.

I guess if I were to summarize it, Maybe land, either pick up the car right away, or recuperate for a night in Lisbon, then head to Evora, then up to someplace near Obidos or Nazare, covering one on the way or as a day trip, then hit Tomar or Coimbra, a few nights in the Douro valley, return the car in Porto, stay a bit, then take the train to Lisbon to finish out the trip. That is all maybe one stop too much, but accomplishes much of what you want.

"Thom" Do you mean Tomar as in the Knights of Templar?

Take a look at Julie Dawn Fox Blog. She has a lot of information about different places in Portugal which should be helpful in planning some of the details of your trip. There are some specific articles around the Douro Valley regarding transportation options etc. etc.

We are planning a trip to Portugal too. I do not have it all worked out yet. But some thoughts. First count how many nights you have. I count 19.

I would take a train to Porto to start. That avoids spending night in Lisbon. You say you want four nights here which seems good to me. I am assuming one day for day trip to Douro Valley. I would rent car beginning day you go to Douro Valley.

Then figure out how to spend your time between Porto and Lisbon. I can't help there too much as still sorting things out. My math would give you five nights in this area.

Go to Lagos afterwards. I would say you need to stay at least three nights or not worth the trouble.

Then go to Lisbon and turn the car in unless you think you need it for day trips. Maybe stay 5 with day trips.

Thank you all for your advice, very much appreciated. My spell check needs improving!! Tomar & Evora, not Thom & Aurora. I will explore all your recommendations. I guess I should have mentioned we will not be renting a car, will travel by bus or train.

Do you have airfare already booked. Open jaw, into Porto and out from Lisbon would work.

Good advice above regarding keeping your overnights stays to 2-4 nights each. Jumping around, checking in and out, doesn't leave much time to do anything, especially with public transportation.

Check out Rome to Rio to see if a bus or train is your best option, along with basic route info.

We stayed in Portugal over the winter and wrote a trip report that has info on the Lisbon Metro and Cascais train that might be helpful to you if you want to check it out.
https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/extended-trip-to-portugal-1711933/

I enjoyed Nazaré, but wouldn’t call it calming. It is what I consider to be typical beach town and it was very crowded. The beach is nice. The upper town was just as crowded, but it affords some good views. Óbidos can be seen as a day trip since it only takes a couple hours to see. The main street through town is full of bus loads of tourists during the day. Walking along the wall was fun.
We thoroughly enjoyed Tomar. As Templar fans, while in Tomar try to get over to the Templar related Church Santa Maria do Olival. If you had a rental car I’d suggest driving the 30 minutes to the Templar built Almourol castle.

We had a rental car so I can’t speak to using public transportation to get around. On our trip we started and ended in Madrid and never went to the Lisbon area.

We had our first Portugal adventure this October for two weeks and did not rent a car, so I have some insights on how to travel to some of the places that you listed without a car and what worked and what didn't work.

• Starting and ending in Lisbon: coming back to Lisbon for one night with an early morning flight, I would recommend staying in Lisbon and not near the airport. That way you can have at minimum an evening enjoying Lisbon. Whether you take public transport (or Uber/Bolt), it is convenient and quick to get to the airport.

• Planning the itinerary: get the RS Portugal book with the map and look at the transit times between stops, the CP (train website https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en) can provide you with more accurate train times) and for bus schedules, check what RS recommends (we didn't buses). This will help you map out efficiently want you can legitimately see without doing too many one night stops. Rule of thumb is you lose 1/2 day every time you change locations.

• Lisbon: We stayed 6 nights in Lisbon before we headed out to Porto and did two day trips: Sintra and Evora/Alentejo Wine Tasting. If you are going to do day trips from Lisbon, I would recommend staying there a minimum of 5 nights. There are not a lot of BIG sights in Lisbon, so it is a city that is made for slowly exploring and savoring the neighborhoods, food, music, and culture. While you can visit fewer days, for us, we would have missed out on the charm of just relaxing and enjoying the city.

• Sintra: I had very high expectations for Sintra and due to the torrential rain and wind, it was a miserable experience. Even in the bad weather it was really crowded, so plan ahead, especially if you want to visit the inside of the Pena Palace. It is easy to get to Sintra by train and the town itself is well served with public transportation. I would like to go back in better weather, but I will have to go alone as my husband hated it.

• Evora: I had looked into taking the train and/or bus to Evora, but opted for a private tour with a visit to a winery and the tiny medieval while hillside town of Monsaraz. It was one of the best experiences of our trip. Our guide Carlos was so amazing and we learned so much about the Alentejo region: food, wine, history, and culture. Carlos was so amazing, he not only gave us recommendations for the rest of our trip, but gave us his number in case we had questions or challenges in our travels. We started the tour with him as a guide and left the tour with him as a friend. If you want to see more than Evora, would recommend a tour. If you just want to see Evora, then would recommend taking public transport. If you want to dive deeper into Evora, I would have liked to stay there at least a night if I had extra days in my schedule.

• Porto: We stayed 4 nights and took a day trip via AirBnB experience to the Douro Valley (would highly recommend taking a day trip), having someone else to drive lets you see the beautiful scenery and both of you can wine taste (no need for a designated driver). Porto deserves the 4 nights. Taking a food tour/port tour and just relaxing is a treat in Porto.

-Coimbra: we looked at visiting Tomar and Obidos, but opted instead for Coimbra and truly enjoyed this University town. Easy to get to by train. We did not go to Nazare as the weather was horrible. Maybe next time.

Hope some of my experiences will help you in your planning. When you get your itinerary set and you have more questions, let me know if I can help.

Hello again, looking for recommendations for Hotels in Lisbon, Lagos, evora, Tomar. Also One of you mentioned a tour guide, Carlos for Evora tour. Can you tell me how to get hold of him. Thank you.

Hi I see I am talking to SandyO. Sorry i was not sure how this platform worked. I’m starting itinerary. Looks like we will spend at least 3 nights in Lisbon, day tour to Sintra and then head to Algarve, Lagos & Sabres. Would like to spend 4-5 nights in Algarve. Then head back up to Evora, Spend 2 nights in Tomar, plan a day trip to Obdios and eventually to Duro valley & Porto. Would like to spen 4-5 nights seeing Porto & duro valley. Then head back towards Lisbon to catch flight home. This is ruff plan. Would appreciate your recommendations/tips. Thank you SandyO

Hi Val,

Lisbon

• Hotel: Link to review of aparthotel recommendation for Lisbon, Chiado Arty Flats: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/portugal-reviews/review-chaido-arty-flats-lovely-aparthotel-in-the-heart-of-chaido
• Guide recommendation, Carlos Silva, he was our guide for Evora/Alentejo. He also does a tour of Sintra, Here is the link to the tour: https://www.igoportugal.pt/package_detail.php?id=7. You can book directly on the site and ask for Carlos Silva or you can send a request to one of the owners of the tour company, iGO Portugal, Sonia Oliveria at info@igoportugal.pt or bookings@igoportugal and ask for Carlos Silva to be your guide.
• Lisbon Eating Europe Tuk Tuk Tour: https://www.eatingeurope.com/lisbon/lisbon-tuk-tuk-food-tour/. It is a great way to get an overview of Lisbon while experiencing some of the hidden food gems. The Tuk Tuk tour is about an hour and drops you off in the Alfama where you walk from the Alfama ending just shy of the Justa Elevator. It is one of the things we did on our first morning and it is a great way to get to know the landscape of the city for further exploration.
• Favorite restaurant: Oficio, a local neighborhood restaurant in Chiado that has innovative, modern Portuguese cuisine at a decent price. An example of the type of food was an oxtail rice, oxtail braised for hours with a rich jus. We had the most amazing salad of fresh tomato with a basil granita. The juxtaposition of the acid tomato with a iced basil created a flavor explosion (we had to order another).

Porto

• Hotel: AS 1829 is in an excellent location with a pedestrian area a short walk from the metro and 10/15 minute walk to the river and to uptown. There are good restaurants within walking distance. This is a full service hotel, but lacks some of the charm and service of some of the smaller hotels in the area. We booked this as there were no other RS hotels available. We would stay again, but ask for a room in the back as it can be quite noisy if you face the street.
• Favorite Tour was a day trip to the Douro with AirbnB experience: https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/160799?startDate=2023-10-23&adults=2. Our guide Leon was a local, raised in the Douro with a rich personal history in the wine industry. He was knowledgeable about the history, wine, and the cuisine. The wineries we visited were all family owned. Our lunch was one of the best we had in Portugal.
• Second Favorite Tour was Eating Europe Port Wine Food Tour: https://www.eatingeurope.com/porto/port-wine-food-tour/. Our guide Sarah lives in the Douro region, but was raised in Porto. We visited the only large Portuguese port house in Porto and explored a cellar with Ports from the late 18th century. We had some of the most original food experiences, eating at small shops and even a grocery store where the owner taught us some Portuguese in exchange for stories about San Francisco.

Hope these recommendations help.

Hi SandyO, Thank you so much. This looks awesome. I just booked our 1st hotel in Lisbon, I hope the rest of our bookings don't take 2 days. 🤪 It’s mind boggling!! 👍🏻

Glad you are getting all the bookings started. If you have any other questions or I can help in anyway, let me know.

Hello! We are also planning a trip to Portugal 4/10 - 4/24. In the depths of planning now!
So far, we have landed on the following itinerary:
1. Fly into Lisbon and hop a train to Porto (it was less expensive for us to fly in/our of Lisbon than in/out from different cities)
2. Three nights in Porto. Includes day trip to Duro Valley.
3. Hop train to Coimbria for two nights. Pick up rental call in Coimbra.
4. Drive to Obidos/Nazare for two nights.
5. Drive to Evora for one night. (Not a fan of one-night stays - but once during the a trip I can manage.)
6. Drive to Salema/Lagos for two nights.
7. Head back to Lisbon to drop off rental car. Stay three nights and head home. Includes day trip to Sintra.
Safe travels to you! Enjoy!