My wife and I, and a dear friend with whom we have traveled many times before, have already purchased tickets to and from Lisbon. We realize the first and last days are really travel days (from Seattle), which leaves us 13 days in-country.
We are thinking of spending the first few days in Lisbon without a car as we recover from jet lag and to slowly acclimate.
We range in age from 65 to 73, but are all in great shape and we hike, and do lots of walking in town/city. We don't do museum trips for art, but if there is an exceptional museum, we would go. Similar re: churches or religious sites.
We will rent a car when we leave Lisbon. We are thinking of perhaps 2 or 3 places after Lisbon where we could settle for a few days and use for day trips.
So, given the above info, we are open to suggestions for itinerary, given the time of year and weather.. (No bad weather, just bad gear...)
Would like to hear your suggestions as to where to stay, and for how long, as well as day trips from each place.
Many, many thanks. And safe and wonderful travels and adventures to all!
Sandy
Posted by
2 posts
I saw your post and was hoping to see some replies! I am planning a trip and have very similar questions. There are 4 of us traveling ranging from 61 to 73 and we will be there similar time, leaving Oct 2, returning 16th. We also love to eat and explore and similarly, not "into" art but would go to a museum if it was outstanding. I read the Portugal RS book and the 2 week initerary and looks good but it's a lot of moving hotels and my husband hates packing up and moving multiple times! I was hoping to consolidate and stay maybe 2 or 3 places and day trip out from there and hopefully minimize the hotel hopping. Have you found any additional information on good suggestions on home basing and day trips out of each home base?
Posted by
130 posts
I stay in Lisbon every year for 4 to 6 weeks, and will be there again this year about the same time as your visit. Also, about the same age. Now days, I don't particularly recommend visiting the "sites" listed in the tour guides, although I do think highly of Rick's guides for Portugal in general and Lisbon in particular. Unfortunately, Lisbon has become super popular with bucket list tourists and the famous sites including Sintra and Belem are in danger of being loved to death. What most travelers report as their favorite experiences are usually gentle times spent in small family run restaurants, visits to less famous museums, and exploring cities and towns away from the tourist crush.
The TripAdvisor website lists more than 100 museums and galleries in the Lisbon area, and I recommend checking for museums that correspond with your interests - I bet there will be at least several.
In my experience, Lisbon has many semi-hidden gems that are worth sniffing out. This will take some effort, but I think you will find it is worth the search.
I recommend the far north of Portugal for rambling around with a car, but a car is way more trouble than it is worth in Porto and Lisbon.
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1883 posts
Porto is a must, IMO. Such a lovely city and quite different from Lisbon in lots of ways.
You could stay a few days in Coimbra or the silver coast area. There are many small towns and blockbuster site’s - Alcobaca, Batalha and Tomar come to mind.
Or, as the previous poster mentioned, the area north of Porto - Minho region is also lovely.
That late in the fall, Evora would not be too hot and there are also lots of small towns in the Alentejo region that are quite nice.
You are spoiled for choice!