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2 weeks in Portugal end of June - please help with itinerary

We’ll be travelling to Portugal with our 10yo son for 2 weeks at the end of June, flying into and out of Lisbon.
Planning to rent a car for the trip.
Our main interests would be: general sightseeing, beaches, food, culture, Fado music, soccer stadium visit, kids related activities, shopping.
We would like to try the rural, agroturismo (farm) accommodation as well.

Please comment the following itinerary and advise on adding Porto (North area) to this trip:

  • 4 nights in Lisbon & area, day trips to Sintra, Cascais, ?Evora
  • driving south to Algarve, 4 nights in Lagos
  • heading north, stop in Nazaré, spend 3 nights in Porto
  • driving back to Lisbon, spend the last night before flying out to Azores for 1 week

Thanks in advance!

Posted by
6113 posts

You are trying to cover a lot of ground for 12 nights, particularly with a 10 year old.

Unless you have been to Lisbon before, you aren't going to see much of it if you are going to spend a day in Cascais, Sintra and Evora, as 4 nights there only gives you three days to explore. Your first day maybe spent trying to get over jetlag.

Lagos to Porto is a very long, full day of travel for anybody, particularly a child - at least 6 hours solid driving using the dull toll motorway and 9 hours if you avoid the tolls. Personally, I don't care for Nazare - there are nicer stretches of coast and this is quite a detour if you are taking the motorway.

I would be tempted to drop Lagos and add time in Lisbon and if you wanted a third base, I would have 2 nights in Evora.

You are not travelling in the football season, so there won't be any matches but the bigger clubs such as Porto have audio tours that you could take.

Posted by
3551 posts

If poss visit Obidos. Walled city beautiful preserved. Your son can walk the walls so fun imo. Also spend a day in the Douro valley, so pretty, peaceful.

Posted by
1654 posts

I agree with the idea of dropping the Algarve portion of the trip. It’s a long way to drive when there are lots of beaches between Lisbon and Porto. And, Lisbon deserves at least 2 days before considering day trips.
If you split your time between Lisbon and Porto, you could easily do day trips from both places, and save all the moving around. You could also avoid renting a car and rely on public transportation. The train is cheap and easy between Lisbon and Porto. And, day trips to Sintra, Evora and Cascais can all be done by train. The train might be fun for your son and a lot less stressful for the grownups.

Posted by
7595 posts

Drop the Algarve, go for history not the beach.

The InPatio Guesthouse in Porto is fantastic for a B&B.