Greetings fellow travelers. My husband and I are spending 2 weeks in Portugal in early October of this year. I've been reading Rick's guidebook, watched several videos, and I'm trying to nail down our itinerary. Would appreciate advice on what cities are must-sees, any hotel/lodging information and just general advice. We are flying into Portugal, maybe back out from there or Porto, and plan to rent a car once we leave Lisbon. This forum greatly helped me plan a fabulous trip to France in 2018 and I appreciate your advice and kindness in taking the time to respond. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Posted by
Canada 1st, not 51st.
4939 posts
Here's my Trip Report from last Fall if you think it might be useful. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-part-1-hills-and-castles-portugal
Posted by
3025 posts
And here is mine from about the same time period.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-two-weeks-in-portugal
Posted by
Massachusetts, USA
1902 posts
I don't have a lot of experience in Portugal as we only had time to visit Lisbon and Sintra. We visited Sintra as a daytrip from Lisbon using a group tour. However, I know a lot of people prefer to spend a night or two in Sintra. If you visit Sintra for a day from Lisbon, then I recommend spending at least 5 nights in Lisbon to include the daytrip. If you stay overnight in Sintra, then perhaps 4 nights in Lisbon will be fine. But a minimum of 4 nights, IMO.