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2 weeks in Portugal - rough draft

Posted by (DC, USA) on

Planning 2 weeks in Portugal in October and would like to consider others' opinions. All ideas are appreciated.

We are 60 yo, early birds and physically fit. Enjoy photography, good wine and local food, and an occasional gastronomic experience.

Day 1 – Morning arrival in Lisbon from USA, start our sightseeing

Day 2 – Sintra by train

Day 3 – Belém in the morning, Cascais in the afternoon by train

Day 4 – ½ Lisbon and afternoon train to Porto

Day 5 – Douro Valley tour (any suggestions on operators?)

Day 6 – Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia

Day 7 – Day trip to Coimbra by train and evening in Porto (pick up car for early start next morning).

Day 8 - Drive to Algarve stopping in Évora with late arrival in Albufeira

Day 9 - Algarve

Day 10 - Algarve

Day 11 - Morning in Algarve, afternoon drive to Lisbon

Day 12 – Lisbon

Day 13 – Back to USA

Looking forward to your contributions!

Posted by
2889 posts

We went to Portugal in October so a few thoughts.

Could you fly to Porto? It would save you the night you return to Lisbon so would be more efficient. You then could do all of Lisbon together. We flew into Porto (connecting in Lisbon) and out of Lisbon.

I don't think you have enough time in Porto to justify the effort of going there. You have one day and two evenings. As much as I liked Coimbra, I would skip it to have more time in Porto.

The Algarve is really far from Porto. My kids who went only to Porto and Algarve flew from Porto into Faro and then rented a car. They flew back from Faro but I know there also is a train from Lagos to Lisbon which might be a possibility.

Posted by
130 posts

If you provide some detail about your interests and goals for your trip, you may get some useful recommendations. You are planning a lot more moving around than I would recommend - spending a lot of time checking into and out of hotels, and moving from place to place.

Posted by
1385 posts

We visited all of the same towns except Coimbra in 13 nights.

I suggest that you see if you can fly open jaw into Porto and home from Faro, like we did, or vice versa. It would save you from wasting a full day having to double back the whole length of the country to fly in and out of Lisbon.

Posted by
100 posts

We tried to book an open jaw trip (into Lisbon and out of Porto) but the cost was not worth it. We are also skipping the Algarve and will spend six nights in Lisbon, seven in Porto, and our last back in Lisbon before the flight home. We've found over the years that changing locations often is not our style (too much time spent packing, unpacking, getting the lay of the land, etc.) We prefer using a home base for day trips instead.

Have a great trip.

Posted by
589 posts

I would make a few tweaks, assuming you do have to fly in and out of Lisbon. Firstly I would do the daytrip to Coimbra on your way to Porto. The train stops there. Alternatively stay one night in Coimbra and drop one night from Porto. You could pick up the car in Coimbra on day 7. Then you are closer to the Algarve.
I also really liked Evora. But I think unless you can carve out at least one night to stay there that you are better to drop it.

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