21 night trip itinerary- early planning for 2020

Our last trip to Portugal was back in June 2002, just as the dollar and euro were switching from the dollar being worth more, so we’re really due for a return visit. I remember we rented from Hertz as they had the best deal then, but don’t recall the location the day we departed Lisbon for other parts.

The Megalithic sights were surprising and stunning. We just kept our vehicle locked, as always, with baggage out of sight, under the hatchback cover panel.

In 2 trips to Portugal, both involved a night’s stay in Obidos, so I’d have to say that’s a tradition and a requirement for me. Maybe not for everyone, but that’s how it worked out on each prior trip!

In Lisbon the last time, we stayed at a place that Rick Steves cautiously recommended, but, frankly, it was a dump in a sketchy neighborhood. Place probably isn’t even there anymore, and/or the neighborhood has maybe changed for the better, but don’t have a lodging recommendation. Our place in Evora did NOT have A/C then, and needed it. Definitely didn’t sleep well one night, and they moved us to a different non-A/C room, which was only slightly more comfortable. In Evora, have dinner one night at the Pousada, even if you don’t stay there - they did have A/C!
Enjoy your last year as a certified “youngster,” and looks like this will be a fabulous trip!

I’m not sure that your ages are going to have a significant impact on any discounts. I have had good weather in both May and September. The daylight hours will be longer in May. Local schools are on holiday early/mid June to mid September.

I am not a Nazare fan. I prefer the beach at Foz do Arelho - Caldas da Rainha is a good nearby base for this area and has a great market plus some interesting history. Obidos is easy to reach. When I went in May, it wasn’t busy and you only need a couple of hours there, not an overnight stay.

Lisboa card - you need to work out what you want to see. I have never been anywhere in Europe where such a card has worked for me, but you need to do the maths.

When I'm considering weather, I go to the timeanddate.com website. They have actual daily historical data for the past 10 years for many cities and towns. Ignore average temps, they tell you nothing about highs and lows.

Many sights offer half-price tickets for 65+, but most entrance fees are not high. There's a 50% discount on full-price train tickets, but if you buy tickets well in advance you'll probably get big enough discounts to compensate.

I stayed almost entirely (22 nights from mid-May this year) in double rooms. The only place I paid over €100 was in Lisbon. In Porto I paid €196 for 3 nights in an apartment. Everywhere else was between €50 and €70. In some places I had to climb 1 or 2 flights of stairs to my room, but hotel staff carried my luggage up and down. If stairs are a problem, prepare yourselves - there are lots of stairs in Portugal and lots of steep hills.

I too started in Sintra. I took the metro from the airport to Lisbon Oriente station, then the local train to Sintra and lastly a taxi to my hotel. It saved money but it wasn't worth the hassle, so when I left Sintra, I took Uber to Oriente to pick up a rental car. That cost €33 including a tip and was well worth it. You should definitely look into a transfer or taxi or Uber (though it may be tricky to get Uber at the airport). Unless you are sure you'll be able to do a lot on your arrival day (if you land early and handle jetlag well), consider 3N there. It was one of my favorite places and there are enough sights to fill 2 full days.

I was not overly impressed with Évora. I visited Nazaré and Óbidos and Alcobaça on a single day trip from Tomar. Óbidos is worth 2-3 hours to see everything, loved Alcobaça and was sorry I wasted the time going to Nazaré, a very big pleasant beach (though it was windy and the sand was blowing), lots of tourist shops and a few tacky cafes along the beachfront. Maybe there's more to the town. I suspect you can find much nicer beach towns if that's what you're looking for. Expect the Atlantic waters to be quite chilly in May. On my other full day in Tomar (3N), I drove to Batalha (loved it) and had plenty of time to see the highlights of Tomar as well.

I spent 1N in Aveiro and enjoyed it immensely.

An Uber is easy from the airport or Lisbontaxi.com will give you a quote and will be waiting for you when you arrive. I used them a few times when I moved here and was always satisfied with their service.

Don’t do the megaliths in Evora on your own. There is a wonderful tour by an archeologist that is reasonably priced and well worth the money. If you google Megalith tour Evora, it will come up first. You can easily take the train to Evora before picking up your car. That gets you well out of the Lisbon area.

Go Walks is a good tour company. I’ve used them twice and been very pleased. One of the tours I took with them was the Douro valley one, that included all the things you mentioned.

I’m also one of the ‘don’t stay in Nazaré’ crowd. Foz is better, as is São Martinho do Porto. And, I’m also not a huge fan of Obidos due to the crowds and fact there is not an enormous amount to see.

It’s easy to drive to lots of areas in the central area as day trips. Almourol Castle outside of Tomar is well worth your time, especially is you take a boat from upriver a bit. Sorry, but I did this trip with a group so am not certain how to arrange it. But, it’s likely not that hard to find the information..

In the four years I’ve been here, May is consistently cooler than September. But, obviously, no guarantees. Most sites in Portugal and the trains are quite inexpensive, so waiting until you are 65 isn’t necessary IMO.

Sorry for the delay in responding to all of your advice and tips- bit of a family crisis here so I am going to have put trip planning away for a while. Good thing I have lots of time!

Cyn- sounds like it is time for you to return to Portugal!

Jennifer- May is our first choice- mainly because I do not want to wait til Sept. Fingers crossed that niece and nephew don’t set wedding dates for May. Taking at look at Caldas da Rainha as we are not necessarily looking of a beach town.

Chani- thank you as always for your detailed advice. I do use timeanddate. We’ve just had bad luck and hit really horrible heat waves and cold snaps- we are always prepared for any kind of weather but we definitely weren’t mentally prepared for that heat wave in France last Sept!

Thanks for info on lodging costs, admissions- that is very helpful. We can handle whatever steps/steep climbs we need to while out and about- we just don’t relish lots of stairs every time we come and go from our hotel.

I imagine we will arrive in Sintra very early- flights I see now land at about 7 am. Hoping to sleep on flight- although we never do- if not we’ll visit one of the sights then take a power nap in afternoon- that works well for us. Although I will consider a 3rd night in Sintra if it looks like we could really use/need that.

Aveiro for one night it is!

kathrynj- We don’t do uber- thanks for info on lisbontaxi
I do have the info on the megalith tour and figured we’d end up doing that anyway- I am sure we would get a lot more out of a tour than just looking cluelessly at the site ourselves.
I’ll look at car rental in Evora- that’s a great suggestion- we do need an automatic so pick up in Lisbon might be a better guarantee of that.
Go Walks- the only tours I see on their site are in/around Coimbra. Am I missing something?

Once again- thank you all!