5 days in Portugal

It would be easier to spend all five days in Lisbon and take day trips to Sintra and Évora. Buy Rick Steves PT guidebook 11th edition so you can take self-guided walks of the Alfama district and is also where you want to sleep. I highly recommend Rick Steves self-guided walks of the Baixa, Bairro Alto and Chiado neighborhoods too. I’ve been to Lisbon twice and it’s one of my favorite European cities.

I too would stay the whole 5 nights in Lisbon taking day trips to Sintra and Cascais. The city has a lot to offer and also nice places to just sit and people watch. Been there 3 times each for a week and still haven't seen everything.

Thank you for your suggestions, we have switched plans and we are following your advice. Do you have any hotel recommendations?
We have booked Hotel MeraPrime Gold in the historical section as a placeholder but we are open to other suggestions.

I do not know the hotel, but location is hard to beat!

Porto is great (stay at the InPatio Guesthouse), but for only 5 days, I would stick with Lisbon and the nearby area.

Hi!

Porto is my city, and it's great, so I think it's a pity you will not visit this time!

But... You made the right decision, with only 5 days, you need them for Lisboa! I'd like to know wich month you're visiting! There are so many things you can visit, and do, and explore!

Hotel: very good choice! A friend of mine stayed there for 2 nights, and the only bad thing is that the hotel has no parking places, which I think it's not a problem for you.

Lisboa is known as the 7 hills city. It's hilly, very good for you legs. But if you don't want to exercise that much, there are tricks, for instance, if you want to go (you will want) to Bairro Alto (as you are in the lowest part of the city) you can use lifts. Of course there is "Santa Justa", you pay but that's a very nice lift, Eiffels school. You can also use the lift in "armazéns do Chiado", or the one in "FNAC", or the rolling stairs at Rossio train Station, or also rolling stairs at Chiado metro station.

You will be very near "Praça do Comércio", to me it is absolutely astonishing, I can stay there for hours in the stairs between the columns at the river. And you will also be very near Rossio. So, at Rossio, where "A Ginginha" is located. It's a place not at all fancy, and ginginha is the name of a portuguese drink made of cherry, although it's alcooholic. It's the size of a shot, but you DON'T drink it as a shot - you taste the favour, drink quietly. There is a poem at the front, written in portuguese so you will not understand, but it's very funny. STill at Rossio, a coffee house named Nicola, where some intelectuals use to hang around, mainly a poet named Bocage (with a lot of erotic, satyric, or even porno literature, but nevertheless he was good, very good writter), this coffee house has Fado downstairs, and this is not known by many people. Once the poet was coming, late night, from Nicola, and he faced some polimen who asked him: who are you? where are you coming from? Where are you goind to? and he answered I am the poet Bocage, and I'm coming from café Nicola, and I will go to the other side, if you shut you pistol (pistola, in portuguese).

Sorry for this long statement. Long time since I last wrote in this forum.

Wish you have a nice stay in Portugal!

Helena

P.S. be carefull with pickpockets.

Helena is right about pickpockets. The last time I was there, I asked someone that looked like a local on a street where something was. He said to follow him which I didn’t. If you have questions, go inside a shop or a safe place and ask.

Helena Thank You so much for your informative reply. I am already recognizing we will want to go back for an extended stay. We will there early May, this is part of our month long adventure to include Amalfi Coast, Sicily and Provence. Our air tickets only allowed for a 5 night stopover in Portugal but I know we'll be back as Porto is definitely on our bucket list.