7 Days in Portugal

Take a look at this 12 day tour to get a few ideas. You can then select a few cities to make up a 7 -day itinerary. Good luck!
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/portugal/best-portugal-tour

Lucky you.

I spent a few days in Lisbon. I also took a shore excursion to Braga from Porto.

Four days in Lisbon was not enough. It would be possible to spend the entire week in Lisbon without getting bored.

I was there late October and it was still very crowded. It rained almost daily.

Lisbon is very hilly but I stayed in the Baixa neighborhood which is one of the flatter areas. I stayed at the Be Poet Baixa Hotel and can highly recommend it.

It is in a great area close to many modes of public transportation. Lisbon has great public transportation and it is also very walkable.

There were about four different hop hop off buses with different routes and you pay for each one separately.

If you go to Lisbon, you are probably going to spend at least a minimum of half. a day going to Sintra and at least another half day going to Belem but really you should allow more time for each place.

I suggest reading up on Portugal and Lisbon before going. I did my research but regret that I did not do more.

We spent 8 d in Portugal.
Our itinerary was as follows:
1 Lisbon
2.day trip to Obidos
3 .Day trip to Evora
4. Day trip to Sintra
5.Lisbon-Belem
6. High speed train to Porto
7. Day trip to Coimbra
8. Porto then train back to Lisbon

@darkmist:

You did day trips to Obidos & Evora. If you had to pick 1, which would you choose & why? Did you do the day trips with a tour or independently? If you used a tour, which one & would you recommend?

I have 1 full day in Lisbon, and I am considering a day trip.

Thanks! -Karen

With only a week I’d stick to either the north or south of the country, not both. After that, it might depend on how you plan on getting around and what you like to see.

We had a rental car and it made getting around easier. We enjoyed Porto, Tomar, Coimbra, and Lamego and never went further south than Óbidos.

Regarding Obidos or Evora... I liked Evora better. I thought Obidos was too touristy and we weren't able to enter some of the churches there nor the castle. Evora has more interesting things to see like the Chapel of Bones and the Temple of Diana.
We traveled to these places independently and did not take a tour. There is a tourist office in Evora and you can pick up a brochure/map .