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Advice for a newbie

Posted by on

Hi,
This will be my husbands and my 1st trip to Europe. We are traveling to Portugal to see my Grandson play soccer and have taken more time to see some of the country. Any advice from you experienced travelers would be greatly appreciated! Here is my tentative outline for travel. I am unfamiliar with the train but would like to use it to get from Lisbon to Porto. Also, car rental websites and tips are needed. We love walking and do not have any limitations. We have not booked any lodging and I am gobbling up Rick's Portugal book as reference.

March 26-31: We are flying into Lisbon from San Francisco and plan to spend 1 night in Lisbon to recover from jet lag. Not sure which area would be best for the night, at the airport hotels or possibly head to one of the areas in Lisbon? I was thinking the later would be more enjoyable, but would like to keep it easy. Possibly Parque de Nacoes?
March 27-31: Take the hi-speed train to Porto, watch soccer and between games see the city. Possibly stay over to April 1 and take a full day Douro River / food/wine tour.
April 1 or 2: Rent a car and drive to Coimbra for 2 nights.
April 3 or 4: Visit Fatima / Nazare / Tomar 2 nights.
April 5 or 6: Lisbon / Sintra/ 3 or 4 nights.

April 9: Fly home out of Lisbon.

I have read that the Algarve coast is a must see, but not sure how to fit it in without skipping other cities. Would it be preferred over any of the other areas I am considering? We love the coast and the outdoors for hiking .
Thank you!

Posted by
375 posts

The Algarve coast is out of the way. Enjoy the area between Porto and Lisbon. We enjoyed a night in Evora east of Lisbon. More time in the Lisbon area can be filled with activities and day trips.

Posted by
6569 posts

If you like Roman city ruins, between Coimbra and Tomar is Conimbriga Ruins. If you’ve been to any already, you may be unimpressed since it is much of the same. Nazaré is an hour’s drive from Tomar while Fátima is about 30 minutes. Nazaré is a 1.25 hours drive from Coimbra. Don’t underestimate the amount of time you’ll spend at both Nazaré or Fátima. Each could take at least half a day.
In Fátima, in addition to the sanctuary are the locations where the children lived and the Angel of peace appeared. Those are a couple miles from the sanctuary area.

We looked up free parking lots before going over and that saved time.

Posted by
2505 posts

Have you booked your flight? If not, consider flying to Porto from US and returning from Lisbon. It is a multi-city itinerary. It is what we are doing in October.

Posted by
1676 posts

If you fly into Lisbon - and I agree with the suggestion to fly into Porto if possible - no need to stay close to the airport. The airport is very close to town. I wouldn’t stay in Parque de Nações for a first time in Lisbon. It’s a newer area and not as picturesque, IMO. Oriente train station is there (for train to Porto), but Apolonia station is close to the Baixa area and it’s an easier train station to navigate. It’s all on the ground floor so no worries about elevators not working as you deal with luggage. Chiado and Alfama are also fairly close to Apolonia.

I wouldn’t try to do the Algarve this trip. It’s a long drive and there are many beaches between Lisbon and Porto. You might research Silver Coast to get an idea of some of them.

cp.pt is the train website but you can’t book this far out - and there is no need. A couple of weeks out is plenty and you get a discount for booking ahead. I always use Auto Europe for car rental and have always been happy with them.

Be aware that Easter is April 1 this year. Book your lodging sooner rather than later as Easter is a busier time. Lots of Spanish come to Portugal for the Easter break.

Posted by
1200 posts

DebbieL

Open jaw to Porto and out of Lisbon would have been best.

Flying from San Francisco is a long flight. We flew from Vancouver, so we understand. You could stay the one night in Lisbon, then check out and catch the train from Lisbon to Porto the next day. However, by doing this you will basically use up a valuable night and day which will be spent packing, unpacking, checking in and out and grabbing meals and checking in again in Porto.

Another alternative is to bite the bullet and, after landing in Lisbon, immediately take a 1 hour flight for about $USD50 to Porto. A little bit tougher on the body, but then you can settle down in Porto and start the vacation.

For car rental, check out Zestcarrental.com. I think they are the best. Just read and compare the details for each different car rental company.

Posted by
3 posts

Thank you all for the suggestions. This is our itinerary sketched out that you helped out on.

  1. Land in Lisbon and take a flight to Porto. Stay 5 nights exploring Porto and surrounding areas in between soccer games.
  2. Rent a car and 1 or 2 night in Duoro Valley Looking at staying at the Quinta da Corte.
  3. 1 or 2 nights in Coimbra
  4. 2 nights Fatima with day trips to surrounding towns
  5. 4 nights Lisbon

Still need to fill in lots of blanks but thinking of staying in the Chiada area of Lisbon.
Happy traveling

Posted by
696 posts

Is that flight from Lisbon to Porto on the same ticket of your flight into Lisbon? It is risky to have them separate. If you are already booked on the RT ticket for Lisbon, you can also take a train when you arrive to Porto. In some countries you can just purchase the next available train to Porto upon arrival into town, but I am unsure if it works that way in Lisbon.

Posted by
3 posts

HI Katherine,
Yes, I did rebook my flight so now it will be Lisbon to Porto on the same ticket. This was at the advice of the TAP customer service rep. That is a great point and so glad to have accidentally changed it that way. I was just going to add a separate flight but glad I didn't. Good catch!
Thank you, DebbieL

Posted by
696 posts

woo! yay! Its way easier to start in the city you are "starting" in and end in your departure city :)

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