Assistance with Itinerary

I will speak only to the allergy issue. Here are some basics I use for food allergies as I travel - it's a little harder than in the US because of the language issue... I am assuming you don't speak any Portuguese. You should have allergy cards with you listing the allergy in Portuguese. Make sure you have an EpiPen and a back up. I have lots of Benadryl with me - make sure you bring enough as it's not available everywhere in Europe (don't know for Portugal). I also take a daily Zyrtec to give me a little protection. I'm assuming your son has the type of peanut allergy that doesn't allow for any wiggle room and even a small amount is a huge problem?

I'm not sure what lodgings you're using - I'm assuming it's hotels given your short stays. So you'll be eating in at least some restaurants. Restaurants are hard...not only do you have to convey the allergy itself but you have to make sure they understand it...and that's where I usually run into trouble. So I eat lots of meals in my apartment (which you might not be able to do) and I also take advantage of the grocery stores, where I get ingredients to make myself safe food to eat. No matter what the language (at least so far, but ask me how I do in China in September:) ), if I stand in the aisles long enough with my cheat sheet, I can read through ingredient lists on products and find safe foods.

And I repeat a lot of foods. Europe for me is often bread, cheese, pizza, french fries and the fruit I come across. It gets boring but it all works out. PM me if you have specific questions - my allergy is a different food than your son's.

Also - I would post your allergy questions separately so you'll get a better response. It's sheer luck that I happened to see the allergy question in your post and I don't usually respond to Portugal questions as I've never been there. You could post under General Europe or Food and Drink and put the allergy issue right into the title of your post.

Thank you for your quick response, Valerie. Yes, you're right, I should have posted a separate topic in the food section.

My son indeed has a life threatening peanut allergy (just one bite) and often has his Epipen and back-up with him especially when we travel. We'll also be bringing Reactine, Benadryl and non-refrigerated Probiotic as you've surmised, we'll be taking most of our major meals (lunch or dinner) from the restaurants. So yes, it will be very challenging. But we'll also go to the supermarkets, groceries and bakeries for quick food on the go. And since he's a teen, he'll pretty much be okay to subsist on the same diet as yours (bread, pizza, fruits, etc.)

As we don't speak the Portuguese language, I will definitely enlist that allergy cards suggestion that you made.

We haven't book any hotel accommodation yet, except in Fatima, so we're pretty flexible at the moment.

Good luck on your China trip. I'll be sure to PM you if something else in mind comes up! :-)

I think you are likely trying to stay in too many places for such a short trip. Any time you change hotels/locations you will pretty much lose a day. I would definitely add a night to Porto and drop the night in Coimbra. You could stop in Coimbra on your way from Porto to Lisbon - and IMO Nazare could be skipped. I really like Evora, but devoting a day on this short a trip might be pushing it. There are so many things to see in Lisbon, you can easily fill your limited time there.
Also, you mention traveling by bus. I'm curious as to why you aren't planning to travel - at least part of the time - by train. The train from Lisbon to Porto works well and I'm thinking your children might enjoy it better than a bus. if you buy tickets as much as a month out, you save a significant amount - making the train a very inexpensive way to travel.

Hi Kathrynnj,

You're right. Our drafted itinerary seems to be overwhelming. Taking your suggestion, I checked into trains. The kids will enjoy that for sure. The only reason we were thinking of dropping by Navare, is our son's request to see the ocean. From where we come from, its mostly lakes. But, given the limited time we have, something really has to give.

Many thanks for your advice!

You have all the ocean you may want in Porto! Porto is a seafront city, althoug the city center is by the river. And the waves, althoug not as big as in Nazaré, can easily go to 2 meters in August (what we call "marés vivas" - google tells me the translation is living tides). You are going to be in Porto on a Sunday and a hollyday. Well, downtown has a lot of beautifull things to see, I'm sure you have already searched for it, but you may ask yourself "where are the locals?", because you will be walking among other tourists. Besides those who are in church for the mass, the few remaining others (as many of us are in Algarve during August) are at "Parque da Cidade" (city park) running, walking, eating, playing with dogs, giving bread to the ducks, etc. "Parque da Cidade" ends at the beach (a big beach, with 2 surf schools). Maybe you could consider going there one morning and even spend sometime at the beach (just don't bath, even if the flag is green, because the water is really cold).

You can also see the ocean easily from Lisbon. Cascais is on the ocean and is an easy day trip on the train from Lisbon. If you want to make a trip to Cascais, let me know and is can give you easy directions/ideas.

Helena,

Yup, silly us, eh! Porto seems like a very romantic, old world city and for sure we'll do a fair share of strolling by the seafront. One of the places I would also love to see our the tiled churches.

Will definitely do a very morning visit at the Parque de Ciade. Looks lovely!

Obrigada!

kathrynj,

Thanks for the excellent tip. For some reason, Cascais never really occurred to us so now that you've mentioned it, I decided to really check it out. Its so beautiful and looks like a great spot to have a picnic! Would definitely find time to go there and get the Viva Viagem. I'll appreciate directions!

Cascais is indeed a lovely place, very charming! If you go there, you should visit "Boca do Inferno" (means "Hell mouth"), a kind of an open cave you can see from above, with strong waves. I cannot tell you how to get there but maybe Kathrynj can.

Concerning Oporto, well, it's impossible not to see the tiles, they are everywhere. The most known are inside S. Bento Station. My favourites, maybe because I have a connetion as I was born at the catholic hospital that belongs to same church, are at "Igreja do Carmo". You will visit, as it is one of the main touristic atractions, and near "Torre dos Clérigos", Lello book store, etc.

You might think two churches were built together, but that was not allowed. So, between Carmo church and Carmelitas church, is the narrowest house of Portugal.

Here's a link to "use-it", a map and some tips of Porto.

https://www.use-it.travel/cities/detail/porto/

That's quite a cool link you gave, Helena. Thanks! Speaking of Porto, as we will be there on the Feast of Assumption. What kind of celebration can we expect to see? My husband read somewhere that there will be processions. Is that still ongoing? Will there be fireworks, too? We look forward to joining the celebrations.