We were in Andalucia last Christmas for 15 days and had a wonderful time and perfect weather.
Trying to figure out if Portugal is a good place to travel at this time. Me, DH and 2 kids, 20 and 22.
Northern Portugal, like Porto, seems wet and cold. Same with Douro valley
We know we need to be in a larger city for Christmas Eve, day and NYE and day.
Need to fly in and out of Lisbon.
Lisbson for Christmas and Algarve or Madiera for NYE?
Dates would be Dec 17-Jan 3.
appreciate any feedback and suggested itineraries.
Posted by
Bristol, UK
991 posts
I’ve been to the Algarve for New Year. It’s a good time to go. Most restaurants are open as they get a lot of visitors at that time from Northern Portugal as well as elsewhere. I don’t know if we were lucky but the weather was lovely. Sunny and pretty warm every day but you do need a jacket for the evenings. There was a great firework display in Ferragudo where we were staying.
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1663 posts
Even though I would love to be in Madeira for NYE, I’ve not done it due to the cost. The fireworks display is spectacular - so they jack up the prices on airfares and hotels. I priced airfare from Lisbon to Funchal one year at around €1000! But, this was fairly last minute. They might be more reasonable a few months out.
If you can afford it, Madeira would be much superior to the Algarve.