Does anyone have suggestions on what to do on Christmas Day in Portugal? I have read Lisbon is beautiful during the holiday season, but have not found anything specific to do on Christmas Day. We are arriving on the 21st and plan to have a car for part of the trip so that we may visit some of the areas listed in the previous posts. We are only in Portugal for 9 days and have already decided to skip some of the beach towns since it is December. Thanks to all who post, it is a help to those of us who don't travel much!
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
Maggie
I have been to Portugal many times, but not at Christmas. I do know, however, that the 24th is when the main Christmas celebrations take place there, not the 25th. Try posting on Trip Advisor forum where locals (who generally don't read this website) will be able to give you better guidance.
Posted by
OP
Massachusetts
10 posts
Thank you Jennifer. I will take your advice. Can you tell me where you stayed in Lisbon? There are so many choices and I have been using Steve's travel book for guidance, however, it's really difficult to determine which place is best to stay. I am traveling with my 17 year old daughter and my husband. I am finding hotels that accommodate us are either very expensive or rather questionable.
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1666 posts
I don't have suggestions for Christmas Day but will comment on accommodations. If you are staying in Lisbon as long as three nights ( which I highly recommend), you might consider a vacation rental. There are many available in Lisbon and the price is more reasonable than a hotel. If you just google ' vacation rentals Lisbon' you will get many sites to peruse.
Posted by
OP
Massachusetts
10 posts
Kathryn, I will also follow your advice. Perhaps you can suggest further...We will be traveling from Porto to Lisbon and are considering stopping either near Cascais or Pinache but only for one night. Do you suggest I check vacation rentals there or are there hotels you would recommend? Thank you
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1666 posts
I was really disappointed in Peniche so I definitely wouldn't suggest staying there. If you want to spend a night in Cascais, I would just do a search on Booking.com or a similar search site. However, you can easily visit Cascais on the commuter train from Lisbon. I hate doing one night stays if I can avoid them so I may be biased. I obviously think Cascais is worth a visit since I just moved there but it might make your trip a little less hectic to stay one more night in Lisbon and do Cascais as a day trip.
Posted by
New York City
7 posts
Maggie, I'm following this post as we are an identical situation except traveling in April vs December. We too will have our teenaged daughter with us. We have decided to rent an apartment (via VRBO) in both Porto and Lisbon splitting time. I think it's a great option because it gives our daughter her own room and privacy. I would suggest searching for apartments with VRBO, HomeAway (same company), AirBnB and CrossPolinate. I will only choose ones that have several good reviews. All the best!