Critique of my 12 days itinerary in Portugal

I can only comment on Lisbon. Five nights is great for Lisbon. We spent 5 nights there and took a bus tour for a day to Sintra that included a brief visit to Cascais. Depending on your interests, you might not have time for 2 daytrips from Lisbon. There is a lot to see and do in Lisbon. Do you like museums? We loved the Gulbenkian Museum and enjoyed the Coach Museum. We didn't have time for the Tile Museum. We spent a day visiting Castle Sao Jorge and wandering through the Alfama. Spend about a day in Belem visiting the monastery, Coach Museum, and took the elevator to the top of the Discoveries Monument. So you might discover that you really don't have the time for 2 daytrips from Lisbon.

And Lisbon is such a wonderful city just for meandering, sitting at cafes, and visiting the miradouros (viewpoints) for gorgeous views of the city and river. There are cafes at the miradouros so you can enjoy the views while having a drink.

I have not been to the Algarve but I think most people will tell you it's a long way to go for just a few days. And then you have to return to Lisbon from the Algarve to get your flight to Vienna. Might not be doable or worth it.

The main issue I see is getting from Porto to the Algarve, since they're kind of at opposite ends of the country. If I were going to make that trek, I'd probably want a third full day in the Algarve.

What do you mean by "explore the city" in Algarve? What do you expect from your visit there?
And how do you get from Algarve to Vienna? Not sure there are good flights from Faro.

Trying to cover Lisbon- Porto- Algarve in 11 days is rushed. The Algarve isn’t a city, it’s a region that’s over 100 miles long on its southern coast.

You only have 2 days for Lisbon plus 2 day trips - you could easily spend 5 days here plus day trips. Evora is worth seeing.

It will take 4+ hours door to door to get from Lisbon to Porto.

There are few direct flights from Faro (Algarve) to Vienna- I can only see 2 flights a week in June. You will have much more choice from Lisbon.

I'm sorry. I forgot to say that my flight is from Lisbon and it will be in the evening. So, the next day I'm going back to Lisbon and fly over there to Vienna. Nothing I just want to explore. Like walk around the city you know.

Ok... but again, the Algarve is not a city, it is a whole region, famous for its coastline. Some of the cities and towns are nice (such as Tavira), but they are not the highlight.
So if you want to explore cities, there is no reason to go there.
It would be better for you to go to Evora, for example (1 night is enough), or to Coimbra (1 night is OK but 2 nights allow for a quick side trip).

Also, at what time are you flying from Lisbon to Vienna? If it is in the morning or early afternoon, you definitely need to spend the night in Lisbon. If it is later in the day, you could reach the airport from Coimbra or Evora without too much trouble - although even that would be too much risk for some people.

If you are flying out of Lisbon, it really doesn’t make sense to travel the length of Portugal for so little time in the Algarve.

Hi from Wisconsin,
I am glad someone else mentioned the Gulbenkian Museum. WE went there on our last full day in LIsbon just by chance. It is beautifully laid out. It is like one of everything. But that one is perfect and nicely displayed as if it were the only one.

The story behind the money is interesting too.

wayne iNWI

We loved the Gulbenkian Museum!!! We spent more than half a day there, including lunch outdoors at their cafe. It's one of my favorite museums.

I haven’t been to Lisbon or Porto yet, but I am also planning an itinerary. I like that yours gives you plenty of time in Lisbon and Porto. My concern would be getting from Porto to the Algarve. Are you going to fly from Porto to Faro? And which places would you visit in that region? For the scenic beaches in the west of the Algarve, it would probably be helpful to have a car.

For our trip, we decided to skip the Algarve (hopefully next time). We are planning:

Lisbon - 3 nights

Porto - 3 nights (arriving by train from Lisbon)

Douro valley - 2 nights (will pick up a rental car in Porto)

Coimbra or Tomar (or…?) - 1 night

Peniche - 3 nights (Peniche is on the coast between Nazaré and Lisbon)

Cascais - last night (drop off car and fly out of Lisbon the next day. Cascais is not far from Lisbon and its airport.

I would love more time in Lisbon, and I was sorry to skip the Algarve, but for us, this itinerary should work well. No long travel days and lots of interesting places to visit while we’re on the road.

Enjoy your trip! I’m sure it will be amazing.

Skip the Algarve and add Evora and Coimbra to your itinerary.