Doing a loop in Portugal in September, going north first or head to Algarve first?

Hi

The grape harvest (vindima) is usually in September, and the weather gets colder and wetter in the North first so I would start in the North and go South.

Ideally I would fly into the North and fly out from the South so I wouldn't waste time backtracking.

Happy travels

Thanks for the info on weather. good point about grape season. We won't be backtracking but really doing a circle covering all directions :)

Sorry, but to fit in 9 areas/ cities in 14 days including Lisbon (which deserves 3-5 days itself) would be a blur, so I suggest that you drop the geographical outlier - the Algarve and then start in the north and work south. You really need 3+ weeks for your itinerary. It’s a small scale country, but getting around it takes time. One of the pleasures of Portugal is slowing down and experiencing local life.

Thank you Jennifer for your response. We have a full 17 days to travel. Here is my original itenary which is counter-clockwise, but will reverse it thanks to the feedbacks. . If you don't mind, I would appreciate any suggestion where to cut or to add days.

This is our first trip to Portugal but won't be the last. I sort of want to get a an overall feel of the entire area and concentral a few in the next trip. Any inputs are sincerely welcome.

9/5-6 Lisbon 2N,
9/7 Sintra 1N,
9/8-10 afternoon pick up rental in Lis head to Algarve, overnight Logos 2N, and Faro 1N,
9/11-12 Evora for 2N, day trip to monzaras,
9/13 Drive to Monsanto, overnight there, visiting Castelo de Vide and other places on the way?
9/14 Drive Douro valley scenic road N222/N108 east to west, arriving at Porto,
9/14-15 Porto 2N,
9/16 Braga,
9/17-18 coimbra 2N, day trip to Piodaos,
9/19 Tomar 1d,
9/20-21 Nazare(1hr)-alcobaca- Óbidos, overnight Obidos,
9/21 Lisbon, overnight LIS,
9/22 depart

Faro is a working city - the old town is worth a couple of hours if you are there, but I wouldn’t bother going there from Lagos (1-2.5 hour drive depending on the route you take) and it’s not worth an overnight stay. Stay another night in Lagos.

Likewise, Obidos takes a couple of hours to see and is only an hour from Lisbon, so stay in Lisbon to cut down the number of one night stops.

Thank you for the suggestions.

Another suggestion for your itinerary if you are actually ending near Obidos. We stayed there our last night and drove to the Lisbon airport directly from Obidos. We enjoyed the town later in the day as the day-trippers left. I think our flight left around 1100 or 1200.

This way you could add one night to Lisbon at the start and have a full 2 days there.

"This is our first trip to Portugal but it won't be our last." Actually, it may be your last if you fail to survive the rushed pace of this one -- it seems you allow no more than two nights at any of your selected destinations. I basically agree with Jennifer, above; you probably will tend to glimpse places, rather than actually see them. But that's all I'm going to say. There appear to be two "schools" of travel: see fewer places, but get to know them well at a relaxed pace (mine); versus move as fast as you can in an effort to see everything. As with the two political parties in my own country, it's usually futile to attempt converting members of one faction into the other, so I'll just say that if I didn't convince you, by all means carry on with your proposed plan.
(Note: you did ask for suggestions as to which destinations you might cut -- I would suggest cutting about half of them, but I can't dictate any further as to which half.)

You have too many places to see in two weeks. Spend more time in fewer places! Skip the Algarve as a starting place.

Faedus and Suki,
As I am reading more about each locations, I do realize my plan needs cut to less places. I tend to be drawn to see many places yet I love to dig deep rather being rushed, what a dilemma!
Thank you both so mudh for the suggestions. I need to make up my mind as to what to cut. Shall I just follow Rick Steve's itenary, which covers Lisbon, Sintra, Algarve, Evora, Tomar, Coimbra, Porto, I may add Doura Valley since September is the the harvest time of grape. Cutting out half is a bit hard...

It is a dilemma; I personally solve it by digging deeper, rather than by rushing. The places you mention in your preceding note are mostly towns and cities, but note than the Algarve is a region (though not a huge one, being just the size of Delaware). Anyway, sticking to your own proposals (rather than offering entirely new proposals of my own), I think that among the cities you've just listed, Lisbon (plus Sintra), Evora, Tomar, Coimbra, and Porto would suffice for two weeks. Even that might be borderline-rushed, but probably feasible. It's a good combination of big city, smaller city (Coinbra), and town.

cutting out Algarve is hard. I'd like to have some nature components in addition to cities and towns. I appreciate all the suggestions and will be working are revising with less stops.
Thanks much

Yes, we have a car, and yes I was referring to beaches, in particular I had Bengali Caves in mind, also Tavira and the sea food. Both Rick Steve and Lonely Planet put Algarve in their 2weeks itinerary. It is interesting that several of you suggested not to include Algarve for my trip. Is it just because of the crowd? I had assumed September is less crowded. The beaches on the Atlantic side is cold, right?
I am definitely learning more from the discussion. Thank you, Gail

Hi

People go to the Algarve for the beaches and the weather however the ocean is cold (think Daytona Beach in January) and with strong currents in some places, the exceptions are in the shallow areas of some beaches that are warmer.

Outside of the beaches and weather the Algarve is less appealing with less of almost everything, monuments, culture, fishing villages with character (replaced by tourist apartments, hotels and resorts) on the other hand it has plenty of tourists .
Those are some of the reasons some don't recommend the Algarve.
Mostly it applies to the oceanfront tourist areas ( the interior is different) and during the summer season ( the low season is also different).

I like the Algarve in the winter, the Cascais zone in the shoulder seasons and the north in the summer so I'm not discouraging, just explaining.

Happy travels

Love this forum. Many of your traveled in Portugal many times and provided valuable insights. I am seriously considering cut Algarve for this trip, will tour Sintra coast maybe adding Cascais. Autopone, can you explanin Cascais zone?
Thanks.

Hi

What I mean by Cascais zone is the entire district of Cascais not just the city.

I don't visit Cascais, I stay in Cascais for weeks at a time which allows me to enjoy it / live as a local.

Although many tourists visit Cascais as day trip from Lisbon, the area is mostly for local people and their normal daily lives.

Because you have a car I suggest you drive from Lisbon along Avenida Marginal to Cascais, visit Cascais afterwards continue on the same road to Guincho and Sintra.

Cascais info
https://www.cascais-portugal.com/index.html

Happy travels

Thank you so much aulopone, I'll look into it.