Feedback on our itinerary please?!

Posted by Layanluvstotravel on 01/15/18 11:47 PM

Finally reserved hotels and got our itinerary in place. Feedback is highly welcomed and I really want to know what places/experiences are absolutely do not miss? (we love the outdoors, history, walking, are nonalcoholics, don't care for the cathedrals).

Lisbon, 4 full days, 4 nights
Sintra, 1 full day and night
Porto (by train, seems like we come back to Lisbon for this) 4 days, 4 nights
Fly to Barcelona for 5 days
Fly back to Lisbon before we fly back to States

Day trip recommendations? Tour recommendations? I kept going back and forth on Sintra (whether to do as drip trip or to sleep overnight and decided just to go ahead and sleep).

Posted by Paulo Martins

Porto, Portugal

01/16/18 11:27 AM

80 posts

Hello nipperway,

It's a great plan you have there and it's great you're coming to Portugal!
I think you did well choosing to spend a night in Sintra - it has an amazing cultural landscape and the parks surrounding some of the points of interest are just wonderful ;)

About day trips:

while in Lisbon, you could go to Évora and visit its historic centre (listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site) or go to the beautiful Arrábida Natural park and admire the landscape and seascape and visit some places like Sesimbra...
while in Porto, you could go to Guimarães and discover the birthplace of Portugal, the beautiful historic centre, the castle and the ducal palace or go to Coimbra (longer trip) and roam through the beautiful streets and discover some of its monuments (both places are also listed as UNESCO's World heritage).

Enjoy Portugal ;)

Posted by geovagriffith

01/20/18 04:50 PM

7662 posts

You can see Sintra on a day trip from Lisbon.

There are great places to visit between Lisbon and Porto. You may consider a rental car.

You can fly from Porto to Barcelona.

Have you been to Madrid? Barcelona is great, but there is more to see in Madrid and the surrounding area (Toledo and Segovia). Also, Madrid has the amazing Prado Art Museum. Barcelona's main draw is the Sagrada Familia Cathedral that is not to be missed if you go there.

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

01/21/18 01:10 AM

27109 posts

I disagree that there is more to see in Madrid than in Barcelona, though I concede that Toledo and Segovia are wonderful. Most travelers do not spend two nearly full days in Madrid's art museums as I did. And Barcelona has a lot of good museums of its own. It all depends on the individual's interests.

Posted by Layanluvstotravel OP

02/11/18 03:24 AM

31 posts

Thank you all! After a little more research, we've changed our plans slightly.

Lisbon 4 full days, 4 nights (day trips to Cascais and Evora, )
Sintra, 1 full day and night (I know this can be a day trip but I'm tempted to spend the night)
Coimbra, 1 night (looks like from Sintra we will have to go back to Lisbon and then train to Coimbra)
Porto, 3 nights (probably 2 full days and a small portion of the travel day which is ok with us)
Fly to Barcelona for 5 days (yes, we've been to Madrid)
Fly back to Lisbon for 1 night and fly out to the states

Questions: 1) Evora - would this be worth doing with a tour? I see Viator has one (or is it manageable enough for us to do on our own?).
2) Do we wait until we are in Portugal to do our train reservations? Anything worth getting in advance (of course, we have our flight to Barcelona). 3) We will be staying at the Sheraton Lisbon (have rewards) but need a hotel for that last night. Recommendations? I'd like it to be in a good area since the Sheraton seems a little outside the central area.

Thanks!

Posted by kathrynj

Cascais, Portugal

02/11/18 10:36 AM

1669 posts

Purchase your train tickets for Portugal in advance. Up to 30 days in advance, you get 40% off.

For your last night in Lisbon, you might want to look for something in Chiado or Alfama. Chiado will have better transport options and it will really be in the center of restaurants, etc. But Alfama will be a bit more quaint.