First time travel to Portugal

Off the beaten path could conflict with "must see." I would sketch out a skeletal plan with a guide book or https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/portugal, and then post that for feedback. You will get much richer responses that way. Good luck!

I'm just researching, but I've had Journey to Portugal: In Pursuit of Portugal's History and Culture by Jose Saramago on my shelf for forever, just waiting for the year we finally get to Portugal.

Thank you! Yes I have a few travel books but each region looks enticing. I will look for the book you mentioned also.

Congratulations on your upcoming retirement, we retired at end of August and highly recommend it. We were in Portugal for 10 days in September. It's kind of long but here's our Trip Report that may contain some valuable nuggets of info. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-part-1-hills-and-castles-portugal

Highlights for us were the Moorish Castle in Sintra, Obidos, and Porto; especially across the river in Gaia.

Allan- Thank you- I cant wait to read your travel log. I might have some questions but so appreciate.

I liked Sintra very much but also liked Belem as well. Don't forget Belem.

Was on a.cruise and from Porto, I took an excursion to Braga which is beautiful and interesting. It was a Sunday and most of the shops were closed but one couple bought a really beautiful tablecloth and napkins.

Was in Lisbon the month of October and it was still very crowded. it also rained almost daily.

I stayed at a 3 star boutique hotel , Be Poet Baixa Hotel. Reasonably priced. Good breakfast on Rua Augusta. Loved walking from one end to the other end of the street

Lisbon is very pretty and interesting.

Thanks so much for the recommendation Bostonphil7.

I'd take a look at Julie Dawn Fox Blog. Rick Steves book is limited to the areas he goes to on his tours. There are many more "must see" places that are not included. I found the blog a good resource for those other locations and smaller towns.

You have two weeks so maybe consider adding a visit to Madeira? Rick's books do not cover the islands but we really enjoyed our visit to Madeira. Especially if you enjoy nature it's spectacular. We also spent time in the Azores which was nice we just personally preferred Madeira. Anyway, you have time it seems to me with a 2 week trip to tack on a flight from Lisbon or Porto to spend a few days on one of the islands before you head back home to the US. I would consider it!

If you have any thoughts of immigrating to Portugal, I would suggest you try to research as much as possible and stick with very few places to visit. Stay in apartments for several days. Shop in grocery stores and Mercado’s to give you a feel for what it might be like. Rushing from place to place in order to see as much as possible will not give you any clue as to living here. Focus less on seeing the sights and more on the feel of a city or two.

Living here is wonderful but not for everyone and going through the move just to realize you don’t like it would be heartbreaking and expensive.

Thank you all so very much! Kathrynj I totally agree and we tend to try to focus on doing less and seeing more in depth-we love local Mercado's and observing and not just tourist sites.

I agree with the first comment; places considered to be "must-sees" are often squarely on the "beaten path," and may offer bigger doses of international-tourism culture, than of the unspoiled local sort.
My one trip to Portugal so far was in 2017, so I'm no longer able to give current information, but on that trip my two destinations outside of Lisbon were Coimbra and Guimarães, and both turned out to be perfect choices for me (someone who also likes to get into local culture, and beyond the tourist crowds); and at least then, neither seemed to be a high-level "must see" tourist destination -- at least not in December, when I was there. (But on the mass-tourism timeline, 2017 was aeons ago.)
Finally, as you seem interested in reading about Portugal (an excellent idea), if you have the time you may want to consider one or both of Barry Hatton's books, "Queen of the Sea" (mainly about Lisbon) and "The Portuguese" -- both are informative and engagingly written..

Faedus,
I so appreciate your information and Coimbra looks beautiful and World heritage site and university as does Guinaraes. My husband and I do not have a lot of money and our travel is fairly low budget and we plan by reading everything we can about the history of a country and culture and art. We also have a lot of curiosity and we actually care about our fellow humans and do not travel just for pleasure and fun but to learn and witness and no cruises or group tours for us...-last November we went to Greek Island of Lesvos and visited an NGO that aids refugees and briefly entered a refugee camp. We witnessed a lot and it was eye opening..Every trip we seek something meaningful beyond the usual tourist experience...

Leslie:

You appear to have some very commendable motives for travel. Nothing wrong with queries and comments about fun and food, but it's nice to see more thoughtful commentary like yours show up at least from time to time.
Several years ago, when a good opportunity for going to Greece came along, I had also had considered Lesbos (as we classically-trained types still call it!), and mainly for the reasons you did; for I had read some edifying reports about how well the island was responding to the refugee crisis (though I would later read one or two articles -- I don't know how accurate -- that the islanders had become rather overwhelmed and jaded, which perhaps would be understandable). Anyway, the trip didn't work out, and to this day my Greece experience remains limited to three of four days -- although very enjoyable ones -- in Athens several decades ago (but at least before the recent quantum leaps in mass tourism).