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Help with 1st time Portugal itinerary

Hi everyone -
First of all, thanks for any assistance you can provide regarding my Portugal vacation below. We've never been and have about 2 weeks to spend. We will be renting a car for our transportation once we leave Lisbon. We are really into wine, food and history!

  • 3 days Lisbon (day trip to Sintra)
  • 2 days Algarve (not sure exactly where yet)
    • 2 days Evora
    • 2 days Coimbra
    • 2 days Douro River Valley -2 days Porto
    • 2 days Obidos

We plan on (if possible) leaving from Obidos to get to the airport in Lisbon.

Thanks for any help or suggestions you can provide.

Posted by
362 posts

You don’t mention what time of year your trip will be but I would skip the Algarve & allocate the time to Lisbon, Porto or the beautiful Douro valley. The Algarve would eat up too much time getting there & back. Counting your days ( 2 nights give you 1 full day), you have 19 nights. You could do Obidos if it’s a must as a day trip from Lisbon. It’s quite small & very touristy, think bus loads.

Posted by
6113 posts

The Algarve doesn’t really offer much history and is all about the beaches and golf. It takes too long to get there to make the journey worthwhile IMO.

You can get food and wine anywhere in Portugal! Much wine is from the Alentejo.

Obidos is a visit of a couple of hours, not a 2 night stop. You are short changing Lisbon with only 2 days actually there, so I would add your time allocated to the Algarve here. I would take your Obidos time and cover Obidos, Tomar, Alcobaca and Fatima.

Posted by
1576 posts

Hi Italy,

I would like to offer some suggestions on your itinerary. Consider doing an open jaw flight plan. Fly into Lisbon and Fly out of Porto to go home.

I have crafted an itinerary logistically that is efficient:

Lisbon: 3 Nights

Day 1 - Lisbon

Day 2 - Lisbon (Day Trip to Sintra) 28 min drive

Day 3 - Lisbon

Algarve: 2 Nights:
Stay in Faro

Day 1 - Faro

Day 2 - Faro (Day Trip to Lagos) 1 hr. drive

Evora: 2 Nights

Day 1: - Evora

Day 2 - Evora

Coimbra: 2 Nights

Day 1 - Coimbra

Day 2 - Coimbra (Day Trip to Nazare) 1 hr. 11 min drive

Porto: 4 Nights

Day 1 - Porto

Day 2 - Porto (Day Trip to Obidos) 2 hrs. 13 min drive

Day 3- Porto (Day trip to Douro Valley towns of Lamego and Bitetos) 1 hr.20 min drive

Day 4 - Porto (Drop Off Rental Car and Fly Home)

Hope that help,
Take care

Posted by
372 posts

We are just back from our 16 night trip to Portugal. We traveled first couple weeks of September. We did 3 nights Lisbon, 4 nights Lagos, 2 nights Evora, 4 nights Nazare and 3 nights Porto. We rented a car on our way out of Lisbon and dropped it off on our way into Porto. We flew into Lisbon and out of Porto. Roads are in great condition and well signed. Be sure you are familiar with roundabouts - there are a lot of them! From Lisbon we day tripped to Sintra. From Lagos we day tripped to Sagres, and Silves. On the way to Evora (or maybe it was after) we stopped in Tomar, which we loved. From Nazare we did day trips to Alcobaca, and Obidos (2 hours is enough, you don't need 2 days) and stopped in Conimbriga for the Roman Ruins on our way to Porto. We did a full day river cruise from Regusa to Porto on the Duoro river - I don't recommend this. If you love wine, food and history you will love Portugal!

Posted by
6733 posts

Start by being honest with yourself...

We've never been and have about 2 weeks to spend

How many full days will you have once you arrive in Portugal? Do NOT count the day you arrive, nor the day you depart. Most first time travelers lie to themselves about exactly how much time usable they really have there. You may be engaging in the same willful self-deception.

I count up the "days" you have allocated, and they total 13. I'd wager that you actually have less than 13 days actually in Portugal (not including travel days). To have 13 usable days, your trip needs to be at least 15 days long (unless you're popping over to Portugal from Spain or other nearby place).

Next, be realistic about how much time is consumed every time you pick up and move from one location to another (minimum of 1/2 day if you're efficient, more like 3/4 of a day for new travelers). Given this fact, it's generally wise to subtract one day from a first-stab itinerary, so...

3 days Lisbon (day trip to Sintra) - this actually gets you ONE day in Lisbon
2 days Algarve - this actually gets you ONE day there
2 days Evora - this actually gets you ONE day there
2 days Coimbra - this actually gets you ONE day there
2 days Douro River Valley - this actually gets you ONE day there
2 days Porto - this actually gets you ONE day there
2 days Obidos - this actually gets you ONE day there

I think you need to cut your number of stops down - way down.

Assuming your trip is 14 days long, that yields you at most 12 days in Portugal. You have 8 places on your list. That's not realistic for the time you have. With 12 days, I'd limit your itinerary to 3 or 4, certainly no more than 5 locations.

Posted by
362 posts

My suggestions support some other posts. Add days to Lisbon, long day trip to Sintra, skip Algarve and day trip to Obidos. After Lisbon head to Evora for two nights. On your way to Coimbra stop in Tomar,; Templar Castle & nice old town. Coimbra two nights and add a visit to Conimbriga. Then onto Porto & Douro Valley. I’m not a big Port Wine person but had great red wines in the valley. Best fresh fish, recommended by Porto residents is the town just north on the Atlantic called Matosinhos at the end of the metro line. Great grilled chicken in Evora. Cod Bacalhau in Lisbon, Portuguese steak in Sintra, unique eats in Porto; francesinha Cafe Santiago & Cachorro Especial Cervejaria Gazela. I liked the Ginjinja in Sintra (Obidos Ginjinha in chocolate cups) better than Lisbon Ginjinha.
Enjoy

Posted by
1570 posts

Based on our trip to Lisbon this past April, I would spend at least 4 nights in Lisbon. Lisbon is an amazing city with lots of interesting sights, and it's also a great city for wandering around and visiting the miradouros (viewpoints). I personally think anything less than 4 nights is shortchanging Lisbon.

I also recommend at least one night in Sintra. We visited Sintra as a day trip, and would have enjoyed at least one night there. It was very crowded in April with tour buses. We did take a bus tour, which we usually don't do. This tour gave us time to visit only the Pena Palace, and then a quick drive to Cascais and Estoril. We could have chosen a longer day tour, but chose the shorter tour so we could be back in Lisbon at a reasonable time for dinner and to pack as we were flying home the next day. However, ideally, I think at least one night in Sintra would have been better. There are quite a few palaces and castles to see.

Posted by
3 posts

Thanks to everyone for your help. I'm doing some re-evaluating now and I appreciate all the input and assistance.

Posted by
119 posts

given your interests, skip the Algarve and add that time to Lisbon. Obidos is fun, but a few hours there is enough. Add that time to Porto.