We are going to be visiting Portugal for the first time in late May/early June for 15 days. I have already ruled out the Algarve area since it appears to offer little besides beach towns and we live in Florida, so beaches aren't a big draw. We travel exclusively by train and/or bus when out of the country and focus on history, culture, and art. Since we will be coming from northern Italy and leaving for home from Lisbon, I am thinking of starting from Porto and working our way to Lisbon.
Tentatively, here is what i have so far.
Porto 4 days with one day to Guimaraes
3 days in Sintra
4 days in Lisbon
Clearly this is incomplete. I am open to suggestions about places and length of stay and truly appreciate advice from experienced Portugal travelers. Thank you in advance.
Posted by
below Canada / above Mexico
356 posts
In Aug 2023 we visited Portugal for the first time, staying 10 nights and travelling by train:
- Porto - 4 nights. (3 would have sufficed, but the extra day helped us recover from jet lag as we arrived from N. America).
- Coimbra - 2 nights.
- Lisbon - 4 nights with day trips to Sintra and Belem. (A day trip to Sintra with no overnight stay was sufficient for us.)
Our trip report might be useful reference: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-portugal-aug-sep-porto-coimbra-lisbon-then-to-spain
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
2003 posts
Not sure if I would stay in Sintra for three nights, but I’m not a huge fan due to the crowds. In late May/ early June, they will be significant. I’ve read of people staying 1-2 nights and enjoying it after the crowds leave, though. If you don’t want to extend your time in Lisbon, Coimbra is an easy stop on the train and is nice for a couple of nights. That gives you an opportunity to see a smaller city without the huge crowds of Sintra. Tomar is another possibility but more challenging by public transport.
Might be worth doing a bit of research to see if either of these interest you.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
8331 posts
I agree that both Coimbra and Tomar are worth visiting. On our 2023 trip we spent two nights in Coimbra and felt it was sufficient. We used Tomar as a base for four nights and took day trips from it. We had a rental car.