This is my first post but I have been reading others on the Portugal Forum and am finding the contributions both interesting and informative. We are beginning to plan a 3-4 week holiday to Portugal and Northern Spain in 2022. Our travel dates are flexible but we have set a tentative timeline of Sept 10th to October 10th. I have read a number of comments suggesting things are extremely busy in the fall. Is there a better time to go there or, if we are organized and plan ahead, is it fairly manageable? Comments appreciated. No doubt I will have more questions as we go along.
Posted by
Washington DC
28247 posts
What part of northern Spain do you plan to visit--Galicia? The Basque Country? The area in between? Or Barcelona and Catalunya?
I haven't been to that part of Europe in September or October, so I'll have to let others address your question about how busy the area is likely to be. Barcelona is always busy, but I don't now of any reason why north central and northwestern Spain would be heavily visited in early fall.
The Wikipedia entry for Santiago de Compostela confirms my instinctive feeling that you may run into considerable rain in Galicia at that time of year. You may consider that a reasonable trade-off if the level of tourism is lower. I visited the area in the summer to get away from the heat in the rest of Spain, and coolish, overcast weather is common even in mid-summer.
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1826 posts
Fall is a great time to visit Portugal. However, a little later in the fall might be better because tourism really declines in the later part of September. The rain doesn’t usually start in Portugal until the later half of October but it may start earlier in northern Spain. You might consider doing the Spain portion of your trip first then come south to Portugal.
The number of tourists should be manageable in most places at that time of the year. Maybe Obidos, Sintra and some places in Lisbon will still be crowded.
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
Portuguese schools return in mid September, later than in northern Europe. It’s never as busy in September as in August, but as the weather is still decent in September, those who aren’t tied to school holidays head away then. October is much quieter in my experience.
You may want to start north and head south, chasing the better weather. I have had torrential rain on the Silver Coast and the Algarve the first week of October but also warm, sunny days.
Your timing looks ok to me or bring it forward a week for northern Spain. Travel between Spain and Portugal isn’t as easy as you may think.
Posted by
OP
Western Canada
12 posts
Thank you everyone. We'll take your advice and start in Barcelona then Madrid and on to/La Rioja/Bilbao/San Sebastian and then into Portugal in late September. We will be doing a combination of air, rail, self-drive and private driver so will have to sort that out as we go along. Again, thank you!
Posted by
Houston, TX, USA
62 posts
We arrived in Portugal October 27 and will be here another 10 days. There has been some rain but nothing to slow us done. We have found the towns crowd free. We have only seen two small tour buses. Yesterday we toured Obidos which is suppose to be touristy and it was not crowded, there were not ANY tour busses in the parking lot. Every thing has been open and the scenery outstanding!