Itinerary Advice - Algarve to ?

Posted by jmtennant on 12/30/19 07:22 PM

My husband and I will be flying into Faro (from London) on a Sunday, April 19. We'll land in Faro around 6pm. I was thinking of spending the night there and then getting a car the next day to drive along the Algarve region before stopping in Lagos. As of now I have it as: 2 nights in Lagos leaving on Wednesday - and then either going to Evora to Lisbon.... OR.... driving from Lagos to Lisbon, hopping on a train to Porto and staying in Porto for 2.5 days (leaving Saturday morning) to head back to Lisbon. We will fly home on Tuesday 4/28.

My question is - does that seem like too much? We are usually fine to hop around when we are on trips, and I'd love to visit Porto. Just not sure if Evora is better to see?

Any insight is much appreciated!

Posted by aulopone

12/30/19 08:34 PM

269 posts

Hi
Porto and Evora are two very different cities. Evora is located in the southern interior of the country in the Alentejo province which is mostly wheat fields, olive trees, small pine trees and cork oak trees .It's hot and dry most of the time but April is part of the rainy season.
Evora city is small in comparison to Porto and was originally a walled city but has grown outside the walls.
Porto is located in the north by the Douro river and the ocean. It's the second largest city in Portugal.
Porto is colder, wetter and more hilly than Evora, however it has more to see and better public transport.
In lisbon to sightsee I use the hop-on hop-off Yellow bus.
https://www.yellowbustours.com/en-GB/Lisbon/Circuits.aspx

To travel from Lisbon to Porto I prefer to use the bullet train ( it's called "Alfa Pendular").
https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/how-to-travel/alfa
In Porto to sightsee I use the hop-on hop-off Yellow bus.
https://www.yellowbustours.com/en-GB/Porto/Circuits.aspx

I also use
https://www.stcp.pt/en/tourism/discover-porto/suggested-routes/
Happy travels

Posted by Jennifer

Tunbridge Wells

12/30/19 10:05 PM

6113 posts

The Algarve - Lisbon - Porto would be a mad rush, as you only have 8 days on the ground. I wouldn’t attempt this even with 2 full weeks there.

Can you get an earlier flight from London? EasyJet has numerous options from Gatwick that would get you to Faro in the morning or early afternoon, then you could hire the car at the airport and drive straight to Lagos, rather than wasting a night in Faro.

You need a car transponder from the hire company rather than paying for toll roads at the end of your trip, which is hassle.

You could drive from Lagos to Evora and have a night here then drop the car on arrival in Lisbon. You can easily fill 4-5 days in Lisbon. Alternatively, head from Lagos to Lisbon and take day trips by train to Cascais and Sintra.

Posted by Chani

Tel Aviv

12/31/19 08:42 AM

15582 posts

Consider driving times carefully. If you aren't on a toll road, you are likely to need up to 50% more time than GPS or computer apps calculate.

I loved Porto and Lisbon, Sintra and Cascais. Evora, not so much. It does depend on what your interests are. I would discourage you from choosing Porto because of the amount of time you'd lose in travel.

Posted by kathrynj

Cascais, Portugal

12/31/19 09:13 AM

1671 posts

It’s too much for such a short period of time, IMO. Personally, I would skip the Algarve with so few days, but, if your flights have been set, spend the least amount of time there before heading to Lisbon. While Evora is quite nice, I would never choose it over Porto. But, again, with such a short time, I would choose two of the places you mention and not try to do more than that.