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Itinerary to Porgual -- first timers!

Posted by (USA) on

Hi all,

Here is our current (and pretty much fixed) skeleton of an itinerary for our trip to Lisbon, Sintra, and Porto. I'd love to hear what your thoughts are about it and I also have some questions that I'm still working on and wouldn't mind your input.

We'll be in Portugal the first week of October.

Day 1 -- arrive in Lisbon airport in the morning. Get to hotel to drop off luggage (Easy Hotel) and just roam and do self-guided tour until we are able to check-in to the room.
Day 2 to 5 -- explore Lisbon; take 1 day to do a day trip to Sintra
Day 6 -- train to Porto and arrive in the late morning. After dropping off luggage, roam around Porto to get an orientation and probably self-guided walking tour
Day 7 to 8 -- all Porto
Day 9 -- take train to Lisbon and fly out in the afternoon

This looks like a relatively relaxed itinerary, do you think?

Since we only have 1 day in Sintra (and not spending overnight there) what are the must-do and must-see? Of course, there is the Pena Palace that everyone seems to talk about so I guess that will be on my list. Anything else? We can spend as long as we need to in Sintra except we won't be overnighting there and will need to return to Lisbon for sleep.

I haven't done as much investigation of Porto as I have of Lisbon. Give that we have 2 full days (with half a day before that once we've arrived), are there any must-do or must-see in or around Porto? I know my husband loves river cruise (short ones that are a few hours, not overnight ones for this trip). Is taking any river cruise for several hours to explore the area a good activity to consider?

I'm also having a somewhat hard time deciding whether a Lisbon card is worth it and furthermore, if a Lisbon-Sintra card should be the one we get instead if we opt for one of these "card" routes.

Thanks for the thoughts!

Posted by
1638 posts

From Porto, do a day trip to Braga to see Bom Jesus. Some people combine this with Guimaraes, depending on the bus schedule.

Posted by
374 posts

In Porto we used the hop on hop off tourist yellow bus.
Bought the 24 hour ticket to use over 2 days.
The bus goes to the tourist attractions on a continuous loop.

We used it at our leisure to visit the sites and save our legs, you'll find Porto and Lisbon to be hilly.
As an added benefit no chance of getting lost since we got off/ on at the same stop at each attraction location.

They also have a local river cruise for waterfront views of the city.

Posted by
6600 posts

We were in Portugal, mid April, it was not shoulder season, it was quite busy. We were glad we did not purchase a Lisbon card or any other card because we didn't use public transportation much because it was so crowded. The hop on hop off buses, were quite busy and crowded and people were waiting a while for a bus to show up. In Lisbon proper we walked.

A few tips:
*In Lisbon, there is an elevator that goes up to the castle, it's free and not used much. You can buy tickets for the castle online or at the kiosk close to the entrance. Do not be one of the silly people waiting in the long line. The long line is to purchase the tickets, not to get in.
*If you want to go to monastery in Belem, get there at 9am, if not earlier. If you take the train, make sure you get on the right one. There is an express train that does not stop at Belem.

I would get 9:30 or at the latest 10:00 Pena tickets. You will need to get to the drop off at Pena a half an hour in advance of your ticket time, if not more. The palace gets increasingly congested as the day progresses. We also liked Monserrate, a lot. Super interesting and beautiful grounds. We purchased tickets when we arrived to Monserrate. Regalaria's grounds are very interesting. I would get on the train from Lisbon to Sintra at 7:30am at the latest. I didn't think Sintra town was all that interesting. However, a highlight was dinner at Incommun, make a reservation.

In Porto, the stock exchange building is really beautiful and the tour is quite good. You need to go there and get tickets. Info is in the RS guide. Unless you are massive Harry Potter fans, skip the bookstore, or maybe just walk past. RS has a walking tour for Porto in the guidebook. You don't have a lot of time in Porto. As beautiful as Braga and Guimaraes is, I don't think you have time for it. If you find you do have time, go via train after you have seen everything you want to see in Porto. The Douro River Valley is stunning. I typically do not take tours, but for your time frame, if you are interested in seeing the valley, find a full or half day tour that leaves from Porto and goes to a couple wineries. OR Take the train to Pinhao. It will be scenic and there are wineries you can walk to from Pinhao. I would not miss even just a peek of the Douro Valley.

We walked everywhere in Porto.

Posted by
353 posts

Great suggestions! I'm glad to hear these Porto options and will put them on my list.

I'm eager to see what "hilly" means in Lisbon and Porto! I've been to San Francisco many times (lived in neighbouring cities too) and wonder if it's comparable or "worse". I used to bike up and down the hills of San Francisco but that was like 2 decades ago!

Posted by
353 posts

@jules m, thanks for those suggestions about Sintra and the Lisbon card. Wow, getting on such an early train to Sintra, eh? Well, it's not bad for me as I'm an early bird, but it'll be a drag for my husband. I find sometimes (often?) on trips I'm the one ready to go right away in the morning and he's either actively compromising (which I feel bad) or he's dragging. Ahahah....

As for wineries in the Douro region, I am pretty sure this is something my husband would love. I don't care for them (don't care for alcohol of any kind) but I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy the wine trip/tours so long as he's enjoying it ;-) :)

Posted by
6600 posts

Muriel, we stayed 2 nights in Pena, but you can accomplish the same thing by leaving early for Lisbon.

Both cities are VERY hilly. Bring flat shoes with good soles. Most people were wearing sneakers or an athletic type sandal. The beautiful sidewalks become slick when wet. To me, San Francisco is one big hill. Lisbon and Porto are a bunch of hills if that makes any sense.

Posted by
8337 posts

You can walk all over Porto, no need for the HoHo.
Consider taking a day cruise up the Douro River.

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