Just trying to settle on itinerary

The Spain/Portugal rental car conundrum is a tough one. Expect a stunningly large fee for renting in Portugal and dropping off in Spain (I was quoted something like €800). I overcame that by brute force, dropping the first car in Portugal as close to the Spanish border as I could, taking public transit (bus, ferry, walking) to the nearest rental agency in Spain - it worked, but it was a PITA and consumed some time, so I'd only recommend that to someone who's stubborn, adventurous, and/or is dedicated enough to do something that others might think a bit irrational.

Public transit for getting around in Portugal might disappoint you (east for Lisbon - Sintra...less easy getting form there to Faro). There are bus lines but not the trains most of us dream about. If you're OK with a string of bus trips, then that probably is a rational choice.

Re: Morocco. I know you aren't asking for advice in that, but...you're apparently taking the ferry. Might make sense if you want to go to the ferry ports or someplace very close by. Where are your friends? I assume you know that you can fly from many cities around Iberia to Morocco for dirt cheap, and get to the more attractive places further inland (Marrakech, Fes, etc.)? In many ways, for many visitors, I think flying is a much better way to go (only exception is if you want to, or must, really want to go to one of the ferry ports (which are not exactly the best part of the country). Hope some of the above helps.

Thanks, David. Your info is a help. About Morocco. We've been there many times, my husband is from Morocco. Our destination will be Casablanca this time. Not the much nicer places like Fez (my fav), Marrakesh, or Essaouria. I thought that maybe the ferry idea would just be a change of pace. But you are right. Flights are so cheap, we'll probably end up doing that. I'll have to figure out the itinerary plan to see where we would fly from.
As for the car. If I was travelling without my kids I'd follow your lead about crossing the border to get a better deal. Maybe I'll have to check out train fares to Seville.
Thanks again, happy travels!

For two weeks, I would skip Morocco, you are taking on too much for that amount of time. Also, find another way to go from Lisbon to Seville, the car rental is a problem as outlined by earlier poster.

I would skip Lagos.

Lisbon is good for at least three days, add another day to visit Evora. Seville is good for minimum of another three days, one day in Cordoba a minimum and two for Greanda. Malaga has little to see and the beaches are not so wonderful. Florida has much better beaches than in Spain or Portugal.

If you do what I suggested and include Gibraltar, you will have spent 11-12 days with not much for Morocco. Tangier is a rat hole and not worth a trip. Better to visit Fez, Marrakesh or Agidar in the South.

Thanks, geovagriffith for your reply. I'm sorry, I should have said that we are in it for 3 weeks total, 2 in Portugal and Spain and 1 in Morocco, where we are visiting family in Casablanca. You are right, Tangier is pretty grimey. As I said, we have friends in Lagos, so it's either fly to Lisbon and drive to Lagos, or fly to Faro and drive to Lagos. We're still weighing our options.
Thanks again!

Lagos is too far a drive from Faro to undertake safely when jet lagged. You need to be alert when driving in Portugal as some of the driving standards are questionable.

Lagos to Seville is a 3.5 hour plus drive if you use the toll road and 5 hours if you don’t. Parking in Seville is a problem plus you would incur heavy drop off fees. Seven Portuguese and Spanish destinations in 2 weeks is too many and you will spend too long in transit. Personally, I would drop Gibraltar - I don’t know why anybody would want to visit there! You don’t really have time for Lisbon either or drop Lagos and head straight from Lisbon to Seville, which would be my preference.

There are several buses a day between Faro and Seville. Hire a car in Spain.

Cheers, Jennifer, you gave me something to think about. Our friends have a place in Lagos and we were thinking that we would go there, for sure. But now I'll have to give it some thought. One thing is for sure, we will leave the car in Portugal, if we get one. My husband is from Morocco so driving in Portugal shouldn't be a problem for him. :)

While I love the idea of going to Portugal, the main reason that we are going is because of our friends place in Lagos. So just flying into Lisbon and going to Seville doesn't make sense to me. Maybe we should just concentrate on Spain? And save Portugal for the next time?

I love vacation planning! (mostly)

Thanks again for the advice!

You can go to the wiki page for an airport and see a table with all the airlines and destinations. I found flights from Sevilla to Rabat on Ryanair and to Casablanca from Malaga and Lagos.

You could rent a car in Lagos and loop through Andalucia and back to Lagos; or start in Sevilla, loop through the Algarve and explore Andalucia, drop the car in Sevilla or Malaga.

Thanks, Chani, I'll check it out.

If you have not been to Portugal before, I would fly first into Lisbon, and try to have at least 3-4 nights there. There is lots to see there. You don';t need a car fro while you are there. You could then pick up a car and drop in Lagos or Faro., or bus or train to Lagos. Do you need a car in Lagos, or can your friends drive you? There is a bus that runs to Seville from I think both Lagos and Faro.

Thanks, Lisa. I think we've decided on spending the majority of our time in Portugal, starting in Lisbon.
We'll leave the car in Lagos and travel by bus to Seville and spend some time there. We'll then fly from Seville to Casablanca or Rabat.
That plan just sounds more mellow than trying to fit in more cities in Spain.