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New itinerary help - got a couple extra days, somewhere off the beaten track?

So... after some consideration, we decided to drop off the three nights in the Costa Vicentina (which sounds like just our kind of place, but difficult to reconcile with driving all the way up to Porto on such a short trip). So now we find ourselves with one or two extra nights and was wondering whether you might advise us where to go - keeping in mind we're more interested in off the beaten track travel, though Porto and Lisbon are very appealing to us.

Here's our itinerary so far -

Day 1: Arrive in Lisbon early morning. Spend day in Lisbon.
Day 2: Day trip to Sintra.
Day 3: Lisbon.
Day 4: Óbidos - Peniche. Surf in the afternoon in Peniche and sleep there.
Day 4: Morning surf in Peniche. Head to Nazaré for lunch and hopefully (fingers crossed) get a glimpse of some big waves. Sleep in Porto.
Day 5: Porto
Day 6: Day trip to Douro.
Day 7: Porto
Day 8: Lunch in Coimbra. Drive to Marvao and sleep in Marvao.
Day 9: Explore Estremoz and Vila Viscosa and overnight in Monsaraz.
Day 10: Monsaraz and surroundings
Day 11: Drive to Lisbon, stop for lunch and explore in Évora. Sleep in Lisbon.
Day 12: Lisbon
Day 13: Fly back home.

I've already added a night in Peniche and an extra night in Porto, but I still have one more - any thoughts on what we should do? We could add an extra night in Peniche to allow for an excursion to Berlengas, but asides from that I'm a bit torn. We'd like some nature or quaint town... What would you guys recommend? I'm heartbroken about skipping the Costa Vicentina, so I wanna try and make up for it :) Thanks!

Posted by
3293 posts

I had a great experience in the disused town of Castelo Rodrigo in eastern Portugal. I stayed at Casa da Cisterna, a beautiful B&B and Ana, the owner, offers trips at dusk to see the paleolithic engravings in the Coa National Park - a unique and enchanting evening. Super positive reviews on trip advisor!! If you're interested in doing this I would visit Coimbra on the way to Porto, stay in Porto two nights and then spend a night at a finca in the Duoro Valley. Then head to Castelo for a night before heading to Marvao.

Exploring the little town of Castelo and entering the park as the sun was setting was one of the unexpected highlights of my visit to Portugal.

Posted by
13 posts

Thank you! That really does sound fantastic!

I was reading about the schist villages near Lousa and since we are quite active travelers and love to hike, decided to spend two nights there so we could have a full day of hiking around the area.

So my itinerary now looks like this:

Day 1 - Arrive in Lisbon early morning, spend day in Lisbon
2 - Day trip to Sintra
3 - Lisbon
4 - Óbidos and Peniche / Afternoon surf
5 - Morning surf / Nazaré and Porto / Sleep in Porto
6 - Porto
7 - Day trip to Douro / Sleep in Porto
8 - Porto to Coimbra to Talasnal / Sleep in Talasnal
9- Talasnal / hikes / Sleep in Talasnal
10 - Marvao / Sleep in Marvao
11 - Monsaraz / Sleep in Monsaraz
12 - Monsaraz / Sleep in Monsaraz
13 - Monsaraz - Évora / Sleep in Lisbon
14 - Lisbon /sleep in Lisbon