Pretty simple... we are visiting Lisbon specifically but want to extend our trip... too far to go to just visit Lisbon, I think... so where should we go if we want to stay 4 to 5 more days? Should we drive and see place near Lisbon, train or rent a car? Then circle back to Lisbon to return to the US? Or should heads towards another major city and return to the US from there? I am thankful for your responses.
Steven
You can a lot of options open to you. If you wanted to stay just in Portugal, you could add Nazare and Porto to the north, or you could do the Algarve to the south. Both options are accessible by train. If you are flying out of Lisbon, just make sure you stay your last night in Lisbon before flying out.
If your flights are flexible, you could choose somewhere in Spain or France to fly to. Look for budget flights on www.skyscanner.com. Just make sure if do fly to another city that you fly home from that city so you don't have to go all the way back to Lisbon.
For train schedules, use the Deutsche Bahn website (www.bahn.com). I hope this helps some.
Thank you... great to know reaching out and into "the cloud" can be of use... we decided that our trip to Lisbon which takes place over 4 days and in which our corporate host has arranged for adventurous activities and sightseeing excursions has likely hit the highlights of the local environs... and thus to extend the trip we decided to fly to Barcelona to round out the 9 day trip. Thanks for your thoughts on the region, I too did some research and it is great to see endorsements for areas I was considering.
Steven
You don't say when you're going or how long you be in Lisbon, or whether you have any day trips outside of Lisbon already planned. Without knowing those things I would say that if you are flying to Portugal and only visiting Lisbon you will get to know very little of the country.. If you can add 4 or 5 days, why not visit another part of Portugal. If you want to rent a car you can drive up the coast and visit Nazare. From there you can visit Coimbra and the ancient university, Conumbriga with its Roman ruins, the monestaries of Alcobaca and Batalha, and many other sights. Or you could drive or train to Porto to visit the port wineries and the Douro valley. Or if you like beaches, you could go south to the Algarve region. If you have no current plans for day trips from Lisbon you could visit Sintra, or Queluz, or Mafra, or take the ferry to Casilhas. Portugal has so much to offer it would be a pity to rush off to another country for a few days and ignore that which is right where you are.
My girlfriend and I are doing the Camino de Santiago, then travelling South through Portugal before flying back to USA from Lisbon (4 to 7 days of travel in northern Portugal, probably with a rental car). What are the "do not miss" cities/experiences along the way, and in Lisbon....that you might recommend? Thanks for the help.
Oops, just noticed my reply had a spelling error. The Roman ruins are Conimbriga.
