Please Critique My Proposed 14-Day Portugal Itinerary!

Hi! Thank for for sharing!

It's a pretty good route for fast-moving adults, but my main comment is that 6 separate stops in 13 nights is too many with young children.

I would start with Porto and end with Lisbon: this will avoid that "wasted" final night in Lisbon. Landing at 8, you have plenty of time to catch the 3-hour train to Porto from Lisboa Oriente (www.cp.pt for tickets). Porto is definitely worth it, and seems reasonably kid-friendly. You can always go to the beach there if you need them to let off some steam!

Then, I would drive to Coimbra, spend 2-3 nights there (visit Alcobaça from there, and there are other things in the area). And drive on to Sintra, with a stop in Óbidos if you so desire. You could stay in Sintra for 2 nights, as besides Sintra itself there are other interesting places in the area. Sintra is not car-friendly but I am sure that there is accommodation with parking available.

I would then finish the trip in Lisbon, having returned the car.
I would be inclined towards treating Evora as a day trip from Lisbon, it is easy by train.

There is nothing too special to me about Lagos and the surrounding area; you have better beaches in the USA.

Even without children, I would only attempt to cover Porto - Lisbon - Algarve and points in between in a 3 week trip. You have effectively 12 days. You will be travelling slower.

Lisbon and Porto are both very hilly.

You aren’t going to find much in the way of castles, gardens and architecture in the Algarve. There are castles in Silves, Aljezur etc but these aren’t as interesting as castles in other parts of Europe. I would drop the Algarve - if you want beach time, try Foz do Arelho or Sao Martinho between Lisbon and Porto. The beaches on the Algarve can be very windy in May and unpleasant to sit on, plus as it’s the Atlantic not the Med, the sea is very cold.

Sintra and Cascais can easily fill a day each, Coimbra 2 days.

Your driving times are optimistic - add a third plus time for stops. You need a car with a transponder if you are taking the faster (and duller) toll roads.

I would take the train to Porto on day 1 and after a few nights there, hire a car and work your way south. Porto - Coimbra - Foz/Sao Martinho (with day trips to Alcobaca, Batalha etc - Lisbon is a reasonable balance of seeing places but not being manic given your timeframe. Or drop Coimbra and add nights to Foz as there are several good day trips from here. Return the car upon arrival in Lisbon.

Agree with Jennifer replacing Algarve with the Silver Coast, which is roughly an hour north of Lisbon with lots of day trip options. Sao Martinho has a nice gentle bay appropriate for young kids. Another suggestion is looking into flying in/out of Lisbon & Porto to save time backtracking. Select the multi-city (open jaw) option to see if it’s available to you.

Thank you for your input! You've convinced me to drop Algarve and allocate it elsewhere, and instead stick to beaches closer to Lisbon/Porto. Back to the drawing board!

Here’s some activities that your family might enjoy. All are between Porto and Lisbon.
• Tomar – Convento de Cristo. See how the Knights Templar lived.
• Castelo del Almourol. Take a row boat out to a castle on an island.
• Almeirim (for stone soup) Learn the fable behind the soup and try to find the stone.
• Evora – Cromeleque dos Almendres. We had a guide that teaches local school children about the place.
• Coimbra – Portugal dos Pequenitos. See every important building in Portugal built in miniature.
• Conimbriga – Roman Ruins with picnic benches. Bring your lunch.
• Porto – Military Museum houses 16,000 miniature figurines. Rooms and rooms of them.
• Lisbon – The aquarium and surrounding area. We also enjoyed the zoo.

Hi everyone! I posted this separately as well, but have revised my itinerary and would really appreciate your renewed feedback and tips for kid-friendly (more local) beaches and activities. Here is my new itinerary - let me know what you think! One question is whether I should drop Batalha and Tomar and instead spend another day in Coimbra, since many of you recommended 2 days for that location.

Day 1: Arrive in Lisbon @ 8:00 a.m. Drop off bags and explore.
Day 2: Lisbon
Day 3: Lisbon
Day 4: Day trip by train to Evora. Pick up car at night or early next morning.
Day 5: Sintra. Drive to Sintra and park car at hotel with free parking. Get 1-2 sites in.
Day 6: Sintra. Get 1-2 more sites in. Drive 30 mins to Mafra and sleep there. [Is Mafra a good place to stay?]
Day 7: Mafra + Obidos + Alcobaca. Sleep in Sao Martinho da Porto.
Day 8: Sao Martinho da Porto beach day. Sleep there.
Day 9: Batalha + Tomar. Sleep in Tomar.
Day 10: Coimbra. Drive 1 hour to Coimbra and spend day there. Sleep there.
Day 11: Porto. Drive 1 hour to Porto.
Day 12: Porto
Day 13: Porto + drive back to Lisbon airport area hotel in early evening. Sleep there.
Day 14: Fly out of Lisbon airport at 10:45 am.

Just to add - it's very challenging to take a train for non-day trips. We will have two carseats, a stroller, our bags and two kids, so while I love the idea of taking the train to Porto from Lisbon, I think it would be too much to juggle.