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Porto in March?

Posted by (MD) on

I've been looking at the sales on TAP for 2024. I was thinking of going to Florence, Italy for a week or so, then maybe taking advantage of the free layover TAP offers to visit Porto for a few days. From what I can tell, since I'll be coming from and returning to Dulles, I would most likely fly into Lisbon (on my way home from Italy), then I guess have to take a train up to Porto, which I think is about 3 hours. I might spend a few days in Lisbon as well since I'll have to come and go from there. It's a bit challenging trying to figure out which dates what is possible on the TAP site, but I'm running out of time to make up my mind, so thought I'd ask for input from the forum. I'll admit, I'm kind of throwing this together quickly, and I feel like I'm kind of all over the place, so any helpful ideas you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

For reference, it sounds like Porto is a smaller place, more like Florence rather than Lisbon, which is more like Rome, right? I love Florence for the walkability. I enjoyed Rome and I'm glad I got to see it, but didn't find it as charming as Florence.

Thank you!

Posted by
7312 posts

March is a good time to visit Portugal in general: winter will be over, and late spring/summer crowds will not be there yet.
Both Porto and Lisbon are walkable...as long as you do not mind hills, as both are very hilly. Lisbon needs more time than Porto: 2 nights in Porto would already give you a good overview, whereas you definitely need at least 2 full days i.e. 3 nights for Lisbon (and more if you can).

Posted by
1038 posts

Sounds GREAT! I spent a few weeks in mid April in the eastern part of Portugal visiting friends & recall cool nights. I wore a light down coat and a rain jacket some days but it never got cold.

For reference, it sounds like Porto is a smaller place, more like Florence rather than Lisbon, which is more like Rome, right?

Rome feels like a crazy big city yet it's not that much bigger than Lisbon, huh. Rome had a population of 4.3 million in 2023, versus Lisbon's 3.1 million, yet Lisbon feels like a much smaller city, so I wouldn't compare the two. (Maybe it's all those tourists in such a small area in Rome??) You may find you like the feeling of Lisbon better than Rome. And I found it much cheaper than Italy in general.

Posted by
650 posts

Thank you for the input. I've decided to spend 5 nights in Portugal. I'll land around 8am in Lisbon so I've got more or less the whole day to get settled in to whatever my plan will be, although I'll be tired from having been up so early. As of right now, I know nothing about Portugal other than it's a place I've wanted to see, so I'm wide open to ideas and suggestions. Thank you!

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