Hi, my husband and I are planning on going to Portugal for two months as he is newly retired. we hope to see as much as the country as possible. And enjoy hiking, restaurants, wineries, museums, and exploring small towns. We are not big beach people, but we do plan on visiting the Algarves as we have a place to stay for 9 days. We are planning on renting a car when needed. My initial itinerary is to start in Lisbon and spend a couple weeks there And do day trips to the local surrounding areas, then travel north towards Porto And then go to the Duoro Valley (valli)and then travel south to the Algarves and eventually back up to Lisbon. I am just wondering how much time I should spend in Lisbon and then should I use Porto as my second base and the Algarves as my third base ? So in essence spend 3 wks in Lisbon, 2.5 weeks in the north then take 1/2 week to drive down to Algarve and spend 2 weeks exploring the southern Algarve area? Does this make sense cause I’m trying to figure out if we rent Airbnb rather than packing unpacking every week or are there better central places to be should I spend more time in Lisbon because I know we could go to Sintra but I was not planning on having a car till we left Lisbon to go north. Sorry for so many questions but I am overwhelmed with how to plan this trip.
Posted by
406 posts
If you want a set itinerary service Julie has good reviews ( I haven't used her services)
https://juliedawnfox.com/
We were in Portugal for 3 months, 2 in the Algarve ( were beach people), wrote a trip report that has some info/photos about the Metro in Lisbon and train that might be useful to you if you want to check it out.
https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/extended-trip-to-portugal-1711933/
I would design a loop itenirary starting in Lisbon going north along the coast to Porto, from Porto visit the nearby towns , afterwards go east and south in the interior visiting/ staying in the town's along the way to the Algarve.
After the Algarve return to Lisbon along the coast.
With 2 months you'll have time enough to do such an itinerary.
Inside Lisbon and Porto I would use public transit and a car everywhere else.
If the car rental is too expensive, you have the option of public transit between the bigger cities/towns but not for the smaller places.
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1885 posts
You can easily do the trip without a car with the exception of the Algarve. You don’t want one in Lisbon or Porto. Having three bases in two months sounds good. Not certain about spending two weeks in the Algarve, though. It won’t be beach season. I spent two weeks in Lagos a number of years ago and saw everything I was interested in seeing within the first week. But, admittedly, it’s likely my least favorite part of the country. I would not extend past your nine days.
You can do the Douro without a car but, if you want to rent it when you leave Porto for the Douro portion, you might consider going on to the Coa Valley or even do some the the 12 historic villages. Sorry to give you more to overwhelm you. But, with that amount of time, you can see some lesser touristy things that are quite nice.
I agree with the Julie Dawn Fox recommendation. Her site has a wealth of information.
Sintra is very easy by train from Lisbon.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you for your suggestions!!! Will review and hopefully come up with a plan.