Hi,
I will be going on a swimming holiday in São Tomé end of January and have the opportunity to spend the week before in Portugal. End of January would not normally be my preferred time due to weather. Has anyone travelled during that time and can give me some advice about what to do during this time?
I enjoy museums, eating out, side trips to quaint locations, and visiting gardens( unlikely this time of year I am guessing)
Would love to hear fellow traveler's thoughts
Sincerely,
Evelyn
Posted by
253 posts
You may want to check into two on-line international weather sites, timeanddate.com, and weatherspark.com. Both sites will allow you to see what the weather (temperature, precipitation, and more) actually were in various Portuguese cities during your selected travel dates, across several past years. This may give you some idea of what you can expect on your visit next Jan.
On a personal note, both my Portugal trips (2017, 2025) were in mid-December, and my weather experiences were totally different. Last year the weather I encountered in Coimbra and Porto was generally rainy and cold, whereas on the earlier trip, the weather in Coimbra and Guimarães (near Porto) was sunny and pleasant.
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
2091 posts
January is usually a mixed bag. Portugal gets pretty much all of its rain in the winter, so you will likely have rainy days. But, normally, the showers are fairly brief, interspersed with cloudy or even sunny spells. It never freezes here in the Lisbon region. So, depending on where you are from, you may really enjoy the milder temperatures. I, personally, like the winters here (this will be my 12th), for the most part. The tourists are mostly gone and the sunny days are lovely. I eat outside off and on all winter. The skies are crystal clear and just beautiful.
One caveat, if you stay in apartment rentals instead of a hotel. Be sure to ask what kind of heat the apartment has. Many older places have no heat. These usually have some type of portable heater that will definitely not be what you are accustomed to.