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Portugal in January

I have 10 days to explore and am thinking of flying into Porto and then traveling around by car. Can you suggest any cities to explore this time of year?

Posted by
6113 posts

From Porto, you could head north and visit the Douro Valley, Braga and Guimaraes.

Between Porto and Lisbon are some pretty places including Aveiro, Coimbra, Tomar, Alcobaca, Batala, Fatima and further south, Obidos and of course Lisbon.

Far too many places for 10 days, but these are my pick.

Posted by
362 posts

Porto of course, Coimbra, Fatima if you’re religious, Sintra, Tomar, Lisbon. I’ve been to Portugal twice without a car. I find trains very convenient & efficient, then trams, metros buses in cities with an occasional taxi.

Posted by
119 posts

Rick's Portugal guide is not detailed for the areas north and east of Porto. Lonely Planet is better for those areas. Most likely, the weather will be rainy and cold. A good time to visit if you don't like crowds. In my opinion, a car is very helpful outside of the cities, but not necessary if you stick to Braga, Guimaraes, and Viana do Castelo, all of which are easy to get to by public transportation.

Posted by
32173 posts

Alberta,

For travel in January, you might also consider spending at least part of your time in the Algarve region in the south - https://www.google.com/destination?q=portugal&client=firefox-b&site=search&output=search&dest_mid=/m/01gg84&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiiyrHkpOzeAhXjiVQKHWrdAqoQ69EBCDMoAjAA#dest_mid=/m/01gg84&tcfs=EhwaGAoKMjAxOC0xMi0xMBIKMjAxOC0xMi0xNCAB .

The weather will probably be a bit cool at that time of year, regardless of which part of the country you're in.