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Portugal Itinerary Ideas - Barcelona versus Porto

Posted by (Oakland, CA) on

Hello fellow travelers!

My boyfriend and I are planning a trip to Portugal this September and are hoping to finalize our itinerary soon. We would appreciate any and all feedback, but we’re particularly keen to know your thoughts on Porto versus Barcelona.

Itinerary A:
Fly from San Francisco to Barcelona
3 nights in Barcelona
Fly from Barcelona to Lisbon
4 nights in Lisbon
Drive from Lisbon to Evora
1 night in Evora
Drive to Sagres/Salema area
2 nights in Sagres/Salema
Drive to Tavira
2 nights in Tavira
Drive or train back to Lisbon, fly home to SFO next day OR fly home from Faro (more $)

Itinerary B:
Replace time in Barcelona with a visit to Porto, flying round trip SFO to Lisbon

I have been to Barcelona once, but as a teen over 20 years ago. My boyfriend has never been. Neither of us have ever been to Portugal. We love trying new foods, both street food and more upscale restaurants. Neither of us are into drinking. We like a dose of history and local culture, but are not history buffs by any means. We like getting outside and exploring, both hikes in nature or fun neighborhoods. We both really enjoy coffee and good people watching. Our travel dates are fixed based on the time we could get off from work: leaving Sept 17th (arriving Sept 18th), flying home Oct 1st.

Thanks in advance for any tidbits you can offer us!
Chloe

Posted by
429 posts

Option A - are you chasing 20 year old memories or expecting to see changes? The former could be disappointing.

Option B is to discover something new together. In this case use train Lisbon-Porto-Lisbon and don't collect car until ready to leave Lisbon for the south.

make sure you understand the highway toll system in Portugal https://www.pttolls.com/en

Posted by
1997 posts

Stick to one country. Those internal flights are relatively short and usually quite inexpensive, but they're still flights and involve airport security, small luggage allowances and cramped conditions.

Posted by
4 posts

Wow, thanks for the quick responses!

To reply to the first question, I would certainly expect changes and would consider it almost like a new place, given the time lapse.

Also, forgot to add that we follow the Rick Steves philosophy with going carry-on only and packing light!

To reply to the second post, definitely hear you on avoiding extra time in the airport. Those short flights and getting to visit two countries is so darn tempting when you’ve come so far, but we don’t want to cram so much in that we don’t have meaningful travel.

Thank you!
Chloe

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