Portugal - Lisbon, Coimbra and Porto - Seeking lodging, sites and itinerary recommendations

What are your travel dates (actual or proposed)? And where are you planning to fly in to - and out of?

Without that, it's impossible to know if your plan is doable and relaxed, or rushed and crazy.

Keep in mind, when you say "X nights" in some place, you generally get "X-1" days there. So if you stick to your plan, you get one day in Lisbon, one day in Coimbra, 2 days in Porto, and I dunno how many days in Santiago de Compostela.

Hard to say without knowing your travel dates, but it looks to me like a too-fast pace, and you might need to consider dropping Santiago de Compostela.

I visited Lisbon, Coimbra, and Porto last May using trains and buses to get around. Weather was really nice up until the last few days in Porto - then it rained the rest of the time.

My itinerary was:

Lisbon (4 nights) - separate day trips to Sintra and to Cascais by train
Day stop in Tomar off the train between Lisbon and Coimbra, a bit of a detour
Coimbra (2 nights) [clearly one night too many]
Day trip to Nazare by bus from Coimbra
Porto (3 nights)
(Third night needed only because I was meeting friends for dinner that night, only night we could all get together. two nights would have been enough for me)

Any reason you are spending so little time in Lisbon? It's huge compared to Porto, and there is much more to see and do. Coimbra is tiny. Unless you are going to go see the Roman ruins outside of town (I didn't), half a day is probably sufficient. You could do it as a day stop off the train if you get an early start. (But you will have to find a place to store luggage - there is no official luggage storage at either Coimbra station that I'm aware of. You might improvise. In Tomar, same thing - but I was able to leave my bags at a hotel near the station for a few hours while I explored the town. They refused to take any money for storing it.)

Portugal's high speed trains do not stop in the city centers of any of these towns. So expect to change trains near the center of each town to/from a local train that takes you the short distance the rest of the way. From Coimbra to Porto, FYI, you could take the slower regional train instead of the faster train, if you can get one of them that goes directly from Coimbra (not the larger Coimbra-B station that high speed trains use) to Porto Campanha station (and then still need to change to get the short train to Porto Sao Bento station in the center). The reason to take the regional train is that you won't need to stop and change at Coimbra-B, if you catch that direct train; most of the benefit of the high speed train is lost just waiting for it at Coimbra-B. Also, I found the regional trains very uncrowded and surprisingly comfortable. I was alone but I had plenty of room to spread out. The high speed trains I was on were much fuller and more cramped.

I would add more nights to Lisbon. Two nights really gives you one full day and part of another day. As a reference point, we spent 5 nights in Lisbon, and that included a day trip to Sintra. There were still a few things we didn't see in Lisbon. Are you planning on going to Sintra? If not, I highly recommend spending at least one day in Sintra.

What are your interests? For example, in Lisbon, we visited the following: Gulbenkian Museum (one of our highlights), Sao Jorge Castle and then slowly strolled through the Alfama (our favorite day); spent a day in Belem visiting the Jeronimos Monastery, Discoveries Monument, lunch, and then Coach Museum. Visited Sao Roque Church and Mosteiro De Sao Vicente De Fora. And wandered through the other neighborhoods and stopped at some miradouros (viewpoints). I would feel very frustrated with only 2 nights in Lisbon.

We only had time for Lisbon on this visit so can't comment on the other places.

We were in Lisbon last April, towards the end of the month. Weather was perfect for sightseeing, sunny and 70's. So it will be a tad warmer when you are there (probably in the 80's). There are websites where you can check historical weather data.

if you like seafood, I highly recommend Cervejaria Ramiro, recommended by the late Anthony Bourdain. It was our favorite meal of the trip. You can stop at the Time Out Market, a huge market hall with tons of food stalls and small restaurants. We had delicious seafood at Monte Mar at the Time Out.

We stayed at the Hotel Real Palacio, Rua Tomas Ribeiro, 115, near Edward VII park. We were very happy with our hotel. Large room and storage space; price included a great breakfast buffet. It's not in the city center, though, so might be too far for some people. We did walk down Avenue Liberdade a few times to get to Rossio and Praca do Comercio. About a 20 minute walk. Price was $170. We took taxis a lot because I have some mobility issues due to arthritis. Taxis are inexpensive and plentiful.

Thank you David and Andrew, I will clarify our 2019 trip.

We arrive from Islas Canarias, Tenerife to Lisbon on 5/25 at 12:30pm. Plan is to spend 5/25 and 5/26, 2 nites in Lisbon. On the morning of 5/27 we'll take the train to Coimbra, to spend 5/27 and 5/28 nites there. On the morning of 5/29 we will travel by train to Porto and spend 5/29, 5/30 and 5/31 nites there. On 6/1 am we will take the train to Santiago de Compostela, where we will stay 3 nights before moving on to several other Spain Northern cities which I did't include in my inqury because this is the Portugal forum.

Again, thank you so much for any and all comments that can enrich our experience.

I will echo the other posters, two nights in Lisbon is way too short, IMO. If, nothing else, take a night from Coimbra and add to Lisbon.

But, the biggest issue I see is taking a train from Porto to Santiago de Compostela. Traveling between Portugal and Spain is much more challenging than one would think unless it’s by car or plane. Most people take a bus if they don’t use the above methods as there is no train - unless a very new one has been added.

The In Patio Guesthouse is a wonderful B&B in Porto. Book early it fills up quickly with only 5 rooms.

Guest House Duoro in Porto is excellent! Carmen and Joao have mastered the art of hospitality. Beautiful rooms, amazing breakfast and perfect location.

Too little time in Lisbon, too much time in Coimbra.