We have an 8-day trip booked to Portugal at the end of March/beginning of April for my husband and I as well as our 16 year old daughter. We will be flying into Lisbon and out of Porto and will be renting a car for the duration. While I'm sure we will do a day (at most 2) in the cities on each end of the trip, we are trying to craft an itinerary for the 5 days or so in the middle. We don't want to be doing a ton of driving each day and so we thought it might be better to just do the central part of Portugal and the coastline between Lisbon and Porto -- we are fairly active so are looking for activities to do to break things up and keep our daughter interested. For example, we're thinking of having my husband and daughter take surf lessons near Peniche one day. We would also be interested doing a day hike one day, if that's something that is available. What are some charming towns, areas, must-do things in central Portugal (I think it's called Alentejo) and near the coast? Are there a couple of small towns that you might recommend making our home base for a day or two outside of Lisbon and Porto? Do you think we'll find enough to do in the region or should we make time to go North of Porto or South to Algarve?
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
1408 posts
You will have plenty to do in the region for both Lisbon and Porto and could easily fill the entire 8 days between the two cities. But since you want to specifically limit your city time, how about some of the smaller coastal towns of Nazare, Obidos or Alcobaca. Look at a Portugal guide to see what small towns match your interests. Surf lessons sound like fun, I just don’t think the water is particularly warm in March/April.
I am unfamiliar with the Alentejo region but know that some of our Forum members have traveled to Evora and loved it. I happen to like the university town of Coimbra. You and Your 16 yo daughter may find a visit to the university enjoyable and for an interesting half day trip from Coimbra, you could hike and explore the Roman city of Conimbriga, a very short distance from Coimbra.
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1768 posts
First, you don’t need or want a car in Lisbon or Porto. Parking is expensive and the public transport is very good. I would recommend renting the car as you leave Lisbon then turning it in when you arrive in Porto.
The middle part of the country between Lisbon and Porto is sometimes referred to as the Silver Coast region. The Alentejo is east and a bit south of Lisbon. The Silver coast has a number of lovely small towns and many places to explore. On my scouting trip before moving here, I stayed in Sao Martinho do Porto and really liked it. From there, we drove to Alcobaca, Batalha, Nazare, Obidos , Peniche and Caldas da Rainha as day trips. We did miss Tomar, which is
a nice town with a Knights of Templar monastery. As mentioned previously, Coimbra is very much worth a night of two.
March is still pretty cool and the water will be extremely cold. Unless you have access to wet suits, I can’t imagine trying to surf that time of the year. And, Peniche gets some pretty sizable waves, which might not be good for beginners. If your family must try surfing, Carcavelos is close to Lisbon (and on the commuter train line) and has surfing lessons. The waves aren’t too big either.
For hiking, the Sintra hills, again close to Lisbon, has some great hikes. I’m certain there are other further north, I’m just not aware of them.
You will have no difficulty finding enough to keep you busy in the areas you mention.