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Portugal / Spain Questions

Posted by (Missouri) on

My husband and I are considering traveling to Portugal and Spain in May. We have been to Spain before (Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Granada) but have not been to Portugal. We’re thinking of doing Lisbon, Porto and the Douro Valley in Portugal and then Madrid, Barcelona and some of the Basque region, Bilbao and I’m not sure what else. Time isn’t a big issue because we’re retired so we’re thinking of spending 2 – 3 weeks. My initial questions are:

  1. Should we start in Lisbon or Porto?
  2. When we leave Portugal where should we start in Spain?
  3. Does it make sense to take the train between Lisbon and Porto or would it be better to have a car?
  4. Should we take a day trip to the Douro Valley or try to stay for a night or two in a Quinta? We’re mostly interested in the
    scenery. We like wine and good food but aren’t really Port wine drinkers.
  5. If we do a day trip to the Douro Valley is there a tour company you would recommend?

I realize that the answers to the questions are subjective but any insight or information you could provide would be appreciated.

Posted by
863 posts

I can answer 2. and 5.

The easiest route to get from Portugal to Spain if you don't have a car is to head north from Porto to Santiago de Compostela.

My sister did a day trip to the Douro with thecooltours and highly recommended them to me. She also did a Fado show and dinner with them and also loved that.

Posted by
400 posts

Based on your selection of cities I think it makes more sense to start in Lisbon and take the train north to Porto, then continue on into Spain from there.

Posted by
6 posts

the Douro is about much more than port wine. There are many high quality white and red wines made in the Douro. I wished we could have done a river trip when we were there....

Posted by
27104 posts

There are not a lot of ground-transportation links between Portugal and Spain. This is something everyone who plans a trip combining those two countries finds out. You can cross the border north of Porto into Galicia, a very pretty part of Spain with interesting cities like Santiago de Compostela, but that is nowhere near the Basque Country, Madrid or Barcelona. Now, there are many interesting places between Galicia and the three Spanish cities you mentioned, but it will take considerable extra time to stop and enjoy some of them. The places you mentioned in your original post sound like about a 3-week trip to me; are you willing to spend more time than that and see more of Spain?

The rail link between Lisbon and Porto is fine; you could stop over in Coimbra, too.

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