Portugal Spain travel

Posted by dsepulveda39 on 02/04/23 03:24 PM

I’m traveling to Portugal Spain with my family 13 year old son and husband June 10 for two weeks and want to do a loop Lisbon (2 nights) - Seville (3 nights)-Granada -(2 nights) ronda pass by - vejer de la frontera (3 nights) - Cadiz - tangier ( day trip) - algarve maybe Carvoeiro (3 nights) and then Sagres. (2 nights) we fly in and. Out of Lisbon - and have car when we leav Lisbon was much cheaper than flIghts to Madrid but still want some culture /historical experiences and beach time for paddle boarding maybe surfing 1-2 days . We also don’t like a lot of touristy crowded areas and love good food and wine we are active family and Spanish is my husbands first language so really want to do Spain My questions are these:

1 does this look like a good itinerary any recommendations on what to take out or add .? Food or wine recommendations?
2 struggling with a good base point for algarve it all looks amazing should we break it up or stay 1 place ? What are recommendations to stay and should we drive up the coast to
3 anything we should do longer shorter?
4 winery recommendations in this area
5 best hiking or day trips or fun ideas fir a very active 13 year old and VERY big on soccer
6 soccer ideas
Thank you,

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

02/04/23 03:39 PM

28249 posts

My interests do not align with yours at all, but this looks extremely rushed to me. You can use ViaMichelin.com to get estimates of the driving time for each leg of the trip, but they won't include stopping, navigational errors, traffic tie-ups, looking for parking, etc.

Vejer de la Frontera is an attractive white town, but 3 nights (as long as you plan to stay in Seville and Lisbon) seems a very long stay to me. Do you have a special reason for going there? If not, it works as a day-trip from Cadiz, even by bus. There's more to see in Cadiz.

Few people here will recommend a day trip to Tangier. Morocco is a fascinating country, but it has far more interesting cities than Tangier. Places like Fes and Marrakech have regular flights from many European cities, so it's easy enough to include Morocco on a future trip to Europe. The day trip you have planned will involve a lot of transportation time, and you'll end up at a not-great destination. I think that day could be better used in Seville or Lisbon.

Have you allowed for spending the last night in Lisbon before your flight home? It would be really risky to drive back to Lisbon from the Algarve on your departure day. With that night included, I count 16 nights; do you have that much time?

Posted by Craig

Chicago

02/04/23 04:39 PM

575 posts

I can answer your question on a base in the Algarve. In 2014, I visited Faro, Portugal. It's a resort town with a pleasant vibe. It was pleasant. However, it's the only town in the Algarve I have been to, so my knowledge of the area is limited. I have not been to any other town in the area.

Though I have hiked two 100-mile-long trails in Ireland, I have not hiked in Spain or Portugal. However, I had considered it. A tourist group has this site: https://visitsouthernspain.com/best-hikes-in-andalucia/

Posted by Suki

02/04/23 05:02 PM

11614 posts

I agree with poster acraven’s comments. Skip Tangier especially if you dislike crowds, touristy areas.Do include Cadiz.
Reduce time on Algarve to three nights or maybe four but all in one place. Hopefully other posters will give you advice on where to stay in the Algarve.
I do not not understand Vejer la Frontera 3 nights? Only two nights in Lisbon? More time needed in Lisbon.
There are professional soccer clubs in Lisbon, Sevilla, Granada so check their schedules. The Madrid and Barcelona clubs are tops.

Posted by dsepulveda39 OP

02/05/23 07:02 PM

7 posts

Thank you all so much this is so helpful! I will add more days to Lisbon and take out Tangier. That makes a lot of sense. Should we try and add in Porto / wine area and take out the three nights in Algarve maybe head back to Lisbon after Sagres for 3- 4 nights?

Sitll trying to figure out where to stay in Algarve but maybe 2 and 2 somewhere - will search for the soccer games in the cities great idea!