I am just starting to plan my trip to Portugal in the fall and am unsure about which areas to stay in. We will be going to Porto and Lisbon. We would like to stay close to city centres as we will not have a car and will be walking or taking public transportation. Any suggestions of areas to stay in? And any hotel suggestions as well?
Thank you.
In Porto, you really want to be relatively near the city center and the river. We stayed at Inpatio Guest House, it was very excellent. I believe Rick Steves still recommends them. It was well located, quiet, and the hosts very helpful. That was in 2020 though, just before the pandemic, so things may change.
In Lisbon, there just are so many options. I suppose the Baixa is central, I have stayed along the river, and it was great, I have also stayed further up the central area in a Holiday Inn.
In Lisbon, there is a decent Metro, some trams and rail, and to be honest, Uber and Bolt are very reasonable, I rarely use those platforms, but did a half dozen times in a few days. Even a trip from the airport to central Lisbon was less than 15 euro.
Our family (me, my hubby, and our college-aged son) visited Porto and Lisbon in December 2024. We didn't have a car, and only used public transportation or the occasional Uber (which was very reasonably priced). In Porto, we stayed at the Eurostars Porto Douro, right on the river and it was a beautiful place to stay. Honestly, in Porto we mainly just walked around to all the things we wanted to see, and used Uber to get to/from the train station. In Lisbon, I don't remember the name of the hotel we stayed at. But it was near the Marques de Pombal Metro stop, and as the previous poster says the Metro and trams in Lisbon are really great for getting around. So as long as you are somewhere near a Metro stop, you will not have any trouble getting to the things you want to see.
Thank you for responding
When in Porto consider taking the train up the Douro River Valley (its amazing) to Regua and/or Pinhao.
Hi!
In my opinion, the best area to stay in Porto concerning lowering the hill factor is slightly northwest São Bento train station. You cannot understand looking at a map, because the map doesn't show the topography, and 30 meters can make a huge difference. So, to show you the area I'm just going to say the name of the Hotels that are exactly on that spot. The spot means that you will be 20 meters from São Bento train station, and then:
So, the hotels are:
