Portugal trip feedback

You're already backtracking by going to Salema from Lisbon and then Porto. That's already a 3 hour drive south for 2 nights which is only one full day and then 5.5 hours to Porto. Are you picking up the car immediately, or on the way to Salema? Normally I wouldn't advise driving right after an overnight flight, but if you are, possibly start in Salema, then make your way to Porto and then go to Lisbon last so you have more time to enjoy it. Get rid of the car for your final few nights because a car and parking in Lisbon isn't fun.

Lisbon is also a good base to see Sintra by train; parking isn't great there. We spent a week in Lisbon (including a day in Sintra) and 3 full days in Porto and didn't run out of things to see. In between to break up the drive my favourite stop was the walled town of Obidos.

I'm not sure if you can change your car rental. But I would take a train on arrival day from Lisbon to Porto, spend your nights in Porto. Pick up the car when leaving Porto for possibly 5 days. You can travel a bit north to see some sites in the Minho region (Guimarães and Braga) and/or Douro Valley. While you make your way south, you can take a route along the Silver Coast (Coimbra, Batalha Monastery, Obidos) or travel more inland (Tomar, Evora). Then spend your nights in the Algarve, drive to Lisbon to drop off the car. Or if you don't want to drive into Lisbon, Cascais has an Europcar location across the street from the commuter train station that will take you into Lisbon. Many don't get much done on arrival day, so hopping a train and napping on the train works out well, depending on when your flight arrives. This helps keep your Lisbon nights together and not split. And if your heart is not set on Salema, there are lots of beaches on the Silver Coast that would not require so many hours of driving.

With 11 nights by my count, trying to do the Algarve along with Lisbon and Porto is too much IMO. And, Salema is not a great choice. I’m not certain if anything is still open and it’s very small and underwhelming even in high summer. I, and others on this forum, don’t understand RS fondness for it.

As a previous poster mentioned, the Silver Coast area has many great beaches and it would save you the extra long drive to the Algarve. It’s between Porto and Lisbon so easy to fit into a relatively short trip.

Hi,
Because of the drop off fee with the rental car, we decided to pickup/return to Lisbon. Based on previous international trips, my preference is to spend the first few nights in Lisbon.

We are not beach people. Enjoy the scenery but not sunbathing.

Lisbon > Salema > Nazare > Porto > Lisbon

Longest drive is 4.5hrs

The goal is to see as much of the country as possible.

Can you provide more information on what you would like feedback on? It appears you already have this trip planned based on your travel style and what you want to see.

I'm with Lynn on this one, I'm not sure what feedback you want. You want to minimize drive teams and not backtrack, but you have a 4.5 hour drive and you are backtracking.

I'm requesting suggestions on the itinerary. If I went with my original itinerary, longest drive time is 4.5hrs. I'm open to other ideas.

I have 10 days, including the extra night in Lisbon before my departure flight.

Lisbon and Porto are definite overnight stops, 2 nights each.

If Algarve/Salema adds too much drive time, I may consider a different route.

We are planning our 1st trip to Portugal in Sept. We are staying 4 days in Lisbon, train to Fatima 1 night and then train to Porto for 3 days. What wineries are the best to see and taste in Porto?

We did a trip around the same time last year, 14 nights. We spent 5 nights in Lisbon, 2 in Sintra, 5 in Porto, 2 in Peneda Geres, and 3 in the Algarve. Although going north to Peneda Geres was very interesting, it also rained the entire time, so not great for sightseeing.
We flew between Porto and the Algarve (Faro) and drove back to Lisbon, which saved us a day and a half. To minimize backtracking, how about doing Lisbon, then Porto, take 3 nights to drive down to the Algarve, stopping each night at a different town along the way? (i.e., Coimbra, Castelo Branco, Evora [these are just examples plucked off the map. You may find more interesting towns]). After the Algarve, the drive back to Lisbon is about 3 hours from Lagos.
A lot of people on this forum dismiss the Algarve, but we liked it a lot, and we didn't spend much time on the beach. Maybe because after all the rain up north, it was nice to get somewhere warm and sunny! The Seven Hanging Trails is insanely popular, but justifiably so; the views are lovely. We stayed on the eastern end, and enjoyed the Ria Formosa. We only got to spend a couple of hours in Sagres (we were driving back to Lisbon) but would have liked to have spent more time. We liked Tavira, Loule and Silves (although I have to admit that by the end of our trip, the castles were all starting to look the same). Southern Portugal is where most of the agriculture is, so you could find markets with great produce.

After all the feedback on this site plus FB Portugal travel, I'm thinking of not heading south to the Algarve region.

If I do 3 nights Lisbon and 3 nights Porto, which city makes sense in between for 2 nights.

Planning on side trips - Obidos, Nazare, Tomar, Coimbra, Braga.

I too agree with your decision to skip the Algarve. For the two nights I would suggest Coimbra or possibly Braga.

Óbidos can be seen in a couple hours while Nazaré might take 3-4 depending on what you see. The upper town can take a couple hours.

When leaving Lisbon you could stop at both and then spend a night in Tomar. From it you can drive to Coimbra to spend the second night. To me Coimbra deserves a full day at least, especially if you take the self guided university tour.

Driving times between locations is short as the cities/towns aren’t that far apart.

We had more time on our trip and spent a night in Óbidos, two nights in Nazaré, three nights each in Coimbra and Porto, and four nights in Tomar. We also had a rental car.