Portugal with young kids, looking for ideas

Especially since you're traveling with kids, I wanted to put in a word for the Oceanario (acquarium) in Lisbon. It compares favorably with the big ones in the U.S., and is easily reached by metro.

June can be hot there and with a 2 year old, I would be tempted to just have 2 bases - a week in Lisbon for history and exploring and a week in Lagos for beach chill time. June will be quieter than peak season.

Salema is not a good base with young children, as most of the accommodation is up a very steep hill, which is difficult walking up on your own, without having to carry children too. There is far more for children in Lagos and Meia Praia is an easy to access beach, whereas the beaches west of Lagos are accessed down about 100 steps.

With only 2 weeks, there is more than enough to keep you occupied without wasting a day moving to another country. You don’t need a car in Lisbon and can take day trips to Evora, Cascais or Sintra. A car is useful in the Algarve and driving is easy. If you aren’t hiring a car, Salema has limited public transport.

I’m one of those that don’t think the Algarve is as much Portugal as most of the rest of the country. The rock formations are pretty spectacular but your children won’t care about that. They will just care about the beach. There are a number of child friendly beaches in the Silver Coast area of Portugal and it’s much closer to Lisbon than the Algarve. São Martinho do Porto has a great beach for kids. It’s on a bay and very calm. Even very young children are safe wading in the water. And, I also don’t agree with RS opinion of Salema. If you do go to the Algarve, don’t use Salema as a base - use Lagos.

I also agree two home bases for two weeks (especially with small children) is enough. You lose so much time when you change locations and by basing in two places, you can really get to know both areas.
And, I’m very biased since I live here, but Cascais has a lot of parks and calm bays for kids to go in the water. And, in June it’s not as crowded as later in the summer.
The Oceanarium is great for kids in Lisbon. There is also a hippo trip with the vehicle going on the streets part of the way, then in the river part of the way. You could also do a day trip from Lisbon to Setubal. They have great dolphin watching tours that pretty much guarantee you get to see the dolphins. Once they find the Dolphins, the boat follows them for 30 minutes. The children on the tour I took, loved it (as did I).

Thank you all for your comments! I definitely hear what you are saying about only having 2 bases, I wouldn’t really want to do 4, but wasn’t sure what other places deserved significant time. If Lisbon and the Algarve have enough within day trip distance to occupy 2 weeks that would definitely be nice.

Jennifer, do you think it will be so hot in June that we should look at going somewhere else and save Portugal for another trip at a different time of year?

Kathryn, do you have any suggestions for a second base instead of the Algarve or do you still think the Algarve is the best choice?

Inland Portugal can get hot in June, as can the eastern Algarve. The western Algarve has a prevailing wind that makes it cooler. A couple of years ago in mid June, when I left Lagos at 5pm, it was 25 degrees at 5 pm and when I arrived at Faro airport at 7pm, it was 32 degrees.

There are plenty of coastal options closer to Lisbon such as Foz do Arelho which has a shallow lagoon that is good for young children. With a week, you do have enough time to cover the Algarve, which has a much larger pool of accommodation options.

Another vote for the Oceanario-and there is a gelato place right next to the exit doors in the mall that has the subway station. If the school calendar is not an issue or if you can skip some days at the end of school(that last week isn't the most productive in elementary school!) you should go as early in June as possible due to the heat.

Thank you all for your comments. I am coalescing pretty strongly around doing a week in the Algarve, followed by a week in Lisbon.

From my reading I have been doing I think we would want to visit Évora. Do you think Évora would be best as a day trip from Lisbon (as Jennifer suggested), a stop on our day driving from the the Algarve to Lisbon, or does it deserve a one night stop? I’m not too keen on a one night stop with the kids but am thinking if it is sandwiched between two long stops it might be workable.

For an Algarve home base, does anyone have any other good suggestions besides Lagos? I’ve been reading about it and while I do want to spend a day there I am not sure it is where we should set up shop for a week (though I haven’t ruled it out).