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Southern Spain/Portugal in March

Posted by on

Hello all - asking for advice. We are planning on a southern Spain and Portugal (Lisbon and Porto only). We plan on arriving approx. the second week of March 2025 and staying around 19 days - which would have us departing at the end of March.

Here's my question - do we start in Madrid and travel south, then travel to Porto? Or do we start in Porto and end in Madrid? I'm strictly thinking about weather - transportation is not the issue. Will it be considerably cooler in Lisbon/Porto than southern Spain? I'd like to time it so that the time spent in Portugal has the best weather. My tour advisor claims it will basically be the same in both places but I find that hard to believe.

So where should we begin and end this trip to capture the best weather? Many thanks

Posted by
6569 posts

A loop is a loop, whether you head south to Andalucía, then west to Lisbon, north to Porto, and back to Madrid, or if you do it in reverse. How you are traveling will affect how you get from place to place. As has been often stated on the forum, train and bus connections between Spain and Portugal are not that great.

I’d expect Porto and Lisbon to be slightly cooler in March due to their location on the water. I remember (years ago) driving from Coimbra back to Madrid via Guarda in April and there was snow on the ground in both Guarda and Ávila. So it could be fairly chilly.

Posted by
7377 posts

Then there’s wind coming off the ocean - which could make things feel cooler regardless of what the thermometer reads. Barring a big storm, early Spring will generally be warmer than late Winter, so if best weather while in Portugal is your main focus, plan on Portugal for the end of your trip.

Posted by
63 posts

I agree Cyn! We will start in southern Spain and hope for decent weather in Lisbon/Porto at the end of March. We are from Michigan so we are very used to cold weather. It will be mild there in comparison to being at home!

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