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Testing an Itinerary

Posted by (Portland, OR) on

10 nights in late May

Fly into Porto - 3 nights (get car for day 3 side trip to Guimaraes and keep for the next day and on) - Wed-Fri
Drive to Evora, stopping in Tomar in the middle of the day to see the Convent and Castle - 1 night - Sat
Drive to Comporta in the afternoon after seeing some of Evora - 2 nights for a little down time - Sun-Mon
Drive to Lisbon, ditch car - 4 nights - Tue-Fri, fly home Saturday

Day 4 is a long one, but my wife and I did far more every day in our trip last year to the UK.
Is 4 nights in Lisbon (which really means 3 full days) about right (with a side trip to Sintra)?
We could skip the night in Evora and add a day trip from Lisbon (adding one night to Lisbon), but I usually prefer to be my own tour guide.
It would be nice to add Coimbra and/or Algarve, but with 10 nights, it doesn't really feel like there is enough time.

Posted by
1858 posts

First, you can easily do Evora as a day trip from Lisbon without a tour. It’s an easy train ride and the old town is easy from the train station by Uber or Bolt. The old town itself is quite walkable on your own.

Why Comporta? It’s quite a bit out of the way and there are many beach towns between Porto and Lisbon if you are just wanting beach time.

I think you need more time in Lisbon, especially if you want a day trip to Sintra.

Posted by
7335 posts

Comporta is very expensive and "hyped-up" these days. There are great beaches between Lisbon and Porto; I absolutely loved my stay in Ericeira in the summer of 2019.

You could do:
- Porto 3 nights
- Ericeira 3 nights; it can be a good base for Sintra (don't attempt driving in Sintra but you could park near the train station), or you could visit Mafra if you want a less crowded visit.
- Lisbon 4 nights; you could visit Evora as a day trip

Posted by
42 posts

Hi Kathryn - I haven't learned much about beach towns other than in the Algarve and Nazare and coming from Evora, Comporta is kinda on the way and there is a lot of buzz about it on the internet. However...

Balso - that sounds like a great recommendation and I think we will do just as you suggest. Ericeira looks a little more crowded than Comporta, but I really like the idea of keeping our hotels down to three.

Thank you both! I'm sure I will be back with more questions as I move forward in the planning process.

Any recommendations for accommodations in Ericeira? We don't mind paying a few euros more for an upscale place and this will be the hotel that we might actually spend some time in.

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