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Three week itinerary starting end of April

Posted by (Thailand) on

First trip to Portugal begins in about 2 weeks. I'm happy to hear about alternate places or routes that meet my needs. The only 'must' points are Lagos over May Day weekend and Coimbra sometime during the Burning of the Ribbons from 5 May to 12 May. Number of nights at each destination subject to whim, weather and want.

Reasons for selecting destinations, beyond the place itself. Must have good access by public transit because I don't have a drivers license. Strong preferences for: 1) bus rides < 2hrs, train < 5 hrs, 2) Hilly terrain <3 days in a row, 3) Old buildings and what's inside them < 3 days in a row (unless it's Paris), 4) I love photography, so I stay overnight in places most people daytrip to. 5) I don't need to see any more Roman architecture, 6) Good walkability, from either a compact area or excellent public transit.

Arrive Lisbon. Leave Lisbon.

Cascais - For me, an out of season beach resort town is the best for getting over jet lag and travel fatigue. Lisbon is an easy day trip.

Sintra - Old buildings. Lisbon is an easy day trip.

Lagos - Base camp for the May Day weekend. Day trips west for photography. Day trips to the east as possible on Sun and Mon to see what hath expats wrought.

Obidos - Old buildings. Lisbon is doable as a day trip.

Nazare - Compact tourist area, excellent photo ops, short ride from Obidos.

Figueira da Foz - Heavily tourist oriented beach towns during the off season appeal to me. Short ride from Nazare, easy access to Coimbra.

Coimbra - Burning of the Ribbons. Old buildings. Fast access to Porto and Lisbon.

TBD in Porto & Douro and/or Lisbon.

Depart Porto or Lisbon for France (have tickets for both).

Thanks.

Posted by
27 posts

Oops. Photographers know the following often means because one wants to shoot in the best light of the day around sunrise and sunset:

4) I love photography, so I stay overnight in places most people daytrip to.

In Sintra, none of the sites I want to visit open before 9:30. Sunrise is ~6:45. All but one of the sites close at 7 (the other closes at 8), sunset is ~8:15. Given the bus from Caicais takes 30min, there is no substantial photography related advantage to stay in Sintra.

Posted by
1663 posts

The biggest challenge I see is your dependence on public transportation. Lagos, Nazaré, Óbidos and Foz are all only accessible by bus - I'm pretty certain. I know Lagos is - and the bus service in the Algarve is pretty infrequent. Checking the bus schedules before your trip will be important IMO.

If you want a big beach in the central Portugal area, Carcavelos is easy by train. It's a stop between Lisbon and Cascais. And, outside of Cascais is Guincho. Again, the bus service is infrequent ( once an Hour), but there is plenty to keep you busy for an Hour at Guincho.

There are many opportunities for photographs in Cascais and surrounding area. Be sure to visit Casa da Guia outside of Cascais for some great views. Then walk back to town along the sea for even more great places to take pics. And, the walk between Cascais and Estoril along the sea is lovely.

Posted by
27 posts

Thanks for the Cascais area tips. I built my itinerary around bus and train service as I have done for many years. Lagos has train service, but it's useful mostly for round trips from Lisbon. Algarvebus.info shows what you're up against if traveling by bus or rail in the Algarve. Not recommended if you're trying to see how much can be fit into how few days. That didn't discourage me because I wanted to visit Lagos and have the luxury of time.

Posted by
1663 posts

One more tip that you might have already. If you buy your train tickets up to 30 days ahead, you get a 40% discount. The train between Lisbon and Lagos is very easy with some nice views of cork trees, orange groves,etc.

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