Four of us are traveling to Portugal for the first time in May for 14 days. We will fly in and out of Lisbon. And we will have a car. The second week that we are there we will be in the Douro River area, wine tasting and sightseeing. My question is - the first week. Is it worth traveling to the south of Portugal to see the Sagres area? It looks like spectacular scenery, but I am not sure about the timing and the driving distance. Would we be better off driving the coastal region from Lisbon to Porto and having extra time in those cities?
I would appreciate any opiions. Thanks
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
Sagres has good scenery, but it's the windiest place in Europe, I understand, and it's a cold wind even in June and July, when I have visited. It's a surfers place.
If you haven't visited before, you can easily spend 5 days in Lisbon plus visit Sintra and Cascais. Evora, about 2 hours away is worth an overnight stay, which would be my choice rather than the Algarve. Unless you take the boring toll road, Lisbon to Lagos (a better base than Sagres) will take you most of a day with the odd stop.
Rather than driving the coast, inland towns such as Tomar are far more interesting.
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1826 posts
I agree with the suggestion to skip the Algarve. With 14 days, you will have more than enough to see in Porto, Lisbon and points in between.
Posted by
Porto, Portugal
80 posts
Hello judy :)
It's great you're coming to Portugal ;)
I agree with the previous comments - the Algarve is the less authentic region in Portugal even though it has some great places to discover and explore.
Having said that, if you're concerned with just your first week then I recommend you stick to Lisbon for at least 2-3 days; then go to Sintra for at least one day (it's a must); then you can head north and make some stops along the way like the beautiful town of Tomar and the "students city" of Coimbra (a lot to see here) and finally Porto with its wonderful historic centre ;)
Enjoy your trip and enjoy Portugal ;)
Posted by
OP
42 posts
Thank you all. we will skip the south and concentrate our time further north.