Two vs. Three Nights in Porto & Stops While En Route to Coimbra

You are moving fast, by my standards! We were in Portugal for 5 weeks a few years ago, and never made it to Lisbon, so we are headed there in a few weeks ... We did love Porto and I would always pick an extra day anywhere rather than an additional place. But that's just my style, I guess, so it might not help. Coimbra was great too. The kids were graduating from the university while we were there, which was fun. Don't miss the library.

I would add the night to Porto (and skip any one night stays). Porto is lovely and very different from Lisbon. If you’re into wine, the Port lodges in Gaia are worth an afternoon as some of the lodges have table wine in addition to Port.

As for a stop on the way to Coimbra, I would choose Alcobaça rather than the two you mention. While Obidos is cute, it’s overrun by tourists. Batalha and Alcobaça are both fascinating but I love the story behind Alcobaça.

Another wine tip - the small town of Getaria, Spain (between Bilbao and San Sebastián) is home to a wine only produced there -Txakoli is a wonderful white wine and Getaria is a nice small town to visit with great seafood.

Thanks to both of you for your input! We did decide to add the third night to Porto...and feel it was a solid/smart choice.

The library in Coimbra is on our list, but thanks for making sure it was, and appreciate the tip about possibly considering Alcobaca. We'll check it out online, as we have flexibility as to where we stop as we drive from Lisbon to Coimbra.

I also appreciate the wine tip about checking out Getaria in Basque Country! We're on the same wavelength ~ as we have four nights in San Sebastian, and like Txakoli, as we were deciding to cut the one night in Cambados, I thought of that as a possible option by day tripping to Getaria. Today I actually found the winery that produced what we have had before (both in Barcelona and in the U.S.); it's called Txomin Etxaniz. It's very good! From their web site, there are stunning views to the sea as well. We also know another couple, who while they didn't visit the winery, based in Getaria a few years back as they explored the area. They spoke very highly of it as you did.

On a separate note, but somewhat related to libraries, but in Porto ~ we have seen/read a lot about the Livraria Lello bookstore. It looks beautiful, and interesting, but appears to get quite jammed with potentially far too many people, at least in a couple of videos that we saw. Some of that may be time of year; by example, one video we viewed was taken over the New Year's holiday. While we may be able to manage a large crowd once inside, we're less inclined to wait in a long line to do so. Any insight into that, to include if a large crowd should be expected in May, a shoulder season month for tourism, would be great!

Buy your tickets ahead of time for Livraria Lello (buy online and not at the door). We were there a year ago, so I can't speak too much regarding crowds since tourism was still reduced. But even then, there was a line, but by late afternoon it was reasonable. The location is in a nice area just to spend time anyways.

When we first were wandering the area, we saw this huge line and found out it was the bookstore (mid-morning). Then another time we were in the area, the line was short, so we entered then.

Edit to add: The bookstore is by a Roman style fountain and a beautiful church that has tiles on one side. Don't remember the name, but it's lovely. In the evening we sat down and watched kids doing skateboarding tricks. Pleasant memory.

Thanks, Gail!

Are you dropping off a car in Spain that you rented in Portugal? If so there will be a large drop fee. We dropped our Portuguese rental off in Porto, hired a car and driver to take us to a rental car location in Vigo, Spain.

If you have any interest in Portugal's traditional Fado music (and I admit you didn't state any), then for Coimbra you may want to consider a reservation for an early-evening performance at a friendly, intimate venue called Fado ao Centro.

Suki ~ Yes, we are aware, but appreciate you mentioning it, in case we weren’t. We’ll actually be going back to Lisbon, so returning the car at the same pick up location. And you’re right…it’s otherwise a hefty surcharge. We encountered it in the U.S. too, when renting a car for a road trip through Utah and Arizona.

Faedus ~ Thanks for your suggestion. We’ve not yet decided where in Portugal for us to experience a Fado performance, and will certainly consider the place in Coimbra.