Urgent please help, Portugal itineraries for 14 days

Posted by dnguyen536 on 10/20/24 09:45 AM

Hello there, I want to express my gratitude to everyone for taking the time to read this post. As a first-time traveler to Portugal, I'm eager to make the most of my time and explore the country to the fullest. Following my 16-day journey in Spain, I'll be traveling to Portugal from Madrid. However, I'm undecided about which city would be the best starting point for my first leg. Could someone help me draft a preliminary plan, indicating how many days I should spend in each city? I'll be primarily relying on trains, buses, and the occasional taxi for transportation. I'm also open to the idea of a mix of train and car rental.

I m thinking what if I m flight to Porto from Madrid, rent a car and do a road trip from north to the south and return the car at the lagos airport. Then take a scenic train back to lisbon or porto and flight back to Madrid. Is this a good options?

Posted by JS

Southport, NC

10/20/24 12:02 PM

378 posts

I can't help with specifics, but the RS "Explore Europe" tab has information about visiting Portugal, including listing a suggested itinerary. That might be a good place to start. https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/portugal/itinerary

Posted by dnguyen536 OP

10/22/24 11:02 AM

8 posts

Here's an second version of my itinerary. Is this a more viable option for saving costs between both train and rent a car? Also, are there any combined day trips that could save time or better places to visit than what's been planned?

Porto 4 days
-Day trip to Douro Valley
-Day trip to BRAGA & GUIMARÃES
Lisbon ( 6 days )
-Day trip to sintra using train (stay in Lisbon)
-Rent a car day trip to Cascais ( stay in Lisbon)
-Rent car, day trip to Coimbra ( stay 1 night in Coimbra)
-Rent car, day trip Nazare, Obidos and back to Lisbon and return thecar.
Lisbon train to Algarve ( 3 days)
On day 14 take earliest train back to Lisbon.

Posted by Barbara

Brooklyn, NY

10/22/24 12:11 PM

4228 posts

After your stay in Porto, train to Coimbra then rent a car stopping to visiting Nazare and Obidos on the drive to Lisbon. We were just in Obidos and for us it didn’t require a full day. It is very small. Maybe stay one night nearby and visit Nazare too. We stayed in Tomar cause we stayed at a hotel with parking. We did not visit Nazare so I don’t know how much time is required. Then drive to Lisbon, drop the car, and visit Sintra and Cascais by train.
If you want to keep to your plan, make sure you stay at a hotel which has parking either onsite or nearby. Lisbon, like all big cities, is annoying to drive in but doable. Not as bad as other cities we visited.

Posted by dnguyen536 OP

10/29/24 11:06 AM

8 posts

Hi Barbara, thank you so much for the feedback. Here I revised the plan according to your suggesion and make a small twist to see if this can help me maximize my trip.
Day schedule:
1. Visit Porto
2. Continue explore Porto
3. Take a day trip to the Douro Valley from Porto using the train.
4. Explore Braga and Guimaraes on a day trip from Porto via train.
5. Take a train from Porto to Coimbra, rent a car here and exploring Aveiro + Coimbra then Stay in Coimbra.
6. Travel from Coimbra to Nazaré and Óbidos, then return the rented car in Lisbon.
7. Spend time exploring Lisbon.
8 Continue exploring Lisbon.
9. Take a day trip from Lisbon to Sintra, either by bus or train.
10. Take a day trip from Lisbon to Cascais, either by bus or train.
11. Travel from Lisbon to the Algarve. ( I m considering using the train or renting a car to explore the Algarve region here).
12. Spend time in the Algarve.
13. Spend more time in the Algarve.
14. Algarve back to Lisbon
15. Early Fly back to Barcelona from Lisbon.