What Not to Miss in Portugal

My reply is biased because of family connections. The Azores islands are my favorite Portugal "cities", but they are still secret destinations for most people visiting Portugal. There is no information in the RS Portugal book, unfortunately. Madeira is another majestic destination in Portugal. Visiting mainland Portugal is totally different then visiting these sub-tropical islands that were colonized in the 1400s . Whether or not this idea piques your interest is up to your likes and wants for a visit to Portugal. I assure you if you are willing to take a chance, you will be pleasantly surprised at experiencing a taste of heaven on earth! Even visiting for 3-4 days on the way to or from the mainland is doable visiting Sao Miguel. Good luck sorting through the many responses you will get here...all will be great ideas I am sure.

Lisbon of course, but that's pretty obvious. Sintra, Nazare, Obidos. You can do Obidos as a day trip, but Sintra and Nazare definitely stay overnight. Evora is half a step down from those stops previously mentioned, but still quite nice. Porto I liked a lot, and Coimbra was nice too, but definitely tier two. We stopped for a night in Tomar for the castle, and also visited Marvao on our way to Evora (took us a little out of our way), and it was spectacular.

I did a driving tour of Spain and Portugal in November of 2013 and this, for me, was a true "back door" experience and a WOW moment. If you have a car, my suggestion would be to visit Castelo Rodrigo, an almost disused hilltop town with about fifty residents. It is in the beautiful Coa Valley region of Portugal. The highlight for me was staying at the Casa de Cisterna guest house and going on a nighttime tour of Palaeolithic engravings of the Côa Valley with one of the owners of the hotel. She will take you to the park at dusk and explain how and why the first inhabitants chose the valley. Then, as the sky darkens, she'll show you the engravings, highlighted and very visible in the shadows cast by her flashlight. I wish I had more time to explore the Coa region.

Thank you all for taking the time to share your travel experiences. Very much appreciated.

So far we really like Maderia, Lisbon, Porto and Sintra.

Does anyone have an opinion on Coimbra and Cascais. We will be using public transportation.

My most memorable destinations in Portugal were Santarem and Tomar. They're on the same train line from Lisbon (Santarem is one hour from Lisbon, Tomar is two hours). Santarem has a church with a famous rose window, and one I liked even better for its amazing azulejos (tiles) - the best I saw in Portugal. It's also situated in a very scenic bend in a river, so the views from the edge of town are great. Tomar not only has the history of the Knights Templar, but the fascinating Museum of Matchboxes (really - wait till you see the Nazi one, among many other fascinating and unusual specimens).

I liked Lisbon and Sintra as well. I was cooler to Coimbra, although the library is impressive. I didn't care for Porto at all, except for the Museu Serralves, and the artworks (particularly the sculptures) at the Museu Soares dos Reis - great stuff by Portuguese artists you don't see elsewhere.

Hi LaRae,
It goes to show that personal preference & taste plays a big role in decisions/enjoyment. My family loved Coimbra and Porto, the opposite of what others have previously said in their replies to you. We also loved the medieval towns of Marvao & Obidos, one with an overflow of tourists and one with almost no tourists at all. We were amazed with our drive up the spectacular Douro Valley. Good luck with your planning!
Robert in Montreal

Hi LaRae,

We were in Portugal this past October, on a RS tour, and our excellent guide brought the entire country to life for us. If we were returning and were pressed for time, or had less than 2 weeks the Duoro Valley, and the Alentejo region would be the choices. Nazare, also very pleasant, was like a vacation from our vacation.

A C