why should I travel to Portugal and not return to Spain or Greece

I was in Portugal last spring and I'll admit that Portugal did not thrill me.
I have enjoyed, and hope to revisit so many places that it shocked me a bit that I didn't care for it. This doesn't mean that anybody else should not go, of course.

Hills are one thing, but sidewalk surfaces that were tile or 2" limestone blocks made it worse. Admittedly I'm a klutz, but it just wasn't fun getting around.
I love the food in Spain, and I was honestly surprised how uninteresting I found the food in Portugal. Yes, the pastries are good.
Too many of the sights were religious in nature, and that's my least favorite category.

Not sorry I went, but I don't plan on returning.

I was having an email exchange with a forum friend this morning and she said:

"I'll be honest. I'm sort of rethinking the (...). I haven't decided yet, but I'm wondering if I want to go just to tick off a box. (...) Plus in the words of Marie Kondo, the thought of the trip is not "sparking joy.""

I'm not a huge Marie Kondo fan (the organizing, folding lady) but wowser, what my friend said to me really resonated. I've been going back and forth about returning to Orkney and Shetland which just blew me away (well, it was windy too) or go see something new. I'm worried that I might age out of some tours in 3-4 years and want to see the hard things first.

So...in Mardee's words....does this trip spark joy or are you going to see some place because you think you should? If going back to Spain or Greece feels like more fun...do it!

There are many reasons to visit Portugal, it is a lovely country.

But to be honest, if you feel that it's not your cup of tea, it's not a bad idea to go somewhere else.

We liked Portugal a lot. However, if we returned, it would probably be for one of the islands or the Algarve, which we did not have time for. There are quite a few places we've been that we would like to return, for the most part, Portugal is not one. We thought we were visiting during shoulder season. We arrived right after Easter 2023 and stayed into May. I felt like the only cities that we minded the volume of tourists was Lisbon, Nazare, Belem, and Cascais. We purposely avoided Cascais on a weekend, but ended up there on a holiday. I always do my itineraries, mindful of the day of the week and typically of holidays, but somehow I missed one. Nazare is definitely touristy. We wanted to go to Sitio (above Nazare), but the funicular was closed so we drove and then struggled to find parking. The museums we were interested in were unexpectedly closed. Then we wanted to take a break and have a cocktail in the shade and none of the restaurants would give us a table unless we were ordering a meal. Later, when we wanted dinner most of the restaurants were closed for the evening. Actually, that ended up being in our favor because we went back down to Nazare to A Tasquinha for dinner. Food was excellent and when we told the owner/waiter that we found the restaurant in the RS guide we were treated like royalty. That restaurant saved Nazare for us. It was definitely worth going for the restaurant. For Belem, it is essential to arrive at about 9am with prepurchased tickets, although, it really doesn't matter what time you purchase, they do not honor the time windows. Then, you must know there are two separate lines, one for the monastery and if you want to go to the church, you must exit and then stand in line again (we stood in line for about an hour just for the church). We liked the monastery and were happy we went, but they are not set up to handle the number of tourists they are getting, and there are many people waiting in the sun for several hours. For the rest of Lisbon, we did well just avoiding the extremely crowded public transportation. We walked everywhere, except there is an elevator up to the castle which is very handy.

Porto was also very, very busy. We again walked everywhere. We did not mind the number of people as much as we did Lisbon and SIntra. The important thing about Porto is that if you don't have a restaurant reservation, you won't be eating until 9 or later, and even then, some restaurants did not have seating available at all.

That all said, it sounds to me that most of Europe was extremely busy in 2023. I'm not sure that you'd find fewer crowds in Spain or Greece or Italy or France or. . .

I found Portugal fascinating. A couple of things you could Google for inspiration: Manueline architecture, and Fado.

We enjoyed our time there in September. We didn’t go to Lisbon. A couple places were busy, but it is what you make of it. In a couple cities we came across festivals that we hadn’t planned on. In most places there were few tourists or no more than you’d find in any city.

Our trip was a combination of a few small Spanish towns and a couple weeks in Portugal. We did have a rental car (was cheaper to rent in Spain) and planned some “out of the way places” into our itinerary.

Greg, I will confirm what it sounds like you’re thinking. You’re not excited about going to Portugal, so spend your time & money in countries that do excite you. Return to some favorites and add some new cities in Spain or Greece.

Sometimes it’s not “don’t go there” resonating in my mind, but “don’t go there, yet”. I had an itinerary all planned for my husband & me for Spain one year that gave me that same feeling - lacking wanderlust, as I was preparing to make reservations. I tabled that itinerary, went to a different country that we loved, and it was the right decision. A few years later, the Spain itinerary seemed perfect, and we had a wonderful time in Spain!

My litmus test is when I walk by my large Post-It travel planning “working calendar” in my home office. If I’m not excited when I see the names of the cities on the Post-Its, then it’s time to change out some of them or pull off all of the Post-Its and begin anew with a different country.

Life is short. Spend your money and time going somewhere that calls to you.

It's also possible you have travel planning fatigue. Sometimes, no matter how much I want to visit a particular place, I can get to the point where I don't want to think about it anymore. Staring at the same stuff for so long can dull the excitement. Take a break and don't look at anything travel related for a week. Then pick up your guidebook or put on a YouTube walk of Portugal and see how you feel.

We are planning a trip to Portugal in mid Sept to early October. I have all hotels booked but am quite concerned about size of crowds, getting into restaurants, waiting in long lines. This time of year in Europe is usually shoulder season and not that busy. We chose this time of year because we want to spend 5 days in the Algarve and also avoid the rainy season in the north. I have never booked a European vacation 9 months in advance to find that everything is around 90%+ booked already.

I agree that you should go where you want. Keep your mind open. Sometimes destinations just come to you without rhyme or reason. I was on a trip to Germany in 2022, and met a woman from Scotland at a castle in the Rhine area. After our conversation, I decided that my next trip would be Scotland. I went in 2023 and absolutely loved it.

Same thing for my upcoming trip to England. Originally I was trying to work in visits to both England and France, and the itinerary kept fighting me all the way. I finally realized that what I really wanted was to spend the whole trip in England and planned accordingly.

Life is too short to travel somewhere just to tick a box. Pam mentioned my quote to her in an email above but it's really true. Travel should spark joy. If it doesn't, then why are you paying a lot of money to go there?

Two places that I was lukewarm at best about visiting; Rome and London. Now, I want to go again and again. Sometimes you don't know what you want until you go. I'll be in Portugal next Fall, it is pretty far down on my list, but we have friends who really want us to go with them. One thing I've learned is that my favourite place I've been, is the place that I was just at, so I'm sure I won't regret it.

I do agree with Allan. Sometimes I am very surprised how much I like a city. I wasn't sure I was going to be crazy about Rome. Now, I see it as a place I could visit again and again.

I was disappointed with the crowds in Portugal during what I thought would be shoulder season. That said, Lisbon and Porto were no busier than Rome, Barcelona, Paris and other large cities I've been to. Also, travel to Europe is at an all time high. To visit really large cities, necessitates planning in advance and learning strategies to manage the lines and crowds, including purchasing tickets online, possibly in advance and making restaurant reservations.

I also was frustrated with the striking. Not that I really blame the workers, but it went on for a few months. Fortunately, not all trains were cancelled, just some routes at some times on some days. I believe, mostly another symptom of tourism expanding faster than they can comfortably handle.

I believe that tourism has rapidly expanded in Portugal and gradually the tourism infrastructure will improve.

Our son and his now fiancé went to Portugal in 2019. It was never a place I had on my list of places to go but after seeing their pictures and listening to their stories, I changed my mind.

We are going to go in 2024. But in 2021 and 2023 we went back to Italy and in 2022 we went back to Greece.

We wanted to go to Portugal but wanted to go other places more.

That sounds like your situation.

My attitude is you never know how many places you will get to go to visit (covid really drilled that one home), and you should go where you want to go most first.

Greg,

You should go where your heart takes you. For my husband and I, we finally made it to Portugal this past October. It was one of the places that he wanted to visit, not something that was on my bucket list. I will say, however, I am glad we went despite the fact that we had miserable weather. We went to Lisbon, Coimbra, and Porto with side trips to Sintra, Evora, and Douro Valley.

You have heard the challenges of Portugal and I would agree.

• It is busy, but other than certain places in Lisbon (Baixa), Tram 28, Justa Elevator, and Sintra, I didn't find it overly touristy.
• It is hilly and especially in Lisbon you need really good shoes with traction. It is very slippery when wet.

However, I found Portugal to be surprisingly charming. It is not a country with a lot of "big tourist sights". It is a country where people are friendly, the food and wine is delicious, and it is a place best explored slowly. For example, in Lisbon my favorite early evening activity was to go to our local miradour, have a Port Tonic, listen to the music, and watch the sunset.

My husband and I loved our day trip to Evora, Monsaraz, and wine tasting in the Alentejo. We were able to taste the wine of the region, have a typical "pork-based Alentejo lunch" in the small white village of Monsaraz, and end the day at sunset at the Roman Ruins of Evora. Our guide that day, Carlos, has since become a friend.

As for Porto, we spent four nights and I could have stayed here a week. We took two tours, one of Port houses in Porto and another to the Douro Valley. If we had the time, I would have like to take a cooking class as well. What I liked about Porto was the vibrant local community outside the main tourist area.

We are planning our travels for 2024, going to Greece (which is on my bucket list --not my husband's). We are looking at when we can get back to Portugal and allow enough time for us to revisit some of our favorite places in Southern Spain.

Sandy, we are planning several weeks in Portugal this April/May. Your description of finding your favorite mirador (?) and listening to music at sunset sounds enchanting. Can you tell us more? We will also be in Porto if you have other suggestions.
In fall of 2022 we spent several weeks in Greece and had a wonderful time. Don’t miss Meteora!

Thank you for the thoughtful replies
I have decided to travel to Portugal and will be asking for travel advice in another post.
Should I rent a car. Will there be any great advantage with a car.
I like to travel slowly and stay in places little longer. 4-5-6 night stays. Mostly to appreciate places more and repeat things i enjoy in a slightly settled way.
That said here are places considering of course not all just pick 4 or 5 with day trips added
Lisbon last stop before we leave
Evora, is this out of the way? I was considering this when we land in Lisbon airport
Coimbra
Nazare
Porto
Cascais
Alcobaca
Day trips to Sintra , douro valley and Óbidos other places suggested and found in research
Thank you

Evora is easy from Lisbon (train or bus). Can also be a base if you want to explore around that area, in which case a car would be helpful.

You can pick a base on the Silver Coast which is a good area to have a rental car and visit Nazare, Obidos, Alcobaca, Batalha, Tomar, Caldas da Rainha, Peniche.

Another place for a base (with car) could be the Minho region to see Braga, Guimarães, Ponte de Lima, Viana do Castelo, Parque Nacional Peneda-Gerês. Could also drive into Spain (Galicia).

Best not to have a car in Lisbon/Porto.

We really enjoyed Evora easily reached by train or bus. And its fairly flat! or at least the areas most touristed. You could do day trips into the area from there if you are interested in cork and/or wine.

Have you considered the Douro River valley? It's stunning and one of my favorite parts of our trip.