Winter in Portugal

I flew from Dulles to Lisbon in January, but as soon as I got there, I took the metro to Oriente and caught a train to Porto to start my trip. I didn't buy the ticket until I got there, in case the plane was delayed and there were plenty of seats available. I wore my winter coat and carried a travel umbrella (which was sometimes worthless because those winds are serious) for the intermittent rain. I stayed in Airbnbs, which weren't terribly expensive in January. While in Porto I visited Aveiro and took a Bolt out to see the striped houses at Costa Nova and I explored in and around Porto (Matosinhos, Vila Nova de Gaia). From there, I took a bus to Sintra and stayed a few days, but many people do it as just a day trip from Lisbon. January was a great time to be there. I've heard the crowds are crazy other times of the year. I ended my trip in Lisbon and did day trips to Evora and Setubal as well as Cascais.

thanks - that's is very helpful

I am wondering if there is a specific area to stay in either place. My husband and myself are walkers and tend to avoid staying the the touristy areas - we like to stay more where the locals reside and willing to walk to trains/bus stops - we however want to be near restaurants etc.

I enjoy the winters here for the most part. We do have rainy days and much less sunshine, but the sunny days are wonderful with crystal blue skies and, as you indicated, many fewer tourists. Most days are in the high 50’s to low 60’s.

In Lisbon, you might want to look at the Campo do Ourique neighborhood for a place to stay. I stayed there the first month after moving here and really liked it. It’s a family neighborhood with very few tourists and not a souvenir shop in sight. There are lots of good restaurants and a nice market. It’s the terminus of tram 28, so you can get on there and be assured a seat. It’s also a flat area so walking is easier than some of the hilly areas of town.

Be certain to ask about heating in your airbnb. A lot of places don’t have heat and use air radiators and space heaters only. Central heating means radiator type heaters in each room, which are pretty good. The oil radiators take some adjustment, as the spaces take a long time to heat up. It never freezes in the Lisbon area, but does in Porto.

thanks - this is all very helpful.
I guess my question is:
Do I fly into Lisbon - stay for a week - get a train to Porto, stay a week and then return to Lisbon to fly back?
For some reason it seems very expensive to fly into one city and leave from another. i.e fly into Lisbon and leave from Porto .

IF I do the trains from Lisbon to Porto and vice versa - do I book before hand. I live trains so will rather go that route than fly or take the trains.

Again thanks for all the great tips

There are trains between Lisbon and Porto that take less than 3-1/2 hours, so it wouldn't make sense to fly unless you were traveling back home the same day--and then you'd need to worry about the initial flight being delayed if you were not on a single ticket.

The usual recommendation in this sort of situation is to leave the city you're returning from until the end of the trip. In this case, that would mean a rather lengthy train ride on your arrival day in Europe, after you've been on a plane all night. On the other hand, you'd probably arrive early in Lisbon, so you wouldn't be late getting into Porto.

It's sometimes difficult to know what to do about buying an onward train ticket on your arrival day. Do you take advantage of low prices by buying early (and risk missing the train if your flight is significantly delayed), or do you wait until you arrive to buy the train ticket and pay full price? In the case of Lisbon-to-Porto, however, it appears the ticket will cost no more than $40 at full price.

We are going to Portugal this Friday. We are flying to Lisbon and then changing planes and flying to Porto. It is all on one ticket and was the most efficient way to do it. We will return from Lisbon.

For us, it was not more expensive.

I guess tickets to Lisbon vs Porto are hit or miss. For my next trip to Portugal, I'm flying to Porto after a layover in Lisbon since it wasn't more expensive and that's one less thing to fool with. Then again, I've never understood anything about the algorithm to plane tickets. Still, this reminds me that OP should probably keep checking now and then in case the price of going on to Porto, but still flying out of Lisbon changes. I did that with a flight to Spain recently and it ended up only costing 30ish dollars more, even though I changed from a round trip to a multi city. I did spend an hour or so on the phone with the airline though since I couldn't make the change online, but I'll save on a train ticket, so break even, and it was one less thing to worry with when I land in a new city I've never visited.