Wish you knew before you went to Portugal, our first Visit

Haven't been to Portugal recently, but this is my favorite source for weather info, because it has at least ten years' worth of actual, historical day-by-day statistics. I find monthly average temperatures less useful, because they hide the annoying extremes. However, I do consult the Wikipedia entries for cities I plan to visit to see the precipitation data included in the climate chart.

Lisbon weather -- May 2023

Porto weather -- May 2023

I like to look at the most recent five years' data, because weather can vary a lot from year to year. Use the pull-down box at the right, just above the graph, to change the month and year displayed. Use the Search box at the upper right to change the city.

With enough research you’ll have no trouble finding enough things to fill your time. What you decide to visit will depend on what you like to do. Take advantage when you have the rental car to visit places not accessible by public transportation. Familiarize yourself with the toll system. Some tolls are all electronic while with other you still need to get a paper ticket. Since we had plenty of time between most places we took back roads and avoided many tolls. Look for free parking lots in the places you intend on visiting. We did come across one petrol station that was cash only. I didn’t notice until after I started pumping.

Commenting as a reminder to follow this post.

We'll be in Portugal late September/early October for 10 days. It's our first trip so I can't give any advice based on experience, but I have a coworker who grew up in Portugal. She highly recommends the region around Fatima, Nazare and Obidos which are between Lisbon and Portugal. And a friend of a friend booked a couple of walking tours through https://insidelisbon.com/ and enjoyed them on a trip last year. I've been eyeing a couple of walking tours through https://www.lisbonexplorer.com/.

The distances between Óbidos, Nazaré, Fátima, Coimbra, and Tomar are short, so it’s easy to use one as a base to visit others. We used Tomar as a base to visit Fátima and Batalha, and visited Alcobaca monastery en route from Óbidos and Nazaré.

While Nazaré is a typical beach town and really disliked by some on this forum, it has a nice beach and the upper town is nice to walk around. If you take the funicular to the upper town, it was cash only. We visited last September and it was busy. I imagine it would be extremely hectic in late May to early June.

Just wanted to reply to the post mentioning Nazare..... remember this area is known by surfers around the world. It has some of the highest waves ever. So to stop there just to take photos of the immense waves is one of the photo opp stops we're making along our drive around the country. :)

I thought the high waves were a November-ish phenomenon?

Nazare waves were flat in September when we were there. If you are expecting to snap big wave photos, check for when those big ones are schedule to hit or you are going to be disappointed. It’s not a year round thing and I don’t know when they usually arrive.

The giant waves in Nazare are just in the winter when there are storms in the Atlantic. Zero chance of them in your time frame. Rain is definitely possible in the earlier parts of your trip and, it could be getting pretty warm by the end of it.

Read up on the Silver Coast, 12 Historic Villages, Coa Valley for more off the beaten path places. Julie Dawn Fox has great info on the smaller places in Portugal. With three weeks, you might have time for the Minho wine region in addition to the Douro, if you are wine enthusiasts.

I was in Lisbon last October for four nights and it was wonderful. I wished that I could have stayed longer.

Try to make time for both Sintra and Belem. I wish that I had read up more on both places before going especially Belem.

Greg,

You have already received some good advice. Here are some of the things that I wish I had known prior to visiting Portugal last October.

• Wear good shoes with traction. You are going in May-June, so rain shouldn't be a problem, however, if it does rain, the surfaces are very slick and it is easy to fall.
• Book reservations at Pena Palace, Castelo de S. Jorge, Belem Monastery in advance. Even in October with the rains, the Pena Palace and Belem Monastery sold out. We met so many people who traveled to each site and couldn't get tickets. Be on time at the Pena palace, they will not let you in if you are late. Be prepared to wait at the Belem Monastery even when you have timed entry. They let the tour groups go in first and we had the first entry of the day and waited 30 minutes after our timed entry to get access. The Castelo de S. Jorge has a beautiful view (but you don't have to pay for views in Lisbon, the miradouros are free). If you want to go, a pre-purchased ticket will avoid a really long line.
• Don't over schedule. Lisbon and Porto are best savored. Getting lost in the Alfama was one of the highlights of the trip. Save time to enjoy the views at your local miradouro.
• Experience Fado in different cities, especially if you decide to go to Coimbra. The music, the instruments and performances are different and you get a true sense of culture and place when you attend a performance. In Coimbra, we stayed near the University and there are often impromptu Fado performances by the students.
• *Take a food tour and/or cooking class.*** The Eating Europe Tour in Porto: https://www.eatingeurope.com/porto/port-wine-food-tour/ was one of the best cellar tours I have been on. We were treated to a tour of Port cave that dates back to the late 1700s.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the comments some very thoughtful suggestions. Very helpful to my planning

Just to update my post with our planned itinerary

3 nights in Sintra pre booking entries at various sites especially Penna palace

At Penna palace is it worth going to terrace for views with an entry ticket? Or is the park ticket good enough?
I won’t go inside the palace my wife will.

4 nights in Cascais
3 nights in Coimbra
5 nights in Porto
7 nights in Lisbon pre booking Belem
Driving for part of the trip until Porto then taking train to Lisbon and using public transportation or Uber in Lisbon I am having a hard adding the bolt app to my phone?

We will be Taking multiple day trips from each stop to explore the different areas, towns and sites.

We will be in Lisbon for the “ Popular Marches and the Popular Saints of Lisbon” any one add any comments on what to enjoy for this event. Should we just wander around to see events or is there a way to know where they are taking place. This was unplanned.

Thank you

With respect to whether to buy a Pena Palace ticket to see the terraces, we thought it was well worth it. We bought tickets for the first admission of the day. While everyone was queueing for palace entry, we had the terraces to ourselves. Got great photos. Based on what I’d read beforehand, we never went inside the palace.

When I first planned our itinerary to Portugal, I did not have Sintra on my list. I had read horror stories about the crowds, and it didn’t appeal. I’m so glad I decided to add it. We loved it. I think the horror stories are mainly from people who see it on a day trip from Lisbon where they have to cram a lot into a day. You are lucky to have more time to see everything. We had two days, which allowed us to see sites at a more leisurely pace, seeing things first thing in the morning and later in the afternoon when crowds weren’t as bad.

I just returned from Lisbon and there are things about the airport I wish I knew about ahead of time. I have detailed my experience in my trip report:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/solo-in-lisbon-portugal-my-trip-report