Help with Spain/Portugal itinerary April 2024

Lucky you.

I can add a little about Lisbon and Braga.

Lisbon is fabulous. I was there four days and it was not enough. While I saw a lot, I still missed seeing so much.

If possible, try to get to Sintra and Belem. Both are wonderful, beautiful, fascinating and interesting.

If possible, try to see the different neighborhoods of Lisbon. I only experienced the Baixa neighborhood.

There are four hop on hop off buses and each one costs something like 22 euros.

I was on a cruise and we ported in Porto

I opted for an excursion to Braga. It is very beautiful with many amazing churches, Braga has 80 churches. If you wanted to, you could easily get to Braga from Porto for a day of sightseeing.

Best of luck on your retirement and enjoy your celebration vacation.

Kathryn, you need three nights for Barcelona. Why are you renting a car when you can fly nonstop from Barcelona to Granada on Vueling.com for less than $100?
You need four nights for Lisbon and that’s for Lisbon only. If you want to add day trips from Lisbon i.e., Belem and Sintra add a night per trip.

Congrats!

Try to fit in Cordoba, the Mezquita is magnificent.

Here's my recent trip report that might be helpful https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-spain-november-2023

I disagree that 3 nights is enough for Barcelona. That would be seriously short. Five nights in this context (as the first stop) is only four full days, and you may still be somewhat jetlagged on your first full day in Spain.

The temperature in Barcelona will probably be pleasant, but I'd be very surprised if the water is warm enough for swimming.

Granada is 530 miles from Barcelona. The drive would take all of a long day, and at least the first part of it (to Valencia) would probably have heavy traffic. Google Maps estimates at least 8 hr. 11 min., and that would be without any stops, traffic, meal breaks, etc. The train can take as little as 6 hr. 38 min., with no need to stop traveling for meals. Flying, as already mentioned, is also an option. I'd never opt to make that trip by car unless I had extra days and was going to make several stops along the way.

While in Porto, consider going up the Douro River Valley. The train runs along the north bank of the river. Go to Regua at a minimum.

If you take a short day cruise up the river, you will get to see some scenic areas, but the more scenic part of the river valley is farther inland.

In response to your question about what to do in Lisbon- we were just there in October. We spent four days and it wasn’t enough for us. We did spend a good chunk of one day in Belem but didn’t have enough time for Sintra.

If you’re interested in food and. Culinary history I would recommend a food tour with Culinary Backstreets. We also love walking tours to get oriented to a place. There are a number of walking tour options- some listed in RS guide. We weren’t planning on visiting museums but on a day of torrential rain it was the best option. We went to the Gulbenkian Museum and loved the very unique collection.

Lisbon has many distinct neighborhoods. A walking tour is a good way to get oriented and then come back to focus on the neighborhood(s) that you have the most interest in. We also booked a trip about the history of Portugal’s role in slavery but unfortunately we’re rained out. Most of the standard tours don’t bring this part of Portugal’s history into their content. We appreciate having the full history of the places we visit and were sorry to miss that. We also enjoyed the Museum of Resistance and Freedom.

Also recommend Culinary Backstreets for a food tour in Porto. We enjoyed a walking tour there as well. We were there for four days and didn’t have enough time to enjoy Porto and day trips/ Douro trip. With more time I would have added a couple of day trips.

Enjoy retirement and this fabulous trip to kick it off!

While you are in Barcelona, I highly recommend going to see Montserrat Abbey.
It is a short ride from Barcelona, and then a tram. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

Rick lists his top sightseeing suggestions in many major cities right on this website.

Go here: Explore Europe
Choose the country
Choose the major city from among the Places listed.
If there's an "At a Glance" link, click on it. (That will only be available for some cities.)

WoW! I can't believe all the very helpful suggestions! I can't wait to go back to the drawing board, tweek this and ask again. Thank you everyone for all the help - much better than any travel agent I've found :)

Congratulations on your upcoming retirement.

You could easily spend 20 days in Spain alone. Portugal has a lot to offer and 2 weeks there is not enough. In other words, unless you are planning to return to both countries in the next year or two, consider focusing on Spain now and Portugal next time.

Count nights, not days. You'll have X full days for every X+1 nights. You lose half a day or more each time you change places - packing/unpacking, checking in/out, getting to/from train station or airport (and you need to allow enough lead time at both). Plus you need a little time at each new location to get oriented to the local surroundings and transportation.

Barcelona If 5 nights, then you have 4 full days - enough to see a lot of sights. Remember that you may have jetlag/sleep issues on your second day. In April the Med is too cold for bathing and it is even likely to be too cold to bask on the beach.

Granada You need at least 2 nights. The Alhambra can take up most of a day - there's a lot to see and the campus is very big, so lots of walking between sights. I went to a cave flamenco show and it was super touristy. On the other hand you can see really good flamenco performances in Sevilla (Casa de Flamenco was my favorite). I don't know why you are considering renting a car. Google maps shows driving time of at least 8 hours, most of it on highways which may not be at all scenic. Consider 3 nights. It's out of the way so on a return trip to Spain (like Italy, no one goes only once :-), it is unlikely that you'll want to fit it in again. Be sure to get Alhambra tickets before you commit to stopping there.

Sevilla Allow one full day for a day trip to Cordoba. The Mezquita is unique and the Jewish Quarter is one of the best preserved medieval city centers in Spain. You'll want 2 full days for sightseeing - one for the Feria and one for the top sights which will all probably be very crowded during Feria.

What is the April Festival you mentioned in Grenada? I can’t find mention of it anywhere.