Spain and Portugal for a month

My suggestion is to take a look at Rick’s guidebooks on Spain and Portugal.

I was in Lisbon for four days in October and it was not enough. If possible, I suggest about six days.

You want to go to Sintra and Belem. You want to spend a minimum of half. a day at each place but if possible you should spend a full day.

Lisbon was beautiful and interesting. I was there late October and it was still very crowded. it rained every day.

Read the RS guidebooks, look at some maps, and do some transportation research using Rome2Rio or similar app. It's a good starting point for transportation logistics and options (although best to check actual schedules and book directly). Flying may be your best option between Spain and Portugal, which means you might want to be in Madrid before going to Lisbon.

Do some research on your own concentrating on the things you like to do and see. Spain is a large country. Nobody knows what you like better than you.

Rick's top sightseeing suggestions for many major cities can be found on this website in the "Explore Europe" section.

Sightseeing -- Spain

Sightseeing -- Portugal

Choose one of the entries under "Places" and then click on "At a Glance" if that is an option. (It won't always be shown.)

You can use the Renfe website to get train routes and travel times in Spain. There are trains from Barcelona-Sants (the main station) to Valencia (there are 2 stations, they are less than 1 km apart and there's a shuttle between them). From Valencia, you want the Sevilla-Santa Justa station. It may be a little easier to go from Valencia to Madrid to Sevilla, but you'll want to fly to Lisbon, so it may be more important to decide whether you want to fly from Madrid or Sevilla and then figure out where you go from Valencia.

My advice on how long in each city would depend a lot on what your travel dates are.

When is your trip? And what are your interests? If your trip is during the summer months, I might suggest skipping Andalucia which can be unbearably hot. Temps in the 90’s and 100’s. If your trip is not during the summer months, this is a possible itinerary:

Barcelona - 5 nights
Valencia - I haven’t been so can’t recommend number of nights
Madrid - 4 nights
Toledo - 2 nights
Granada - 3 nights
Cordoba - 3 nights
Seville - 5 nights
Lisbon - 5 nights

For guidebooks, I recommend Lonely Planet, Fodors, Michelin Green Guide and Rouigh Guides.

Thank you for all the replies. We will be there September 9-October 7, 2024. We are interested in historical tours, walking tours, bike tours, foodie tours. We will be staying in air bnb's near city centers of each destination.

Be aware that Andalucia is the hottest place in Europe. Temps are almost guaranteed to be high through September. Madrid is often as hot. Barcelona is cooler but more humid. Lisbon may be the most comfortable since it's on the Atlantic. You should check daily weather history for each city. Use this website.

Chani's right about the potential for (or likelihood of) miserably hot temperatures in much of Spain at the time of your trip. The northern coast from the Basque Country across to Galicia is usually much cooler and wetter than the rest of the country. You could spend the early part of your trip in places like Hondarribia, San Sebastian, Bilbao, the Picos de Europa, Betanzos, A Coruna, Santiago de Compostela and Pontevedra. By the second half of your trip things should be somewhat more pleasant in Barcelona and Madrid, but I'd recommend returning to Spain on a second trip to see Andalucia either later in the fall or in the spring. I prefer spring because the days are longer. I spent April and the first few days of May in Andalucia in 2019, and it was getting noticeably warmer by May 1.

In Nov, 2023, we flew into Barcelona (5 nights), Valencia (4) and flew out of Madrid (5). The trains between the three cities are relatively fast. In Barcelona, we did a day trip to Montserrat. And in Madrid we did a day trip to Toledo. Valencia was the only city we felt safe enough to rent a bike and go biking.

I have never visited Seville, but it would be easy to take a train from Madrid. From Seville, you can fly to Lisbon or any of the other cities in Portugal. Last time I looked, a flight from Seville to Faro was about €50-75.

We visited Portugal in September, 2024, flew into Porto (4 nights, day trip to Pinhao), trained to Lisbon (5, with day trips to Sintra and Belem) and drove (with day stop in Evora) to Lagos (4, with day trips throughout the Algarve) before flying home from Faro.

Portugal is a relatively long skinny country. It would be most efficient if, for example, you could fly into Faro and fly home from Porto, provided you have any interest in Porto and the latter flight was available. Even if the cost is a little bit more than flying home from Lisbon, it is worth it in my opinion to save time and cost having to double back to Lisbon. Good luck.

PS We used hotels in Spain because there was only two of us and I found that the Airbnb commissions and cleaning fees added up and a hotel was cheaper. In Portugal, we were three couples and it was very cost-effective to rent three bedroom apartments. We tried to rent directly from the owner or property manager or at least through booking.com to get a better rate and to avoid the Airbnb commissions.

I have lived, worked and attended school in Spain, and it is one of my favorite countries in the world.

Yes, we have done the one month trip around the Iberian peninsula. We rented a car and drove so we had more flexibility. We also made sure some of our accommodations were paradors and pousadas, unique and lovely restored historic buildings.

Husband and I are both aficionados of history, so we plan all our journeys with that perspective. In Europe we always add a strong sprinkling of castle visits! You need to do a bit more research to really see what appeals to you in each area.

On that trip we went from Lisbon up through Porto to Santiago de Campostela (the cathedral is magnificent), down through Leon and Valladolid (I have friends here), then visiting Salamanca, Avila (wall), Segovia (Alcazar, aqueduct), Madrid (museums, palace), Toledo (too lovely)--across to Zaragoza (pit stop) and Barcelona (next to the water), south to the Costa del Sol (beaches) including Granada (Alhambra), Cordoba (pretty), Malaga, and Ronda (wow!), down to Gibraltar, up to Cadiz then Sevilla (splendid cathedral, tomb of Columbus), north to Merida and west through Badajoz back to Portugal, through Evora to Lisbon, with a final visit to Sintra (great palaces to visit). I do not usually include the Basque area in my visits to Spain, but you may wish to see that as well.

Please note--I am completely fluent in Spanish, our itinerary was ambitious but not overly exhaustive; again, we stayed in the historic hotels so we had to drive where they were located, and husband loves to drive, so we truly enjoyed that trip.

I have also (alone) taken trains all over the country, north and south to many of the same places. No destination is really more than a day of travel, so you have to build that time into your overall trip. The high speed trains make travel much more efficient.

Having been in Spain during cold Winter weather, I have no problems with Summer heat while I travel! Lunch time is long and avoids the middle heat of the day--many folks come out before dinner to stroll and tour.

What should tourists see? Probably they want to check off their lists the big cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla. Going to Granada to see the Alhambra is worth the time. Valencia is okay, especially if you can build in some beach time in the area to relax a bit. While in Madrid take a few day trips to the nearby cities of Toledo, Avila, and Segovia to see more of the flavor of ancient and medieval Spain.

Do you like cathedrals, castles, monasteries, and so forth? Spain is chock full of all of that! Every town is a living museum. Try to go to a flamenco show so you can see the passion of song, music and movement intertwined. Late dining is the custom--try to stay awake, and make sure to sample all the wonderful wines!

One recommendation I always make to travelers who are visiting a place for a first time is to look at some tour companies and see how they create their travel itineraries. The brochures will provide you with a bit of a roadmap in constructing a route. Yes, I also 100% recommend the use of guidebooks, and watching Rick Steves video programs!

I will be visiting Spain again this Summer with a short stop in Mallorca--also a stunning spot to see.

Have a great time planning!