Spain & Portugal in January

Depends what you want to see in Barcelona - work it out from that. We only had three or four nights and saw everything we wanted, as well as having time to sit in bars and watch the world..
Porto is lovely, but three nights should be enough.

Also, be realistic about weather and short days. In January, it's probably not going to be warm out - depends on what you're used to, and what you're looking for. Don't be surprised if you get some rain. Days will be short, too. On the plus side, crowds will be down!

I also think of Barcelona as an outlier - it's a long way from the rest of your destinations, might as well be whole 'nother country (and it kinda sorta is). In some ways, Barcelona pairs just as well with southern France and bits of northern Spain that you're not visiting on this trip, as it does with the parts of Spain you're going to. As an alternative, consider setting aside Barcelona for a future trip (combined with the Basque country, northern Spain, southern France). That would let you slow down and savor the places on your list for this trip. Just a thought.

At least you won't have to worry about heat waves!

No option except to start in Barcelona. Flights from Melbourne, Australia to Barcelona via Singapore already booked! Weather also not an issue - temperatures between about 55 and 64 Fahrenheit here in Winter.

There’s a good nudist beach in Barcelona if that’s your thing but Jan might be a bit chilly.

Where are you planning on departing from? That might dictate the flow of your itinerary. Can you fly into Barcelona and out of Lisbon?

The length of time in Barcelona looks fine to me. There’s a lot to do there and if you’re a Dali fan a day trip to the museum in Figueres would be a way to spend one of your day - besides adjusting to jet lag.

We spent 3-4 days in Porto a few years ago. Depends on what you’re interested in doing- we found that to be a nice length of time to wander, do some Port tasting and take a couple of walking tours. There are day trip options from Porto that we didn’t get a chance to fit in on a short stay.

Since you’re going in January having a little more time in each place may give you a buffer if you encounter really rainy weather. We were in Lisbon in October 2023 when there was a torrential storm on one day. We spent most of the day in our hotel.

My wife and I spent 21 nights in Spain and Portugal in Aug/Sep 2023, our first trip to these areas. Had originally included Barcelona but dropped it; we stayed in Porto (4 nights), Coimbra (2), Lisbon (4), Seville (3), Rondo (2), Granada (2), Cordoba (1), and Madrid (3). Due to flight arrival/departure times we flew into Porto and out of Madrid. Our below trip reports might be useful reference for your planning. Regarding Porto, we stayed 4 nights because it was our first stop; if it hadn't been our first stop we would have stayed 3 nights. Cordoba wasn't in our original itinerary but we added it due to input from forum members; we are grateful for that advice because it was a unique site making a wonderful stay.

• Portugal: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-portugal-aug-sep-porto-coimbra-lisbon-then-to-spain
• Spain: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-spain-aug-sep-seville-ronda-granada-cordoba-madrid

Consider taking a day from Barcelona and/or Porto and going to Cordoba. Cordoba is lovely, food is great and the Mezquita is incredible. For us, of all the places we have been in Spain (and Portugal), the Mezquita is an unmissable highlight.