My wife and I are planning our first trip to Iberia and would welcome any thoughts from some of the veterans here. (You made our trip to Italy last May one of the best we ever had). We plan to fly into Lisbon and spend a few nights there and then be based in Nazare and take buses to the various interesting towns such as Obidos, Alcobaca, Batalha et al. Then we hope to head for Madrid and spend a week or so there, Toledo, Granada and Sevilla. We love museums, history, the evening stroll and hanging with locals. Question 1: Have any of you flown from Lisbon to Madrid? We carry one modest suitcase each,is luggage a problem on those flights? If we decided to bus back to Lisbon from Sevilla, is there a town part way where we may want to spend the night and break up the trip? Any criticisms or suggestions gratefully accepted. George, Pittsburgh
Posted by
Portland
3643 posts
I suggest that you include Coimbra on your list of Portuguese towns. Also, close to Coimbra if I'm remembering correctly, there's a town, Condeixa Nuova, with a Roman archaelogical site in wonderful condition. We stayed at the Pousada (similar to a Spanish parador)in C.N. It was very nice and fairly reasonable, with an very good restaurant. If you qualify, the pousadas offer a senior discount. You can see all their locations and reserve on their website. I think there's also one at Batalha.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
If you can get a cheap flight from Lisbon to Madrid--or Seville or Granada--do it! Land transit between Spain and Portugal is arduous.
Better also, I think, to fly home from Spain than to return to Lisbon.
I agree with the previous poster about seeing Coimbra, a marvelous old town, if that works for you.
Posted by
Philadelphia, PA, USA
551 posts
Have you considered using a rental car? That would allow you to visit many of the small towns such as Obidos. You can easily drive from Portugal to Spain. Booking your flights "open jaw" so that you arrive in one city and leave from another would also save a lot of time.
Posted by
Bellevue, WA, USA
359 posts
One thought regarding travel between Lisbon and Sevilla - Tapair Portugal does fly between these two cities (and they're the only ones).
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6790 posts
Be careful on the rental car - if you pick up in one country and drop it off in the other, they'll ding you with a staggering fee.
We beat that by dropping off near the border, taking a bus/ferry across to a town on the other side, and picking up another car there. It was a significant hassle, but saved like 500 Euro.
Posted by
baton rouge, la, US
269 posts
If you do decide to bus back to Lisbon from Sevilla, I'd suggest staying over in any of the small towns/villages in the Algarve. Obviously there are other options that might break the trip more equally, but I think that seeing this region of Portugal will definitely add to your overall enjoyment of the trip.
Posted by
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
6 posts
Hi George,
I am Portuguese and have been numerous times. I recently married and took my husband in Sept 08 to Portugal and Spain as well.
this was our plan:
Toronto to Lisbon
4 days in Lisbon including
-Sintra [a total MUST SEE]
-Belem [an area of Lisbon]
I've been to Alcobaca and Baltalha- great history!
North Portugal- Braga, Vianna do Costelo, Ponte de Lima
Coimbra - definitely worth the visit [bring good shoes]
we took the overnight train from Coimbra to Madrid
it was okay...i might fly next time, but was excited about the train ride since we'd never done it.
4 days in Madrid -with a trip to Toledo
South to Cordoba [Another definite MUST see]
on to Seville
then we bussed to Faro [where we were picked up by relatives and transported to our house in the Algarve and spent 10 days there] Because my husband had never been, we day tripped to Albufeira, loule and Sagres-"the end of Europe".
although very biased, I'm not sure too many would disagree that a trip to the Algarve will definitely add to your experience of Portugal.
one modest peice of luggage per person should not be a problem with any flights/trains/busses1
hope that helps!
Posted by
OP
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
207 posts
Thank you all... we will check out some of the wonderful suggestions... especially Coimbra. A huge part of our travel fun is plotting our trip...though we have driven a great deal in Europe, we are trying to do more with public transport and rent cars for a day or two at a time when it makes sense. I will now bring these suggestions to Audrey who will join me in great thanks to each of you.
We plan (and hope) to return and include the Algarve at that time especially as we are golfers so we are trying to get an initial taste of Spain and Portugal this round. George, Pittsburgh