I'm researching doing the Heart of Portugal and Best of Spain tours back to back in that order. I know tour hotels can change, but for those of you who have done either of these tours, could you please tell me the names of the hotels where you stayed in Lisbon, Porto and Barcelona?
It's all very tentative, but I'm thinking I might arrive in Lisbon a day or so early, stay an extra night or 2 in Porto and arrive a day early in Barcelona.
Hi, we did the Best of Spain tour last fall, the first hotel in Barcelona was the Catalonia Portal de l’Angel. Nice hotel, great location. I would definitely recommend arriving in Barcelona a couple of days early (at least one day for sure). We went to Portugal afterwards (Porto, then Lisbon); but that was on our own, not with a tour. Spain & Portugal are wonderful, great places to visit!
Same hotel for us in Barcelona and we loved it. First hotel in Lisbon was Lisboa Plaza, hotel in Porto was Grande Hotel do Porto. Hotel in Lisbon was a tour group hotel but pleasant enough and breakfast was good. Hotel in Porto was OK but located on a busy pedestrian shopping street if you like that sort of thing. As for spending extra days- we found Porto to be “gritty”. It grew on us while there, and we enjoyed exploring the bodegas; it looks better in hindsight. But, if I were to have days between the tours I’d opt for more time in Barcelona. So much to see in and around that city.
During 2017 Heart of Portugal tour, we stayed at the following hotels:
Hotel Lisboa Plaza
www.lisbonplazahotel.com
Grande Hotel do Porto
www.grandehotelporto.com
I took the Best of Spain tour a long time ago, and the Barcelona & Madrid tour in 2013. On both tours, we stayed at Catalonia Portal de l'Angel Hotel https://www.cataloniahotels.com/en/hotel/catalonia-portal-del-angel
Thanks so much for the hotel names and links. That tells me a lot .
My husband and I spent a week in an Alfama apartment in Lisbon about 7 years ago. We spent about 4 nights in a hotel right on Las Ramblas in Barcelona about 9 years ago. We never went to Porto.
He's now opted out of European travel, so I will be traveling solo on this trip. All three hotels look fine to spend extra time on my own in.
I do have an additional question. Is the Porto hotel location grittier than the Alfama in Lisbon or Las Ramblas in Barcelona?
No, the street is fine, just wall to wall shops with occasional shuttered buildings (Portugals strange inheritance laws). But it is safe.
