Jenson

I am planning to travel to Lisbon in January. I will have seven days for the trip, and two full days must be reserved for work. I am wondering how many days are needed to see Lisbon at a quick pace? I was also wondering if it would be worthwhile to perhaps fly into Madrid (or maybe Seville would be more reasonable), spend one day and night there, and then taking a train to Lisbon. Anyone know how long a train would take from either Madrid or Seville? Or perhaps since my time is limited that I should concentrate on Lisbon only and perhaps take a few day trips outside of Lisbon? Any and all thoughts welcome. Many thanks.

RAR

Lisbon takes about 2 days to see. Don't miss out on taking a daytrip to Sintra.

You can't train from Seville to Lisbon. You can take a bus to Lagos and a train from Lagos to Lisbon. Would take you about 8 hours. The Madrid to Lisbon train is also very long. If you mean you want to fly from the US into Madrid for 1 night, and then go to Lisbon, remember that your first day in Europe will be a recuperation day. You'll be exhausted quickly from the flight and from jet lag.

Jenson

Thanks RAR! Yes, I meant fly first into Madrid (or Seville) and then was wondering if I could take train to Lisbon. But, it sounds like from your post I would have to take bus from Madrid to Lagos and then catch train in Lagos to get to Lisbon, correct? Would it be a scenic or interesting ride?

If I decided to just spend my week in Lisbon (actually 5 days since 2 will be spent working), I could spend 2 days seeing Lisbon, and then maybe one day in Sintra, and then where else would you recommend? Appreciate any advice you can offer ... Thanks.

RAR

No, I meant one route is Sevilla-Lagos-Lisbon. Madrid-Lisbon is a direct train as far as I know. But it'd be really a bad idea to see either if you only have 7 days.

Spend all your time in Portugal. Since the beach isn't really an option in January, I'd say spend 5 nights in Lisbon (see Sintra and Caiscais as daytrips) and 2 nights in Porto or Evora. Do a search on all these places to get more information, there's a lot of Portugal notes on this message board.

NEDSIRELAND

I'm still not clear about your itinerary but here are some options: If you fly into Madrid you can fly Madrid-Lisbon (Iberia, TAP-AirPortugal, Spanair) and, in January you may be able to get a decent fare. There's also the Luisitania Express, an overnight train - the cost for a 'single' sleeper may be prohibitively high; and there's bus service http://www.eurolines.es

Lisbon is a 3-day city: with 5-days, I would try to make a north of Portugal 'loop:' Coimbra, Porto, Braga & Guimaraes; but it might be difficult in January.

You might also consider flying up to Galicia in northwest Spain: Portugalia airlines has/had service Lisbon-Porto-Vigo. http://www.pga.pt

CathyM

As much as I absolutely love Spain with only 7 days and 5 set aside for work, you're probably better off enjoying Lisbon then running around trying to see a little of everything. I just returned from a trip where I spent 3 nights in Lisbon and took a day trip to Sintra. I was surprised that I liked Lisbon as much as I did (I'm usually a small town person) but could have spent another couple of days roaming around. Sintra is a must for a day trip. Other possible day trips would be Obidos or Evora, both beautiful places to visit. Obidos for the small town quintessel Portugal feel and Evora (a UNESCO World Heritage city) for the old town and roman ruins. You may even want to consider spending a night or two in Evora. I'd choose Evora over Coimbra (if I absolutely had to choose) and personally wouldn't choose the northern route especially in January.

Hope this helps. Let us know what you decide and I'll try to forward you some of my other recommendations.

tadaoji

I agree with others that you'd better stay around Lisbon. You will enjoy the two nights in Lisbon for good food and fado. You maybe able to wonder around some of the tourist attractions after the work. I would allocate one or two extra days for Lisbon.

Rent a car and move out to one of the surrounding cities to stay. It saves costs and you do not have to drive in the city. It is quite easy to cover for example, Obidos, Sintra, Cabo de Roca, Cascais (good place for dinner) in one day with a car. The car also simplifies the trip to the airport when you leave.

jrjcolllins

I agree with the other posters that if you just have 7 days, spend it in Portugal. I did want to let you know, however, about the flight pass from Europe-by-Air. One of the routes on which you can use the pass is Lisbon to Malaga (which is not that far from Seville). The flight pass is $99 US and must be bought in the US. It's on Portugalia Airlines. When I contacted Portugalia Airlines for their fare on that route, it was almost 300 Euros. The website is europebyair.com