andie

WIll be going to Portugal in Oct for 8 days 7 nights and looking to spend time in Lisbon and Porto: 4 days Lisbon, 3 days Porto. Arriving and departing from Lisbon. Is it too ambitious to plan leaving Porto, the same morning we depart for NY, to catch 11 AM flight from Lisbon ? Not flying TAP would require luggage issues if we tried going by air. Taking a train might be possible but timing would be an issue. Help appreciated.

thursdaysd

If you have seven nights you really only have six days, or six and a half if you don'suffer from jet lag, and you can easily use all of them in Lisbon with day trips. (Click on my name for my Lisbon TRA.)

In any case, it is always a mistake not to sleep in the city from which you are leaving by air. Too many things can go wrong. And for a flight to the US you need to be at the airport at least two and maybe three hours before departure.

DebitNM

", it is always a mistake not to sleep in the city from which you are leaving by air. Too many things can go wrong. And for a flight to the US you need to be at the airport at least two and maybe three hours before departure.'

Agreed; I don't even do that when leaving US [we have to take a flight to get to coast for transatlantic flights and we always go the day before - never same day].

I would be a nervous wreck the entire time in Porto; I don't want or need that kind of stress on vacation.

IF you must go to Porto; go as soon as you arrive in Lisbon, then head back for Lisbon for your last days/nights. So do first 3 nights in Porto and then the last 4 nights in Lisbon.

andie

I knew in my gut it was a bad idea given constraints of time. Thanks for your help!

michelhuebeli

Sleep in Lisbon and get up early that las night.
We found both terminals at Lisbon airport to be very crowded. At 6AM no less. My wife left from one terminal for the US,I left from the other one for Switzerland. Nowhere to sit, it was so bad, and everything took FOREVER.
Give it three hours before your flight - take a book, if it is not as bad on your morning of departure as it was on ours, consider yourselves lucky. If it is as bad as it was for us, then you'll be glad to be early and make your flight.

lowcountrycarol

You will have to be at the Lisbon airport 3 hours before you depart to return home...maybe a bit less if home is an EU country. This would be just about impossible to do leaving Porto on your travel day.

TAP has flights just about every hour now between Lisbon and Porto. If it were me traveling, I would plan on arrival in a Lisbon, collect your luggage, and then check in on the best timed flight to Porto....1/2 hour flight time max. Do Porto first and finish up in Lisbon so you can make your 11 AM departure easily.

If you prefer not to fly up to Porto there are buses at the Gare Orient or train can be found there too. The red line of the metro which is at the airport can get you to the Gare Orient but with luggage the €15 taxi ride makes the most sense. Searching the internet can give you these bus times.