Please Comment on Preliminary Portugal Itinerary

Nice trip but too many hotels--did I count 10?
I would find a way to change hotels less often, probably a max of 6. Portugal is not that big and you are not even going to the Algarve nor to Viana do Castelo. You will love Portugal but why so much hasssle with hotels?

Hi Bob. With the high cost of gasoline, we're trying to avoid backtracking. We would love to cut down on the number of hotels. Do you have any specific suggestions? (We've chosen hotels with elevators, so that it shouldn't be too much of a hassle to change hotels, but we would love to be able to cut down on the number of hotels as you suggest.)

Hi, sandys

I think you've got a good itinerary here, but I think you need another week or so to do it. There are a couple of days that are unreasonably jammed. My comments:

Day 2 -- I think that it's unrealistic to think you can visit both the Alfama/Baixa/Rossio and Belem in one day. Each of them needs a day, I think. (And I think the Museu Nacional de Arte Popular is closed for renovations, but others may know if it's recently opened).

Day 5 -- I don't think you can visit Monsaraz and Evora in one day, well maybe you can, but you can't do them justice.

Day 6 -- You've got Castelo de Vide, Marvao, and Vila Vicosa in one day, that's at least two days.

Day 9 -- Way too much to do.

Day 10 -- you can't see Porto and all those other places in one day.

And the rest of the days, I think, are unreasonably packed.

If I were you, I'd put all your destinations on a www.mappy.co.uk trip planner and see how many kilometers you've set yourselves up for. And then, I'd factor that in and see how many hours of the day you've left for touring.

I am a pretty active tourist, I don't mind packing up and going from hotel to hotel every night (we travel only with carry-ons so it's just not a problem to have it all packed up every morning). But I think this itinerary is exhausting. For me, it's not the change of hotels that is daunting, it's the sheer number of places you expect to see each day. If I were you, I'd prioritize a bit and scale it down. But that's just my opinion. In any case, you'll love Portugal!

sandys. I can see that you have given a lot of thought to your itinerary. All of the places you picked are great.

The only problem is that in my opinion you are changing hotels too many times. You may feel that you are saving a backtrack drive, but checking into and out of hotels takes time also.

Driving in Portugal is very easy. The roads are good and distances are not great.

Maybe you could pick a central area in groupings and do a them together. For example: Coimbra, Obidos, Tomar could easily be seen from one location. They are fairly close to each other.

This would work unless you have your heart set on the hotels you have picked.

Also, I agree with lreynolds about Lisbon especially. I think it will be difficult to cram all of your plans into the time.

Have a great time planning and enjoying Portugal.

Thanks for all the responses so far. I have revised our itinerary, staying longer in some locales and cutting out Viseu altogether. I'm open to more suggestions. I know that I have too many things planned, and will have to cut some. Any suggestions as to what can be missed?

Revised Itinerary:

Day 1 – Arrive Lisbon evening – Hotel: Sana Park Lisboa Hotel

Day 2 - Lisbon – Sightseeing Lisbon & Belem - Hotel: Sana Park Lisboa Hotel
Visit Rossio Square/ Baixa district/Alfama
Visit the Castelo de Sao Jorge
Visit Belem - Mosteiro dos Jeronimos/ Torre de Belem/ Museu Nacional de Coches
Visit the Museu Nacional de Arte Popular – if time

Day 3 – Lisbon – Sightsee Lisbon – Hotel: Sana Park Lisboa Hotel
Stroll through Barro Alto/Chiado
Take the Elevador da Gloria
Visit the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian and the Centro de Arte Moderna
Visit the Jardim da Fundacao
If time, visit Museu de Arte Antiga

Day 4 - Lisbon – Sightsee Sintra – Hotel: Sana Park Lisboa Hotel
Take train to Sintra - Visit Palacio Nacional de Pena/Visit Palacio Nacional de Sintra
Visit the Quinta da Regaleira – if time

Day 5 – Pick up rental car at airport - Drive to Evora - Hotel: Albergaria do Calvario
Walk the narrow streets and alleys of Evora/Visit the Praca do Giraldo/See the old Jewish quarter
Visit the Capela dos Ossos/Visit the Misericordia/Visit the Templo Romano and the Jardim de Diana for views
Visit the Galeria das Damas and Jardim Publico
Drive to Monsarez/explore town/visit castle
Visit the Se in Evora if we have time

Day 6 – Drive to Marvao – See Marvao and Castel de Vide - Hotel:Albergaria el Rei Dom Manuel (Marvao)
See Vila Vicosa en route – Museu dos Coches, Paco Ducal, and the nearby Castelo
Wander through Marvao/Climb the tower of the castelo in Marvao/Visit the Museu da Marvao
Visit Castelo de Vide/See the remains of the medieval sinagoga

Day 7 – Belmonte - Hotelousada Convento de Belmonte
Visit Sortelha en route
Visit the ruins of the Castelo de Belmonte/Visit the Museu Judaico
See the Centum Cellas – just north of Belmonte

Day 8 - Pinhao - Hotel: Quinta de la Rosa
See Lamego en route if time
Explore the Douro between Peso da Regua and Pinhau – visit a port wine cellar

Day 9 – Guimares – Hotelousada de Guimares Marinha
Visit Vila Real – Solar de Mateus
Visit Vila Pouca de Aguiar if time – see medieval stone houses and dolmen
Visit Amarante en route – wander around town

Day 10 – Guimares – Hotelousada de Guimares Marinha
Drive to Vila Nova de Gaia and Porto for the day
Wander through the Old Town of Porto/Visit the Ribiera Pier/Visit the Estacao de Sao Bento (azulejos)
Visit the Palacio da Bolsa, the Museu de Arte Contemporanea de Serralves, and the Torre dos Clerigos if time
Visit a couple of Port Wine Lodges – Taylor and ???

Day 11 – Guimares – Hotelousada de Guimares Marinha
Visit Barcelos– folk art center for the Thursday Market
See the Igrega de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira
Visit the Castelo de Guimaraes
Visit the Citania de Briteiros

Day 12 – Guimares – see Guimares and surrounding area - Hotelousada de Guimares Marinha
Visit Viana do Castelo – wander the narrow streets
Visit Vila Praia – fishing boats and beach
Visit Caminha – medieval plaza
Visit Pointe de Lima – narrow streets and medieval buildings

Day 13 – Coimbra – See Coimbra and surrounding area - Hotel:Condeixa-a-Nova - Pousada de Santa Cristina
Stop at Aveiro en route – and the Rio de Aveiro
Stroll through the narrow streets of the Old Town of Coimbra
See the Arco de Almedina/Visit the Universidade de Coimbra/see the Biblioteca
Visit the Museu da Fisica – science museum

Day 14 – Coimbra – See Coimbra and surrounding area - Hotel:Condeixa-a-Nova - Pousada de Santa Cristina
Visit the roman ruins at Conimbriga and the Museum
Drive to Buarcos if we have time
Visit the Se Velha if we have time

Day 15 – Obidos - Hotel:Casa de Campo Sao Rafael
See Nazare en route to Obidos
Walk the narrow streets and squares of Obidos/Walk the walls of the medieval castelo
Visit the Vauban fortress and see the fishing harbor in Peniche – if time

Day 16 – Obidos - Hotel:Casa de Campo Sao Rafael
Drive to Tomar for the day
Walk the narrow streets in the Old Town/see the Jewish Quarter
Visit the Museu-Sinagoga Luso-Hebraico Abrahan Zacuto Sinagoga de Tomar
Visit the Convento de Cristo
See the Pegoes Aqueduct
Visit the walled town of Ourem – if time
Detour to Bairro to the Pegadas Dinossaurios Serra de Aire – if time
Visit Vila Nova da Barquinha - if time

Day 17 – Flight Leaves at 8:25am - One hour drive to airport from Obidos (Is this reasonable?)

That is better but you still have 4 one-niters in a row---that would be a killer for me. I have only travelled Portugal twice and do not know the attraction at Belmonte---your call. I would also try to see Estromoz as you transition to Marvao---I do love Marvao. Good luck !

Here are some pics you may enjoy including several in Marvao.
http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/showgallery.php?cat=3832

Hi, Sandy,
You've picked some of my favorite places in Portugal, and after looking at your itinerary, I think that maybe the problems will solve themselves. What I mean is, when you arrive in Evora on Day 5, you'll see whether you have time to see Evora and also take a trip to Monsaraz. If not, Monsaraz falls off the itinerary. So long as you don't have your heart set on some of these places, that's not a bad way to deal with the overload. But I'll give some specific suggestions to your day by day.

Lisbon -- I think two days is a bit tight for Lisbon, but you can just drop some of the destinations as you see how the time goes.

Day 5-- I personally think it's a bit unrealistic to visit Evora and Monsaraz in the same day, but Monsaraz is a logical day trip from Evora so you can just play it by ear.

Day 6 -- The drive from Evora to Marvao via Vila Vicosa is completely do-able. My guess is that here you'll drop Castelo de Vide and that would leave you with a busy but not frenetic day.

Day 7 -- Marvao to Belmonte is not a bad drive, and the detour to Sortelha reasonable. I wonder whether you'll have the flexibility to visit Belmonte either on the afternoon of Day 7 or the morning of Day 8, depending on your time.

Day 8 -- Belmonte to Pinhao is probably about two hours. I think much of it is secondary roads. I think that if you want to enjoy the Douro valley (the section between Peso da Regua and Pinhao is very nice), you should forget about Lamego.

Day 9 -- Pinhao to Guimaraes. I think a visit to Mateus is a smart stop and you'll just have to see whether you have time for the other places. I like Amarante a lot, it has a very nice feel to it, but it doesn't really have many "must see" sights.

I see you have four nights in the Pousada in Guimaraes -- this is a great choice! It's lovely, and it's also out of town so easy to get up and going on day trips every day. It is isolated though, making choices for dinner limited. I've eaten in the Pousada and my experience is that it's good, not great.

Day 10 -- The day trip to Porto is do-able, but remember there will be headaches getting in and out on the highways. There's a good parking garage right in central Porto near the Bolsa and I'd just put the car there for the day. I think that seeing Porto in a day is tight, especially given the drive in and out, but you will definitely have time to walk around, cross the bridge and see the lodges, etc.

Day 11 -- Barcelos and Citania dos Breteiros are in different directions from Guimaraes, I think, but the distances aren't too large. But I think it's pushing things to think you can visit Guimaraes, go to the Barcelos market (with its crazy traffic jams on market day) and the Citania dos Breteiros in the same day. I personally was amazed by the Citania site, and it's in a beautiful setting, but I guess it's easy to lop off the itinerary if you're pressed.

Day 12 -- Viana do Castelo and Ponte de Lima are both very nice places, but I just don't think you can see them both in a day trip from Guimaraes, not to mention the other things you suggested.

Day 13 -- I haven't been to Aveiro (it's on my list), but I think you probably won't have much time to visit Coimbra on Day 13 as you drive from Guimaraes with a stop in Aveiro.

Day 14 -- If I'm right about Day 13, you're going to have a hard time seeing Coimbra and Conimbriga in the same day, and I'd forget about Bucaco.

Day 15 -- Nazare en route to Obidos is a good idea. I don't think this day will give time to go to Peniche. Peniche is a pretty spot, what I thought was the most interesting was the museum that is now in what used to be a prison during Salazar's dictatorship. The other thing is a boat trip out to the Island of Berlenga, but you definitely wouldn't have time to do that. You might want to scratch Peniche.

Day 16 seems do-able. (I personally liked Alcobaca more than Tomar, but others would disagree and Tomar has a lot to offer).

Day 17 -- I think whether one hour is enough to get to Lisbon will depend on the day of the week and the time of day. If your flight is 8:25, you'd want to be there by 6:30, I'd think, to give you time to return your car, etc.. At that time of day, you shouldn't encounter huge amounts of traffic coming into Lisbon even if it's a work day, since that would mean leaving Obidos at 5:30.

So, I don't mean to sound negative, I just wanted to give you my ideas about where you might want to slice things off the itinerary.

Moving north of Guimaraes for two days would make the day trips more do-able, but I know you are trying to cut down on moves and that would work against that principle. For me, I'd rather drive less, not backtrack, and check in and out more frequently. But I know there are those who find frequent check-ins and outs to be a real negative feature. We do one-nighters a lot when we travel, and we tend to have a leisurely breakfast, take a walk if the place calls for it, and then leave for a day's touring by 10 or 10:30, on to the next place. I never find it stressful, but then I take very little luggage and make the days' distances small. But this is a very personal thing, so sorry if I sound like I'm preaching.

Well, I've gone on for a long time, thanks for your patience if you've made it all the way to the bottom. I love traveling in Portugal and am in the process of planning another trip there for September, so looking at your itinerary just helped me sharpen my own plans! You have picked some really beautiful, and not too touristy, places to go.
Boa viagem, Laurie

Thanks so much for the detailed critique Laurie. You weren't being negative at all. I will definitely go forward with some of your suggestions as I revise our itinerary. We don't really mind one-nighters, since we can easily live out of our luggage and spend very little time packing up in the morning.

Bob. We loved your photos.

Just a quick p.s., Sandy.

The pousada in Belmonte is beautiful. Most of it is modern, there are only a few stones left of the original convent, but it is in a lovely location a few km out of town and there are very nice walks around it. We had a very good dinner there as well. All in all, I think Belmonte is worth a night's stop, though it probably isn't high on anyone's list of places to see.

Laurie

Hi

I spent two weeks in Portugal in June and stayed in 10 different places during our 14 night stay. While many people advise against this, it worked for us. Like you, we felt that moving forward was preferable to backtracking and spending more time driving. We stayed in many neat places and I don't regret the lodging changes.

Our itinerary was somewhat different than yours, although we stayed in many of the same places. We spent two nights in Lisbon, which I felt was adequate (although we really rushed through various sites) and one night in Sintra-one of my favorite destinations. I'm glad that we did this as an overnight because we spent nearly two days seeing the sites nearby.

I wasn't as excited by Tomar or Conimbriga as I had expected and Evora was nice, but we only spent half a day there. I really liked Monsaraz because of the views and the pottery stops between Evora and Monsarraz. I've posted a trip report of our first few days which overlap some of yours. Will post the second portion in the next week or so.

I also posted reviews of the hotels that we stayed in on Trip Advisor. Not the same ones that you are considering but we really enjoyed most of them.

I've made several changes to our itinerary. Thanks to everyone for their constructive suggestions.

Day 1 – Arrive Lisbon evening – Hotel: Sana Park Lisboa Hotel

Day 2 - Lisbon – Sightseeing Lisbon & Belem - Hotel: Sana Park Lisboa Hotel
Visit Rossio Square/ Baixa district/Alfama
Visit the Castelo de Sao Jorge
Visit Belem - Mosteiro dos Jeronimos/ Torre de Belem/ Museu Nacional de Coches
Visit the Museu Nacional de Arte Popular – if time

Day 3 – Lisbon – Sightsee Lisbon – Hotel: Sana Park Lisboa Hotel
Stroll through Barro Alto/Chiado
Take the Elevador da Gloria
Visit the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian and the Centro de Arte Moderna
Visit the Jardim da Fundacao
If time, visit Museu de Arte Antiga

Day 4 - Lisbon – Sightsee Sintra – Hotel: Sana Park Lisboa Hotel
Take train to Sintra - Visit Palacio Nacional de Pena/Visit Palacio Nacional de Sintra
Return to Lisbon and see sights that were missed on prior two days

Day 5 – Pick up rental car at airport - Drive to Evora - Hotel: Albergaria do Calvario
Walk the narrow streets and alleys of Evora/Visit the Praca do Giraldo/See the old Jewish quarter
Visit the Capela dos Ossos/Visit the Misericordia/Visit the Templo Romano and the Jardim de Diana for views
Visit the Galeria das Damas and Jardim Publico
Drive to Monsarez/explore town/visit castle if time

Day 6 – Drive to Marvao – See Marvao and Castel de Vide - Hotel:Albergaria el Rei Dom Manuel (Marvao)
See Vila Vicosa en route – Museu dos Coches, Paco Ducal, and the nearby Castelo
Wander through Marvao/Climb the tower of the castelo in Marvao/Visit the Museu da Marvao
Visit Castelo de Vide/See the remains of the medieval sinagoga

Day 7 – Belmonte - Hotelousada Convento de Belmonte
Visit Sortelha en route
Visit the ruins of the Castelo de Belmonte/Visit the Museu Judaico
See the Centum Cellas – just north of Belmonte

Day 8 – Peso da Regua - Hotel Régua Douro
Explore the Douro between Peso da Regua and Pinhau – visit a port wine cellar

Day 9 – Guimares – Hotelousada de Guimares Marinha
Visit Vila Real – Solar de Mateus
Visit Vila Pouca de Aguiar if time – see medieval stone houses and dolmen
See Amarante en route – wander around town if time

Day 10 – Guimares – Hotelousada de Guimares Marinha
See the Igrega de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira
Visit the Castelo de Guimaraes
Visit the Citania de Briteiros
Visit Barcelos

Day 11 – Guimares – Hotelousada de Guimares Marinha
Visit Viana do Castelo – wander the narrow streets
Visit Vila Praia – fishing boats and beach
Visit Pointe de Lima – narrow streets and medieval buildings

Day 12 – Porto – see Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia - Hotel:Quality Inn Portus Cale
Wander through the Old Town of Porto/Visit the Ribiera Pier/Visit the Estacao de Sao Bento (azulejos)
Visit the Palacio da Bolsa, the Museu de Arte Contemporanea de Serralves, and the Torre dos Clerigos if time
Visit a couple of Port Wine Lodges – Taylor and ???

Day 13 – Coimbra – See Coimbra and surrounding area - Hotel:Condeixa-a-Nova - Pousada de Santa Cristina
Stop at Aveiro en route – and the Rio de Aveiro
Stroll through the narrow streets of the Old Town of Coimbra
See the Arco de Almedina/Visit the Universidade de Coimbra/see the Biblioteca
Visit the Museu da Fisica – science museum

Day 14 – Coimbra – See Coimbra and surrounding area - Hotel:Condeixa-a-Nova - Pousada de Santa Cristina
Visit the roman ruins at Conimbriga and the Museum
Drive to Buarcos if we have time

Day 15 – Obidos - Hotel:Casa de Campo Sao Rafael
See Nazare en route to Obidos
Walk the narrow streets and squares of Obidos/Walk the walls of the medieval castelo
Visit the Vauban fortress and see the fishing harbor in Peniche – if time

Day 16 – Obidos - Hotel:Casa de Campo Sao Rafael
Drive to Tomar for the day
Walk the narrow streets in the Old Town/see the Jewish Quarter
Visit the Museu-Sinagoga Luso-Hebraico Abrahan Zacuto Sinagoga de Tomar
Visit the Convento de Cristo
See the Pegoes Aqueduct
Visit the walled town of Ourem – if time
Detour to Bairro to the Pegadas Dinossaurios Serra de Aire – if time
Visit Vila Nova da Barquinha - if time

Day 17 – Flight Leaves at 8:25am - One hour drive to airport from Obidos (Is this reasonable?)

For sandy and Bob "Everybody's Favorite" Navigator:

>>>I have only travelled Portugal twice and do not know the attraction at Belmonte<<<-

Bob, if you noticed in my pix of Portugal, I dedicate a bit of pic space to Belmonte, and to its local sinagoga and its giant Menorah. The reason Belmonte has come into focus over the past decade or so, is basically tied to that.

During the Spanish Inquistion and the Auto da Fe (Portugal's very own Inquisiton), many of those Jews who did not exit in exile from those countries, took a chance by accepting conversion or going "underground" into some phase of hiding. In Portugal, the idea was that the further from Lisobon they went (within the country), the safer they could be as "hidden Jews", or in the case of those who converted, a chance to clandestinely continue to practice their Jewish religion (marranos and conversos both). Belmonte became a haven for several families, and today's population of about 100 Jews are direct descendants of these folks...going back 5 centuries. After Salazar's Era, many began to emerge and openly embrace their religion.

About 20-25 years ago, plans were made to someday construct a new sinagoga...and that finally came to pass in the past 10 years.

Therefore, Belmonte has become sort of a symbol of a tragic bygone time...and "pilgramages" (if you will) have been made by Jewish tourists, as well as Jewish and non-Jewish scholars of the Inquisition period. Hence, the growing interest, ever so minimal as it is.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2738534,00.html

I hope this clarifies the subject for you and any other interested posters Bob.

Stu T.

of course, I meant "pilgrimages"..typo

stu

I have noticed a number of Portuguese towns with historical Jewish sites, and I am not surprised that they would create interest among Jews everywhere. Thank you for sensitizing me more to this very important part of Portugal's history, Stu. In fact, I was just looking for some information in connection with my own trip to northern Portugal in September and found reference to other important Jewish sites. It's in Portuguese, but the pictures and names of the towns are pretty self-explanatory.

http://valecoadouro.lac.pt/index.php?obj=front&action=rub_aff&rub_id=67

Wow, thanks Stu---very interesting.

Sandys-

I noticed that you are staying at Casa D. Dinis in Marvao. We also stayed one night in June and had a great "local" experience. The room was fine, bathroom tiny, breakfast adequate. The fun part was the "bar" across from the B&B. They have a small outdoor patio with a few tables and a small indoor bar. In Portugal, a "bar" refers to a place where alcohol, coffee, other beverages and a few foods are served. In this case, they served "small plates", sandwiches and a few other selections. After confering with Manuel, the owner we decided to try the local green soup consisting of coriander, water, bread and a poached egg. Odd sounding but tasty and apparently bourne out of a siege where there was little but these ingredients to eat. We also had spaghetti with canned tuna, something I normally despise, but which, again was tasty. Two servings of each, plus a liter of house wine was $10.4E, the cheapest meal of our trip. We struck up a conversation with the only other couple on the patio, a couple who had brought a motorcycle across from England and found an affinity with Manuel, who also owned cycles.

We ended up spending hours in this small bar conversing with Manuel, who said he learned much of his extensive English in this way, and the other couple. Manuel served portions of Ginga, a cherry liquer, and took pictures of us on his cell phone. His wife, who ran the B&B kept calling to find out where he was. An unexpectedly fun experience!

Stillhouse. Maybe I am not reading correctly but I do not think they are staying at D. Dinis.
I have nothing against the Dom Manuel. BUT we stayed at the D. Dinis and I personally would not stay anywhere other than there in Marvao.
We had room 15, I believe. Anyway, the one with the terrace. They usually prefer to rent it out for three nights. The cost is 60E, but if they do not have a reservation they will rent it out for less than three nights.
It is at the very tippy top of Marvao, right next to the castle.
It is huge.
The view is spectacular.
This place is wonderful.
I have a tourist brochure from Marvao which lists hotels, restaurants, etc and if you want any specific info, I would be glad to send it.

Our plan is to stay at the Albergaria el Rei Dom Manuel in Marvao. It has good reviews. We'll only be staying in Marvao for one night.

Wow, sandys... I feel like I'm eaves dropping on your conversation. I'm just beginning to plan our trip to Spain and Portugal. We're thinking of taking a tour of Spain, but then would do Portugal on our own. Your itinerary is just what we would like! Thanks for planning so far in advance. We'll be going in February, so will report in long before you leave.

mkdiebold
Please report on your experiences. We won't be able to make our reservations, for the most part, until around the beginning of 2009. If you follow a similar itinerary, it will be good to find out how it worked for you.

Will do!

Thanks again for everyone's help in planning this trip. Below is my trip report.

TIPS: Around six months before our visit, we purchased a Pousadas Senior Passport, which gave us five nights B&B at Pousadas (plus two discount dinner coupons) for a grand total of 375 euros. We reserved the pousadas that we wanted to stay at at that time, so that we could stay at the pousadas that we desired. This made our stays at pousadas a real bargain.
Couverts are little appetizers, brought to your table the moment you sit down. These usually include bread, butter, cheese, and olives, and often also include other appetizers. Be sure to check your menu for the cost for these couverts. The cost is normally per person, and you can refuse those that you don’t want. In many cases, the cost of these couverts can be very high.
Portugal’s highways work with a system called Via Verde. As a tourist, you cannot use these lanes. These lanes are only for the Portuguese people who have an electronic system in their cars that allow them to pass through the toll booths without stopping. These lanes are clearly marked by a green logo with a white v set on top of the booth and painted on the ground of the lane before reaching the booth.
Since we always had large breakfasts and dinners, instead of lunch we stopped at bakery cafes and had delicious pastries and excellent coffee. We were amazed that the total cost for the two of us was usually between 3 and 4 euros. What a bargain! We really miss those pastries now that we’re home.
Try the Portuguese wines. We were very impressed with the Portuguese wines, and they were very reasonably priced.

Day 1 – Spent in flight enroute to Lisbon.

Day 2 – Arrived in Lisbon in the early evening after a very long flight from San Francisco, with one stop at London Heathrow. We stayed at the Vincci Baixa Lisboa Hotel for 4 nights. It was a lovely hotel with very helpful and friendly staff. The rooms were very small, but also very nice. The included breakfasts were the best that we had in Portugal. This hotel is very centrally located, and also about a five minute walk to a new metro station at Praca do Comercio. We highly recommend this hotel.

Day 3 – We bought the the 7 Colinas Card for 2 days at the metro station close to our hotel, and then took a tram through the Alfama and the Bairro Alta districts. We switched trams around Rossio Square, and returned to the Alfama district. We then visited the Castelo de Sao Jorge (fantastic views and interesting ruins) followed by a walk through the Alfama district. In the afternoon, we took another tram to Belem, and visited the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, the Memorial to the Discoveries, and the Museu Nacional de Coches. We also stopped for the famous Pasteis de Belem pastries – yum. In the evening, we walked to the Clube de Fado in the Alfama district, and enjoyed a very good dinner and fado show.

Day 4 – We walked to the Elevador da Gloria and took it up to the Bairro Alto where we wandered the narrow streets. We took the funicular down to the Baixa district and wandered around the streets there. We spent the afternoon at the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian and the Centro de Arte Moderna.

Day 5 – We walked to Rossio Railway Station from our hotel and took an early train to Sintra. We spent the day in Sintra, visiting the Palacio Nacional de Sintra (beautiful) and the Palacio Nacional de Pena (very Disneyesque – absolutely gorgeous). We also stopped at theMoorish Castle ruins (good views, but we enjoyed the other castles more). Be sure to purchase an all-day ticket for bus # 434 which leaves the Sintra railway station very frequently, and runs via the Castles and Palace in a circular route back to the station. There is a separate small trolley with a minimal cost that takes you the final way up to the Pena palace, but it is worth it. The road up to the Moorish Castle and the Pena Palace is very steep, and they are both far from town.

Day 6 – We picked up our rental car at the airport. We used Hertz since they offered an intermediate size car with Automatic Transmission. Mistake!! We should have rented a compact or economy car since the roads were so narrow. Our car was very wide and I had to be very careful driving the narrow streets of the cities that we visited. Hertz had the shortest line at the airport for rentals, which was a plus. Even though we had prepaid for our rental, and the contract was closed out when we returned the car to the airport, we were hit with around $60 in miscellaneous fees (cleaning, road taxes, etc.) after we returned home. We used our GPS, which we had brought from home (we had purchased a Spain and Portugal card for our Garmin). We found the drivers in Portugal to be cowboys – driving fast and doing lots of tailgaiting. Beware!
En route to Evora, we stopped to see the Cromlech of Almendres – a Portuguese stonehenge. This was located near Guadaloupe on a dirt road. If you have time, don’t miss this. We stayed in Evora, a World Heritage city – a perfectly preserved architectural gem - with beautiful whitewashed houses. We stayed at the Albergaria do Calvario which was a lovely inn just inside the city walls. The breakfast here was also fantastic, and the people at the inn were extremely friendly and helpful. We spent the day walking the narrow streets of the beautiful city of Evora - stopping several times at the main square, the Praca do Giraldo (a beautiful square), visited the Templo Romano and the Jardim de Diana (beautiful views), and visited the Capela dos Ossos (walls with bones of human skeletons) at the Church of St. Francis. We didn’t have time to stop at the walled city of Monseraz which was highly recommended by people that we met. We’ll save that for another trip.

Day 7 – After wandering some more around Evora, we then drove to Marvao. We stayed at the Albergaria el Rei Dom Manuel, which was just inside the gates of this beautiful walled city. We wandered the narrow streets of this medieval fortress town, and explored the lovely castle ruins. We then wandered the town some more. The views were absolutely fantastic in every direction from everywhere in town. Marvao has not yet become touristy. There are very few restaurants and shops. We ate at our hotel that evening. So far, it is completely unspoiled. We absolutely loved Marvao.

Day 8 – Enroute to Belmonte, we stopped at Castelo de Vide, and wandered the steep narrow streets of the town. We climbed up to the ruins of the castle and saw the old Judaria below. In Belmonte, we stayed at the Pousada Convento de Belmonte, a renovated convent. The large rooms and views from this pousada were lovely, and the food for breakfast and dinner was also excellent – the best food from the several pousadas that we stayed at. Since the pousada was out of town, we then drove to Belmonte, explored the city and visited the ruins of the Castelo de Belmonte and its adjacent Juderia.

Day 9 – We then drove to Peso da Regua, staying at the modern Hotel Régua Douro, which was very conveniently located – walking distance to the old part of town. We stopped at the Port Museum in town, which was very interesting. Then we drove to two Port Wine Cellars – recommended by a lady at the tourist office. Our very favorite was the Quinta do Tedo. It was halfway between Peso da Regua and Pinhao, and very easy to drive to. We had a private tour of the estate from the winemaker and then tasted their wines and ports, which were excellent. We also visited Quinta do Panascal, which was crowded and very commercial. The port was not as good as at Quinta do Tedo. We had dinner that evening at a Portuguese restaurant recommended by the lady at the tourist office. The portions were gigantic, but the food was not to our taste.

Day 10 – We then drove to Guimaraes for a two-night stay at the Pousada Santa Marinha, a former monastery. This Pousada was absolutely beautiful, with gorgeous grounds to explore. The rooms were named for monks. Guimaraes is a large city, and our GPS was just as confused as to how to get to our pousada as we were. After the GPS kept telling us – turn right, recalculating, turn left, recalculating, recalculating, etc., we finally pulled off the road and asked a lady for directions. She didn’t speak English, and our Portuguese left much to be desired. She indicated that we should wait, while she checked for directions for us. When she returned, she still didn’t know how we should proceed. She then stopped another car, and explained to the man where we wanted to go, and he indicated that we should follow him. We followed his car for around two miles, and we finally pulled up to the Pousada Santa Marinha. The other driver had a big smile on his face when we thanked him profusely. He was so glad to have been able to help us. This is just one example of how friendly and helpful the Portuguese people are. Since the pousada was not walking distance to town, we drove to a free parking lot near the old town, and then walked and walked around the old city. We also spent time at the Largo da Oliveira, which is a very beautiful busy square. The central medieval core of Guimaraes was fun to wander through. We had an excellent dinner at the Solar do Arco in town.

Day 11 – In the morning, we visited the Palace of the Dukes of Braganca and the Castelo de Guimaraes. In the afternoon, we drove to the very interesting archeological site of Citania de Briteiros, an iron age settlement. Afterwards, we took the ski type lift up to the small community of Penha, which was very scenic. We loved the large boulders and grottos there. We ate dinner at the Pousada. It was not as good as our dinner the prior evening or our dinner at the Pousada Convento de Belmonte.

Day 12 – We stopped at Ponte de Lima en route to Porto for a two-night stay. We thoroughly enjoyed the medieval buildings and the large square near the river and bridge. This would be a nice city to stay in on another trip. In Porto, we stayed at the Hotel da Bolsa where we had the smallest and dingiest room of our trip. The location was excellent, though – everywhere was walkable. We wandered the Ribiera and visited the Taylor Port Wine Lodge across the river, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Day 13 – We visited the Palacio da Bolsa, which was virtually next door to our hotel. The tour was very worthwhile. We also walked to the the Estacao de Sao Bento to see the azulejos. We then again walked the Ribiera Pier area and crossed the bridge to Vila Nova de Gaia and visited two more Port Wine Lodges. We thoroughly enjoyed Croft, but felt that Sandeman was too commercial for our taste.

Day 14 – We stopped at Aveiro to see the canals en route to Condeixa-a-Nova, where we stayed for two nights at the very modern Pousada de Santa Cristina. The rooms here were very large, and the pousada was lovely. We visited the roman ruins at Conimbriga and the Museum there. The ruins were fantastic – a must-see. We had dinner both evenings at the lovely O Cabritino Restaurant, which was virtually next door to the Pousada – excellent food and service and very reasonable prices.

Day 15 – We spent most of the day wandering the narrow streets of the Old Town of Coimbra after finally finding a parking space in the large lot across the river from town. We walked through the Arco de Almedina, and walked up to the Universidade de Coimbra where we visited the impressive Biblioteca. After returning to Condeixa-a-Nova, we explored the small town of Condeixa-a-Nova.

Day 16 – En route to Obidos, we visited the beautiful town of Tomar. We spent quite a while visiting the fantastic Convento de Cristo (headquarters of the Nights Templar). The Convento de Cristo is on top of a hill overlooking Tomar. Afterwards we walked back to town and walked the narrow streets in the Old Town, and visited the small Museum -Sinagogue of Tomar. We then drove to Obidos, where we stayed at the lovely Casa de Campo Sao Rafael, outside of the walled city. We drove to the parking lot just outside the walls, and then explored Obidos. We found Obidos to be extremely commercial with nonstop tourist shops. After around two hours of wandering through Obidos, we felt that we had seen it. If we had it to do over again, we would have stayed in Tomar.

Day 17 – Before heading back to Lisbon, we again wandered through Obidos, and then drove to the seaside town of Peniche and drove along the shore of the peninsula. We then returned our rental car at the airport and took a taxi (from the departures level) to the SANA Metropolitan Hotel, which was relatively close to the airport. This was the only hotel where breakfast was not included, but since we had to leave for the airport before 6:00am the following morning, we couldn’t have taken advantage of breakfast anyway.

Day 18 – We took a taxi to the airport and left for home.

We loved traveling through the friendly and beautiful country of Portugal, and highly recommend Portugal as a great destination.

Hi Sandy...very concise (I appreciate that) and beautifully explained trip report. It brought back many memories of our visit to Portugal, springtime, '08. It is a gem of a country. It was the last remaining country in Continental Europe that I had yet to visit. Like saving one of the best for last!

Will you be sharing pix with us? In the meantime, I'll post mine for you herein. Since you mentioned so many sites of Jewish interest, I enjoy sharing my List of Synagogues Visited World Wide. It's something I've done wherever we've travelled for many decades. Just send me a note and I'll be happy to e-mail it along (two pages, about 100 synagogues...I guess that's First Prize. LOL).I also have either digital or pre-digital old scanned photos of most entries.

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/Portugal2008#

Best viewed as either a slide show (sometimes, I lose the captions in this mode) or individually...that way, all captions show)

We're in L.A. ..you're in Bay Area?

Stuart Tower rozstu1@aol.com

I'm glad to see your report. I'll be in Lisbon and the Alentejo in two weeks. Thanks for sharing.

Sandys. Wow you really did a lot. And you got to see a lot of great things.
Nikki. Have a good trip. Fill us in when you return. We don't go until August.

Sandys. I wanted to ask you about your car rental. On our previous trips to Portugal we rented small automatics from Sixt and Budget. They worked out fine.
But this trip, we are four adults and thought that we would step up the size of the car and have actually made arrangements with Hertz.
Do you remember what type of intermediate car you rented? This is what we are looking at since the smallest automatics seem very small for four adults and luggage.
Thanks.

Sher.

The car was a Citroen Picasso automatic. It had a third set of seats in back (which we didn't need) since it was station wagon style. We had booked the Intermediate car since we wanted to make sure that all of our luggage would fit in the trunk and be hidden from sight - but this car failed on that score, since it had no trunk. It was easy to load luggage in the back, though. The seats were very comfortable.

We didn't feel that the car we were given was in very good mechanical condition. The pickup was very slow and the transmission had a very difficult time on steep uphills, even in low gear.

sandys,

Thanks so much for your answer. I am not concerned about no trunk as we are flying into Lisbon, picking up the car and driving to the coast where we will stay for seven nights. So there is really no worry for us about touring and covering the luggage.
I was concerned that it would be so much bigger than I imagine but do not really know how to get around the four adults that will be in it.
The smallest automatics are really small in the back seat. And actually the small automatics really don't have very good pick up since the ones they provide you with seem to have tiny engines anyway.
We are not prepaying and I want to check that the total is the total. This Hertz location is an independent one and I just do not want to pay more than they quote. I do not like suprises like that.
Thanks.
If you can think of anything else about the car that might be of help, I would appreciate your input.
And thank you again for answering.

That size car should be very comfortable for four adults. We wanted a trunk since we were driving from city to city. When we picked up the car, at first they were going to upgrade us to a Mercedes since the Citroen was not available yet, but as we were doing our paperwork, I guess that the Citroen was returned, and that is what we got. We picked up the car at the airport, where there is a big fleet of cars.

We did prepay, and when we returned the car, we were told that the contract was closed out. Nevertheless, we did get hit with around a $60 charge on our Visa Card that turned out to be a cleaning charge plus road taxes plus another charge.

Also, a hold was put on our credit card during the period of our rental by Hertz. It was removed when we returned the car.

The two other companies I have used for Portugal list a Ford Focus and an Opel Astra as the choices for intermediate cars. In descriptions I have found the Focus and Picasso are described as holding five passangers and three suitcases. The Astra was listed as holding five passengers and two suitcases.

My husband and I both plan on having one carry on sized suitcase each and also a small bag a size that would fit under an airline seat.
I do not know what the other couple plans to have. I have stressed that the cars there are very small. And although we will not need to hide them while touring we do need to get from point A to B fitting them in the car. And we would like to be semi comfortable while driving as we plan to do a lot of it.

Well. Wish me luck. I will let you know after next month how it worked out.
I also realize that the car company will put a hold on the credit card for the excess. They always do that unless you purchase the full CDW from them.
I am still going to call Hertz about the cleaning fee and road tax.
Sherry

Sher. I think that the Astra and the Ford Focus are usually listed as compact cars, and not intermediates. That's why we went with Hertz - since they offered an intermediate so that our suitcases would fit in the trunk. But then we got a station wagon anyway.

Good luck on your rental and enjoy your stay in Portugal.

Hi, Sandys,

This sounds like a great trip. I think you really got to see many of the great things Portugal has to offer.

I have been here for almost a year now and am heading home in a few weeks, and I will miss it!

Laurie

sandys. That is what I thought about the Focus and Astra. So Hertz told me that all road tax, etc is included.
But they did say that if they feel the car is not to their liking they will charge a cleaning fee.
I guess we will have to be particularly careful when we return the car and make sure they mark the receipt that the car is clean.
I do have you to thank for that little tip.

Thanks Sandys for a great trip report. So interesting on the same thread to read your itinerary questions then the trip report. We are travelling to Portugal in September and will be staying at the same inn in Evora which I am really glad you enjoyed.

Lily. You will thoroughly enjoy that inn. The people there are absolutely great, and the breakfast was wonderful. They even made a latte for me. Yum.

bkk

Sandys. How did you get the Pousadas Senior Passport?

The contact that we used was: www.pousadasofportugal.com. I believe that other companies also sell the senior passport.

Note: I made sure that the pousadas that we wanted were available for the dates that we wanted before committing to buy the passport.

Thanks, Sandys.
We're also interested in Jewish sites. From your experience, could you direct me to the most interesting?

The beautiful new Synagogue and Museum in Belmonte would be at the top of my list. We also enjoyed seeing the tiny Synagogue - Museum in Tomar - but beware of the very talkative man who oversees it. Castelo de Vide was also interesting - but there are very steep streets leading to the old judaria. We weren't able to see the Museum there, since it was closed the day that we were there.

Just my word of advice. I just did Portugal this spring. Day 14, the Roman Ruins at Combria..... some of the WORST ruins I have ever seen and the museum didn't help.

If you have seen any other ruins...I think these will disappoint. If you not seen any ruins this will proably convince you never to see any more.

They have "ruined" some of the ruins with some "building" improvements. All in all, my mother and I who both LOVE ruins (we spent 10 hours in Ostia Antica, I have climbed ruins all over Europe and South America both thought these were a complete waste of time and money!)

Just realized how old this was... OPPS. Disregard Day 14 advice above. (ALthough for anyone else planning trip. I still think those ruins are just a waste of time )