jjmmll

My husband, adult daughter and I will be visiting Portugal in late September and into October. I welcome any suggestions! We enjoy nature, culture, art, beautiful architecture, music, food....pretty much everything having to do with traveling, especially meeting the local people. Our daughter will be finishing El Camino de Santiago de Compostela so part of our plan will be to meet her in Santiago. Here is our very sketchy itinerary. We normally do not move around so much, spending only 2 nights most places. Is this plan reasonable? Your input is greatly appreciated!

Day 1: Arrive late afternoon in Porto from San Francisco, Ca.

Day 2: Porto

Day 3: Either stay in Porto or drive to Santiago, depending on when our daughter arrives in Santiago.

Day 4: Santiago

Day 5: Drive to Coimbra

Day 6: Coimbra

Day 7: Drive to Nazare (Maybe stop in Alcobaca or Batalha on the way?)

Day 8: Nazare (day trip to Obidos, Alcobaca, Batalha, Fatima-which ones do you recommend?)

Day 9: Drive to Evora (Maybe stop in Obidos on the way?)

Day 10: Drive to Salema

Day 11; Salema (day trip to Cape Sagres)

Day 12: Drive to Lisbon and return car.

Day 13, 14, 15 Lisbon (day trip to Sintra)

Day 16: Morning flight to San Francisco

Michael

You might want to take a look at my trip report. The trip took place some time ago, but the sights have not hanged; click on my name to find it.

HappyTrvlr

More time is needed in Santiago especially after your daughter's huge accomplishment.
Skip Fatima, add Obidos for a few hours to or from Evora.
Spend more time in Porto,too.

denisea

I loved Sintra and wish I could have spent more time there.

bilboburgler

Of the whole coast Santiago for me was a bit of a let down, I think I'd plan flexibility around your daughter's arrival though and assume whe may turn up late, may want to hang with her gang for a bit longer than you expect. If you win any time back try to spend more in Lisbon. You might even find time to get to the Cape and find out Henry the Navigator actually went about finding how to make long distance sea journeys that lead to us finding the Americas

adrienne

<< Day 8: Nazare (day trip to Obidos, Alcobaca, Batalha, Fatima-which ones do you recommend?) >>

I went to Batalha but skipped Alcobaca as I felt 3 monasteries were enough (Tomar, Batalha, Belem). Enjoyed all 3 that I saw but the clean one is in Belem. The other 2 had not been power washed.

Obidos was a disappointment. It's good for an hour to walk around but not much more.

Fatima is also good for an hour. It was a disappointment so if you're pressed for time you can skip it.

Sintra is worth 2 days and the sights are more impressive than in Evora, Obidos, and Fatima.

yestravel

In general I think you are moving around too much, not allowing yourself time to enjoy any one place.

Loved Porto and would spend more than a day there. I think Obidios is a charming very small village. It's worth a look, maybe stop for lunch. But I wouldnt go out of my way to see it.
Unless you are going to Fatima for religious reason, I would skip it as there wasnt much to it.
We saw Tomar, Alcobaca, & Batalha on different days and enjoyed all 3.
We were in Sintra in June and while its a beautiful setting and hs worthwhile sites be prepared for crowds. It was the most crowded place of everywhere we were during our month in Portugal.

jjmmll

Thank you all for your invaluable suggestions! I was afraid we were trying to do too much....but what to leave out?! We can leave out Fatima and Obidos but it doesn't give us another night anywhere. I guess we will have to come back someday It's not such a bad problem to have!

yestravel

I don't know Salema (have been to the Algarve though) so can't comment on Salema, but I would cut out going all the way to the Algarve. You could add one of those days to Santiago and another day to Lisbon or to one of your other stops. If you spend 1 day visiting Sintra you will only have 2 days in Lisbon which is really not enough.

Robert2533

Quite frankly, you're trying to cover far too much ground with only 15 days. The time behind the wheel may not seem like much right now, but with six major changes in location, you'll soon find out you don't have much time to enjoy yourselves. Checking in and out of hotels can take a while and in some cases you may not even be able to check into your hotel until mid-afternoon.

If you cut out the Algarve you might find a little more time to relax and enjoy yourselves. I would also cut out the drive to Evora and do a day-trip from Lisbon instead. Otherwise I would save the Alentejo and Algarve for another trip.

Remember, the days will be a little shorter and you will be driving on unfamiliar highways where signage can be a problem. Also, although the Portuguese are not the worst drivers in Europe, they tend to drive fast and seldom use turn signals.

You should also be aware of the toll roads. Most are automatic tolls only, no toll booths (www.portugaltolls.com).

If you don't have an IDP (International Driving Permit from AAA), you'll need one if driving in Spain and you happen to be stopped for any reason.

jjmmll

Thank you again for your help. Now we are considering this itinerary-comments?

Day 1: Arrive late afternoon in Porto from San Francisco, Ca.

Day 2: Porto

Day 3: Either stay in Porto or drive to Santiago, depending on when our daughter arrives in Santiago. Her walking companion is flying out of Santiago on our day 5 so we will leave also.

Day 4: Santiago

Day 5: Drive to Coimbra

Day 6: Coimbra

Day 7: Drive to Nazare

Day 8: Nazare (day trip to Obidos, Alcobaca, Batalha, Fatima-

Day 9: Nazare continue exploring

Day 10: Drive to Lisbon and return car

Day 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 Explore Lisbon and take day trips to Sintra and Evora

Day 16: 10 am flight to SFO

The apartment we planned to rent in Lisbon is not available until Day 11 so I welcome your suggestions. (We can find a different one.) Is three nights too long in Nazare? Perhaps we could take a day from Nazare and one from Lisbon and see another area not too far away.

Again, thank you for your time and insight!

yestravel

I think this is much better. Of the 3 monasteries, I think Tomar is by far the most impressive. It's about an hour from Nazare and I would certainly think about visiting it esp over Fatima.
Driving in Portugal is rather easy and the roads were rarely crowded esp the toll roads. We tended to stick to mostly back roads, but upon occassion did get on a toll road to make really fast time. I didn't find the drivers fast or inconsiderate drivers at all. Someone mentioned about getting the toll transponder in your car when you rent it. The toll roads have electronic tolls (no pay booths) and having the transponder is the easiet way to deal with the tolls. You'll get them charged to your credit car when you return home (BTW toll roads are not inexpensive.)

SandraPestana

Hi jjmmll

About your Nazaré question: yes, 3 nights it's too much.

Salema - it's just a beach, beautiful, but just a beach. The best it's the trip from Lisbon to Algarve by the Vincentin Coast / Costa Vicentina until you get there (Porto Côvo, Vila Nova de Milfontes, Zambujeira do Mar, Odeceixe, Aljezur, Cape Saint Vincent, Sagres).

Lisbon - any extra day is a good deal, you'll love the city and there's soo much to see.

jjmmll

Thank you everyone for your help. We have finally settled on this itinerary:

Day 1: Arrive late afternoon in Porto from San Francisco, Ca.

Day 2,3,4: Porto My daughter and her friend will be finished with the walk earlier than anticipated. So now they will meet us in Porto.

Day 5,6: Coimbra

Day 7, 8: Nazare

Day 9, 10: Evora

Days 11, 12, 13, 14, 15: Lisbon.

Day 16: Fly back to SF.

Please feel free to suggest specific small towns, beaches, restaurants, etc. We will have a car so hopefully we can see several of the small villages which we enjoy.

Do you recommend returning the rental car in Lisbon or keeping it to visit Sintra and the coast?

thank you!

yestravel

Sounds nice & much less rushed. You don't need a car in Lisbon so I would return it and take the train from Lisbon to Sintra.

Sher

Sounds wonderful to me.
Since you have a car spend some time driving along the coast South of Nazare. It is really quite nice.
Enjoy!
P.S. I don't want to offend anyone but having gone once I would never suggest Fatima. Of all of the places we have been to in Portugal, it was my very least favorite.

yestravel

a couple ideas of what to visit.
Not far from Coimbra is the Busacco Forest which is quite nice.
http://www.bussacopalace.com/en/bussaco-forest.html
Also right outside Coimbra are roman ruins.

We stopped in Aveiro for lunch and it was a cute little town.
We liked Guimaraes a lot.

From Porto definitely drive out or take the train into the Duoro valley. It was my favorite part of Portugal. there are also boat trips you could take.

From Evora Estremoz is a nice town. The view from the pousada is great. There is a small town just north of Evora, Arraiolos, which makes & sells a very distinctive rug.

thursdaysd

I'll be in Portugal for the fifth time this November and will finally get to Evora. If you're looking for a place to stay I've booked at this one, which gets good reviews and has been very responsive: http://adcevora.com/ Since you'll have a car you'll be able to visit the megaliths and perhaps the wineries on your own, but I'm arranging for tours.

Don't miss the Roman remains at Conimbriga outside Coimbra.

yestravel

Ah, yes, the megaliths. I orignally had thought they wouldnt be particularly interesting to me, but became fascinated with them. We often drove miles out of our way tracking some down.

jjmmll

Thank you all again! I love all the small (and large) details you provided!