Portugal and Spain in 15 Days

Old Apr 17th, 2016, 02:21 PM
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Portugal and Spain in 15 Days

For reasons too long to explain, and that no one will care about, our plans have changed from France, to Portugal and NW Spain. The time frame will be the last two weeks of September, and there will be two couples in their mid 60's.

We've been to Madrid, Anadalusia, Barcelona/Catalunya before, along with a quick stop in San Sebastian ... but no other areas of Spain, and never to Portugal. Besides a few days in Lisbon, and a few in the Porto area, we are starting pretty much from scratch for this adventure. I will do my due diligence on research, guiedbooks, etc., but at this point, we are fairly ignorant of the country towns that we should visit ... and the countryside is our focal point, it's what we like best about Europe. We like small towns with with good restaurants to walk to, good wine and beer, local culture that we can soak up, meeting nice people ... we don't speak Portuguese or Spanish, but being dopey English-only speakers has never stopped us before from having a great time with locals in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, ... England, Ireland, Scotland ...oh wait, some of those places claim to speak English too.

Anyway, we're thinking Portugal and Galicia ... the cities are easy enough to learn about, but any recommendations on small towns in this far western corner of Europe would be appreciated.

Thanks!
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Old Apr 17th, 2016, 02:47 PM
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Some of our favorite towns between Lisbon and Galicia in Portugal are Amarante, Braga, Coimbra, and Viana do Castlo.

In Galicia Santiago is a must, Isles de CIes, Noia, Rías Baixas, Casto do Morte, Costa da Morte and Lugo.
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Old Apr 17th, 2016, 11:37 PM
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Ok, but what is you method of travel?
Where do enter and leave The Peninsula?
What cities have you got down to visiting?
We have everything on your list!
You could be in this part of Spain during the vendimia (grape harvest).
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Old Apr 18th, 2016, 02:45 AM
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You might want to check out Bilbao, if you're headed to northwestern Spain. It's culturally interesting and they have a Guggenheim, has an adorable "old town", and an incredible market, to name a few of the highlights. Here is their official website:
http://www.bilbaoturismo.net/BilbaoTurismo/en/tourists

Enjoy,

Laura
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Old Apr 18th, 2016, 04:45 AM
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ribeirasacra - OK, a few more details. We have not booked flights yet, so we are pretty flexible.

We could depart from either Philly, JFK, or Newark, our friends probably from Dulles. We could A) fly into Lisbon, and return from somewhere in NW Spain, realizing we'd have to take a short hop from a smaller city and go through Madrid or Lisbon. B) Do the above in reverse, starting in NW Spain and leaving from Lisbon. C) Fly RT into and out of Lisbon, and do a big loop.

Aside from the time in Lisbon, we would have a car. We understand that plan C above may not be the most efficient, as some backtracking would be inevitable. One advantage of this plan would be that we'd keep the same rental car. Because of the extra expense involved in renting in one country and dropping in another, plans B and C would probably require separate rentals, with a bus ride over the border - not sure what points in the two countries would work best for that.

We don't want any 1 or 2 nights stays, so 4 - 5 bases would be the maximum. Outside of 3 - 4 days in Lisbon at the beginning or end, we want to concentrate in smaller towns and countryside locations. Porto could be a day trip from somewhere close by.

IMDonehere - We will check out your suggestions, thanks.

Laura - Thanks, but we won't be going as far east as Bilbao. Probably stay in Galicia, with a possible trek into Asturias.
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Old Apr 18th, 2016, 04:49 AM
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Have you been to Cadiz? It is my favourite place ever! We went to Lisboa from Cadiz in 2014
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Old Apr 18th, 2016, 06:35 AM
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Hi Anna - We visited Cadiz briefly, about 10 years ago. We won't be going to Andalusia at all this time. Thanks.
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Old Apr 18th, 2016, 10:01 AM
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thanks for your replay, sorry about others trying to divert your attention from your plans.

My suggestions:
1)You can fly into Lisbon/Oporto direct from the US. I am not certain which airlines/routes. Galician airports certainly do not have direct flights to the US.
2) If you land at Lisbon you can skip the area betwen and train it up to Oporto.
Once at Oporto you could rent a car and drive to the Portuguese cities that IMDonehere has suggested. If you do a complete loop in Galicia you could drop the car back off in Oporto and from there go to you port of exit.
15 days to see Portugal from Lisbon and northwards then back to Madrid would not leave you a lot of time for the interesting parts of Galicia.
There are flights between Lisbon and Galicia.If you only wanted to see Lisbon.
There is a way of crossing the border between Portugal and Lisbon using public transport. But I do believe that due to a greater amount of choice you will be able to find a cheaper car hire in Oporto then in Vigo, where you could start your first night in Galicia.
I have never found much time for the south of Oporto to say I could give you some suggestions of what to visit.


Believe it or not I have tried to keep this information simple as there are a lot of opportunities for transportation and sight seeing. Too much information is certainly not a good thing when taking the first steps in planning a vacation.
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Old Apr 18th, 2016, 05:21 PM
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Thanks riberasacra. Just today, we found a terrific price on PHL - Lisbon nonstop for our dates for $850 per person, so we jumped on it. So we'll have to make the loop, but we couldn't pass that deal up.

Now that we know that, we'll probably head north immediately upon landing, and save Lisbon for the last 4 days or so. Still searching for the other spots to base in.

As far as others making suggestions that are clearly outside of our defined parameters, what are you going to do? I see that all the time on Fodors. I think everyone is well- meaning, maybe they just didn't pay close attention to all the earlier posts.
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Old Apr 18th, 2016, 09:02 PM
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A thought: you might consider reposting (with a link to this thread), with a thread titled "Portugal and Galicia." I rarely check threads that propose the absurd possibility of seeing Portugal and Spain in just 2 weeks....
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Old Apr 18th, 2016, 11:22 PM
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Hi!

Glad to know you already have your tickets to Lisbon at a good price.

IMdonehere mentioned some beutifull cities, I'd like to add some villeges you might consider;

- Caminha (Portugal) - on the border, you can cross the river by ferry to "A Guarda" (Spain), or "Vila Nova de Cerveira", there's a bridge to Spain. Or "Valença do Minho", a litlle further West, also with connection (two bridges) to "Tui" (Spain) a really nice village in my opinion.

These are just ideas of places you can search info and start lining up where you want to go.

Maybe, as you intend some days for Porto area, you could start there (on your way from Lisbon) and them go further North to Galicia? If you intend to do so, I would suggest "Miranda do Douro" or "Bragança"(West Portugal) and entering Spain through Bragança's border.

Not adding any more ideas, as as RiberaSacra said too much info might be a bit confusing!

(all places mentioned are, to me, good places to eat and drink. But those are easy to find once you decide where you are going to go. I can tell you I go to "A Guarda" to eat seafood rice, Tui for pulpo "a la gallega" and "calamares" (fried squid rings), "Miranda do Douro" for steak (not really steak, but more or less) "posta à mirandesa".
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Old Apr 19th, 2016, 12:30 AM
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Gald you managed to get some flights at a price you like, always a bonus.

Landing in Lisbon and saving it for the last few days.
Means (for me)3 options.
1)Use a car all the time and stay within Portugal. There is loads to see.
2) train to Oporto and car around north Portugal and a small bit of Galicia.... maybe.
3) To see only Galicia maybe a small part of North Portugal fly Lisbon to Vigo with Aireuropa https://www.aireuropa.com/en/flights
All of these options will save a huge drop off fee and save time doing a transfer via public transport between Oporto and Vigo.
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Old Apr 19th, 2016, 03:23 PM
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Thanks to all for your help and suggestions. The way things are shaping up now, we might do the following:

1) Drive to Oporto immediately after arrival in Lisbon. Spend 3 or 4 nights.
2) Drive to Santiago de Compostela, spend 3 or 4 nights.
3) Drive to Douro valley for 4 nights.
4) Return to Lisbon, get rid of the car, and spend the remaining 4 - 5 nights there.

We are still in the early idea-gathering phase, and we have not settled on all the things we want to see and do in each region, but we have time to figure that out. We could possibly add another base in Galicia after Santiago, for a couple of nights.

I'll post new developments as the planning progresses.
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Old Apr 19th, 2016, 11:05 PM
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"Drive to Oporto immediately" Did you forget about Jetlag?
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Old Apr 20th, 2016, 03:10 AM
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Do you really need a car in Oporto? You could just train up there and then pick up the car. The different pickup/dropoff fees are not bad as long as they are within the same country, AutoEurope has even waived them in some of our bookings.
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Old Apr 20th, 2016, 04:37 AM
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I did not forget about jet lag ... I know everyone will jump on me about this ... I have been doing it for years. Three years ago, after a one-stop flight to Paris, drove 6 1/2 hours to Sarlat. After flying through Amsterdam to Glasgow last year, drove 3 hours to the Borders. This time, we have a non-stop to Lisbon, about 7 hrs max, and what would be a 2 1/2 hour drive to Porto. We always split the driving between two of us.

I am completely wired when going to vacation. By the time I arrive wherever I'm going, the adrenaline is flowing like crazy, and I am wide awake. OK all, if you want to call me irresponsible, go ahead. I believe everyone is different, and many would just be too tired, drowsy, or whatever to drive. I respect that. We are good, careful drivers, do not drink alcohol on the flight, and this works for us.

marigross - training to Oporto may be a good option, especially since I just learned that, for some reason, car rental prices in Portugal are crazy high - 3 times higher than Germany, and even 50% higher than what we paid in Scotland last year. Thanks.
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Old Apr 20th, 2016, 11:01 AM
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Hi Phillyboy,

Trains from Lisbon to Porto are quite regular (1 every hour approx) and it is easy getting from the airport to the train station (about 5 minutes by metro, and the stop is just outside the airport).

Once in Porto, you can also use public transport to get to Galicia (Vigo).

Bus: autna.com
Train: renfe.com

Then you can rent the car once your in Spain, it might be cheaper.
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Old Apr 20th, 2016, 11:17 AM
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Portugal has wonderful small towns and it's very easy to get around. The highways which were mostly toll roads were pretty empty and the side roads a delight to drive on. Tolls did add up and we didnt take toll roads that often.

I like your plans with the exception of driving to Porto. I would train it since you don't need a car in Porto. My favorite area in Portugal was the Duoro valley.
I am surprised to hear that car rentals are so high. We were in Portugal 2 years ago in May and car rentals were not esp high. Don't recall what we paid a few years back in Germany. Did you check AutoEurope? Also you are far out, you could book and watch for the rates to hopefully come down. I do that frequently with Auto Europe which runs specials.
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Old Apr 20th, 2016, 11:32 AM
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Thanks WhiteMr. I think we are leaning toward taking the train to Porto, it looks quite simple.

yestravel - I checked a number of sites, including AutoEurope. We need a minivan for 4 adults with luggage, which cost less than $300 US in Germany 2 years ago, and about $650 last year in Scotland. These were 11 - 12 day rentals. For 8 days in Portugal, we're seeing prices in the $950 range for cars in the same class ... crazy!

It would be much cheaper to rent a car in Spain, but we'd have to dump it and rent again in Portugal for our time in the Douro, so will probably just bite the bullet.
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Old Apr 20th, 2016, 11:51 AM
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There is some gorgeous countryside just outside of Lisbon. Two years ago, we split a week between Linho (at Penha Longa) and Lisbon and could easily have spent the whole time at Penha Longa. We had a car and spent time exploring in Sintra and Cascais, as well as the nearby forests and beaches, and wished that we'd had time to explore more of the towns along that coast. Having the car for this was a tremendous help. We ditched the car back at the Lisbon airport before heading into the city. Portugal was lovely and we can't wait to return to the area and explore more regions.
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