Hello,

I'm mid-planning a two week trip to Portugal from mid-end September for my boyfriend and I , and was hoping for some feedback as I am starting to question some of the decisions! Any input would be so appreciated, it is both of our first time in Portugal and while I want to make the most of it I also don't want to be exhausted from skipping around too much.

Lisbon- 4 nights (with Sintra day trip)
Algarve, Sagres- 2 nights
Algarve- Tavira- 2 nights
Evora- 2 nights
Nazare/Obidos central region- 2 nights
Coimbra- 1 night
Duoro- 1 night
Porto- 2 nights and then fly home out of lisbon (flights out of porto are crazy $)



Aside from the general 'does this make sense' question, specifically, do we need 2 nights in Coimbra or is 1 enough? What town is the nicest to stay in as a home base for the central region? I'm not so sure Nazare is our speed. Should Duoro have 2 nights?

How do you plan to travel. That makes a difference in how long you stay in a location, because public transportation generally takes more time than driving by car, hence the amount of time on any given day for sightseeing. I do not see travel times in your itinerary which will eat up in your sightseeing time regardless of your mode of travel.

I wrote a trip report that covered oour travels from Lisbon south to the Algarve and back up to Porto. You may be interested in it; click on my name to find it.

From Evora we took a few side trips, which meant spending more time using the town as a base.

https://flic.kr/p/7Rvz2L
and Here is the album:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmELyB7t

A guidebook and a map would be useful to plan side trips and a more realistic itinerary given your time frame.

We stayed just north of Nazaré in an AirBnB rental on the dunes above the beach – just before tourist season kicked in. While it was quiet and very pleasant when we were there, I can see it humming in the summer. Lots of restaurants in the upper & lower towns with the inclinator but certainly beach orientated.

We stayed in a cabin on the Douro & drove to selected spots. This solitude worked for us as we watched all the cruise boats go by but we were self-catering. There are lots of inns sprinkled amongst the wine hills that look interesting – albeit expensive. We also drove a chunk of the river road which surprisingly was not great for viewing the river. For Porto, I did a business hit & run with a dinner cruise – not recommended btw. The town is worth a night or two if you did want to take the river train or cruise.

And I would say your time in Lisbon is about right – we did the same.

@Michael ---We plan to rent a car. Thank you for sharing your trip!

@Ian - Thanks for the input!

And just to throw it into the mix . . . another interesting area is around Marvăo. It is a rural destination – so very different from coastal Portugal with cottages, cabins mixed in with hill towns, horseback riding, hiking & smuggler’s stories. We had a house on a hill of cork trees just on the edge of a small village. A great place to visit.

The only places I have been to on your itinerary are Lisbon and Sintra. Four nights is the minimum I would allocate for Lisbon/Sintra. I actually think 5 nights (which is what we did) would be better, especially since you don't want to skip around too much and become exhausted. We did Sintra as a day trip from Lisbon. What are your interests? We did spend a lot of time at the Gulbankian Museum, which is awesome! And also visited the Coach Museum. I think 5 nights in Lisbon gives you a more relaxed visit. Lisbon is a wonderful city for just wandering through all the neighborhoods.

If you wish, you can click on my name to read my trip report. We were in Lisbon in April 2018. I have such fond memories of that trip and would love to return.