2 weeks in Portugal
 

Traveling to Portugal in May for the first time and want to see the main highlights. I am not really a beach person, hence the absence of the Algarve. I am always up at around 7am and also enjoy staying out till around 11pm-12am. I enjoy walking a lot and just cafe and bakery hopping a lot. On previous trips, I have walked on average 12+ miles a day. I also like to see the main tourist attractions of the cities, but I don't mind missing some of the big stuff if there are long lines, etc. I do have experience traveling in Europe and have visited Spain, Poland, and Romania in the past. Here is my itinerary. I have 13 full days excluding travel.

Day 1: Arrive in Lisbon at 8p. Check into hotel and get a good night sleep.
Day 2: Full free day in Lisbon
Explore the Alfama, Baixa, Chiado, and Barrio Alto Neighborhoods.
Day 3: Full free day in Lisbon.
Explore the Belem district in morning and Principe Real in afternoon (this is where my hotel is).
Day 4: Sintra day trip. Sleep in Lisbon.
Day 5: Tomar day trip. Sleep in Lisbon.
Day 6: Lisbon to Evora by train. Spend afternoon and sleep in Evora.
Day 7: Free day in Evora.
Day 8: Evora to Coimbra by train. Spend afternoon and sleep in Coimbra.
Day 9: Coimbra free day.
Day 10: Coimbra to Porto by train. Spend afternoon and sleep in Porto.
Day 11: Free day in Porto.
Day 12: Free day in Porto .
Day 13: Guimaraes day trip
Day 14: Morning in Porto. Take afternoon train to Lisbon and stay in hotel by airport
Day 15: Leave Lisbon at 6am in the morning.

My main questions are:

Is this route all manageable by train?

What day trip from Porto would you recommend? Douro valley seems to be very popular, but I don't really drink and most tours seem to be wine tasting. I do enjoy nature though and the views look stunning. Right now I have chosen Guimaraes but willing to change.

Would you recommend to take one day from Porto and add an Obidos day trip from Lisbon. I have heard mixed opinions about Obidos, but I personally love small towns--especially medieval ones.

Would you speak Spanish or English? As a native Spanish speaker, I understand Portuguese quite well and wonder if this is more useful than speaking English.

Does this trip look reasonable? How touristy will it be in May? IS this too rushed? What to skip or what to add?

Thank yall in advance!

Welcome to Fodors. You seem to have registered twice and posted the same thing 2X today. See this thread https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...erary-1735221/

Maybe you thought one didn't post and you tried again with a new account?? Anyway, you should probably contact the moderators and ask them to delete one of the threads and maybe close one of the accounts. You can contact them by clicking the little orangs triangle next to your post. That opens a dialog box where you can type a message.

My thoughts, FWIW:

Day 3 sounds way too ambitious to me. Although it depends on what you want to see and experience, a full day – or even more – is not unreasonable for the Belem district.

Day 4: Although many people visit a bit of Sintra as a day trip, that would mean seeing few of its gems alongside throngs of other day-trippers. I found more than enough in Sintra to occupy me for 2 full days. YMMV.

Day 14: Have you explored the option of flying out of Porto? That would give you more time and allow you to avoid backtracking. If you must fly into and out of Lisbon, consider going straight from Lisbon’s airport to Porto. (See seat61.com for options.) You’ll probably be tired, but you’d be dealing with jet lag either way, and re-ordering your trip would save you one change of hotels and be more efficient….

RE trains: Have you checked rome2rio.com?

RE day trip from Porto: My research led me to believe that the most scenic part of the Duoro Valley is the part furthest from Porto, so that’s the only part I visited. And I thought it beautiful! FWIW, I thought Guimaraes stunning; I was glad to spend a day (and night) there. Your call!

Re: language. I speak English and can only manage a very few words of either Spanish or Portuguese. If my experience is typical, you’ll be fine with either – the Portuguese working in the tourism industry who I encountered were multilingual and very accommodating. Again, YMMV. That said, I would heartily encourage you to learn at least the civilities in Portuguese (if you don’t already know them) – they’ll go a long way.

My time in Portugal was in May of 2024. Porto, which I visited late in May, was packed with tourists. During the day, Guimaraes was, too. Early in May, Sintra was mobbed during the day, but quite pleasant before and after the day-trippers descended upon it.

I hope that helps!

We've done everything on your list except Tomar, all by train and a bus or two.

I suspect it will be very busy, especially in Lisbon, Evora and Porto.

Yes, that is so weird. I will let them know.

Thank you for the tips.

For Belem, my plan is to see Jeronimos Monastery as soon as it opens. Afterwards, grab a pastel de Belem and coffee before seeing the Monument of Discovery and the exterior of the Torre de Belem. I will head back to my hotel in Principe Real around 1pm-2pm and spend the rest of the afternoon/evening the neighborhood.

For Sintra, I will arrive around 7 am and hike the Santa Maria Trail to Pena Palace to see the gardens and exterior (don't care to see the interior). Next I will head down to Moorish Castle before lunch in the Sintra city center. In the afternoon I will see Quinta da Regaleira.

As for flying out of Porto, that was the original plan, but there was no economical way to do it as I am flying from the United States and it would've added several hundred dollars to airfare.

Interesting to hear how busy it was even in May. Hopefully I will escape the crowds in Evora, Tomar, and Coimbra for a little bit at least.

Welcome to the Fodors Forums. There is no need to contact us, another member did and we have deleted the other thread and closed the Romania4ever account.

Here's link to my 2022 Portugal Trip Report (lots of photos). We visited Lisbon, Sintra, Tomar, Coimbra, Douro Valley, Porto and sights in between. It should provide good info on places you'd like to visit.
https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/portugal-2022/

And yet another report that may or may not help with the public transport bit:

https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...isbon-1708685/