I have 3 days, 3 nights in Portugal before going on to Morocco. I can't decide where to go. It would likely be easier to get to Morocco via Lisbon, but I'm open to other locations if it can give me a more charming and authentic feel of Portugal. I want to do a little bit of shopping, see a few sites, eat, drink, and be merry

Where would you go, and why?

Lisbon is a great spot for three days (if not longer). I loved the architecture, the people, the food, the weather, nothing I did not like.

I spent 3 days in Lisbon.
Made a half day trip to Belem....
I liked its unusual topography ( very hilly) , the tiled streets, interesting
history , good food and wine.

There are a only very few corners of Lisbon where you are likely to think -- "Oh-oh. Tourist alley". And even some of those won't strike you as "inauthentic" in relationship to understanding Portugal. They are very important monuments of western civilisation, so of course people (even the Portuguese) try to see them once in their lifetimes. But Lisbon is overwhelmingly a city that its natives inhabit, which has its own existence apart from the tourist sights, and so don't worry about that.

Shopping in great in Lisbon, and I don't know where it is rivaled elsewhere. Food is wonderful too if you know where to look, and there is a great traditional nightlife.

Don't know if Porto would appeal to you, but while it is fascinating and an important part of Portugal, it's also a bit more of a specialty place even inside Portugal. (Sort of like if you went to New Orleans as your only experience of Amercica, you might leave the US with a somewhat misleading picture of American culture). But the port wine is great.

Thank you for that feedback!

Porto is one town I was considering. What about it makes it a specialty place?

Also, I'll be traveling with my daughter who is a chef and we would love to take a cooking class. Any recommendations?

We loved Lisbon. Check out the Hotel Avenida Palace.
http://www.hotelavenidapalace.pt/hotel-overview.html

That looks like a beautiful hotel Tabernash. Did you feel like the location was good for walking around in Lisbon?

Lisbon! See:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ing-lisbon.cfm

The Avenida Palace has an excellent location.

Lisbon is very doable in 3 days. You could also make a day (or a 1/2 day) trip to Sintra and see Pena Palace, it is unusual looking. Tower of Belem is beautiful as well. I found Lisbon to be very reasonablypriced compared to many European cities. Food is great everywhere.
https://flic.kr/s/aHskZy6Dcs

Bookmarking

lovestosing,

Historically, Porto became a monoculture dominated by wine making owned by British interests. At one point, when local Portuguese authorities raised taxes on the British companies, they moved all the wine-making to the other side of the river, creating a new town that became wealthy, and the original Porto was left to decline in a rather extroardinary way. It not only has many architectural features to you don't find elsewhere in Portugal, you have a hard time finding them elsewhere in Europe arranged the way they are in Porto.

The arrival of cheap flights to Porto has meant that there is a noticeable part of the very small city that is has been compltely gussied up for tourism. In 3 days you can definitely get beyond it, but it's sort of like to a totally disorganized antiques market and rummaging through the bins. You just have to love that sort of thing. Lisbon by contrast is a very mutlifaceted city with a lot of coherence and some world class sights. Might be fair to say it is the beating heart of Portugal, so if you would like to get to know Portugal, it's worth taking on.

Thank you for that lovely descriptive explanation.

loves2sing, the Avenida Palace is the perfect location for walking in Lisbon! It's next door to the Rossio train station, right across from the square, a short walk down the promenade to the water, lots of restaurants and shops along the way.

It's a special hotel, with amazing customer service and the best breakfast buffet we've seen, served in a gorgeous dining room. Not cheap, but worth every penny.