Hi, excited to be flying into Lisbon on May 15th early am. Planning to spend 4 nights in Lisbon, which will include a day trip or overnight in Sintra and then 3 nights in the Algarve region. (planning a total of 10 days) The logical thing would be to drive back to Lisbon, spend a couple nights in Porto & fly out of there BUT

We missed seeing the Alhambra when we were in Spain & both of us would really like to visit it from Algarve. Would love to fly out of Spain since we have not booked the return yet but one way car rentals are exorbitant! What would be the best way to do this? If we drive all the way, is it a fairly easy drive to Malaga? (Could take a train or day tour to the Alhambra from there). Or just drive to Granada if the drive is not too challenging?
Or is driving back to Lisbon & then taking a flight to Malaga our best (though not preferred) option?

And if we ditch this crazy idea, what would be the best way to spend our remaining days in Portugal? Somehow the pictures of Porto do not make me feel compelled to visit, though of course, I could be wrong. (FYI, we love natural beauty, not too much into museums though we do appreciate different types of architecture).

Thanks!

If you were not spending time in the Algarve, I think you could make it work. There is bus travel between Lisbon and Sevilla, and once there, easy to get to Granada.
It's probably around a five hour drive to Granada, depending on where you are staying, so with three days left, I would find that a little tight--you might differ. Flying direct LIS-MAL is probably the best option.
I'd lean toward making it an all-Portugal trip and come back to Spain in the future--I've been to Andalucia twice and still have not managed to make it to the Alhambra!

I agree with Yorkshire. Make this an all Portugal trip and plan on returning to Spain in the future to visit Andalucia.

Or if you really want to visit the Alhambra (which is spectacular) on this trip, then drop the Algarve and fly from Lisbon to Malaga. I assume there are flights to Malaga. If not, I know for sure that TAP flies from Lisbon to Seville. And then you could take the train from Seville to Granada. But flying to Malaga makes the most sense. And then a short train ride or ALSA bus ride to Granada. But I think it makes the most sense to stay in Portugal.

I haven't been to Porto yet so can't comment. But I would spend a minimum of 4 nights in Lisbon with no daytrip. Sintra has many palaces and castles that you might be interested in. We visited Sintra as a daytrip from Lisbon but I always wished we had stayed at least 2 nights in Sintra. 3 nights would be better.

I haven't been to Evora or the Alentejo region yet but I know a lot of people really like that area. That could be a possibility, too.

Another vote to keep it all Portugal. Keep the Alhambra for another trip.

If I am reading correctly you will have a total of 10 days - 4 days in Lisbon, then 3 in the Algarve, then three for somewhere else. A couple thoughts:
No need for a car in Lisbon, it's more a headache (parking, traffic) than anything and public transport or uber is plentiful. For Sintra go via public transport, do not drive.

If you want to drive to the Algarve (about 3 hours) pick up the car in Lisbon and return it there. Then hop a train to Porto. (You could fly Faro to Porto if you can tolerate RyanAir with all its added fees, as all other carriers involve sometimes long connections and pretty steep cost.)
If you can arrange to fly out of Porto, that'd be great. Otherwise you'll need to train back to Lisbon to fly out of there which will take up a chunk of a day.

Strongly suggest that while in Porto you pay a visit to the Douro valley where the port grapes are grown. We did an all day excursion with a small group (8 people) in a minivan that visited three wineries and had lunch at one. There are also tours that go up the Douro on a boat but everyone I know who has done that said they should have done a land based tour.

Hi, thanks all! Appreciate the input!
I know staying in Portugal is the sensible, logical option but would really like to give the Alhambra my best shot!

I could add another day to the trip which we would need if we drove all the way but would like to find out how the drive is from Faro to Granada. Does anyone have any first-hand knowledge of the driving conditions? We would stop somewhere on the way on the way back from Granada to Lisbon.
This is how the itinerary would look like:
May 15th - Arrive Lisbon early am - 4 nights, include a day trip to Sintra. (If I abandon the Alhambra plan, will do an overnight in Sintra)
May 19th - Rent a car, drive to the Algarve region.- 3 nights
May 22nd - Drive to Granada.
May 23rd - Visit the Alhambra,
May 24th - Do part of the drive back to Lisbon
May 25th - Return the car to Lisbon airport. Fly out the same day if it's an evening flight, if not, spend the night in Lisbon & fly out on
May 26th, making a 11-12 day trip!
We are both in our 60's (DH is closer to 70) so definitely experiencing the feeling that we won't be back to places we have already visited, with so much still to see! But on the other hand, don't want to go through a harrowing experience driving in a new country either! We have rented cars in the Caribbean & Scotland but usually use public transportation in Europe.
I would not rent a car in Lisbon until the day we were leaving for the Algarve.

Thoughts???

My concern is that Google maps underestimate the travel time in the region so by car I might add 25% which makes the drive say from Faro to Grenada and back a long day so at least make it a stay over

You might want to check the Alhambra calendar and make sure you can even get tickets.
Viamichelin gives fairly thorough drive descriptions, but I can't think what would be troublesome about this drive other than the fact that it is very long and it's time you could be spending otherwise engaged. In my experience, Spanish roads are excellent. If you drove in Scotland, I would not have any concerns.

I do understand the age related sentiment. How about if you drive back to Lisbon from the Algarve and fly from Lisbon to Granada on 22nd, fly back on 24th? Pretty much everything will be a connection but Iberia has some flights that involve only and hour or so connection in Madrid. If you want to get up early and drive to Lisbon on the 22nd there is a 1230 Iberia flight out of Lisbon that would have you in Granada around 5 pm

if you do that, why not take the train to a from Lisbon to Faro on the Algarve and the buses along it

Hi all for the very helpful tips! I did check the Alhambra calender & tickets are available & I found a cheap flight from Lisbon to Malaga that we could take on the 23rd & return on the 25th. BUT, that does make the trip quite hectic! I also did a little more research into the Duoro valley & realized it may warrant a visit!
So after ALL that, I'm inclined to take everyone's advice & stay in Portugal!! That way I can take up KarenWoo on her suggestion to stay a night in Sintra & still have 3 days in Porto & the Duoro area. Haven't really researched it too thoroughly yet but this is what the revised itinerary looks like roughly. Please let me know if it sounds ok. Still a lot of moving around with luggage (Carry on bags but even then!) Don't know how we can avoid that though!

May 15th-18th - 3 nights in Lisbon
May 18th - 1 night in Sintra
May 19th - Train back from Sintra & take the next train to Porto - Maybe 6pm. Do I need to book in advance?
May 20th - Porto
May 21st - Duoro Valley - Either stay a night there or return to Porto.
May 22rd - Either take a flight from Porto to Faro & rent a car there (Faro airport is a bit of a drive from where we want to be) OR
Take a train back to Lisbon, rent a car & drive to the Algarve area for 3 nights there
May 25th - Drive back to Lisbon (It's not too much more to rent the car in Faro & return to Lisbon)
May 26th - Flight to Boston from Lisbon.

Thoughts? Critiques?
Thanks!

If not Faro, where do you want to go Tavira?

I’m glad you decided to keep to Portugal. I do think you’re covering a lot in a very short time, but a few thoughts if you still want to cover Lisbon, Porto, Algarve, and the Douro Valley.

First, are you flying in and out of Lisbon or can you fly into one and out the other? However, since your last itinerary is beginning and ending in Lisbon, my post is based on that. Here is an itinerary that takes in what you’re looking to do. It looks like you have 11 nights.

Arrive Lisbon, but take train to
Sintra - 2 nights (good place to unwind)
Porto - 3 nights, day trip to Douro (it looks like there is a bus from Sintra to Porto)
Algarve - 3 nights, Fly to Faro, pick up car to drive to location
Lisbon - 3 nights, drive to Lisbon (airport is best), drop car and end your trip here.

1. When arriving and leaving from the same place, I prefer to start elsewhere and stay in my departure city at the end.
2. You could reduce Sintra to 1 night, but personally, I don’t like 1-night stays. But it might work for you here.
3. Or eliminate Sintra, add a night to both Lisbon and Porto. I don’t think it’s worth renting a car to stay in the Douro for 1 night.

That’s for starters. Hope this gives you some ideas.

So you can minimize bag schlepping a bit. Sintra is a day trip from Lisbon, and Douro is a day trip from Porto. Sintra can use public transport, for Douro book a small group tour. Hotels only Lisbon, Porto, Faro.
Agree with progol that an open jaw air itinerary would be great. You could fly into Porto, spend 3 days (15-18th) then fly to Faro on 18th, rent car there and drive to Lisbon on 21st or 22nd, return home from Lisbon 26th.

I agree with Seamus that limiting the schlepping would be a good idea and I also think the itinerary he has if you do open jaw flights would work well. My only caveat is that Sintra tends to get crowded during the day and staying over is so much nicer. But honestly, on a short trip, 3 stops is more than enough.

Hi all, thanks again for the input!
We fly into Lisbon but our return is still open. However, DH does not want to fly back from Porto because it involves a stopover. Last year we had a connection through Paris and a 1.5 hour stopover turned into 5 hours due to a delay, making for a very looong flight home!
We like to have 3 days at our first stop as our first day is unpredictable due to random nap times! So the first 3 nights will be in Lisbon, still have to finalize a hotel. Our budget is about $250/night, in case anyone has any recommendations.

I picked the overnight in Sintra so we would have the following day to see something we could not cover in Day 1.. Will we be able to see Pena Palace, Quinta da Regaleira & Monserrate & also Cascais & Cabo da Roca, on our own or should we still do a guided tour for the first day?
We have done many overnight stays instead of day trips in our travels (Ravello being the most recent) and though not ideal, we are ok with them!

We could however do a day tour of the Duoro if most feel that the train ride is not worth it? I read that between Pinhao & Pocinho is the most scenic part which we could see if we spent a night in the area, but would love to get input on taking the train on our own v/s a day tour. It would make it a lot easier if we just did a day trip, just not sure how far the tours go. And if they do the boat cruise between Pinhao & Tua....

Next the Algarve....
bilboburgler, thanks for the train recommendation to get to the Algarve, just checked the trains. Would a 6-hour train ride be better than a one hour flight? It costs about the same so just wondering? Is it because the train station would be closer to our hotel?

Do we really not need a car on the Algarve coast? I thought we could drive down the coast one day if we had a car, stopping at different beaches etc along the way. Looking at staying at the Hotel Oriental at the Praia da Rocha but am open to other suggestions. Just want to wake up with a view of the water! A spa would be nice too in which case the Belmar may be a choice.
https://www.belmarresort.com/en/acco...tial-sea-view/

Looking forward to hearing from everyone, thanks again! Hope to book my return tonight!!

Can't advise about Algarve, but when in Porto I'd suggest dedicating one day to a small group tour via minivan to the Douro valley that includes winery visits. We did one that visited three wineries with lunch at one, and even though I usually eschew group tours this was great. Boat ride up the river has been given a resounding "meh" by everyone I know who has done it, but if you insist on the boat the same company offers a boat ride with two winery visits. Taking the train still leaves you to find a way to get to the points of interest you want to see (i.e., wineries!) so the group tour means the least planning for you.

As noted, Sintra gets crowded and I do not think you could reasonably crowd all those sites in a single day. You can do Cascais on public transport from Lisbon and knock it out in a half day,maybe stroll a while and grab lunch then head back and spend the rest of the day visiting Belem. Cabo da Roca is, IMO, a drive by experience, not a lot of there there. Again, in the interest of simplifying logistics you might book a group tour. There are a couple through Get Your Guide that look like they may be a good fit, or Viator also lists several.

Thanks Seamis, do you happen to have the info or link to the Duomo trip you did? Do you know what town the wineroes were in?

Anyone have any opinions on taking the train to cover the part from Pinhao & Pocinho? Or is it not a big deal?

Also on (not) renting a car on the Algarvae?

Thanks!

We did this Douro tour. Booked it through a wine club but it was actually operated by the local company efun tours. I don't recall the names of two of the Douro wineries we visited, but the one where we had a great lunch is Vintage Theory where they also produce some incredibly good olive oil. It's a fairly young team running the place, the grounds are beautiful and the wait staff and chef excellent.

I would not want to drive in the Douro valley - narrow roads on steep hills!

Thanks Seamus, not planning to drive in the Duoro, trying to decide between taking a day tour & doing it by train over an overnight.

Was planning to rent a car in the Algarve though, but someone said we don't need it so just wanted to get some more intel on that!

google "algarve train map" you will see that for the main part it is very well served except the very western end. If you want to go to the world's end (where Philip the navigator trained up his people to explore the world) and I've been (not bad at all just a little uninteresting after 30 minutes) you need a car, if you want to go to some of the beaches up that end then sure you need a car, but with taxis or Uber you don't need to. It really is up to you and how you feel about using public transport, drinking and driving etc etc.

The Algarve is basically a massive golf and beach holiday zone, with very little left of the old place before aircraft. Tavira offers probably the best oldie-worldie place to visit with a roman bridge and old simple street. Faro comes a good second around the town centre. I've cycled the length of the place visiting every town in November and loved every bit of it, and the people are very friendly. If I wanted to have a car I'd spend more time in the Alentejo and the cork forests and new wineries ot the north and up against Spain but we all travel for different reasons.

I've been to Portugal 4 times now and only once used a car, in the Alentejo