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If you had only 4 days in Portugal, what would you choose to see/do?

Four days is barely enough time to see Lisbon and Sintra (click on my name for my Lisbon TR).

Four days is really not much, as thrusdaysd says.
But if this is all that you have I would concentrate on the Lisbon(Belem) and Sintra areas.
And if the weather is fine try to see some of the Lisbon coast North and South of Lisbon.

granma - it might be better if you told the whole story such as you'll be on a tour (10 days, is it?) and the 4 days are additional on your own. Tell folks what towns/sights you'll see on your tour or give a link to the tour. You'll get much better answers if you do this. As you can see the first two responses tell you that 4 days is not very much time. I don't think this is what you wanted to know.

You're right Adrienne, though a list of all tour stops seemed too long and there isn't much time anywhere, so we were trying to decide to which locations to return or to discover on our own for 4 days after the tour. But you are right, so here's link to tour itinerary: http://www.trafalgar.com/USA/Display...=8462&Detail=2. The stops include # Algarve # Lagos
# Evora # Castelo de Vide # Belmonte # Viseu # Palacio de Mateus # Guimaraes # Oporto # Coimbra # Conimbriga # Tomar
# Fatima # Batalha # Nazare # Obidos # Lisbon. Hopefully this helps lead to specific recommendations. Thanks much.

Now I've got my breath back after reading that itinerary, I think my recommendation is unchanged - you have very little time in Lisbon, and don't visit Sintra.

Wow! No wonder you're looking for time to relax after the tour!! I'm exhausted just reading about it.

I think you should spend some time in Lisbon to see what you missed. I enjoyed the Tile Museum, Decorative Arts Museum, Gulbenkian Museum, and the Monastery (a UNESCO site) - I'm not sure if this is the monastery that your tour covers. This was probably the best of the 3 monasteries I saw in Portugal; it was certainly the cleanest as it had obviously been power washed. See my post on "opinions of lisbon" for other areas of interest.

Definitely see Sintra (my favorite town) - only 30 minutes from Lisbon by train. The National Palace and the Pena Palace are a must; you could see both in the same day and look around the town a bit. I see your tour covers a palace in Sintra and I'm guessing it's the National Palace as this is right in town and easily accessible to tour buses. There are plenty of other things to see in Sintra such as the Quinta da Regaleira, Castle of the Moors, and the Capuchin Monastery.

If you're concerned about getting around Lisbon and Sintra on your own just hail a cab - they are plentiful and inexpensive and will drop you at the door of the places you wish to visit.

Thanks Adrienne - not sure why Thursday suggests we not visit Sintra, but it seems like we can easily spend four days in and around Lisbon, including Sintra. And I want to go to the Feira da Ladra market, which will take at least half a day. I just printed up Laurie's Lisbon walking tour, along w/ everyone's comments, and will study it before we go. We leave in 2 weeks. Whoopee.

Miscommunication - I meant that since your tour didn't visit Sintra, you should do it on your own.

Hi granma,
I agree with everyone else -- I think you will have no problem filling four days in Lisbon.

I know you didn't ask about this, but I just saw your most recent post saying you plan to spend a half day at the Feira da Ladra. I just want to make sure you know that this fair is basically a junk fair, not a handicraft fair nor an antiques fair. I assume there is the occasional treasure hidden there but I have not seen much evidence of that. Lots of used clothing and general low-end garage sale type stuff. I think you might want to have a Plan B in mind if you find that 10 minutes is about all you need there.

Hope you have a great trip, Laurie

I actually love flea markets, but perhaps a half day is a bit much for the Feira da Ladra. Thanks, Laurie. Any other suggestions for market-type shopping?

The city of Lisbon publishes an online (available in hard copy too) cultural agenda of Lisbon every month. They have a list of ongoing "feiras" for every month. for some reason I can't cut and paste the link that takes you directly to the list of feiras for April, but if you go to the agenda's home page,
http://www.agendalx.pt/cgi-bin/iportal_agendalx

Then on the right hand side "pesquisa" (searching, open the first drop down menu, which is currently showing "cinema" and click on feiras. Then you have to select the month from another drop down menu, and then hit "proximos eventos" (upcoming events)

Even if you can't read Portuguese, I think you can get the sense quite easily. There are 18 fairs listed, many of them are regularly occurring events. For instance, the "FeirAlegria" located in the Praca de Alegria, has a fair the 1st and 3rd weekends every month -- looks like an arts and crafts type fair. They have their own website: http://www.feiralegria.blogspot.com/

I can help you out with the portuguese if you need it. (for instance, there's a fair of "alfarrabistas", which means second hand books -- some of the others are more obvious to English speakers, such as antiguedades, artesanato, etc.)

Some of these fairs are in very nice parts of Lisbon, too!

Laurie

Thanks Laurie - I'll to for a stroll through the site. Any Feira that you would recommend, particularly to find arts and crafts, though garage sales can provide some interesting finds?

Laurie - Unfortunately, the feiralegria will happen before we arrive. We're on tour April 14-23 and our post-tour play dates are April 24-27, which fortunately includes a week-end. There's one that looks appealing, but I can't decipher when or where it is held other than it appears to be held every week-end. Your help would be appreciated: Feira de Artesanato Sáb, Dom: 9h-18h #Feira que reune vários artistas e artesãos que vêm expor e vender o seu trabalho. Peças únicas, originais e oportunidades na praça nobre da cidade.
Thanks, again
Sylvia AKA sillygranma

Hi, Sylvia,
The feira you're referring to is the one that is in the square of the Praca do Comercio, under the portals on one long side of the square. This goes on all day and is in an area you would be likely to visit. I have seen this feira, it goes on both saturday and Sunday all day, but I haven't ever spent time looking at the vendors or what they sell.

It looks like most of these feiras listed in the agenda cultural are on the 1st and 3rd weekends, so you won't be there for them, and the one scheduled for the last weekend of the month, the one at Principe Real square, is closed till the renovations are done. So, not too many choices. But you'll have a great time anyway.

Laurie

Thanks Laurie
Any suggestions about purchasing leather shoes (or not)?

Hello, sillygranma, I thought today's article in the SF Chronicle written by a well known local travel writer might be of interest to you. I was surprised, but it was his first visit to Lisbon and like you are going to do he spent 4 days in Lisbon. Happy reading and best wishes, everyone I have known that has visited Portugal, including several Italian friends in Italy, have so loved their time in Portugal.

Great article and info. Thanks, LoveItaly, for the lead.

A beautiful article with a minor incorrection. Salazar was not ousted in 1974. He left the office in 1968 due to phisical incapacity and died in 1970.

Thanks, Lobo, for correct info. Hope you notify the travel writer . . .