Early 30's couple summer week in Portugal Itinerary - need advice
 

Hi All,

My wife and I are planning an anniversary trip to Portugal for about 8 days in mid August of 2018 and were looking for some more of the great advice I’ve found by using the ‘search’ portion. Know it’s a bit late planning-wise but we both just got clearance from work and are trying out best to make it happen. Just a bit about ourselves, we’re early 30’s and without kids. We’re typically pretty up-tempo travelers and like being on the move. We’re not so much into museums other than just for a quick visit but are moreso interested in good food, pretty sights and experiencing a bit of the night life from a local perspective. As far as pricing etc of travel, we definitely do like deals but are fortunate enough to be in a position where spending a bit of money isn’t too big of an issue. Now you know our life stories, was wondering if anyone could critique our itinerary for our time there! We will be arriving late at night into Porto on Saturday August 4th and flying out am of Monday August 13th. Itinerary is as follows:


08/04 - Arrive into Porto late, sleep

08/05 - Explore Porto

08/06 - Explore Porto

08/07 - Explore Porto

08/08 - Early am train to Lisbon, rent car in Lisbon and drive to Algarve, spend pm exploring after afternoon rest

08/09 - Explore Algarve (caves, beaches etc.)

08/10 - Early am drive back to Lisbon, explore in pm after afternoon rest

08/11 - Explore Lisbon

08/12 - Explore Lisbon

08/13 - Fly home


If the above sounds reasonable, would you also be willing to comment on 1) Day trips from Porto or Lisbon, if reasonable [friends have mentioned Douro, Sintra and Coimbra], and 2) Where to stay in the Algarve [Lagos vs Albufeira]

Thanks, sorry for the long message and thanks for your upcoming responses!

I would take a night from Porto and add it to Lisbon. Maybe use that extra day for a day trip to Sintra.

If you're going to rent a car as soon as you get off the train in Lisbon, why not just rent it in Porto? Then you could stop on the way down somewhere. Coimbra is one obvious place to stop - a old college town at the top of the hill.

I think you should skip Algarve. In August it is completely crowded and you will not be able to explore it at all. You could use that time to day trip to Évora, another day to Sintra, and while in Porto one day for the Douro Valley and another to a a close town (Aveiro, Viana do Castelo, Braga, etc).

Yes to all Helena says - now about trains - book Porto-Lisbon at www.cp.pt - Portugeuse Railways site and maybe get discounted tickets - can always buy and get on once there but full-fare could be more than discounted tickets online but they can go early so book as early as possible. www.seat61.com has loads on doing that yourselves - general train info BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. I enjoyed taking trains from Porto on day trips to Guimares and Braga. Maybe hit Coimbra in between Porto and Lisbon.

Thanks so much for your responses! Based on your recs, we will probably hold off on the Algarve although we were both pretty excited to see the rock formations and caves in the West Algarve as they look amazing by picture. We've decided to change as follows:

08/04 - Arrive into Porto late, sleep

08/05 - Explore Porto

08/06 - Explore Porto

08/07 - Day trip to Douro

08/08 - Consider driving to Lisbon with stops in Coimbra etc along the way VS am train straight to Lisbon

08/09 - Sintra

08/10 - Cascais

08/11 - Explore Lisbon

08/12 - Explore Lisbon

08/13 - Fly home from Lisbon

If this seems more reasonable, can any of you weigh in on the following (1) should we rent a car for the week given that we plan on doing some day trips from Porto & Lisbon as well as the drive between the two, or can I do the above with train alone? (2) would you split the days any differently?

Thanks!

If you skip the Algarve, a car would seem unnecessary except perhaps for the Douro Valley part. You can get everywhere else easily by train. I had hoped to try to see that by train a few weeks ago while I was in Porto, but it rained hard the last two days I was there so I just stayed in Porto.

Assuming you are planning to spend a night each in Sintra and then Cascais (instead of day tripping to each from Lisbon by train), you may need to find a bus that goes between them or find some other means to travel between them. There is no direct train between them that I'm aware of.

You can still stop in Coimbra on the way down from Porto to Lisbon if you want by train, but the smaller central Coimbra station is not on the through line between Lisbon and Porto. The bigger Coimbra-B station is on the line, but you must branch off to the smaller Coimbra station to visit the old town. I don't recall any luggage lockers at the Coimbra station, but you can probably leave your bags for a few hours at a cafe or hotel close to the station. I did this when I visited Tomar for a few hours off the train a few weeks ago - just left my bags at a hotel near the station. They refused to take any money for holding my bags.

You might look for a regional train from Porto to Coimbra if you wish to stop there (long story, but I had to travel between Porto and Coimbra back and forth twice by train and took a variety of trains). Some regional trains to Coimbra end there at the smaller station, so you would skip having to change at Coimbra-B. The regional trains are cheaper than the IC trains anyway and in my experience less crowded (maybe I was lucky) and more comfortable. I was able to find four seats all to myself on a couple of the regional trains, which don't have reserved seats. I took IC trains other times with reserved seats and these seemed more cramped to me. And the IC trains only stop at Coimbra-B requiring a change to Coimbra.

Just look at the train schedules - www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/train-times (they have a smart phone app too). Regional train tickets can be bought at the last minute for the same price vs. ahead of time. IC and AP trains cost more at the last minute, but compared to say France and Italy, they really don't cost that much more at the last minute - you won't save 50 euros per ticket by buying ahead., maybe 15 or 20 at the most between Porto and Lisbon. So you could stop in Coimbra for a few hours, look around, and when you are ready to head on to Lisbon, pick a train you hope to catch (probably have to change at Coimbra-B) and buy the tickets near the last minute as you leave Coimbra. The small Coimbra station does have a staffed ticket office that takes foreign credit cards.

As in Coimbra, Porto's little train station (Sao Bento) that is in the center of town is a spur - you need to take a short train ride from there to the larger Campanha station where you would catch another train south to Coimbra and/or Lisbon. It's quick ride between stations.

I just returned from Portugal. I was totally unimpressed with the Algarve!

Lagos was a nice town, Sagres was a nice day trip. Other than that, I would avoid the Algarve.

Porto was lots of fun and 30 somethings will really enjoy it!

Trip report will be forthcoming....

Yes new itinerary best done by train as you are largely in Lisbon and Porto and just going between them- consider a group tour to Duoro maybe including a boat ride - I did by train but was rather limiting.

I would not do one-night stands in both Sintra and Cascais as that takes a lot of time packing, unpacking, etc - Cacais has not really impressed me on several trips there. Sintra maybe nice after tourists have gone but IMO day trip from Lisbon was fine.

We loved Lisbon!

The Hotel Avenida Palace is wonderful. Great location at Rossio Square. Elegant hotel, great customer service, amazing breakfast buffet in a beautiful dining room.

I suggest you visit Cascais and Sintra as day-trips from Lisbon. That's how we did it. Very easy to take the train from Lisbon, and each city is good for a one-day visit.

In Lisbon itself be sure to tgake tram 28 - the hill-climbing tram thru the Alfama:

https://www.google.com/search?q=lisb...iw=659&bih=707