Eleven Days in Portugal
 

My husband and I are celebrating our 70th year by touring with our adult children, one at a time. Our artsy ( art history major) sophisticated daughter ( who would die if she knew I described her like that) will be touring with us for 11 days in Portugal. My husband, a more rural kind of guy, loves photography and appreciates the fact that there is no traffic outside of a city. I love history, walking, art, touring and photography. I would appreciate comments/suggestions on what I have planned.
Five days in a Lisbon apartment in the Bairro Alto area:
Day One- morning arrival and Alfama Stroll, dinner and a walk about
Day Two- Rick Steves suggested 3 hour walking tour with Lisbon Walker ( Baixa, Parca da Figuiera, Iron Lift, St. Roque, Chiado, etc.,) lunch, Port Wine Institute with additional walking tour on our own
Day Three: Belem( Coach Museum, pastry, Monastery, Maritime Museum, monuments, tower)
followed by the Museum of Ancient History if we are up to it!
Day Four: (Sunday) Gulbenkian Museum followed by Tile Museum or Parque das Nacoes or things we want to go back to
Day Five : (Monday)- Sintra and maybe the bus to Cascais for dinner and a return to the city
Evenings: a political satire play; Fado with dinner
Day Six: train to Evora
Day Seven: pick up rental car and tour megaliths
drive to Obidos and then to Nazare
Day Eight: tour Alcobaca and Batalha enroute to Coimbra- staying in a lovely b and b outside of Coimbra. We might cut short the cathedrals to spend more time in the sights outside of Coimbra- the Bucaco Forest, the Roman ruins at Conimbriga, Tomar. Thoughts appreciated here.
Day Nine: Coimbra walking tour and sights around Coimbra
Day Ten: drive to Porto and drop off the car at 10:00 am ; walking tour of the city
Day Eleven: Serralves Museum, grounds and house and a river cruise in the afternoon; farewell dinner and off to Italy to meet the second daughter
We have lodging arranged everywhere. Would appreciate tips on places to eat, itinerary, special things to do , etc.

It sounds good for the most part. For your artsy daughter the museums in Portugal are limited.

My real question is why would travel to Evora and then drive back up north to Coimbra. I like them both very much but the directions are off. Other places we like in the middle to north include Amarante, Braga, and Viana do Castelo.

Don't skip Alcobaça.

Thanks!

Your Lisboa itinerary sounds fine, but very generic; you're missing the whole Portuguese art angle for your daughter. Here are but a few suggestions: Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporanea, Museu Arpad Szenes/Vieira da Silva, Museu Bordalo Pinheiro, Museu Paula Rego (Cascais). Also don't miss the outdoor work of VHILS. Plus there are bound to be special events and gallery exhibitions when you'll be here - check the tourism websites for calendar.

Hi,

Here are some ideas for your Lisbon itinerary .. I think you have most of it covered .. have a look for some other ideas :

https://mewanderlost.com/2017/02/22/...-time-visitor/

have a great trip!

We loved Tomar. It was spectacular and crowd free.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...=1494603754795

Also don't see much here for your husband - the rural kind of guy!! I think he may get some scenery on the way to Evora. One recommendation would be consider visiting one of the many hilltop villages. We loved our one night stay in Marvo. The scenery, castle walls were gorgeous. Not sure how you fit it in ... you would have to give up one of your days in Lisbon.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...=1494603754793

One more thought - make sure you visit Sintra on a clear day. We learnt that it has its own micro-climate. We got a rainy complete wash out day in Sintra (Lisbon was cloudy that day).

Hi, do you have any apartments that you’d recommend? We’re planning a similar trip next summer.

Thanks

We stayed at an airbnb in the Baixa neighborhood - perfect central location. We also took a walking food tour which was a lot of fun.

Itinerary, photos, restaurant recs posted here:
http://fanofblank.blogspot.com/2017/...nd-sintra.html

Enjoy trip planning!