Evora day trip - Tour or on our own
 

2 Couples (senior citizens but very use to traveling on our own in Europe) are spending 4 days in Lisbon after a cruise in October. Thinking about going to Evora for a day. We go back and forth on whether just to go on our own, by Bus OR take a guided 8 hour day tour. The tours all seem to stop at a cork factory (not sure how interesting that is) a winery and/or a pottery place. Considering we would spend at least 3 hours getting there and back, it makes us unsure of how much time the tour leaves for actually seeing Evora, considering also we will eat lunch there..

The questions are, from those who have been there - Are we better off taking the bus on our own or utilizing one of these tours? Will we get as much out of visiting the sites, since we do not speak Portugese?

Thanks for any help.

Regards, Mary Ann

Frequent trains from Lisbon's Oriente station now take 1.5 hours each way - take the train! No need to book in advance but scour the Portuguese Ralways site for possible discounts:

https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/

Trains are cheap at full price in Portugal IME.

I stayed overnight but IME one full day would be enough for most folks - I speak no Portuguese and had no problem enjoying this fantastic city- the train slices thru cork plantations en route.

I agree with PalenQ. Evora is a fantastic city and you can do it on your own. We spent 3 days there and thoroughly enjoyed it but you should be able to see a lot by taking an early train.

Take the bus, the station is further from the city center. I might take the tour in order to visit the winery, although you certainly don't need a guide in Evora. I actually found Evora a bit disappointing. The Romain ruins are very unexciting if you have seen any others, although the museum wasn't bad.

Bus takes three hours OP said - trains take 1.5 hours - the Evora trains station is a short enough walk from the town center. Now if bus were as fast as the train that'd be a different story.

If you can get there in time with an early train, I would recommend the walking tour which leaves from the tourist office in the main square (Praça do Giraldo) at 10.00am and lasts about 2-3 hours. Costs about 12 to 15 euros and takes you to the main sites, including the Chapel of Bones.

I would stay overnight though. A nice break from Lisbon and less expensive too.

The OP said that the TOUR bus took three hours.

Pick the right PUBLIC bus and it takes an hour and a half: http://www.rede-expressos.pt/

Then the bus may be a better choice since it does go to the main part of town - me I'd take a train any day if the time were the same - can get up and move around a lot easier. And that train station is not that far from the town center - actually I kind of remember it being near the bus station? But that were a long time ago so may have changed. Bus is probably cheaper.

Thanks everyone, that was really quick and thorough! Sounds like either the bus or train works well.


Regards, Mary Ann

I think Evora is nicest in the evening. If you took a train just after lunch and returned just after lunch the next day, you would have the best possible visit from my point of view.

Of course a late train back to Lisbon, if available, could make the whole thing a one day trip.