Why Avenidas Novas? You're out of the center and it's a half km walk to the nearest metro station - although there seem to be several bus stops. I like to stay near Rossio square.

It's near Rossio Square and three minutes walk from the Parque Station, yet in a quiet area. We like quiet. I've done some more research since I posted my question and I think it will work well for us.

If it's three minutes walk from the Parque station it's further out than I thought (google maps put it nearer to the Intendente station). Looks like we have a different definition of "near". Over 2 kms doesn't meet my definition, and the place I stay is more like 400m away - and really close to an airport bus stop.

Looks like it's a 32 minute walk to Rossio Square and 22 minutes by metro from the airport.

Like I said, we have a different definition of "near", lol.

Glad you can spend three weeks in Portugal. We spent ten days in Lisbon and then traveled through the country. We especially loved the Minho region north of Porto,Guimares, etc. we stayed in the Pousadas if there was one where we were heading.

Hi Melnq8,
In response to your questions, I have just a few questions- (I know how the "my head is spinning" goes--my head was spinning when planning our 16-night Brittany trip--too much info!)

Is it that you'll be relying on buses/trains for the entire trip, or just when going back to Lisbon?
Is it that you've already booked a Lisbon hotel for your last night that can't be canceled?
If not, you could put the 2 nights in Sintra at the very end and Uber to the airport, as we'll do in December.

If you could still do so, I'd put the 2 Sintra nights either at the beginning or at the end. I've arranged transfers between Lisbon airport-Sintra, and it's not that expensive.

Here's a routing to consider without a car going from Porto to the north (sorry, if I've interpreted this incorrectly)-

• Arrive in Lisbon, stay for x nights,
• High-speed Alfa Pendular train to Coimbra, x nights for possible day trip to Tomar (Knights of the Templars) or to Aveiro ("little Venice", but not really) by train, or out to the Roman ruins of Conímbriga by local bus
• High-speed AP train to Porto, x nights.

Now, here comes another question-
Do you want to include the Douro Valley here for wine touring?
If so, it's best seen by car,
although you can take the regional line from Porto's Campanha station to Régua and taxi to wineries there (I know a very dependable driver) or same train on to Pinhão and use taxis or even walk to wineries------look at maitaitom's Quinta de la Rosa or Quinta do Pego thread for details

• Train from Porto to Guimarães or Braga
• Guimarães or Braga for x nights for possible day trips to Citânia de Briteiros Celtic settlement/Peneda-Gerês National Park (accessed from Braga via bus ride of 1 hr. 30 min.)
• Train or bus from Guimarães or Braga to Viana do Castelo
• Viana Do Castelo for x nights for visit to Celtic settlement of Santa Luzia and possible day trip by bus to Ponte de Lima, 32 km away
• https://juliedawnfox.com/things-to-d...na-do-castelo/
• https://juliedawnfox.com/charming-ponte-da-lima/.
• Return to Porto by train or bus
• High-speed AF train from Porto to Lisbon
• Transfer to Sintra for final 2 nights or put Sintra at the beginning

(or once in Porto, rent an apartment for x nights there and do day trips by public transportation to Guimarães, Braga, Viana Do Castelo but not to Peneda-Gerês park since it's too far).

You'll notice that this leaves out the Alentejo in the east and Costa Vicentina fishermen's trail along the Alentejo coast to the south, because for those, you do need a car. If I've misinterpreted the car part, I'll give you another routing option.

If you do have 6 nights in Lisbon itself, you could also take a day trip by suburban to beachside Cascais, take the walk out to Boca do Inferno to the cliff formations or take the Scotturb 427 Buscas bus circular line and then walk back along the seaside promenade to Estoril to take the suburban rail back to Lisbon.
https://juliedawnfox.com/hikes-sintr...-natural-park/.
https://juliedawnfox.com/see-do-stay-cascais-portugal/.

Hope this helps you rather than confuses you!

Hi Mirabel -

Is it that you'll be relying on buses/trains for the entire trip, or just when going back to Lisbon?

The entire trip. From what we've read about driving in Portugal, public transport seems the way to go.

Is it that you've already booked a Lisbon hotel for your last night that can't be canceled?

No, I've only booked the first six nights in Lisbon, nothing else booked so far.

Do you want to include the Douro Valley here for wine touring?

Yes. Love the idea of walking to wineries, fantastic. I'll look for maitaitom's thread.

Fabulous suggestions - thank you so much! I'll take a good long look at them and get back to you after I've had time to digest.

We did three weeks a few years ago, mainly the northern part, although including Evora and that part of the Alentejo. It also included Santiago de Compostella. I wrote a trip report; if interested, click on my name to find it.

From Pinhão (we were just there for 5 days), you can walk to Quinta de la Rosa, Quinta do Bomfim (Symington Family Estates) and Quinta das Carvalhas (Real Companhia Velha), even if it's not extremely hot, you could walk the 2 km. to Quinta da Roêda (Churchill).

There are also taxis at the Pinhão rail station that can take you up to Quinta do Infantado (ports only), about a 10-minute ride.

There's also the possibility of taking the very short train ride from Pinhão going west to the stop at Ferrão and have Quinta do Crasto pick you up and take you up the hill to this magnificent estate for a tour or even for a tour plus lunch. Reservations for this are necessary in advance. It's open 10 am-6 pm, and they produce stunning DOC table wines, some of Portugal's best.
Contact Andreia Freitas at [email protected].

Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo is another gorgeous estate that you don't want to drive to (yikes!), but instead use the option of taking the train to the Ferrão station and have them pick you up. But again, you need to arrange this in advance.
https://www.quintanova.com/en/wine-tourism/
[email protected].

All that said...
The real challenge will be to find lodging in Pinhão for your dates. The few hotels in this small town get booked up far in advance, but you might get lucky in May. Look for availability at Quinta de la Rosa or the LBV House. The Vintage House is dead central but is very pricey since it's a 5-star.

I would have routed you to beautiful Evora, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the Alentejo but without a car, the best public transportation is by bus, round-trip from Lisbon. The bus line is Rede Espressos and the departure station is Sete Rios. The trip takes from 1 hr. 30 min. to 2 hours.
https://www.rede-expressos.pt/en

We've done lots of Portugal wine touring in all regions, but with a car.

Maureen Ferguson does an excellent small group wine tour from Lisbon to Alentejo, as Seamus mentions.
The only winery walkable from Evora is Cartuxa, although you can do wine tasting at the tasting room of the Alentejo Regional Winegrowning Commision, but they're moving to a new in town location at Rua 5 de Outubro Nº 88, and I don't know when they'll re-open.
https://www.vinhosdoalentejo.pt/en/w.../tasting-room/

Maribel - I've just sent a note to Quinta de la Rosa to check availability, although I'm not quite sure of dates yet. If I follow your itinerary above, did you mean for us to choose between Porto and Pinhão or to do both?

Also, I'm assuming three nights in Pinhão, assuming I can secure them, would be a sufficient allotment of time?

Suddenly that three weeks doesn't seem long enough.

You've been a wonderful help, you truly have, I really appreciate you taking the time to help a frazzled planner. This trip is beginning to come together.

Just checked LBV House - they only have one night each of the two three night blocks I checked. Is it worth staying for just one night?

They also have a four night block available later in May, but that might not fit in well with the itinerary you proposed. I'd need to juggle considerably.

Maribel - based on your recommendations above, my rough itinerary looks something like this:

Lisbon - six nights

Coimbra – three nights

Porto – three nights (or maybe longer?)

Pinhao – 2-3 nights assuming we can find a place to stay (can also switch around with Porto)

Guimarães or Braga – three nights

Sintra - two nights

This leave one night, which we can add elsewhere or spend in Lisbon prior to departure, depending on the airport transfer situation.

Are we on the same page?

Hi Melnq8,
I know that once you start getting into the details, 3 week doesn't seem like so long a time!

Answers to your questions:
1). I meant for you to do both Porto and the Douro Valley, with best case scenario in Pinhão.

2). Yes, 3 nights in Pinhão would be fine. For me, 2 nights deep in the Douro Valley in the Cima Corgo area (the most beautiful) isn't enough, as we like to visit wineries and take our time soaking in the scenery, and for you two, there are plenty of walking trails to enjoy.

3). I hope that Quinta de la Rosa has availability, if not for 3 consecutive nights, then perhaps LBV for 1 night and 2 nights at Quinta de la Rosa would work, if you can make it work.

4). 3 nights is fine in Porto. We always budget 4 to take a day trip somewhere or to spend a lazy Sunday in Matosinhos walking the beach promenade (catch double decker bus 500 from infant of the Igreja São Francisco in downtown Porto) and for a leisurely seafood lunch across from the fish market, or to take the little boat over to Afurada for the same.

https://portoalities.com/en/afurada-...-across-porto/
https://porto-north-portugal.com/mat...-portugal.html.

We like slow travel. But you won't need a day trip to Braga or Guimarães or to Coimbra from Porto since you'll be spending nights there.

Yes, Mel, we're on the same page.

Keep the questions coming!

progol,
I'm going to send you a PM to answer the question you left above.

Ok, making progress.

I've booked accommodation in Coimbra for three nights, Pinhão for three nights (first booked at LBV, then switched to Quinta de la Rosa after looking at location, reading reviews and finding availability on different days).

I'm leaning towards either booking all six nights in Porto or breaking up between Porto, Guimarães or Braga.

All bookings are free cancellation at this point, just wanted to get Pinhão locked in asap due to the lack of places to stay there.

Melnq8,
Glad you've been able to get Pinhão locked down; the Douro lodgings are getting really hard to get, so glad you're set, especially in Pinhão where you can walk to 3 wineries.

If you do want to settle in with 6 nights in Porto sans car, you can get to Guimarães by train, to Braga by train. It's hard to do both plus the monumental staircase of Bom Jesus do Monte outside of Braga in one day trip.

https://porto-north-portugal.com/bra...aga-train.html.

You can also travel from Porto to Viana Do Castelo by train for a day trip.
https://porto-north-portugal.com/via...telo-tour.html

Maribel -

We have a potential problem. We've checked with several wineries around Pinhão and they're showing no availability for tasting or tours for all of May!

This will be our 5th trip and we only have 15 days.

Not nearly enough!

Enjoy

Melnq8,
Have you checked
Quinta do Crasto
Quinta Nova Nossa Senhora do Carmo (go to these by train & they pick you up at the dock)
Quinta do Infantado (10 min. by taxi)
Quinta do Seixo (10 min by taxi)
Quinta de la Rosa (daily tours at 11:30, 2:30, 5:00)
Wine & Soul (10 min. north of Pinhão, private visits only)
Quinta da Roêda (they told us we didn't need an appointment and worked us in with a small group van tour from Porto, 2 km from town)Pinhão taxi driver

Manuel Anselmo

Tel: (+351) 966 192 904

https://www.taxipinhao.com/en-gb/mentions-legales.
Good luck!