We are traveling from the Middle East to the USA in May and would like to visit Portugal (Lisbon) for a week. No airline flies direct to Lisbon so we are looking for a transfer city, might want a couple of days in transfer city as part of the trip. What is easiest connecting city to get to Lisbon.

It depends on which airline you are flying with, from my limited experience, London or Frankfurt shall have the most connecting flights in between.

Check out Paris ....Air France
We did it a couple of years ago and it worked fine (from U.S.)' However as someone else said,,,it might depend on what airline you are taking from the Middle East.
Portugal is wonderful!

There are several flights to Lisbon from Paris. London or Madrid also have a few per day. TAP Portugal has flights from all those cities. Other airlines: EasyJet, British Airways, Air France, and Iberia.

Thanks for the replies, we are traveling from Doha Qatar so Qatar Air is most likely airline. They go to Frankfurt, Paris, London, Madrid etc. Wonder which city has cheapest connecting flights. I have not used the EU low cost airlines so suggestions for low cost carrier would help. Also maybe train from Madrid to Lisbon??

Thanks

I would suggest that you use these websites to check flights from the cities you may be able to fly Qatar Air to if that is that will get you out of the Middle East to Europe.
www.flc.com
www.whichbudget.com

Both give pretty comprehensive routes available in Europe for many low cost carriers.

If you use London as a hub, Germanwings flies from Stansted to Lisbon.

http://www.flylc.com/directall-en.asp

To check out a variety of flight options, go to www.harefares.com. As far as a hub city, London has so many cheap airlines that are based there, you are bound to find a good deal from there.