good portugal itinerary???
May 16th, 2008, 10:40 AM
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good portugal itinerary???
Here's our itinerary... I'm starting to regret not putting in north portugal, but I hate to feel rushed (we have a toddler and another baby on the way). Please let me know you're thoughts...
Lisbon 6 nights (Sheraton) - side trips to Sintra, Cabo da Roca, Cascais, Belem with remaining time to explore Alfama, Baixa.
Algarve 5 nights (Sheraton Algarve)- beach relaxing and some side trips (Sagres + ?)
Evora 2 nights (Convento do Espinheiro) - side trip to Monsaraz + pottery shopping?
Obidos 2 nights (Estalagem do Convento) - side trips to Santarem, Fatima, Batalha, Nazare, Alcobaca (not sure which or if all are possible)
Should I shorten pieces or rearrange to incorporate Porto? Have I included all the important side trips? Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated... THANKS
Lisbon 6 nights (Sheraton) - side trips to Sintra, Cabo da Roca, Cascais, Belem with remaining time to explore Alfama, Baixa.
Algarve 5 nights (Sheraton Algarve)- beach relaxing and some side trips (Sagres + ?)
Evora 2 nights (Convento do Espinheiro) - side trip to Monsaraz + pottery shopping?
Obidos 2 nights (Estalagem do Convento) - side trips to Santarem, Fatima, Batalha, Nazare, Alcobaca (not sure which or if all are possible)
Should I shorten pieces or rearrange to incorporate Porto? Have I included all the important side trips? Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated... THANKS
May 16th, 2008, 11:00 AM
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Roro. I was wondering how you plan to travel. Are you renting a car?
My very humble opinion is that this sounds fine to me and not too rushed. With a toddler, you must give yourself time. And with this itinerary, I think you realized that.
In order to do Northern Portugal, you would have to cut something out.
If you are in Evora for two nights and have a car, see if you can squeeze in Marvao.
You really have incorporated a long of the must see sights.
My very humble opinion is that this sounds fine to me and not too rushed. With a toddler, you must give yourself time. And with this itinerary, I think you realized that.
In order to do Northern Portugal, you would have to cut something out.
If you are in Evora for two nights and have a car, see if you can squeeze in Marvao.
You really have incorporated a long of the must see sights.
May 16th, 2008, 11:13 AM
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We are renting a car for the trip (minus the Lisbon portion). My understanding is that the side trip around Lisbon are easily reached by public transport. Funny you mention Marvao... I was wondering how long it would be to day trip that from Evora? How long is the drive? Would that be possible to incorporate in a day?
May 16th, 2008, 11:19 AM
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roro-I can only comment on the first part of your trip (the 6 nights in Lisbon). I think this sounds fine and especially if you will be renting a car. I found 3 days in Lisbon to be enough and spent 2 days in sintra and l in cascais. Actually, I was somewhat disappointed in cascais, but loved the alfama, belem and sintra. Enjoy your trip!
May 16th, 2008, 12:20 PM
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I don't think three days in Lisbon is really enough. I say that as we spent three days there our fist time and felt rushed.
Rmember, Belem will take up at least a half a day. Sintra can take up that much time and more if you wish. Combined with Cabo da Roca and Cascais you have one whole day.
With a toddler, you might what to throw in some specific child sights such as the Oceanareo and zoo.
I think the trip from Evora to Marvao is about two hours.
You will be surprised at how easily you will be able to find your way around by car. We were. Have a wonderful trip.
Rmember, Belem will take up at least a half a day. Sintra can take up that much time and more if you wish. Combined with Cabo da Roca and Cascais you have one whole day.
With a toddler, you might what to throw in some specific child sights such as the Oceanareo and zoo.
I think the trip from Evora to Marvao is about two hours.
You will be surprised at how easily you will be able to find your way around by car. We were. Have a wonderful trip.
Jun 4th, 2008, 07:08 AM
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Hi roro--We (two couples) just returned from our first trip to Portugal May 23. I see you're leaving in a few days, but here goes, just the same.
You mention pottery shopping, so if you'd like, I'll give you the name of a place we stopped in Obidos (it's pronounced "ah-bee-dosh", which we could never have intuited), where there's a lot of pretty yellow-and blue work worth looking at. The prices seemed reasonable, and a woman painting pieces in a back room let us watch and photograph her. They have bubble wrap! and a great selection of smaller/packable pieces.
I saw from your other posts that you've seen bailey's trip report--(it, and the one from indiancouple, were very helpful); I think it was bailey who discussed the pottery places you might be interested in. One is between Alcobaca and Bathala on your right as you travel from A to B...Olaria Vale Coelho. She said their prices and selection were great, and we didn't have time in the end to stop there because on the way up, we were hours late due to airplane breakdown in Philly and a car breakdown on the way back to Lisbon. Here's their website, and if you register with them, they'll let you preview their pieces on-line before you go. It's worth the time to do it and just to appreciate the variety on offer:
http://www.ovc.com.pt/index.php
The other one is in Redondo I think.
It doesn't take much time to get a feel for which shops are junky and which have better value,so your husband momentarily entertain your toddler while you dash in to suss it out.
In terms of using public transportation,
a) Sintra
we took the train from the Rossio station (they start before 7 in the morning, but the attractions don't open till 10, and there will perhaps be longer lines next week).
Taxis are so cheap, and often the drivers speak good English, so you'll be able to take a taxi between the actual sights (long walks in Sintra) to save your toddler from too much walking. Or from Sintra to Cascais.
If the weather is good, while you are in that area, you could visit Quinta Regaleira (lots of outdoor things to see if your toddler needs that) or Queluz--you have to pay attention to which palaces are open on which days. National Palace closes Wed,Pena on Mon, Queluz Tues.All open and free on Sundays.
b) Belem- We took tram 15 from P do Comercio; trams in general will be fun for your child. Given how friendly people are, I'd guess that having a toddler in tow would not be a problem even when the trams are crowded.
c) If weather's good, your child would probably love the ferry ride.
d) If weather's crummy, do the Gulbenkian then. It looks like your hotel is nearby. The cafe is fairly nice, too.
And in terms of driving from Obidos to the other spots, we were forced by our US departure delay to run through Alcobaca and Bathala, and they were doable.
Your trip sounds wonderful! Have fun[[I'll try to stick on the Olaria Vale Coelho design page from my login, as you prob. don't have time to get registered before you go.]]
http://www.ovc.com.pt/clientes.php?de=1
Try that!
You mention pottery shopping, so if you'd like, I'll give you the name of a place we stopped in Obidos (it's pronounced "ah-bee-dosh", which we could never have intuited), where there's a lot of pretty yellow-and blue work worth looking at. The prices seemed reasonable, and a woman painting pieces in a back room let us watch and photograph her. They have bubble wrap! and a great selection of smaller/packable pieces.
I saw from your other posts that you've seen bailey's trip report--(it, and the one from indiancouple, were very helpful); I think it was bailey who discussed the pottery places you might be interested in. One is between Alcobaca and Bathala on your right as you travel from A to B...Olaria Vale Coelho. She said their prices and selection were great, and we didn't have time in the end to stop there because on the way up, we were hours late due to airplane breakdown in Philly and a car breakdown on the way back to Lisbon. Here's their website, and if you register with them, they'll let you preview their pieces on-line before you go. It's worth the time to do it and just to appreciate the variety on offer:
http://www.ovc.com.pt/index.php
The other one is in Redondo I think.
It doesn't take much time to get a feel for which shops are junky and which have better value,so your husband momentarily entertain your toddler while you dash in to suss it out.
In terms of using public transportation,
a) Sintra
we took the train from the Rossio station (they start before 7 in the morning, but the attractions don't open till 10, and there will perhaps be longer lines next week).
Taxis are so cheap, and often the drivers speak good English, so you'll be able to take a taxi between the actual sights (long walks in Sintra) to save your toddler from too much walking. Or from Sintra to Cascais.
If the weather is good, while you are in that area, you could visit Quinta Regaleira (lots of outdoor things to see if your toddler needs that) or Queluz--you have to pay attention to which palaces are open on which days. National Palace closes Wed,Pena on Mon, Queluz Tues.All open and free on Sundays.
b) Belem- We took tram 15 from P do Comercio; trams in general will be fun for your child. Given how friendly people are, I'd guess that having a toddler in tow would not be a problem even when the trams are crowded.
c) If weather's good, your child would probably love the ferry ride.
d) If weather's crummy, do the Gulbenkian then. It looks like your hotel is nearby. The cafe is fairly nice, too.
And in terms of driving from Obidos to the other spots, we were forced by our US departure delay to run through Alcobaca and Bathala, and they were doable.
Your trip sounds wonderful! Have fun[[I'll try to stick on the Olaria Vale Coelho design page from my login, as you prob. don't have time to get registered before you go.]]
http://www.ovc.com.pt/clientes.php?de=1
Try that!
Jun 4th, 2008, 08:59 AM
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I've received so much great advice... thanks SOOO much. I am extremely excited to leave this week... I will definitely post a trip report when I get back. Thanks again. I love this website!
Jun 6th, 2008, 09:11 AM
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roro:
Hope you haven't left yet...you may be interested in these very recent pix (we returned two weeks ago)...covers Lisbon(Belem), Evora, Arraiolos, Marvao, Belmonte (up north), Obidos, Nazare'/Sitio and Sintra and vicinity....if you select "slide show" they tend to hang up once in a while...simply go back to the last pic and re-hit "slide show"...otherwise, just select those you want to see...
We loved Portugal...you will, too.
Stu T.
http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/Portugal2008
Hope you haven't left yet...you may be interested in these very recent pix (we returned two weeks ago)...covers Lisbon(Belem), Evora, Arraiolos, Marvao, Belmonte (up north), Obidos, Nazare'/Sitio and Sintra and vicinity....if you select "slide show" they tend to hang up once in a while...simply go back to the last pic and re-hit "slide show"...otherwise, just select those you want to see...
We loved Portugal...you will, too.
Stu T.
http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/Portugal2008
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