Has anyone traveled to Portugal?
 

We are interested in traveling to Portugal next year. We would love to hear about any travel experiences you had while in Portugal and any information you wish to share about specific cities-Lisbon, Porto etc.

I've never traveled to Portugal, because I was born here :-) But I wish to share my favourite links on this subject: <BR> <BR>http://www.discoverportugal2day.com <BR>http://home.online.no/~nancys/portugal/index2.html <BR> <BR>The first site is maintained by an American citizen and the second by a Norwegian lady. <BR> <BR>I'm sure you'll find material enough to your homework. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

See the tower of Belem & the museum of nautical history. Near Lisbon is Sintra where there are castles. Skip Cascais - it is just a windy beach.

Message: A reprint of my trip report from July: Ocean crashing against the cliffs; moss covered monastery in the fog; exhilarating wind and views at the Moors' Castle; Serra cheese and olive oil and luscious ripe tomatoes with fresh bread for lunch; friendly, fun Lisboa: I loved Portugal! <BR>I spent two weeks in an apartment in old town Sintra, a 45 minute train ride to Lisbon (after an incredible flower filled 10 minute walk to the train station). I used public transportation to get around. The town has a reasonable tourist crowd by day, but at night it's peaceful, lovely, and cool. I concentrated on just the area around Sintra, going as far as the medieval town of Obidos in the north and down to Lisbon south, with a three day weekend trip to incredible Madeira thrown in for good measure. I booked Madeira after I got to Sintra; the wonderful lady at the travel agency spoke enough English to make it work, as my Portuguese is a bit limited! <BR>Highlights of the trip included a clear day at Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of Europe, with a great walk along the cliffs; the mountains of Sintra with Pena Palace, Castelho do Mouros, and San Pedro market; the Manueline extravagance of the Monasterio de Jeronimos in Lisbon, and hiking the levadas of Madeira. <BR>"Highlights" that were less concrete but very, very important include the friendliness and helpfulness of so many Portuguese people, the lack of crowds, and my kind of weather: 70's and sunny! <BR>I'll be glad to try to answer any questions. (I'm ready to go back!)

We went to Portugal 2 years ago for 2 weeks. Lots to see in Lisbon, especially if you like history & museums as we do. Tough walking on the cobble stones tho (don't wear high heels). <BR>High point for me was La Pena palace in Sintra - a don't miss! (There's also a neat little toy museum in town, complete with Nazi toys even!) <BR>Rent a car - don't do as we did & try to get around by local bus. Big mistake - no one spoke English in some of the small towns & the bus stations were chaotic (no order & no one seemed to know where to stand to catch a bus). <BR>Saying the name of our destination didn't help us any. Some times several people would confer, trying to help us, but couldn't agree where we were to stand. <BR>Coming back from Obidos (to Leiria) the bus driver had to ask his passengers when he would be returning! (Not too swift - especially since this was his regular route.)