Can anyone give insight into an itinerary for the end of September, beginning of October for traveling around Portugal by car? We've got 12 days or so and are celebrating our 25th anniversary. If anyone has suggestions for some fabulous places to stay, we'd apprecite that info as well. Thanks in advance

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We just ariived home from Portugal Sunday. It was our second trip. We love Lisbon and the north. But we are not beach people. both times we went to Sintra and stayed at the hotel Tivoli, and then on the Obidos ( a walled in city). the first time we ventured all the way up the cost and stopped at Fatima and Nazere (sp?). We enjoyed Coimbra very much. I hated Porto and so did my niece who also just returned from there. It is very inexpensive and the people are wonderful. You are in for a real treat.

Hi there,<BR>Portugal is a wonderful country and a good value. Gracious people, good food, beautiful churches and beaches. I recommend the Pousada in Obidos; one of my favorite towns. Also, consider a quick trip to Madeira, an amazing island. You can walk the levadas and sample Madeira wine. The beaches are beautiful in the Algarve, but if you are not beach people, I think your time can be better spent in the North and Central portions of Portugal.<BR>Cheers,<BR>Jan

Hi there. There are several nice locations that you can visit. I could reccomend some such as Lisbon (of course), Porto, &Eacute;vora, Lagos, Braga, Guarda, Santar&eacute;m...too many. Let's try this way. See the URL up there ?it's my website(webzine), it's a sort of compilation of questions and answers that I took from Fodor's and others. Take a look there, and you can e-mail me from there.<BR>Cheers

by the way. The Portuguese pousadas URL is www.pousadas.pt<BR>

Can anyone help me too? My fiance and I are going to Portugal for our honeymoon next June. We will be staying on the mainland for four days and then going to Sao Miguel (the Azores for five days). We would like to stay in Sintra or Cascias and take the train to Lisbon. Can anyone recommend a pousada under 100 euro a night in either of these towns? Also, does anyone have a recommendation for a place to stay in Sao Miguel? Thanks.

My vote for the most beautiful place to stay in Portugal and a great place to celebrate a 25th anniversary is the Palace Hotel in Bucaco northeast of Coimbra. The hotel really is/was a palace of the king of Portugal. When the last king was deposed in the 1920's the palace was turned over to the chef who turned it into a hotel. And what a hotel. it's set in the middle of a forest whose trees were once protected by papal edict. It's built of white marble with oodles of ornate Manueline archtectural touches, like marble rope columns and arches. Rooms are period pieces with 1920s art deco furnishings and high ceilings. Modern marble baths. Public rooms are fantastic with blue tiles including a scene of Columbus discovering the new world on the walls of the grand stairway. My favorite of all is the dining offered on a marble arched deck just off the interior dining room. It was a picture of that which convinced me to find this place and stay there--worth the hunt. I've stayed in many hotels in Europe and this is my all time favorite. It's not cheap--probably $200 per night--which is a lot in Portugal, but you really get a lot of history and ambiance for your money. I think a 25th anniversary there would be the ultimate.