Need to visit brother-in-law in London but have ALWAYS wanted to visit Portugal. Is it possible to do a week at each location or would it be better to schedule two separate visits? What is the best about Portugal?

The best about Portugla deoends on your interests. If you tell us why you have always wanted to go there - perhaps we can make some specific recos.

And of course you can do a week in each place - there are numerous very short flights in between London and Lisbon.

I agree with nytraveler. Flying from London from Lisbon is about the same as the flight from Detroit to Orlando. Since you're already across the pond, it makes sense to do both with the kind of time that you have.

Funny that you mention this. I am planning to do much the same thing but for different reasons. There are lots of flights between London and Lisbon as well as other parts of Portugal. Do you think that it is reasonable to fly two and a half hours for a week long trip? Why not? I know people who fly four hours for a long weekend.

The most time efficient thing to do is to fly open jaw, say into London and home from Lisbon with a one way flight between London and Portugal. It will likely be more economical to do a round trip from home to London and round trip form London to Portugal. Check out your options.

The country of Portugal has always fascinated me due to historical, cultural and personal interests. Where can I go to be with the people and their interests? Do not need Holiday, Hilton, or Ritz but would prefer comfortable accomodations. What areas have the culture, history, & unique settings that would be of significant interest? Am considering this a first of more visits. Is it best to do roundtrip to London w/Portugal thrown in or is it possible to do London to Portulgal & home to Dulles?

I have to tell you that compared to London, you will find costs in Lisbon to be an incredible bargain. For example, you mention Holiday Inn. There are two of them in Lisbon and in perusing them the other day, I noted that one was booking rooms in late February for 45 Euros/night on a pre-paid basis. (Rates that could be canceled started at 80 Euros/night.) This is a city hotel conveniently located from the metro -- not some suburban place off the beaten track that is difficult to work from.

When are you going? Time of year makes a difference as there are distinct climate zones and some places are better from a tourism POV in one season than another.

If I am spending time in Portugal the end of March/first of April, what would I want to do? Which towns/cities are of interest & are there hotels/hostels (whatever) that are special? What area of Portugal are best to see the first time around?

I am flying from San Francisco to Paris with my return flight begining at Heathrow to San Fran. From Paris, I booked a one-way flight to Lisbon, and then another one-way flight from Lisbon to London-luton. That is booked on Easy-Jet and is cheap. I actually got the tip from the owner of a townhome I may rent. Check it out; it's worth it.