Hi all - apologies for the long post - my family (wife + 10mth old) are planning on visiting Portugal in March (14-24th). We are from Australia and I have a conference in Milan prior - we want to spend some time somewhere in Europe after and Portugal seems one of the warmer places

Our interests are nature, history, culture and photography but really we are just happy with a change of scenery with our baby!

Apart from our return tickets to Milan I haven't booked anything so we are very flexible re: itinerary - can fly in and fly out of anywhere

I am happy to drive if that's best way of getting around although would prefer not to if feasible (but I assume taking public transport with baby and luggage will be difficult?)


What would be a good itinerary to incorporate Lisbon, Sintra, Coimbra and Nazare. We obviously don't want to over pack our trip (like all our pre baby holidays), but would adding on north or south (Porto / Algarve) be feasible / recommended in March? Perhaps fly into Porto and make our way south and leave Lisbon?



Thanks in advance

It depends on how much stuff you want to travel with. Certainly the trains are good and first class gives you more space. Babies are pretty welcome in public spaces so I'd go that way.

But if you have loads of stuff you might prefer a van.

Older towns are not really designed for large cars.

Decisions .....

thanks - we will try to travel with just one large suitcase, travel pram and 2 carry on size bags - do trains have a separate space for baggage storage? Or are they just normal commuter trains? Main issue is just the travel between towns I guess

Portugal is lovely but in your shoes, I'd stay in Italy, which is beautiful and has a good train network. With a short time, I wouldn't want to waste it flying to another country.

Oh, and I'd try to not take a case which you can't lift. I'd opt for a small case and a day pack each if you can. A baby carrier backpack is better than a pram in many situations but depends a bit on where you visit.

thanks I do love Italy and we will be there for a week - the issue with staying there is my wife and I have been to quite a few places already and more so, it’s too cold in March!

Yes we are contemplating just using a carrier to save the hassle of taking a small pram but he’ll be 10kg+ when we leave… and while I’d love to avoid taking a suitcase there seems to be so much baby stuff to take >.<

I foresee the main issue just being getting between places within Portugal as having to carry him + luggage will be difficult (flight shouldn’t be too much hassle and once we’ve dumped everything into our accomodation exploring the city or day trips etc should be fine

but it’s our first trip with baby so I really have no idea!

have a read of seat61.com and cp.pt (english is available) to check for different carriage details