We flew into Lisbon, spent five nights in Cascais, with day trips to Lisbon, Belem, Sintra, and along the Estoril coast. We then drove to Sevilla for three nights; Tarifa for two nights with a day-trip to Gibraltar; Ronda two nights, Granada one night, and Cordoba on the way to the Paradore at Zafra one night. Back to Portugal and saw the marble villages, then stayed in Covilha, seeing Sortelha. Drove to Lamego, seeing Marialva on the way, and stayed in Lamego two nights. Then on to Porto for four nights, including a day trip to Barcelos for the market.<BR><BR>Observations: The hotel prices listed in Lonely Planet were high compared to what we paid in May. There are Paradores for less than 100 Euros. Don't go to a restaurant in Portugal and just have salad. Do look for upstairs eating areas where they are grilling chickens... the best meal value ever! You will get lost at least twice in a town or city. It takes 2-3 times as long as you would expect to travel in the Douro region due to mountains. Most of the towns are not on the map. We like smaller cities but not small towns (eg Sortelha) with only one restaurant and no ATMs. Smaller cities are cheaper, easier to get around in, and have lots of eating and ATM choice.<BR><BR>Anyone with any questions, please post!

so glad to get your post. we are driving some of your route, but in reverse. we will be in seville and granada and then will be driving to lisbon. what can you tell me about the drive? how long will it take? what are the roads like? is the day trip to gibraltar worth it? would appreciate any information/recommendations you have. thank you!

It took about 5 hours to drive from Cascais (very near Lisbon) to Sevilla, with a lunch break. I imagine that if you were driving from Granada it would be a full day.<BR><BR>The roads are very good in terms of condition, but the secondary highways are two-lane only with no shoulder. However, the traffic was not all that heavy. On many secondary highways you have to slow down for every small town.<BR><BR>It depends on the route you take as to the scenery. We went to Sevilla via Beja and Aracena, and in Portugal, it is flat to nice rolling hills, and in Spain, bigger hills, but not really mountains. The drive from Granada to Cordoba is fairly mountainous (I define mountains where there is road with switchbacks), and rolling hills/agricultural nearer Zafra.<BR><BR>We drove only to Zafra since we went to the Alhambra in the morning. If it fits your schedule, the Paradore in Zafra is a very nice overnight stay, and much cheaper than the others, at 91 Euros. (We mostly stayed in 35-50 Euro hostals, pensions and residencials, all of which had full bath and many had TV and balcony.)<BR><BR>Agricultural includes cork, olives, grapes, fruit, grain, potatoes, beans, cows, goats, sheep, pigs, even ostriches! Also, there are tons of storks nesting on top of telephone poles.<BR><BR>We loved Gibraltar, but it takes a whole day to see the sights. We were in Tarifa, an hour away.

Carol, where did you stay in Tarifa? Was it nice? Did you find you had to speak Portugese to communicate? Thanks for any help. Marilyn

Hi Carol<BR><BR>My family went to Portugal three years ago and loved it. We are now planning a trip to southern Spain and have been trying to decide whether to spend some of the time in the Lisbon area again which would cut out some of Spain. I hate to shortchange an area so I wonder if you would think we should just stick with Spain or attempt to do five days in Seville and five in Lisbon. The other option is to spend five in Seville, one or two in Tavira, Portugal, one or two in Arcos or Rhonda. Or...skip Tavira, Portugal and include Granada. Any thoughts?

The place in Tarifa was called Hostal Almeida, it was small and nice, marble floors, beuatiful spacious bathroom but no bidet, right on the wall of the old town near the marina. Its restaurant was nice. We had one of its smaller rooms for 45Euros in May, not including breakfast.<BR><BR>As for language, English is limited in both countries except in the touristy coastal areas. But we got by with a basic guidebook and sign language. If you speak French, even a little, it can be a help in Portugal.<BR><BR>We spent three days in Sevilla. I would not recommend our hotel. We found three days enough. I would recommend Ronda and Granada both. I personally did not like Lisbon that much. It is noisy and dirty and Seville has more to see. But we stayed in Cascais, so it was not that much of a problem. Belem and Sintra and the Estoril coast are the highlights there.<BR><BR>I would definitely go to Granada to see the Alhambra if I were you. We only spent one night as we heard the city is kind of rough. We stayed in a cheap hostal near the Alhambra. You could stay in a small town near Granada and commute in for the Alhambra. The Alhambra is great. Ronda is very touristy but worth two nights.