LIsbon
 

Have plans for next Oct to spend a week in Lisbon with partner. Thinking staying in 2 different venues might or might not be an interesting way to explore the city unless we opt to
spend 2 days in Sintra. I believe Porto's weather can be problematic that time of year. Would appreciate insight from those who know The country well! Thank you! We are fit and in our 50s

Can see no point in moving hotels within Lisbon, public transport is excellent for getting around. There are a number of threads and TRs on this site on Lisbon - do a search. For historical weather in Porto try weatherundergound.com.

I agree with thursday. No point in changing hotels within Lisbon.

I traveled to Portugal last Oct alone for 3 weeks and I'm in my 50's too. I was in Porto, Lisbon, Sintra and other cities. In just two days, there is no need to stay in two different hotels if you choose Lisbon. It is easily navigable from one location. I would choose Lisbon and focus on two areas of the city. It warrants more time, but you can get a good taste in two days. Porto was great too you could see much of the city in two days. You can't go wrong with either, but you will waste a lot of time changing hotels. Stay put and enjoy. Let me know if you want more specific info.

Part of the fun of being in Lisbon is using its various forms of public transportation (including cable cars!) and taxis. They are an historic part of the city About the only thing that would tempt me to switch hotels would be the possibility of spending, say, 2 nights at a ridiculously "lux" and pampering historic 5*, throwback to another age, because in Lisbon the cost would be a fraction of what it would be in another European capital.

But since I'm not really the sort who thrills to a spa or silver-plated room service, I'd probably prefer to rent an apartment for a week. Those too can be delightfully inexpensive for lots of space, charm and an interesting neighborhood.

As for Porto, I'm not going to claim to know it or all of Portugal "well," but my impression is that Porto weather is never reliably marvelous. Chilly rain can blow through almost any time of year. In October you are likely not to get any heat waves that would make climbing the city's VERY steep hills unpleasant.

I've really enjoyed spending a whole week in Portugal, but I do a lot of sightseeing and museum-going, plus try to get off the beaten track to explore a variety of neighborhoods. But if you think a few days in Lisbon will do you, I highly recommend Porto as a fascinating, one-of-a-kind place, provided you keep away from the silliest tourist traps on the river banks.

I just came back from nine days in Lisbon, and was glad to have picked the suburb of Belém as our base. It's nine minutes by train from central Lisbon, or maybe 20 minutes by tram, but you can spend a week enjoying all the sights in Belém that are in walking distance from each other - an incredible concentration of riches:
Palacio Nacional Belém (residence of the President, open only on Saturdays), The Monastery San Jeronimo
The Coaches museum (fabulous regal carriages, in two locations, old and new, across from each other - get the combined ticket)
The Maritime museum (from the days of Vasco da Gama onwards, shows the reasons Portugal ruled much of the world, a huge facility with full-sized boats and even early airplanes)
The Tower of Belém (an old fort on the waterfront)
The Discovery monument
The "Popular Art" folk-art museum - handicrafts, textiles, musical instruments etc
The archeological museum
The Belém botanical gardens (mostly an arboretum, trees from everywhere)
The grand Ajuda Palace up on the hill
The Ajuda botanical gardens with a nice restaurant
The modern Centro Cultural that houses concert halls large and small, a fabulous exhibition of modern art grouped by styles, and an excellent and trendy/interesting East-West restaurant/bar. The ticket office at the Centro also sell tickets for most other Lisbon events.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but you see why we liked staying in Belém! It is on by the river on the flat, only a few miles west of downtown Lisbon, on the train line to Estoril and Cascais (the line starts at Cais do Sodre station in central Lisbon, a significant hub of trains, buses, trams, metro, and boats).

For Sintra you go to Rossio train station in central Lisbon, a short walk from Praca Figueira where the Metro station Rossio is located.

As soon as you get to Lisbon, buy the VIVA VIAGEM card (50 cents) that you can load up with money, start with maybe 20 Euros. It works on all trams and buses and metro and also on the trains to Sintra and to Cascais. Without the card you pay 1.80 Euros to the bus driver in cash, for each ride (no transfer tickets), or 2.85 Euros on trams. With the card it costs 1.40 Euros for as many trips as you make inside an hour (more for the regional trains). You can add more money anytime.

Don't overlook the Gulbenkian foundation - https://gulbenkian.pt/en/ - it is a fabulous collection of pieces of art from many millenia, each piece perfect, no chips, no cracks, old and modern, just incredible how this rich man assembled all this beauty!

And visit the Fado museum, www.museudofado.pt - it's excellently done, with listening stations, audio guides etc. Of course, do go to a Fado house or concert. We happened to attend a concert at the Centro Cultural in Belém of Fado singer Pedro Moutinho, and we were glad we did.

Hope this helps - enjoy, and remember that obrigado ("thanks") is for a man, while a lady says obrigada.

More suggestions well worth your time:

Museu do Azulejo (Tile Museum)
http://www.museudoazulejo.pt/en-GB/default.aspx

Marine Museum (Maritime History of Portugal)
http://ccm.marinha.pt/pt/museu

Museu Carris (Transport Museum of Lisbon)
http://museu.carris.pt/en/

These museums are not crowded or expensive and have rich and varied collections of Portuguese/Lisbon culture & history.

The Coach Museum, IMHO, while interesting, was a one-trick pony and a little disappointing -- essentially one large room with mostly similar coaches. I would put the above three (depending on your interests) above it.

ssander

ssander, I think you gave up too soon in the coches museum. The variety is immense, from the six-horse luxury parade vehicles to the utilitarian ones to the hand-carried ones, plus lots of other types, and the fire-fighting types including the first extension-ladder carriage, plus the uniforms and musical instruments of the postillons and much much more.