Long weekend in Portugal-where to go, and how?
Aug 4th, 2004, 06:18 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 228
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Long weekend in Portugal-where to go, and how?
Hi
We have a last minute opportunity to go to Portugal for a long weekend. If we fly into Lisbon, where should we go, and how do we get there? We'd probably only go to one place due to time constraints. I've heard driving is bad, and the "good" areas are a four hour drive- hard on a long weekend. But trains are slow, and intra -country flights are expensive. Advice? We'd want some "culture" but also some beaches- not super touristy. Thanks!
We have a last minute opportunity to go to Portugal for a long weekend. If we fly into Lisbon, where should we go, and how do we get there? We'd probably only go to one place due to time constraints. I've heard driving is bad, and the "good" areas are a four hour drive- hard on a long weekend. But trains are slow, and intra -country flights are expensive. Advice? We'd want some "culture" but also some beaches- not super touristy. Thanks!
Aug 5th, 2004, 03:16 AM
#2
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well, for only a weekend I'd stay in Lisabon and region (if you really want beach). You can stay a hole day in Belém, visiting Mosteiro dos Jerônimos, Torre de Belém, Padrão dos Descobrimentos, Maritime Museum and Coach Museum. If art is your piece of cake, Nacional Old Art Museum and Nationa Tiles Museum are the places. The Cathedral (Sé
and the Saint George Castle worth a visit too.
In Lisbon region, Sintra is a nice village, with a incredible palace (Palácio Nacional da Pena). To beaches, you can go to Cascais and Estoril, in the Summer they will always be crowded, but nothing like the Algarve...
and the Saint George Castle worth a visit too.In Lisbon region, Sintra is a nice village, with a incredible palace (Palácio Nacional da Pena). To beaches, you can go to Cascais and Estoril, in the Summer they will always be crowded, but nothing like the Algarve...
Aug 5th, 2004, 05:25 AM
#3
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 7,689
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I agree that with 3 days you could easily spend them all in Lisbon. However an alternative would be to stay in Sintra, and see that lovely small town, as well as making one day trip or more into Lisbon, which is about a half hour drive by car. You could also go to Cascais for a day from the Sintra area, under half an hour drive.
If this were my long weekend, I would stay at the Penha Longa Resort just outside Sintra. It is operated by Ritz-Carlton. It is in the middle of a national park area and also has lovely grounds and pool, as well as walking trails and a golf course, so you can relax a bit when you are not sightseeing. Take a look at Ritz-Carlton.com.
As mentioned above, you could also stay in the Cascais beach area and do a day trip to Lisbon, if I am correct it would be about an hour by car. I don't know any particular hotels in Cascais to recommend.
If your trip is this month, I am afraid you will find everything pretty crowded, esp. the beaches. September would be a better month, esp. after the first week in September.
If this were my long weekend, I would stay at the Penha Longa Resort just outside Sintra. It is operated by Ritz-Carlton. It is in the middle of a national park area and also has lovely grounds and pool, as well as walking trails and a golf course, so you can relax a bit when you are not sightseeing. Take a look at Ritz-Carlton.com.
As mentioned above, you could also stay in the Cascais beach area and do a day trip to Lisbon, if I am correct it would be about an hour by car. I don't know any particular hotels in Cascais to recommend.
If your trip is this month, I am afraid you will find everything pretty crowded, esp. the beaches. September would be a better month, esp. after the first week in September.
Aug 5th, 2004, 09:49 AM
#5
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 11,449
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You can certainly use Lisbon as a base and easily get to Sintra, Estoril and Cascais by public transit or rental car. Those three areas are reasonably close to Lisbon and make for easy trips or even as your base of operation.
I might suggest, as someone else did, to use Central Lisbon, given the amount time you have. Certainly the sights in Lisbon will be a full day.
In terms of driving, finding road signs can be a bit of an adventure. But, there is a new modern highway that runs towards Sintra, Estoril and Cascais and getting to those locations should be no more than an hour. For the scenic route, you can always take the coastal road.
I might suggest, as someone else did, to use Central Lisbon, given the amount time you have. Certainly the sights in Lisbon will be a full day.
In terms of driving, finding road signs can be a bit of an adventure. But, there is a new modern highway that runs towards Sintra, Estoril and Cascais and getting to those locations should be no more than an hour. For the scenic route, you can always take the coastal road.
