Based on early research we were planning on taking the 11pm bus from Madrid to Porto on Wednesday 23/12/09 and booked accommodation accordingly. Oops - the new schedule has been released and the bus for that day departs Mardrid at 9:30am. A few options are available to us:

- leave Madrid on the evening bus on Tuesday 22/12 and have an extra day in Porto
- spend from 9:30am-5:30pm on the bus on 23/12 taking in the scenery but wasting a day
- taking an overnight bus on the Wednesday evening as planned but going to Lisbon-Oriente station instead. The bus arrives at 6:15am then we could catch the train from here to Porto arriving some 3hours later
- skip Porto altogether or skip Coimbra

If anyone has thoughts on these options I'd welcome them. Our original itinerary is as follows:
19/12 Saturday- arrive Madrid 8:30am
23/12 Wednesday- Madrid-Porto (overnight bus)
24/12 Thursday- Porto (arrive 5:30am)
26/12 Saturday- Porto-Coimbra (arrive mid morning)
27/12 Sunday- Coimbra-Lisbon (arrive mid afternoon)
1/1/10 Friday- Lisbon-Sevilla (overnight bus - yes it is running!)
2/1 Saturday- Sevilla (arrive 6am)
6/1 Wednesday- Sevilla-Ronda
8/1 Friday- Ronda-Granada
10/1 Sunday- Granada-Cordoba
12/1 Tuesday - Cordoba-Madrid-London
17/1 Sunday London-Bangkok (evening flight)
19/1 Wednesday midnight flight home!

From google maps it looks like the bus station in Lisbon is across the road from the train station. If we were to take this option I'm assuming we'd have enough time from arriving to make it to the 7:39am train or possibly the 7:09am train. It seems the trains run fairly regularly between Lisbon and Porto however, the timetable only goes up to a month in advance. Hate to change plans then get caught out again!

I have been combing the trip reports for Portugal and am hoping that someone will be able to offer some advice re the options I've outlined. DH is wondering if we should skip either Porto or Coimbra altogether - arrive in Lisbon and then just go to one of them for a few days before returning.

Your ideas and thoughts would be very much appreciated.
Amanda

I flew from Madrid to Porto on Vueling! Have you checked their fares? Ridiculously cheap!

Have you ever done a long ride on a bus? The reason I ask is because I did a 5-6 hrs ride once between Oviedo and Santiago and I was dizzy by the time I got to my destination. It took me a whole day to recover. Based on that I would never (unless it was an emergency) would take a day bus that lasted over 3 hrs. I undertstand that you are planning to sleep on the bus but still, all those hours on a bus , followed by a 3 hrs train ride sounds like torture to me. I would look into the flying option mentioned above.

Sorry-I just checked -Vueling no longer flies to Porto but Spanair still does-cheap option!

Thanks for your replies. In Madrid we're staying near Plaza Santa Ana and so decided to take the bus seeing the station is considerably closer and more convenient than the airport. Haven't taken a long bus ride but have been on a 14hr train in Myanmar many years ago.

After looking at the options we have booked the 9:30am bus from Madrid which will arrive in Porto at 5:30pm. In hindsight a much better option seeing we'll have a full day in Porto before it slows down for Christmas.

Only you can tell if this is a convenient option. A train ride is a totally different experience that a bus ride. For one, you can take walks on the train, usually buy food and the bathrooms are a bit more civilized than in a bus.

Good luck with your plans!