Andrealovestotravel

Hi everyone,

After our amazing trip to Berlin and Rhodes this summer (if you want any details, please feel free to ask), we are now starting early to plan a trip to Portugal next summer, with our two teenage boys, who will be 15 and 17 when we leave.

We want to include Lisbon and Porto and are wondering where else we should visit and what other places would be interesting to see as well. Are the excellent beaches only in the south and is that where you would recommend going for some rest and relaxation beach time? How many days should we allocate for each destination?

As well, would it be a good idea to take a 2 day trip to Seville, another place we have always wanted to visit?

We are allocating about 14 full days to the time in Portugal.

Thanks for your initial recommendations.


Andrea

bilboburgler

Andrea, the trouble of just poping over to Seville, is then you say, well what about Cordoba, and Grenada and Malaga and you end up not going to Portugal. Two weeks for Portugal is not a lot of time.

The beaches are good in the south and the closer you get to the Atlantic the more the surf is up, but you will find little coves all over, but when are you going, August is mad, do you have any dates?

I'd start by just surfing all the trip reports for Portugal.

Andrealovestotravel

Bilboburgler,

I understand what you are saying. So, I guess we will save Seville for a future Spain only trip.

Would you consider taking a few days to the Azores? We can add a few days to our trip, if necessary.

Thanks

Michael

You might want to take a look at my trip report; click on my name to find it.

Bedar

The Azores is wonderful. Shh, don't tell too many people about them !! But, I'd save them for a separate trip. There are many flights there from Toronto.

bilboburgler

Love the Azores, but another trip I think, easy to get to from your side of the pond

Andrealovestotravel

Ok, so its Portugal only for at least 2 weeks or a little more.

For starters, how many days should we spend in Lisbon and Porto. By knowing this, we can start planning other areas and have an idea about where we can allocate the time outside these two cities.

Thanks,


Andrea

bilboburgler

Lisbon needs 4 days min, Porto 3 days but it depends if you want to go up the Duero (boat or train) to see the vinyards.

Evora needs a visit possibly from Lisbon or maybe on a drive by

bilboburgler

welcome to fodors santosvieira

santosvieira

thanks bilbo

lincasanova

you seem to really like that company

Robert2533

Depending on what your interest are, and that includes the two teenagers, I would limit myself the the Lisbon area for 7 nights and Porto area for the remainder of your time. Using Lisbon as a base, you'll be able to visit Cascais, Sintra, Evora and possibly Setúbal, the Dream Coast, on day trips. and possibly take a day trip to Badajoz (Extremadura, Spain). A trip to the fabulous Alentejo regions would be too demanding of your time. It would require another week.

From Porto you can spend one day or more in the Alto Duero if interested in actually seeing some of Portugal greatest Port Wine vineyards, producers of some some of the greatest red wines around. From Porto you can visit Braga and Guimareas. If you wanted to visit the Minho River Valley, you would have to add a few more days.

bilboburgler

Don't ignore the tourist heavens of the Algarve (there are nice places just a bit busy in the Summer) or the Alentejo (just north of Algarve) which are a bit less busy. No one big site to visit just great stuf like bird watching over at Tavira, Faro centre is cute..ish and the cape is spectacular both for the cliffs but also when you realise that this is where the skills came from that allowed the Americas to be sailed to by the southern europeans.

Andrealovestotravel

Hi everyone,

Such great advice. Our teenage boys, and us, enjoy just about everything so it gives us freedom to have a vacation with a mix of sightseeing and relaxation. We want to spend a few days down south to soak up the sun, but if there are beautiful beaches on the western coast, please let us know. Is the ocean water warmer in the south than on the western coast?

Would you know of any really nice and romantic places to listen to authentic Portuguese music, preferably outdoors?

Like always, thanks so much.

bilboburgler

The warmest water is trapped between the sandbanks and the mainland along the south east coast (google maps on Faro and head east shows you the structures), if not possible then generally the southern bays are best to avoid the rollers coming from the deep atlantic though if you want surf then head to any west facing resort and around the cape. I think that you find similar warm waters around the Lisbon area but I've only rushed by rather than studied.

No use on music as I have a tin ear.

BomDiaLisbon

The ocean waters around Lisbon are always cold. Then again, I'm previously from the subtropics, so I might not be the best person to answer this question!

Not really romantic, but if you want live outdoor music, there are free concerts going on in Lisbon, in public areas, throughout the summer. If you're in a small town, depending on your timing you might catch a festa (town street party) which will have outdoor music.

By music, I mean anything from fado to jazz to rock...