A few comments: First do your preferred ten days in Portugal include the day you fly in, and the day you fly out? For in that case, you'll have only eight full days in the country -- not quite adequate, in my opinion, but still better than not going to Portugal at all.

Second, I got back just three days ago from a 12-day (full days) Portugal trip in which I flew into, and out of, Porto -- the airport is very nice. And if you do end up spending your last night at the Porto airport, consider the Park Hotel. As airport hotels go, it's not too expensive, though they make up for it a bit in their restaurant -- but their buffet-style meals are very good.

Third, if you stick to the Porto -- Lisbon -- Algarve itinerary you mentioned, you will probably be able to manage everything by train. As an applied statistician by profession I'm a little skeptical about the value of quick-and-easy statistics like the one mentioned a few comments above; but as this is not the place for a statistical dissertation, I'll just point out that for me, the heavy traffic of big cities like Porto and Lisbon, the narrow, confusing streets of Portugal's thousand-year-old towns, and the many tricks and scams that car-rental agencies seem to be adept at these days, would cancel out whatever flexibility a rented car might provide. Wherever possible I would prefer to avoid those stresses, and enjoy Portugal's great grain system.

Fourth, on Sintra: after two trips to Portugal, I still haven't seen Sintra (and the tourist police never kicked in my hotel door late at night to find out why). And not having seen Sintra, I'm not in a good position to judge, but like you, I doubted whether it was for me. I'm sure Sintra is great for the right kind of tourist, and perhaps you are that kind; but grand fairly-tale castles for fancy aristocrats just aren't my scene, especially when they're likely to be smothered by tourist masses. Basically, a long time ago I abandoned the "must-see" approach to travel, in favor of a "mind-of-my-own" approach, and I've never regretted it -- I recommend that same approach to those who are so inclined.

We spent a few weeks in Portugal, with the first six great nights in Lisbon and the last four in Porto. Below is my trip report link with a million photos (more or less). FYI, we spent three nights in Sintra, too, and absolutely loved it there. Porto was our favorite. Loved the vibe there.

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/portugal-2022/

You may find our trip report helpful-https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/wonderful-portugal-1713270/

Great links, great reports, great summaries, and great opinions and advice.

I'm finalizing:
Dates in September (most likely mid Sept)
Route we will take (most likely fly into Porto, then train to Lisbon, then train to Algarve, rent a car, then drive to Lisbon for the final night before flying back)
Lengths of stay in each (most likely 3 in Porto, 2 in Lisbon, 4 in Algarve, and 1 at airport in Lisbon)
Areas within each region (most likely Ribeira or Baixa/Downtown in Porto, Baixa/Chiado in Lisbon, and either Lagos or Carvoeiro in the Algarve).

We will search for the best hotels that suit our needs. We want local charm, clean, with great locations, walkable to most everything. Not looking for anything too fancy or too expansive with one exception, that is in the Algarve. Once in awhile we do splurge and the Tivoli Carvoeiro may be the time to splurge. Looks like it is in a great location with beautiful scenery. However, Lagos may be the better choice for us.

Always appreciate any comments on anything.

Thanks, W

Late to this thread...

Algarve: maybe check out beach-side Salema?
Remote village: Marvao.
Island recco: Madeira.
Bilbo remarks 'Portugal is the sixth most dangerous road country in the EU'. He is right.
My friend and I were almost killed there back in '88. Close call on Xmas day!

I am done. the brigado brigade

Hello, I went to Portugal last August and have some comments that will differ from most on this board. We LOVED Lisbon and were not great fans of Porto. Lisbon felt like a small and important, beautiful city with lots of history. We are not big wine wine drinkers and apart from one day in the Douro Valley and a day or day and a half to see the main sites in Porto, we found it to be very congested and not terribly pretty or unusual. I would therefore reverse my day count between these two cities.

I found it particularly hard to plan this trip given the many different viewpoints on this site. In the end, we spent about 4 days in Lisbon, 1-2 days in Sintra and 3 days in Porto including the Douro Valley. We did not rent a car which I ultimately was disappointed about since there were wildfires in the region and it would have given us much more flexibility to modify our plans. We did not need a car in Lisbon, Sintra or Porto though.

We were very pleased with the location of our hotels and you can check some of my earlier posts since I commented specifically about this.

Hope this helps though imagine it may confuse you further!

I appreciate all feedback and different opinions. It just helps me consider all options.

And appreciate all the links provided.

I am very impressed by the International Design Hotel in Lisbon.

Stil finalizing.

Thanks again, W

I'm flying in and out of Lisbon this June. We have a very early arrival so we've decided to take a train directly to the Algarve and spend 4 nights there. Return to Lisbon for 4 nights, where we'll take a day trip to Sintra (nothing set in stone yet). Seems trains and ubers are easy and not expensive. Porto doesn't seem to be an option for us due to time constraints. If Lisbon doesn't appeal to you, just do Porto and Algarve.

Just a reply since so fresh in my mind . . . Ubers are very easy though we did one from Sintra to Porto (crazy I know, though we had heavy bags and decided to leave very early since the sites were closed in Sintra) and the driver accepted the fare and then reneged so we agreed to pay him out of pocket. (Apparently, this is quite common for long distance trips since the driver needs to do the round-trip and Uber takes such a huge chunk of the fare.). During the trip (the driver drove a Mercedes), we learned the car was electric and to save power, he drove like 40 mph! So what was supposed to be 3 to 3.5 hours, turned out to be 5 hours plus!

We did end up taking the train back from Porto to Lisbon and out hotel booked us for the wrong stop or train to Lisbon so we had to Uber for 30 minutes when the right train stop was 3 blocks from our hotel!

Hope this helps someone out there!

Thanks for the heads up.

My plan is to take trains between Porto and Lisbon and Algarve and then rent a car in Algarve so that we may explore that region. Then we plan on driving back to Lisbon airport for one night. Most likely at the Melia.

We plan to drive to Sintra on our way from Algarve to Lisbon to make the most of our time.

Still trying to finalize hotels in Ribeira, Porto, Baixa/Chiado in Lisbon, and tossed between Lagos in Algarve or split 2 nights in Lagos and 2 in Carvoeiro.

Thanks, W

Hi.

Flights and accommodations are finalized! Finally! Thanks again for all your help.

fFy into Porto as planned. 3 nights at AS 1829
Train to Lisbon. Still need to make these reservations. 3 nights at Lisboa Pesoa
Train to Algarve, Still need to make these reservations. Rent a car in Faro. 4 nights at Cascade Wellness.
Drive to Lisbon Airport for 1 night before flight. On way thinking of stopping in Sintra.
Will be researching restaurants for advanced reservations.

Little concerned about making train reservations since when we were in France last year our train was canceled due to a strike. Not sure if that is common in Portugal as well.

Appreciate any more comments.

W

Couple of thoughts.

Be sure to rent your car in Faro from the US . . . When we tried to rent a car in Lisbon, a day or two before needed, the rates were exorbitant.

For your last night in Lisbon, I would suggest staying back in the city. The airport is not very far and the city will likely provide you with a more fun evening.

As far as location in Lisbon, we loved the Avenida Liberdade. It is kind of like the Madison or Fifth Avenue of Lisbon and a 10 or 15 minute walk from everything. It feels very safe and the train station (to Porto) is about 2 blocks away. We absolutely loved the location.

As far as location in Porto, we stayed at the Intercontinental which was an amazingly central location. If you decide to stay nearby, I would just check about the massive construction going on right across the street.

As far as restaurants in Lisbon, we loved Pateo so much, we ate there twice! The lobster bisque was the best I’ve ever tasted and I’ve recommended it to several people who also loved it. The tuna tartare was fabulous there as well.

A local foodie had recommended Cervejaria Ramiro and said he ordered a single prawn that was the largest he’d ever seen. We didn’t end up going there because it was closed for a few days during our stay.

Btw, know you booked your flights, but just an fyi, there is the Faro airport in the Algarve which has international flights.

Apologies, just saw that your accommodations are booked and that it’s just the trains that are left so you can ignore some of my comments above. 😉

The Cervejaria Ramiro is often mentioned as a go-to for Lisbon, but my experience at in April of 2025 was not all that great. For some relatively recent comments by Fodorites, see this thread: https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...rants-1725872/

Thanks.

Great feedback on the restaurants!

We may still head into town on our last night but we like staying at the airport hotel the night before the flight. Less rushed in the morning.

Has anyone ever used Airalo for an esim for their phone? I have never but we like to have access to data when not on local wifi. From what I read it sseemss pretty good as opposed to paying the international daily fees from Verizon.

Also, any preference on which train from Porto to Lisbon, i.e., high speed vs inter city for comfort and safety including our luggage?

Now that flights and rooms are booked any other :wish I knew before I go to Portugal" tips?

Thanks, W

We found the train from Porto to Lisbon very safe. If I recall, there wasn't a tremendous difference between the high speed train and the regular. I would book the one where the time best meets your schedule, and as I mentioned above, where the stop in Lisbon is on the Avenida Liberdade which is right in the center of town.

One other caveat, the streets in Lisbon are paved with tile. The streets are narrow, winding and hilly so it best to have shoes or sneakers with really good tread. Looks like you guys are very active so I imagine you will be walking a lot . . . My friend fell twice, particularly while we were walking down hill near many of the restaurants. I was surprised no one had mentioned this to us beforehand.

Also, not sure if the funiculars will be working in the city as there was a horrific accident in Lisbon that happened a month or two after we departed (maybe October 2025). If they are and deemed safe, Tram 28 is a very popular tourist choice and it gets really crowded. I'm sure this is in the guide books but our concierge suggested we take an Uber to the end of the route and then ride the tram back to avoid the crowds. When we arrived by our Uber, there was a cemetery there and it was one of the more fascinating spots of our trip, believe it or not. They had these mini mausoleums with doors and windows with curtains on them. You could peer in the windows and in some, see 6 or 7 coffins inside - yet it was like 105 degrees outside! They were like these mini houses sometimes not much larger than an outhouse. Have never seen anything like it anywhere I've traveled. One of the benefits of just wandering around unplanned and seeing the most interesting things . . .

Enjoy your trip!

Prior to the pandemic, my husband and I had a ten day trip to Portugal in June. We did not to the Algarve. We flew r/t to Lisbon and rented a car spending two nights initially in Evora which isn't a far drive from the airport and was very lovely, with several historic sites as well as being a major foodie destination. I was sorry we didn't spend three nights and do a day trip from there to Castel de Vide as opposed to driving there and then on to Marvao and then long drive back to Batalha. Lovely modern business hotel and great location practically next to the amazing monastery. Then on to Coimbra to visit the University and the famous churches. It was blazing hot and so we added a stop in Aveiro for a refreshing canal boat ride and gelato before heading to Porto. We arrived in early evening. It was a holiday associated with fertility and while long ago it was celebrated by having women stop and smell bunches of herbs but now has evolved into people bopping each other on the head with plastic hammers, which our hotel gave us our own pair. The sky was lit with fireworks and people lighting balloons. Next day we walked downtown to the riverfront and saw the detritus of the previous night with smashed red cups and water bottles and plastic hammers, so not the best look. We toured Porto and did so much walking to see the railroad station with the tiles and the cathedral and the guild hall bulding. It was overcast and drizzly/misty so we didn't go on a boat ride as originally has planned. We did sit out for wine at a cafe but didn't visit any of the port houses. Next day was a bit more rainy and we walked up to modern Porto section to see the Casa Musica building as we travel to view architecture and then got our car to drive to Braga and Guimares. Never made it to Braga as driving through a mountainous area, there was much fog and mist and we missed the turn-off but no problem as Guimares was real find. We loved the Castle and the medieval architecture as it seemed to be more Flemish or it reminded me of the timbered streets in Rouen actually. Back to Porto late and headed south to tour the monastery at Alboaca, stopped at the touristy town of Obidos and to the airport to return the rental car, spending three nights in Lisbon which was of course hilly as well as blazing hot. It was very festive as this was the World Cup year. The Praca had giant sized screens and people were wandering around with their country flags and faces painted. We stayed at a boutique hotel on one of the shopping streets between Rossio Square and the Praca. We took the giant elevators up to the Castle, a modern tram to the statue and monument to the Portugeuse explorers. Huge line in the midday sun at the famous pastry shop and for the Jeronimos monastery so we didn't go. Highlight of Lisbon was a day trip that our hotel concierge booked with Hello Portugal that took us to Sintra, Cascais and the westernmost part of continental Europe. The tour took us through a modern part of Lisbon and our driver was very informative. Loved Sintra and the Palace as well as the town itself. Cascais very pleasant. In general I loved the vibe of Lisbon but if I did it again, I would perhaps stay overnight in Sintra to spend more time there. Both to and from the airport in Lisbon, we were able to use airport bus that we picked up and got off at Rossio Square but that my no longer be an option. Picking up and returning rental car at Lisbon airport was a chaotic experience, as nothing like exiting the car rental and driving into a roundabout. On the return, one line for anyone entering the airport and then a man directing you to terminals or car rentals, regardless of whether you had a car, a taxi, a passenger van or a bus. Needed patience and thankfully we were only heading into Lisbon, not making a flight.