Anna

Hi!<BR>We're trying to schedule a July trip to Portugal and would really apreciate any recommendations for our itinary. We'd like to stay in Cascais for 3-4 days then visit Madeira for a couple of days and then go to Algarve for the beach and relaxation. Is it too tight for 10-14 days? Any suggestions on how to commute between these places? Also, is the weather going to be too hot in July? We live in New York and would like to escape if not the heat then at least the humidity.<BR><BR>Thank you!

www.tourist-in-portugal.web.pt

Hi. Well...the Madeira island part can get a little too tight, 'cause to get there you got fly there (2 hours or so), so it can get tight. If you wanna check some flights use amadeus (www.amadeus.net) then check flights from LIS to FNC (funchal).<BR>The weather here in July is hot...sometimes...HOT, and once in a while H O T (40º), but it's very very dry. Expect temperatures around 30º and minimum around 20º (check some past years conditions on www.weatherbase.com and www.wunderground.com.<BR><BR>Have a great time

ca

I,m also a fellow New Yorker. I was in Portugal last summer in August. We started in Algarve- hot in the day but oddly enough cool at night. I had to some nights wear jeans. We proceeded to drive to Lisboa- 4 hours but definately worth it.

Anna

Thank you both for responding. A question for my fellow New Yorker: Did you fly to Algarve from NY? If so, what's the name of the airport/city? Also, can you recommend any hotels? We prefer luxury accomodations and a nice beach. <BR><BR>Thanks!

ca

Anna,<BR><BR>We actually started in Barcelona and drove up to Lisboa. In the Algarve we stayed in a pleasent, small hotel(don't remember the name)As we were planning our trip we used the Fodors guide and found some nice hotels(as we are members of LHW) However, the "nicest" one was 10 minutes outside of Faros and there was another LHW but it wasn't on the water. I'll go into the archives and send you the name of our hotel. Don't get taken in to spending more money for AC. You really won't need it. I'm not 100% sure but I think the airport is in Faros- a city that I found hard getting information on. We pretty much "winged it" in Algarve and had a great time.