New to Portugal - Two week Nov/Dec trip
 

We just decided to visit Portugal a few days ago and are leaving in two weeks. We have never been to Portugal but have tried to put together some pIan by reading through this forum, looking at a few old travel books and viewing a few dozen YouTube videos.

Here's what we've come up with:

- Land in Lisbon

- Rent a car and tour the towns around Lisbon: Cascais, Sintra, Ericeira - spending sometime in each and staying in one or more? One night or two?

- Continue northward visiting Obidos, Nazara and other villages in the way to Coimbra - again not sure how much time in each or which to stay in. One night?

- Stop in Aveira or straight to Porto - 3 nights?

- Travel down the Douro Valley visiting four or five towns? 3 nights?

- Head south stopping in Almeida or some of the fortified towns and ruins,Belmonte, Sortelha, Monsanto? One night?

Back to Lisbon. Three nights.

PLEASE MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS - is this reasonable? How about the amount of time for each? Is there a special place to stay or eat or see that you would recommend- particularly small out of the way places.

We usually use a guide for the big cities and go solo in the smaller villages. Can anyone recommend one for Lisbon and/or for Porto?

To be fair, I haven't read much about Lisbon yet - Is there an area to stay in that is quiet but charming - yet still near enough to walk to some of the interesting places?
Same question, I guess, about Porto.

From what I've read it doesn't seem like we could go to too many places that wouldn't be wonderful.

Last question - BUT IMPORTANT - if we didn't make hotel reservations - but played it by ear and just looked for a place when we wanted to stay - wherever we were -WOULD WE BE OKAY, would we find a place to stay, or would we possibly have to sleep in the car??? We're not too particular - it could be a little guest house or a nice hotel. Must be clean though!

Many thanks,
blej

Looks sweet - I may suggest doing Sintra and Cascais as day trips from Sintra - no need for car and save on car rental. Obidos could be a few-hour stop - one night stands take so much time relocating. I'd suggest hitting Batalha and its UNESCO World Heritage Site monastery en route to Porto.

Guimares and Braga near Porto are two fine regional towns - try to hit them.

PalenQ - thanks for that. When would you recommend renting the car? In Sintra?

Will definitively look into Batalha and the two near Porto, Guimares and Braga. I would guess the two could be done from Porto?

thanks again
blej

Yeah the two cities are about an hour from Porto - on way to Duroro I should think.

If cars are available in Sintra yes - if not just drive there - may be useful if going to a hotel.

I have only been to Lisbon so far, and that was this past April! We loved it. I recommend at least 4 nights in Lisbon. We were there for 5 nights, and we visited Sintra and Cascais on a bus tour for the day. Since you have more time than us, I suggest spending a night or two in Sintra. We had time to see only one castle/palace (Pena Palace), but there are a lot more to see in Sintra. I wish we had the time to stay overnight in Sintra. We saw very little of Cascais, but we liked what we saw and we thought it would be a nice place to stay for one night. However, I'm not sure what it would be like at this time of year. I think it would be nice to visit at this time of year, but perhaps not stay overnight? You need to research what you would do there.

There is a lot to do in Lisbon. If you like, you can click on my name to read my trip report. I also give names of restaurants we ate at and our opinions. We stayed at the Hotel Real Palacio, which we loved, but it's not right in the city center. It's located near the Marqus de Pombal and Edward VII Park. It's a very nice area, but about a 20 minute walk to downtown along Ave Liberdade.

For guidebooks, I used Rick Steves and Fodors. I also really like the Rough Guides, but I didn't purchase it for Portugal since it was a short trip.

I would do Sintra by train, and spend the night. You can get to all of the sights by the shuttle buses. My favorite sight was the Quinta da Regaleira, least favorite was the Monserrate Palace. Pena Palace is a must for the grounds. Try to do the Sintra NationalPalace walk-through also.

I stayed at Casa da Pendoa, around the corner from the main square/ The room came with a kitchenette, and some goodies including port, small cheese, and fresh bread rolls in the morning. I had the "double room, Mountain View'"which was on street level. I reserved it through Expedia but they have their own website. Staying the night you can get up to some of the more popular sights when they first open, before the crowds are too ridiculous.

In Lisbon, I would follow advice to buy the ticket to Jeronimo's Monastery next door at the Archaeology Museum. The line at the Monastery for ticket purchase was insane as was the famous pastry spot in Belem.

Lisbon seems to be have a nearly year-round cruise ship schedule so there were scads of cruise tours going through the major sights and the Alfama. I followed one of Rick Steve's podcasts for a DIY walking tour.

Karen, thanks for your reply. Just finished teadire your trip report. It is a great read and full of so much of what I was hoping for. I'll have to print it and take it with me. If you return would you stay in the same neighborhood?

Mlgb thanks. The advice seems to be to stay in Sintra and wait to rent a car until we leave the area. And being able to get to the sights early is an additional benefit. We are hoping that our late November/early December trip will be when the crowds thin at least a little.

I like the idea of cheese, bread and port in your room.

We really liked the neighborhood we stayed in, and staying at the Hotel Real Palacio gave us the opportunity to see and wander through an area we otherwise might not have seen. Another plus is that it is quiet at night. We enjoyed walking down Avenue Liberdade to get to the downtown area. So you have to decide if that would suit you, or would you prefer to be located right in the downtown. We perhaps relied on taxis more than we would had we stayed in downtown. But we still also did a lot of walking, which we enjoy doing in new places. However, if we did return to Lisbon, I might want to stay in the downtown neighborhoods, such as Chiado or Baixa to have that experience. Additionally, staying somewhere else would give us a different perspective on Lisbon and afford us a different experience. It wouldn't seem like a repeat vacation. The problem is that the downtown hotels that are very nice are also very expensive; they were out of our budget. The less expensive hotels had mixed reviews. The Hotel Real Palacio is in our budget; our room was spacious with lots of storage space; the lobby is very nice; the staff helpful and courteous; and the breakfast buffet was ample with a lot of variety.

I stayed just down the street from Hotel Real Palacio. It was convenient enough. I wouldn't say it was "quiet" because there was still street noise if you had a room facing the street. But the neighborhood was fine. I stayed at Silk Lisbon and the rooms were small, if nicely furnished. The lack of elevator was made up for by the breakfast [pastry display. I don't know that I'd stay there again, though, because of the lack of elevator.

By the way, Uber works in Lisbon. My last night's hotel used their account to call one for me when there was a Metro strike in the morning that I was leaving! Be prepared in case you also fall prey to one of the many strikes (apparently there was also a taxi one not long ago).

While some things in Lisbon were reasonably priced, I didn't think hotels were a great value. Another reason to spend a night or two in Sintra.

Generally ok. Just want to point out I don't see Evora on the list. Quite a nice historical town. If it were me I might cut a night in Porto and maybe another night in Obidos or Nazare and try to squeeze some time there and combine it with the nearby walled town of Monsaraz. We stopped by Belmonte for lunch - nice but did not wow me.

We didnt seleep at Obidos and regretted it.
We loved Coimbra, Sintra is a fantastic daytrip form Lisbon - by train if you are in high season, we were in low season and found parking with difficulty.
We slept in center of Lisbon (apartment, via booking.com) and excentered (end of a tramline) for Porto (also apartment). Good locations for both actually.
We saw hundreds of manasteries and churches.

Yes Obidos is type of town that can be mobbed during day and nicely thinned out at night - and there is a Parador - state-owned hotel in historic environs that is actually part built into the ancient ramparts.

Does Sintra offer car rentals? If not it's just a 20-30 train ride back to a Lisbon station that probably has them.

Thanks all for the help so far. I'm starting to get a sense of Lisbon and the towns up to Porto.

I'm thinking of picking up the car at the airport and staying in Sintra for one night. The price to rent for the whole trip is very low and I like to drive. We see what we can but would like to be on the road the next afternoon. Probably stay in Obidos and continue on to Coimbra the next day. That leaves Porto with two days, the Douro Valley to enjoy the sights and rest - 3 days, South visiting the smaller villages down to Evora and Monsaraz - 2 night? and Lisbon 3.

I still have THE QUESTION - Do we have to make reservations in places other than Lisbon and Porto? - or can we wing it and just stay in a town we like and look for a place???

blej

I traveled those places one October and never made reservations. I would suggest you do some research as have say a Michelin Red Guide for Portugal with you so you can call or email hotels for the next day - hunting and pecking can take time and you often take first thing just to get it done. And if ever find no place well the Hotel du Car can be cheap.

PalenQ, I was hoping someone would say that. There are so many little villages I like the idea of being free to just go in a general direction, stopping and staying where we would like. We'll definitively bring a list of possibilities in case there's no internet at the moment. We're not picky, we can go upscale or down as needed.

Any thoughts on the Douro Valley?

blej

If you need parking in Sintra you might want to search for a place that provides it. I don't know if it's very common.

When is the low season? Sure wasn't low last month.

mlgb, Thanks - will do.

If staying the night try to get a hotel with parking? Ultimate advantage of a car.

We just took a look at the extended weather forecast, which shows rain in all of Portugal for just about every day we are to be away. We decided to hold our plane tickets, not make any reservations at all and see what happens with the weather. We'll drive, or need be train or fly, wherever the weather is nicer - in Portugal or elsewhere. Barcelona is scheduled for nice weather.

Two weeks of rain would not make for a pleasant vacation.
We'll see. Thanks for all the useful info.
blej