illini1022

Last year my wife and I had an amazing honeymoon in Italy thanks, primarily, to the kind people on this forum. Everyone did a great job helping me refine my itinerary and not take on too many destinations, as well as recommend some top notch hotels.

Since this trip won't be a honeymoon, I'm willing to move a little bit faster and see a bit more but we still want to take in the culture and enjoy our destinations. Ultimately I think that's more important than just checking things off a list while mad-dashing around.

We have about 10-13 days budgeted for a trip this year. Italy is the only international destination we've traveled to, so it was basically like throwing darts on a map to pick the next one. I've heard Portugal is fantastic and can be a pretty good value. May as well try it next.

I've been researching a lot of past threads, and here is a really simple schedule I've outlined as a rough draft.

-Fly into Lisbon, rent car. Spent 2-3 nights in Lisbon?
-Drive to Cascais, take in the city, take bike tour
-Spent night there? or drive through to Sintra and spend 1-2 nights there?
-Drive to Viana de Castelo? Spent 1-2 nights there?
-Drive on to Porto, spend 1-2 nights there?

I welcome any comments or criticisms. If I learned anything from last time, it's that there are a ton of knowledgeable people out there on travel destinations and I am not one of them. We're intererested in a well rounded trip. Spend some time experiencing the culture, spend some time on a nice beach or two, check out some of the best castles we can, etc.

Thanks in advance!

garance

Check out the pousadas of portugal. they have many nice packages and are beutiful

Michael

You might want to look at my trip report, although it took more days than what you are allocating; just click on my name to find it.

bobthenavigator

See Lisbon from Cascais and do not drive in Lisbon.
Cascais is like a bed room community with a commuter train into the city. See Sintra from there as well.
Stay in Obidos as you head north and do not miss Nazare and Batahla from there. I could miss Porto.

dmelo1

You will not need a car in Lisbon, pick it up on your way out of Lisbon. There is good train/bus service to Cascais and Sintra. I was a fan of Porto, was only there for 2 nights but could have stayed longer. It all depends on what you are looking for. Enjoy

illini1022

Gotcha, any tips on which cities are best to spend nights in?

bilboburgler

train may be good for all

The pink villa in porto is pretty good. All art deco

hkto

Yes Portugal is fantastic & is the best value in EU. You can cover different areas in Portugal in time that you have. We stayed longer in Lisbon (near Sete Rios bus & train stations) and did day trips from there (Sintra, Cascais, Evora, Fatima). All no more than 90 min o/w on bus or train. Sintra needs at least 2 days if most of the castles are to be visited.

From Lisbon you either drive north or take public transit to Porto and do side trips from there. Three hours south of Lisbon is province of Algarve (primary beach destination in Portugal). I found a sample driving itinerary Lisbon/North/Lisbon; it may be helpful in planning http://www.portugal.com/travel/portu...sbon_villages/

Also it's possible to fly from Lisbon to Madeira for couple of days; fares from Lisbon are still very reasonable despite oil price increases.

If car rental is a must watch the news on new Portuguese tolls; I was planning to rent in July but now holding back and waiting how it will affect renters. You can follow this thread http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...l-176190-2.cfm

Betts123

My husband and I did almost this same exact trip two years ago, but in reverse. We flew into Porto and picked up our rental car for the road trip to Lisbon.

In Porto, we stayed in a wonderful hotel called Hotel Infante de Sagres- great design hotel and walking distance to the Douro river. You really only need one night in Porto.

We then drove from from Porto to Pinhao (Pinhao is in Douro Valley wine country- AMAZING- stayed at the CS Vintage House Hotel). The drive along the mountainside wineries overlooking the rover was absolutely breathtaking. Our hotel was in a perfect location over the river with a very night pool area. We stayed two nights here doing day trips to nearby towns and wineries for Port tastings.

We then drove to Obidos for one night in this fortified hill town with cobble stoned streets- charming. Stay in the castle in Obidos- Pousada do Castelo.

Then drove to Sintra for one night to see more castles...I don't think you need more than one night in Sintra.

From Sintra, we drove along the coast to Cascias. Beautiful coastal town. We also stayed in a great hotel right on the water called Hotel Albatroz.

From Cascais, we drove to Lisbon and dropped off the rental car at the airport and took a taxi back into Lisbon for a few nights there before heading home. You definitely do not need a car in Lisbon.

Best of luck with the trip planning! It was one of our favorites of all time. Amazing food, wine, countryside, people...all for much less than other EU destinations!

illini1022

Mind if I ask how much it ran you? Or what you would say a realistic budget range is?

Betts123

This trip was in June of 2009...the total hotel cost for these 8 nights was just over $1,500. Of course rates may have changed and the Euro exhange is worse, but I am sure you could stay in that ball park. Our hotel in Lisbon was cheap- I bid for a room on priceline for $110 and got the Sheraton. Nice hotel, but not a good location so I wouldn't recommend staying there (you have to take a taxi or public transportation to everything as it is in the more commercial/business district). We rented a car through Sixt and the total car rental cost was $400 (could have been less expensive if we had rented a manual car but we can only drive automatic!). Keep us posted on your trip plans!