Greetings!

We've just returned from our trip to Porto-Coimbra-Sintra-Lisbon trip!

I know that if I start writing a very detailed report, I'd probably give up somewhere on day 3 ) So instead, I am going to try and write in sort of bullet points and tell what I thought worked great for us, what we could have done differently. Also, whenever I plan our trips, I am kind of obsessed about food, so restaurant choices to me are as important as the sites we visit (if not more so!).

First of all thank you to everyone who has found the time to answer my questions, give comments and advice, write reports and ask questions which I've pursued in the preparation for the trip. You have made it possible for me to create a trip that we will never forget!

Some basic info: A group of 17Japanese ladies (65-83) and me!
sept 10th flew into Porto
Sept 19th flew out of Lisbon

Hotels (2 in total)
4 nights at the magnificent Maison Albar Hotels Le Monumental Palace with the best location (my first ever truly 5-star hotel experience). Very walkable and close to Rua Catarina for shopping.

5 nights at H10 Duque de Loulé (worried that after Porto's hotel it would be a bit of a letdown, but it was charming, clean, and the staff at the reception just amazing. the only thing I wish would be different is the location slightly away from everything which was not a problem (we had charter buses) really except for the day when I wanted to let everyone enjoy free time in Barrio Alto. They would not be able to return on their own, so hence the location is not best for elderly Japanese ladies.

Transportation:
charter buses
taxis (restaurant transfer)
charter tram (totally worth it for the experience if you are traveling with a group of people)

Walking: I worried too much about not being able to walk. Should have gone with my gut when looking at the distances instead of following the advice of our agent (the one who booked buses and guides). In the end, the bus could not drive us between some areas, so we ended up walking anyway! Especially that was the case in Porto. I think us being from Tokyo (lots of walking here), Porto's and Lisbon's historical areas are very small by comparison. So if you are thinking of walking, do! The only thing is as everyone says "shoes shoes shoes SHOES!!!" must have good shoes for walking, And keep your eyes open at all times!

Problems: Back to the above, walking didn't cause as much problem as I feared, but... We did have a couple of problems though.
Day 1, one of the ladies tripped on one of those car prevention barrier thingys. She just really was not paying attention to where she was going. So, the poor lady ended up at the hospital getting MRT scan and stitches on her forehead. BUT! to my complete bewilderment... all of it was free! It was a public hospital and so we did'T have to use our insurance at all. Wow... THat is amazing. Don't recommend anyone falling on purpose ) but if you do, then Portugal is a good place to do it! The lady was a trooper, cause getting back from the hospital, right away she joined our "welcome to Portugal" dinner.

Another lady who uses a walking stick and has mobility issues weathered pretty well till our last two days. Then, unfortunately, her leg started to hurt a lot, so she had to miss a trip to Belem. Feel sad about it, but she did better than I expected.

Restaurants: Always with reservations only because of the size of the group. the biggest problem was the portions. whatever they serve for 1 person in Portugal is about a portion for 3 people in Japan ) we just could not manage!

day 1 (Porto) lunch: Brasăo Cervejaria Coliseu Baixa (email reservation), great Francesina sandwiches and craft beer! large portions beware!

day 1 (Porto) dinner: Barao Fladgate, a lovely setting (email reservation). The food was good. There were some noisier younger British women *_*. We ordered the traditional opening of the vintage port (2005) which was included in the price of the wine. I thought that was a great show and an interesting way to welcome us to Portugal

day 2 (Douro valley) lunch: WOWOW.... Picnic at Quinta do Seixo (Sandmen) overlooking Douro river (email reservation)! Totally recommend! The setting was amazing, the table setting was refined, the food yummy and plentiful as was the wine. I wish we had more time to enjoy such an idyllic place and food.

day 2 (Douro valley) dinner: rustic food at Quinta do Morrocos (email reservation). Lovely people. Too much food! Wonderful white wine (10EUR/bottle which we bought to take back home). I went all out and arranged for a folk-group to sing and dance. This was so much fun! I cannot believe the group is about 25 people including an adorable little boy of about 6. Oh my goodness. Such a great day!

day 3 (Porto) lunch: éLeBę Entreparedes (email reservation) this is spectacular and ohh.... so reasonable. There was so much food and all you can drink wine for about 30 EUR. It totally was worth it. I think the prices are the same for dinner, so perhaps that would be even better. The wine included was wonderful.

day 3 (Porto) dinner: free. majority of us ended up using Cafe Monumental which is part of our hotel. Service is amazing. The food was great too. Wonderful non-alcoholic cocktails. Lovely!

day 4 (Coimbra) lunch: Arcada Comes e Bebes (reserved on Facebook). A charming tiny place in a narrow lane. We had a whole bunch of dishes-- must order a sardine boat. make s a fun picture! The young staff there lovely.

day 4 (Lisbon) dinner: Forninho Saloio (asked the hotel reception to reserve). Wow, such a local and great place for seafood. One of the young waiters spoke perfect English. He helped to create our order so that we could share and taste many things. wowoowowo.... Grilled octopus the best! shrimp kebabs, salmon, etc etc. Great for grilled fish. Very reasonable.

day 5 (Lisbon) lunch: Bonjardin (asked hotel reception to reserve). This is following so many recommendations here. Super chicken with piri piri sauce and again, very reasonably priced. Dessert...walked 5m! to the Fábrica da Nata for our first taste of these. So delicious and yummy!

day 5 (Lisbon) dinner: drum roll, please...... Ramiros for seafood! I used to think Japan has the number one seafood, I don't anymore. OH MY GOD! first of all, I was told by my agent, guide, hotel, etc that they don't take reservations, but I emailed and perhaps for large groups as ours, they do take reservations. we got there, the table was ready. after reading a million reviews I knew we had to order goose barnacles, clams, crab, stuffed crab, grilled prawns, carabineros, langoustine and green wine! no one was talking at the table, we were in a state of euphoria just munching away! the food just kept on coming at a speed of light! The servers were fun. So all in all, for me the best food of the trip.

day 5 (Lisbon) cocktail on the rooftop of our hotel. Great!

day 6 (Sintra) lunch : Romaria de Baco (email reservation). Ok, if I had to pick one place where I wish things went differently, this would be it. first, even though through emailing the owner (?) was very nice, maybe because of the language barrier, I had a bit of a hard time. Suspecting that portions would be too big, I asked if we could share some plates. but in the end, had to order menu 1) roasted octopus menu 2)Roasted Hind Shank of Suckling lamb. Honestly wanted to do the lamb shanks just for the impact of seeing it intact and having a shutter chance. but it actually came out deboned, so it was just pieces of meat. the wost part of this lunch was that they had trouble with the oven, so lunch ended up being over 2 hours long! cutting into the little precious time we had for Sintra's excursion. So, I found that Group menus here were pricy (30EUR) and because of the oven problem, my review would not be too good.

day 6 (Sintra) dinner: Bar do Fundo. Amazing setting! We wanted to witness the sunset and celebrate 83rd birthday of one of our ladies. Lovely food. The owner allowed us to choose main dishes from the following (cod with egg and potatoes, octopus rice, mushroom risotto, squid ink pasta with shrimp). The majority went with black pasta which was the only disappointing dish! It was a bit overcooked for our tastes. But the octopus rice, cod dish, and mushroom risotto were excellent! As well as their almond cake. my only regret, because of the driver's schedule and because we lost time in Sintra at lunch, dinner was a bit rush. We stayed probably for 1.5 hours only. I would recommend walking the beach and enjoying a leisurely lunch/dinner. Much better experience than having 1.5 hours in total!

day 7 (Lisbon) lunch: Mar ao Carmo (email reservation). Amazing seafood cataplana. I think it's 45UER / 2 people. What an array of seafood. We only had octopus carpaccio as an appetizer. so this was more than plenty and even had to leave some unfinished.

day 7 (Lisbon) dinner: Parreirinha de Alfama (email reservations). Great place to enjoy fado! Atmosphere.. performers... top notch. I would not go anywhere else. Apparently, the current Japanese emperor when he was still the crown prince enjoyed Fado here too. If it's good for the Royals, it's good for me ) Food was good, even better than expected. But it's a popular place with only 3 servers, so it's better to be prepared to wait a bit to get things.

day 8 ( Belem) lunch: O Recanto (the funnies reservation ever... no email, no answer to facebook messages, 3 different tel numbers... so finally when I got some lady on the phone, she didN't speak English. She asked if I spoke Spanish. Nope. But I recalled reading that one of the servers speaks some Russian..so I asked "Russian?" Hahha... The family who owns the place is from the USSR! So, I managed to make a friend and find one of the best places for grilled fish!!!!) 200% recommend!!! Had wonderful sausages, cheese, sardines, grilled tuna, grilled dorado fish, salads, etc etc. Super friendly, super delicious, super inexpensive!

day 8 (Belem) tea time: Pastel de Belem. Well...... that was a bit of a zoo!!! I think too crazy to enjoy. We could not wait for 30-40 min to get tables. so in the end, bought take out to eat at the park. Were they better than Fabrica de Nata? I can't tell. I think they were delicious, but the lines and the number of people, I would not wait for it if I had a chance to visit again. Also, our guide (young Portuguese guy) said that the server serving me was a bit rude. I don't speak Portuguese, so I have no idea, but everywhere else servers were very kind.

day 8 (Lisonb) dinner: Tágide (email reservation). Have to say that pictures do not do justice to this restaurant the setting is very refound and very beautiful. The only thing that I can complain about is that they do not give you any freedom in choosing the menu. Usually, restaurants of this caliber allowed me to pick 2 choices for appetizers, mains, desserts so that it's more fun for the ladies ot choose on the day. Here you are set into the same menu no matter what. the second point I wish was different is that our round tables were right next to the "bar" area, and when a large group of German travelers came to enjoy their pre-dinner drinks... well, their b.tts (behinds) were right in the face of my ladies, plus they do speak very loudly! the restaurant should not place tables so close to the bar area. But overall, I was happy with the choice for our last dinner!

Most places we visited are the places everyone goes. I'll put a list and just highlight the ones that I thought for our were great!

Porto : Cathedral, Sao Bento station, Ribeira, Bolsa Palace, St. Francis church (great local guide, so loved the tour!), cable car to Gaia, Funicular from Ribeira, Harry Potter bookstore (8EUR entrance! ouch!), Igreja do Carmo and narrow house (fun!)

Douro valley: everything was a highlight -- picnic at Quinta do Seixo, dinner at Quina do Marrocos, Rabelo boat (75min)

Coimbra: Library and University. too packed with people but I guess worth going if you get the tickets for the library. Batalha monastery: too crowded (I expected fewer people) but the architecture is mindblowing! Amazing place. Loved it.

Lisbon: Historic tram (charter. YES!), Estrela Basilica climb to the roof (absolutely YES!) and Jardim de Estrela (lovely to get away from the crowds), Museu Calouste Gulbenkian (on a free entrance Sunday! and not crowded.... a must! need at least 2-3 hours which we didn't have), Sao Roque chapel, Carmo convent (just to see the structure, no museum. for someone from Japan with our earthquakes, that was a must-see), Elevator Justa view deck only (great views), short Alfama walk (Casa do Bicos to Fado restaurant. Great way to experience Alfama and not break sweat!), Barrio Alto for shopping (disappointed as I could not find any good shoes or leather bags *_*)

Sintra: Quinta de Regailera (the only place we visited! Great!), horse carriage ride (fun!), Cabo da Roca (+ certificates = happy ladies!)

Belem: Coach museum (a Highlight!!! fascinating and videos doe not do it justice), Belem tower outside, Monument of Discoveries outside, Jeronimos monastery (of course amazing).

Ha.... just realized that I put more into writing about food... well, I think places to visit are easier to pick than restaurants, so if this is in any way helpful, it would make me happy!

I'm off to start planning next year's trip to.... I'm thinking Sicily! Any thoughts )))

Thank you,
Anna

Discovering the Monument of Discoveries!

So happy to hear your trip went well. I remember when you were planning it. Your group looks young!

Very nice report, Anna!
Your ladies look like they're having a wonderful time and as Karen says, they look much younger than their collective age. So sorry about the unfortunate accident on Day 1 no less (!), but glad that your friend was able to join you for the welcome to Portugal dinner after her hospital visit!
Glad that some of you made it to the top of the Basilica de Estrela and that you had nice weather to enjoy the outdoor picnic at Quinta do Seixo. Also enjoyed your food notes and have put Parreirinha de Alfama on our fado list for next time.

I admire all the time and effort that you put into your meticulous planning for this trip and applaud you for taking on such a task. It sounds like your efforts paid off beautifully and that your trip was a resounding success. Brava!

Lovin' the photo!

Great report; thanks for sharing your experiences.

Anna,
Just a few questions if you don't mind-
Was the Lisbon guide able to secure advance tickets for the group to enter the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém or did he need to purchase them on site, at the adjacent Archaeological Museum?
(just curious as to how the ticket purchasing system currently stands)

Did you find Porto's Lello bookshop too crowded and difficult for photography? (ditto to how current crowds are in Sept.)
And did any of the ladies find a book to purchase in English or Japanese to apply to the cost of admission?
(also curious as to how large a foreign language book selection the shop now has to offset that admission cost).
Thanks!

Very enjoyable report Anna! Now I'm hungry. Thanks for posting.

Wow I am impressed by your planning skills. Managing 18 ladies over 8 days is no easy feat. I regularly help or plan trips we take with friends and family and the most I have managed is a group of 14 - so I know it takes a ton of work to take everyone's view into consideration. Sharing your post with my ladies!

Thank you so much for your kind words, everyone!!!!!!
I am happy my TR could be useful to some!

Yes, totally agree that good shoes + constantly paying attentiowherewehre one is walking = an (un)adventurous trip to Portugal ... in a good way! I thought Porto, Coimbra, Sintra, Lisbon were very walkable (in terms of distance) yet challenging (in terms of terrain).

@Marbela, "Anna,
"Was the Lisbon guide able to secure advance tickets for the group to enter the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém or did he need to purchase them on site, at the adjacent Archaeological Museum?(just curious as to how the ticket purchasing system currently stands)" Actually, I was a bit surpirsed. The guide had a voucher (tickerts from the agent)...but! ... we still had to wait in the same line with individual travelers, which was unusual. Normally, groups have a different entrance and that's why I always try to get "group tickets". Luckily at around 11.30am on a Wednesday, the line was not too bad. I just killed time by taking more photos of the group outside the monastery. In my opinion, if you can get the tickets in advance, it'd be better because you then just have ot line up for one que... to get in and not wait for the tickets.

"Did you find Porto's Lello bookshop too crowded and difficult for photography? (ditto to how current crowds are in Sept.)
And did any of the ladies find a book to purchase in English or Japanese to apply to the cost of admission?
(also curious as to how large a foreign language book selection the shop now has to offset that admission cost)" Honestly, if I had not put it in the original plan and didn't sing praises to it being the most beautiful bookstore..blablabal... I would not be adding it again to the program. Yes, it's lovely, but it's small and there was no way to take a photo without other people in the shot. Seriously, I didn'T think it was worth the time or the 8EUR (group fast pass) ticket. Yes, a few of the ladies bought a book in English..I think "the little prince" if I am not mistaken. But I do not recall exactly. At any rate, it was just ok for me not a highlight in any way.

Crowds in September.... Yes, there were people everywhere, but I assume that is the case wiht any popular destiantion now. I would say the places that felt a bit too crowded (more than I expected): Leilo bookstore, Coimbra library/Royal palace/chapel, Batalha (I just expected fewer people, but to be honest...not too bad), Jeronimous monastery. Other places, I didn't feel too stressed about people. Even the Gulbenkian musuem on a free entrance on Sunday was totally fine! So, overall, I'd say Portugal has not become (yet) unpleasantly crowded. I do have to say, that planning and pre-booking is a must for me so that I can avoid fighting for space. So most restaurants were prebooked. Jsut cannot play it by ear with a group.

You won't believe it (I still can't!) but the very first trip I invited the ladies to go on.. was to Russia (my homeland) and that was 32 people in total! So 18 is not the worst! Plus, I am a dictator as to what we do and the program. I figured if something is not good or fun, then I know whom to blame ))

Yes, Estrala and the climb to the roof was sooooo unique and fun! Loved it! and so gald that 1/3 of the ladies chose to follow me. Also, I cannot recommend highly enough the picnic at Quinta do Seixo. We had (not the best unfotutnatley) Japanese speaking guides with us that day, so we lost a bit of time since she dind't know what to do, but if I was doing this again, I would set aside at least 3-4 hours for the quinta do Seixo. Have a leisurely walk through the tour, tasting, shopping, vineyards, and just hand out at the picnic area. This seriously was THE best picnic I've every experienced!

Parreirinha de Alfama, please let me know how you liked it when you go. we thought it was great. it's such an intimate place. I think that's they way Fado should be exprerienced. I wish I had told the owner that Japanese ladies would definitely buy a copy of a CD.... they ran out of them in the end. So only about half could get CDs.

I'm curious... are you a travel agent or do you just do this for friends?

I am planning a similar path for December, 2019.

I am a teacher at a culture school in Tokyo. I've been at this school for probably about 15 years, and from the start, the ladies have kept saying "Let's go to Russia together". Which I took as just something that people say. Then in 2011 a huge earthquake hit Japan and I was left with little to do workwise, so I decided to do something to cheer myself up and plan a trip to St.Petersburg for my mom and me. I spent so much time on research and planning. The trip was amazing and it really made me want to show it to the ladies. I thought I'd get maybe 10 people, but because it was my home country, I think the interest was much greater than I expected. Since then, we've been taking one trip a year and mostly with much smaller groups--18 for Portugal was surprising . I learned pretty early on that I cannot be happy with prepackaged tours or suggestions of agencies dealing with Japanese tourists. "Japanese people like this...Japanese people don't like that..." It was driving me crazy! So, I ended up just planning exactly what I wanted to see and experience. I enjoy planning as it's half the fun of the trip. Now trying to figure out where to go next year

that's terrific! glad my report might be of help!