Hello, I've read several posts and they have been great to plan my trip. Below is our itinerary and now I'm looking to book rooms and restaurants, any suggestions are welcome.

Day 1 & 2: Arrive in Porto, tour city, stay at ???? Private city tour recommendations?
Day 3: Drive to Douro Valley, quinta stay around Regua? Looking for several hour boat tour?
Day 4: Continue stay in Douro, poss 6th Sense afternoon
Day 5: Drive to Coimbra in am, tour city, say at ????
Day 6: Drive to Castelo di Vide and Marvao. Stay at Pousada di Santa Maria?
Day 7: Drive to Elvas and Estremoz, poss stay in Estremoz or continue to Evora?
Day 8 & 9: Tour Evora and stay at ?????
Day 10 and 11: Drive and stay in Salama. Anything to see on the way? Staying at ROMANTIK VILLA
Day 12 to 14: Drive to Lisbon and stay at ??? Looking for a guide for city and food tour??

Many Thanks to all....
Don

Anyone?

No budgets given. No restaurant types given.
What have you found with your research so far?

We need a load more information before we can answer questions.

We took the train from Lisbon to Porto in April. It was an easy 3 hour ride. We stayed at the Porto Bay Flores hotel. It is on a pedestrian street, close to many restaurants and sites. Our room overlooked a beautiful courtyard. We were very impressed by the service at the hotel. Upon check in, a lovely young man spent 15+ minutes explaining the city to us – where to go, what to avoid, recommended restaurants, transport, etc. We were particularly impressed that he clearly did not expect a tip; just providing great service. The hotel had wonderful breakfasts, with many choices.Our first night we had dinner in a restaurant very close by - traca. It was a good meal – we shared sauteed shrimp. For mains, I had veal with fries and salad and my husband had salt cod with potatoes.

The next day, after walking to the iconic train station with the beautiful and historic murals, we took the Metro one stop across the Douro River. The train goes above ground over the bridge so you have great views of the river, bridges, and the overall city. Then we took the furnicular back down to the river bank We found a taxi and after a very short ride we came to the neighborhood I had read about – Afurada, a fishing village. We found Taberna Sao Pedro restaurant on a back street. They grill fish outside on the street. We sat in plastic chairs and shared grilled sardines+ a skewer of shrimp and squid. A great meal, with plenty of food and local ambiance..

We then took another taxi back to the main touristic part of the river and found the boat taxi . For 3 Euros we were taken back across the river. Next we found the Porto trolley, which is old fashioned, wooden, rickety. We rode the entire route to the end where the Douro River meets the sea. We walked around a little, then took the trolley back downtown. So in all, we used five modes of public transport – Metro, furnicular, taxi, boat taxi, trolley. - and got a very good sense of Porto’s riverfront.

The next day we were picked up by E Fun Tours for a whole day Douro Valley Wine Tour. I had read their reviews on Trip Advisor and they lived up to the high ratings. We were met by our tour guide in a van at 9 am. There were 8 people total + the driver/guide. We drove for 1.5 hours to the beautiful Douro Valley, landscaped with vineyards, and olive trees. There are terraced fields throughout and modern bridges and tunnels through the mountains. We stopped for coffee at a small village, and then visited three different vineyards. The settings were beautiful and at each we sampled wine and got a tour. At the second vineyard we were served. lunch in a beautiful outside setting: A very good 3 course meal with ample wine, followed by a tour. The final vineyard was the most interesting ; we were given extensive information on the wine making process – type of barrels, aging process, history, climate challenges. Again, we had lots of wine as well as local honey.

Back in Porto we tried to go to a restaurant that had been recommended by the hotel, Brasao, which is for famous the iconic Porto Francesinha sandwich. There were no tables available so we wandered around. We happened upon a small tapas restaurant – Loios Kitchen - where we shared cod croquettes and chorizo. It was a perfect little place for a light meal.

On our final day, we focused on food! We had lunch at Brasao, the restaurant we had tried to go to the previous night, but this time we had made a reservation. We shared a Francesinha sandwich, which consists of cheese, ham, beef, pork? in a tomato beer sauce. Quite filling! The restaurant is clearly popular; they limit how long you can spend at the table. After that, we walked to Café Majestic, a beautiful old café. There was a line to get in, but worth the wait just for the ambiance. We had cappuccinos and shared an almond tart.

Our final Porto meal was dinner at Tasco. I had made a reservation well in advance because of the great reviews and it lived up to the reputation. The service was warm and personal. We shared softshell crab + shrimp in avocado ceviche. Then, for the main, we shared ribs plus spinach with cream and cinnamon. For dessert we shared date cake with nuts, yogurt sauce. It was all delicious.

Overall impressions of Porto - very touristy, busy, but it is easy to get away from the crowded parts. It is a city that is quickly changing, with lots of construction going on.


Douro River Valley

Vineyard #1

Grilled sardines

Franchesina sandwich

Many Tkx for the detail on Porto joduhl. At this point we have our hotel reservation. We will be doing the vast majority of planning and touring on our own, but are looking to book some guided tours in Porto and Lisbon to lighten the planning.

Any recommendations for the following are welcome:

• Lisbon Tuk Tuk Tour
• Lisbon food tour
• Sintra guided tour
• Porto guided tour

Tkx
Don

We spent just over three weeks in Lisbon in April and covered some of the areas on your list, BUT, we did it all on our own. We didn't see the need for any tours, so can't help with your questions.

I do find your itinerary a bit fast paced. We spent five nights Porto, three Douro (Pinhao), three Evora, three Coimbra, three Sintra and five in Lisbon. We didn't rent a car though, we relied solely on public transportation.

We enjoyed all of these hotels in Portugal:

Porto: Infante de Sagres

Coimbra: Quinta de las Lagrimas

Obidos: Pousada Castelo de Obidos

Evora: Pousada Convento de Evora

Lisbon: rented an apt which is not available any more.