Portugal
 

I was hoping for some advice of a trip my boyfriend and I are taking to Portugal this summer. We are spending a week in Ireland then taking a flight over to Porto and flying out of Lisbon back to the states. Those two dates are set but looking for advice on how long to stay in Porto and Lisbon and where to venture in between. We fly in to Porto on July 20th and out of Lisbon on the 29th.

Any help would be appreciated. We have been looking at Figueira do Foz, Coimbra, Nazare but open to suggestions.

Thank you!

I would definitely see Sintra; either stay in town or do day trips from Lisbon. I stayed there and enjoyed it although there is no night activity. You could easily spend 1.5 days there seeing the sights.

Lisbon - depending on your interests plan 3 or 4 days.

Click on my name to see my trip report and read about Sintra.

You might want to take a look at my trip report, even though the trip was longer than yours, but the trip was in north of Lisbon; click on my name to find it.

Also
Ook north of Porto in tne Minho, Guimares.

We did an 8 days trip working our way to Lisbon from Porto. We stopped at Nazare and Coimbra, among other places. Here's my trip report with itinerary, hotels, etc: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...l-portugal.cfm.

We loved Portugal. It's a beautiful country.

Been to Portugal many times. Read my "Portugal for Dummies" thread and the pics that follow on...might be interesting.

We spent two and a half days in Porto and 4 in Lisbon.

Porto was interesting. Extremely hilly and seemed dirty after being in Lisbon but some of the churches there are spectacular. We felt that this was about the right amount of time.

If we were doing it over, we would spend more time in Lisbon. I think we could have easily spent two or three more days there and not been bored. We wanted to visit Sintra but ran out of time. If you enjoy museums, absolutely do not miss the Gulbenkian Museum, the principal one, not the modern art one. One of the most impressive small museums I have ever seen especially when you realize this was all collected by one man.

As others have mentioned, lots of great options for you to enjoy. When i visited Porto (3 days) i then went out to the Douro Valley for a few days. Really enjoyed staying in Pinhao and visiting the wineries. It was a good change of pace from the city. I did like Coimbra, but felt one day/night was plenty (have a great restaurant recommendation there, if interested). Then of course Lisbon (swing by Obidos on the drive down) has plenty to offer, including Sintra.
Have a great time