alicewest1075

Hello all, I'm hoping I can get some Itinerary suggestion on a trip I have to plan for September of 2022. Family trip of 6 cousins all of us firmly in AARP-ville, we'd like to visit Spain and Portugal.
So far I've come up 3 nights in Madrid, 3 nights in Malagra (this was the one place everyone agreed on) then off to lisbon for 3 nights.

some questions
Is Porto a day trip from Lisbon?
Is this a doable itinerary. we have between 11 and 14 days?

dreamon

Personally I think the places you have chosen are too far apart and that you would spent a too much time travelling between them. Perhaps focus on a region such as Andalusia.

alicewest1075

thanks @dreamon, that's exactly what I wanted to know. back to research

bilboburgler

AARP is someone over 50 (to those who don't know) not a nod to Breakfast for Champions Kurt Vonnegut.

Madrid is the centre of the train system and Malaga is way down in the south, I might look at Seville, Granada and Cordoba to go along with the southern trip

Using the train you could get Lisbon to Porto easily enough see seat61.com and bahn.de for understanding and timetables. But lots of travel.

ldatt22

A trip to the algarve from Lisbon might be worth a trip! A bit far but very nice there.


Lynn

alicewest1075

Thanks bilboburgler

I think I am going to take you suggestion and switch out Seville for Madrid.

happy trails

ps. yes guys AARP is a nod to all of us being over 60. I apologize for the confusion.

dreamon

alicewest, how do you plan to get to Lisbon? Flying soaks up a lot of time and the journey by bus/train is lengthy. A car may involve an additional drop off fee. rome2rio is a good starting point for checking out travel times.

Could you focus on Spain or Portugal and do the other on another occasion?

Common itineraries in the south of Spain - for very good reasons - are a combination of Seville/Granada/Malaga or Madrid/Seville/Granada. Each offers wonderful things to see and do, as well as provide opportunities for day trips if time permits. Of course, there are many other towns and villages in the area which you could choose instead. I recommend that you be in your departure city the night before you fly home so stay there last.

Seamus

Look at some maps and transit options - a good quick and dirty resource for this is Google maps where you can look at flight/train options between cities - and you'll see that 11 to 14 days does not allow for a very relaxing trip to all those destinations. I'd advise either Spain OR Portugal - and my bias would actually be to go with Portugal. Or, fly into Madrid for 3-4 days, then fly to Porto for 3-4 days, then train to Lisbon for 4-5 days and fly home from Lisbon.

Porto as a day trip from Lisbon may be technically possible but would not be much fun as you'd spend most of your time on a train. Porto is, though, very deserving of at the very least an overnight visit, more if you have the time. A day trip from Porto into the Douro valley (where grapes for port wine are grown) with visits to a couple wineries is delightful, and your group would probably be able to hire a van for just yourselves rather than joining a herd of tourists..

Since you make note of some mature travelers, note that if mobility is an issue both Lisbon and Porto are quite hilly. That shouldn't totally preclude a visit, just need to plan for uber/taxi/tram transport to many sites and the time to make those transits.

KarenWoo

I like dreamon's suggestion of Andalucia. We visited this region in September 2017, so that's a good time of year to visit. Andalucia is very, very hot during the summer so September is perfect. It might still be hot in Seville, but it would be tolerable. We had 15 nights and we visited Madrid (4 nights), Toledo (1 night), Cordoba (2 nights), Granada (2 nights), Malaga (2 nights) and Seville (4 nights), in that order.

You can click on my name if you wish and read my trip report.

eliza61

We plan to fly from seville to Lisbon. unfortunately the crowd definitely wants to do both spain and portugal. I think one issue is that a few of them feel this is it for them travel wise.
So far I'm thinking your first suggestion of Seville/Granada/Malaga and then to lisbon

bilboburgler

Lisbon is good and unless you really want to taste Port and stuff then Lisbon is fine and a centre of some neat railway trips to nearby small cities. Not a bad way to go but note that Lisbon is a capital and has big concerts, conferences in September

ldatt22

Madrid is nice. There's bullfighting and flemenco. I opted for the flemenco. With covid I dont know how much of this is available Theres nice cafes, etc.


Lynn

bilboburgler

Bullfighting is not nice, unless you like men torturing wounded animals to death. If you must go to see "bullfighting" go to southern France where the bull normally gets to live and the men go up against them without spears, swords and kebabs. Second best is Portugal where the bull often gets to live.

How can any human really like to see animals tortured to death?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portug...e_bullfighting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullfighting#French

Flamenco (note the "a") is really a southern Spanish thing.