Melnq8, Lagos was our last stop in Portugal before we went to Spain. We had previously been to Lisbon, Cascais, Sintra, Evora and Porto.
I wanted to see the Algarve, but I was quite disappointed in the beach area.
Lagos was very busy.. Lot's of Brit's having a good time. a bit of a party spot for young people. We did enjoy the grotto's when we did a boat trip .
There are lovely tourist stores with really nice things to buy. So if you like that sort of thing it is worth a look. Maybe we just stayed in the wrong hotel.
The area around has many TOLL roads so it makes driving around a bit pricey too.
I preferred Cascais.

Hi Melnq8, yes I guess I was referring to land connections between Portugal and Spain - my biases coming out as I dislike flying.

I'm sure you'll be able to craft a wonderful plan and Diamantina suggestions sound perfect.

Thanks again. Lots of food for thought.

I've just read that Lisbon is incredibly noisy....might have to look into staying somewhere on the outskirts just so I can sleep at night.

millie - what time of year did you visit Lagos?

We spent 5 nights in Lisbon, and we did not find Lisbon to be incredibly noisy. We stayed at the Hotel Real Palacio, which is by the Edward VII Park. So this might be a quieter neighborhood of Lisbon. But when we were out during the evenings we did not think Lisbon was overly noisy. I would think that nice hotels in the more central locations, such as Baixa and Chiado, would have good windows, etc. to block out the noise. I know that a lot of people on this forum recommend Hotel Avenida Palace and International Design Hotel; both are near Rossio. I don't remember people complaining about noise.

If you don't mind staying near Edward VII Park, we really enjoyed our stay at the Real Palacio. Good-size room and bathroom with plenty of drawer space and a closet for our clothes. The price included a delicious, ample breakfast buffet. Staff were very helpful. No complaints at all.

Thanks Karen, I'll take a look at those once I have the itinerary sorted. At the moment we've run into a few snags with flights, but we're still waffling on whether or not to fly into Faro and proceed from there, or fly into Lisbon. The more we look the more confusing it all becomes.

We loved Lisbon! Were there 5 nights, staying at the Hotel Avenida Palace, which we highly recommend. Contact them directly for prices, and questions. We had notified them that our flight would land in the morning (we had flown from Denver, also).
When we arrived at the hotel around 10 a.m., our room was ready! What great service and a fantastic surprise. Their amazing breakfast buffet was included in our price, served in a gorgeous dining room with servers. Our room faced the Rossio Square, but we did not notice excessive noise, even with an international bike race being held on the Square directly under our window. The hotel has a lending library, full of travel books.
https://www.hotelavenidapalace.pt/en/

We day-tripped by train to Cascais twice, because we liked it and it's easy to get there and back on the commuter. Not sure we'd want to stay in Cascais, though, as it is very small.

We also took the train to Sintra one day. We toured the tile museum in Lisbon another day, which sounds boring, but is in a beautiful historic building which I think was originally a convent and has a lovely interior courtyard.

We flew TAP Portugal to London from Lisbon, and were very impressed with the airline. We had used Mileage Plus points, which gave us access to their amazing lounge before our flight, which had an extensive buffet for food and drink, with comfortable seating and charging stations for electronics.

Lisbon felt very friendly, as though they welcomed tourists, and is less expensive than other European cities we've visited. Most residents learn English in school, so there is no language barrier. Although, Portuguese is such a pretty language, we enjoyed hearing it spoken.

Have been to Seville and Madrid, as well. Loved Seville. Meh Madrid.
Have fun planning your trip.

While in Madrid, make sure you have enough time for a day-trip by train to Toledo.

You mentioned your friend was interested in viewing buildings by Gaudi, she'll likely also enjoy seeing a building or two by fellow Catalan Modernist Llu�s Dom�nech i Montaner, whe designed Barcelona's Palau de la M�sica Catalana and Barcelona's hospital complex, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, which is only a 10 minute walk from Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia (the two are easy to visit on the same day).

While in Portugal, you and you husband might enjoy, at some point, staying in a pousada, many of which are in converted historic buildings. As you'll be going in Feb./March, you'll enjoy lower rates.
https://www.pousadas.pt/en/hotels

I've never found Lisbon to be noisy either. You should be able to find quiet accommodation. I don't think it'd be practical to stay outside of the city. I've stayed in Lisbon three times, twice on or near Avenida da Liberdade and within a few minutes walk of Avenida Metro Station and the stop for the Aerobus (airport bus). Taxis, which are cheap, were easy to catch as well. I stayed outside of Lisbon once and didn't find this convenient. It's nice to just walk out your door to the charms of the city.

I've read in some smaller towns of Portugal Carnaval is celebrated at the end of February. I don't know if it's at all celebrated in Lisbon. Maybe a local can tell you.

When we visited the Algarve, we caught a train from Lisbon to Faro, then onto Lagos. We assumed there would be taxis waiting at the station but there weren't, even though it was midday. Eventually, we caught a ride with someone who'd called for a taxi. When we asked our taxi driver why there were no taxis waiting, she explained most people just walk into town over the marina bridge, where taxis are easily found.

Melnq8 I was in Lagos at the start of September last year. So we did go at a busy time.
I really enjoyed Lisbon. It is a great city to look around and not noisy at all. We stayed at the Hotel Brittania. Short walk to the main areas.
In Lisbon we did a bus trip to Cascais and a train trip to Sintra. Really enjoyed looking around. I would definately go again.
Loved the shopping as well.
In Porto we stayed at 'In Patio Guest House'. a really wonderful BnB with the best breakfast.
From Lagos we dropped the hire car off in Faro and then took the bus to Seville... loved loved Seville. We stayed in an apartment right near the cathedral. terrific location. From there we went to Granada which we also loved. Then we flew to Barcelona where we ended our trip.
we went to some great places so perhaps Lagos paled in comparison.

I agree, Seville is wonderful, with dazzling historic sites (the Alc�zar, the Cathedral, Plaza de Espa�a, Barrio Santa Cruz, etc.). The food is incredible. And it's a fantastic place to catch a flamenco performance. It's also very handy for day trips to Cordoba (home to La Mezquita) or Jerez (sherry tastings--I didn't know much about sherry before my visit; now I'm a huge manzanilla fan).

From Lisbon, we caught the train to Faro, then Lagos, then rented a car in Lagos to explore Salema, Cabo de Sao Vicente and Sagres. After three or four days of basing ourselves in Lagos and exploring Lagos and the coast to the west of it, we drove to Seville. It's not an especially long or difficult drive, but we decided to break it up by staying overnight in Altura (not a very interesting place, but the hotel was nice and had free parking). I think nearby Tavira is considered more attractive, though we found parking there near impossible.

In Seville, we stayed in a hotel with parking and just left the car in their garage for the next four days. We walked around Seville and took the train for day trips to Cordoba and Jerez. From Seville, we drove back to Faro, dropped off the car off near the airport and flew back to Lisbon.

I'd been to Seville and Cordoba before, on my first visit to Spain and Portugal more than 30 years ago, staying at the Parador of Carmona (near Seville). Spain's Paradores are silmilar to Portugal's Pousadas, in that they are accommodations in converted historic buildings. From the Parador of Carmona, I traveled with my aunt by car to a pousada in Serpa, near the historic town of Beja, in the Alentejo region of Portugal. From there we drove to Evora, before checking into the Pousada of Palmela, near Lisbon.We used this as a base for seeing Cascais, Estioril, Sesimbra, Troia, and Setubal, Sintra (my first visit) and Lisbon (my first visit). Using Palmela as a base for visiting Lisbon was not at all convenient. A car is a burden in Lisbon.

My aunt dropped me off in Lisbon, where I caught the overnight train back to Madrid. After spending another night in the Pousada de Palmela, she drove back to Spain's Costa del Sol, where she'd been renting an apartment and where we'd started our trip, though she spent nights in the Pousada in Sagres (Portugal) and in Cadiz along the way.

Melnq8, your options are limitless!

Wow, thank you so much for all the wonderful suggestions. Looks like I have my work cut out for me. Lots of research to do!

Hi Melnq8,
Thought I would send you the link to my trip report for Lisbon from April 2018. It gives you an idea of what there is to see and do in Lisbon, and how much time you might need. Hope this helps.

Lovely Lisbon: Fresh Seafood, Custard Tarts, Miradouros, Hills and more Hills!

It does, thank you Karen!