Portugal and Spain Itinerary: Please help!
 

Please help! My boyfriend and I are going to Spain and Portugal in June, for 4 weeks. We fly into Lisbon and out of Madrid. We're wondering: (1) What would be the best time division between Portugal and Spain? We're interested in Oporto for the port wines and neither of us has ever been to Portugal before. No other "special interests." (2) In Spain, would it be realistic to stay in one location (such as Madrid) and do day trips or weekend trips to other locations? We're hoping his parents meet up with us for 2-3 weeks, so we'd like to find a good "home base" to meet up in, if possible. (3) Because we fly into Lisbon and think that Oporto would be nice, we've tentatively considered going to the north of Spain, but haven't toured either the north OR south; what are the differences that could help us choose?

About us: we're in our latter-30s, like wines, bicycling, general sightseeing, and love people/new cultures. His parents are in their 60s and are seasoned travelers themselves, but tend towards more relaxing activities. Any suggestions would be wonderful; thank you very much!!!!

Since you are flying into Lisbon, it would be a shame not to see Sintra. Sintra is a very short car or train ride from Lisbon, and is a beautiful small hill town well worth a night or two. Be sure to hire a taxi to take you to Conventos dos Capuchos (sp? It's "Convent of the Cork" in English) - it was one of our highlights in Sintra.

Can't comment on Northern Portugal although I am dying to go. We went to Southern Portugal (Algarve) over the holidays in 2001-2002, and it wasn't my favorite area I've visited in Europe. Very small little beach towns with not a whole lot going on, and I hear it's overrun with tourists in the summer (of course, most of Europe is overrun with tourists in the summer anyways...).

I've traveled a bit about Spain, but never used a home base - always spent nights in whatever place we visited. My faves were Salamanca and Granada. Whatever you choose in Spain, I'm sure you will love it!!

We recently spent almost 3 weeks in Spain and Portugal (2 in Spain, 1 in Portugal). Although I am also a big fan of Port wine, I realized that we didn't need to spend as much time in Oporto as we did. If you plan right and go on a weekday, you will probably be able to see all the wine lodges you want in one day (two max).

I would highly recommend visiting Evora and its surrounding towns, and I also agree with the recommendation to visit Sintra.

As far as Spain goes, my wife and I loved Barcelona, although Madrid's museums were outstanding. Since Spain is fairly large, it may be tough (time and cost) to stay based in one location unless you only want to see one area.

Hope this helps...

P.S. Look for my trip report thread for additional details on my trip.

Places I would investigate further (use the Search function to pull up the million different threads on these places):

Portugal:
Lisbon (capital)
Sintra (small town outside Lisbon, Moorish castle, fairytale palace)
Cascais (small town outside Lisbon, on ocean)
Porto (known for its wine, northern Portugal)
Fatima (of Catholic history fame)
Evora (very pretty little town in Portugal's interior)
Obidos (another small town)
Marvao (same, but up on a mountain)
Lagos (on the southern coast, beautiful beaches)
Tavira (same)

For Spain I'll just assume you've heard of the biggies, Seville, Granada, Madrid, San Sebastian, Santiago, Barcelona, Valencia, Toledo, Segovia, Salamanca, Leon. I'd also look into the Extremadura: Trujillo, Caceres; the pueblos blancos: Ronda, Arcos, Zahara; and the Basque region: Bilbao, Hondorabbia.

Madrid makes a great base, as there are several destinations to see within 1-1.5 hour on train. Seville can also be a very nice base. These would probably be my two recommendations for spending a week in one city and daytripping out. Personally I enjoyed Seville more, but Madrid has great spots nearby. So it's a tough choice.

RAR has made some great recommendations. We have toured through Portugal alone for about 4 weeks and loved it. I think the Algarve has some beautiful beaches but in the summer, it is crazy and I wouldn't go. June might be OK.

Just one other point. Consider taking 5 days and fly to Madeira. If you like Port, you will love Madeira (the island and the wine). It is beautiful, relaxing and some a great tour about the Madeira wines with tastings. We went reluctantly on the tour but it was a highlight. There are also beautiful hikes along the Levadas and the people are so gracious.

If you're interested in Oporto just for the port wine(s)... well, go there and see: food, monuments, an Eiffel bridge and much more.
Have fun & port wine.

No one seems to have replied to your question about northern Spain. We have traveled extensively all over Spain and thought the north (Galicia, Cantabria, Asturias) was very interesting. In June it will be less crowded and cooler than Andalucia. AMong the interesting places are Santiago de Compostela, Leon, Santillana del Mar, the Rias Altas and Rias Bajas, and the Picos de Europa mountains (Cosgaya, Covadonga, Fuente De, etc.). You don't mention what your budget is, but you will pay probably at least double for the same type of hotel room in Madrid that you pay "in the country." We have traveled recently to Spain, Portugal and Italy. Only in Portugal did we find significant "anti-American" attitude (both in Lisbon and in small towns). Perhaps we were unlucky, but you might want to take that into consideration. I'd be happy to share our complete northern-Spain itinerary if you're interested.

This reply is for PVB speaking about Portugal: "None so blind as those that will not see".
Source: Commentaries (Jeremiah, XX)

Portugal receives each year about 12 million visitors. 99.9 per cent are decent citizens who receive all the care and attention they deserve. However, among them there is a fair share that don't honor the countries where they came from.
I am sure that PVB didn't experience an "anti-American" attitude, but most likely an "anti-PVB" attitude

I visited Portugal for 10 days last fall and did not come across any anti-American sentiment either.

Have you considered visiting the Extremadura region in Spain? It's between Lisbon and Madrid and is a gem - a bit off the beaten tourist track. Cacares is a World Heritage site and then there is Guadalupe, Trujillo and Merida. All of these cities have beautiful paradors. It may be a little warm in June but the heat doesn't both me!

If you head north to Oporto, I'd definately spend a couple of days in Coimbra. It probably makes sense if you're this far north to visit Galicia. This is a Holy Year and Santiago de Compostela would be a don't miss. I enjoyed Pontevedra, Tui, and Cambados also. There are excellent wines in this area too! It would be the summer tourist season in Green Spain though.

Hope this helps. Keep us updated.