Portugal - Honeymoon Itinerary
 

Hello!

I've read many great posts on Portugal so far, but would love to hear your input. My fiance and I are going on our honeymoon from 6/17/08 - 6/28/08. We are staying at the Marriot and Ritz for the first half since my fiance has saved up lots of points, and we plan on just relaxing after the craziness of the wedding. Here is the schedule we've planned so far:

6/17 noon: Arrive in Lisbon and drive to Obidos and stay Marriot for 3 nights. Suggestions on what to do?

6/20: Drive to Sintra and stay at Ritz for 3 nights. Explore Sintra and Lisbon.

6/23: Drive to Vila Nova de Milfontes and staying at the Castelo de Milfontes for 1 night.

6/24: Drive to Salema and stay for 2 nights.

6/26: Drive to Terena and stay for 1 night. Explore Terena, Evora, and Redondo.

6/27 evening: Drive to Lisbon and catch early flight on 6/28.

How does this sound?? I really think we are rushing the end especially in the Terenea/Evora area... its sounds beautiful there! Is there any place you think we should skip/shorten?

Thanks for all your help!
Michelle

Hi, Michelle, and congratulations on your upcoming wedding! Your trip sounds very nice. There are lots of Portugal fans here with different opinions on what to see and do, so you will probably get a variety of perspectives. I'll start with mine.

From the Marriott near Obidos (maybe about 10 km away), you're in a good place to visit Nazare, Alcobaca, and Batalha. Those would be my three top picks, in addition to Obidos, of course. Obidos might be kind of crammed with tourists the days you're there, so early morning or late afternoon visits would allow you to see the town in a more relaxed way. Dinner in town plus a night walk around the town and walls would be nice.

If you're a history fan, or if you would like to take a boat ride out to what's supposed to be a very nice uninhabited island (I've never been), Peniche might be worth a stop. In June there are trips out to the Island of Berlenga from there every day. Also, there's a museum in an old prison used by the Salazar dictatorship. It's pretty interesting.

Another destination from there, probably about an hour away, would be the castle at Almoroul (probably less than an hour away). It sits out on a little island in the Tejo River and there's a man with a motor boat who takes people out and back. Nothing spectacular, but you can climb all over the castle and there are very nice views. I've taken two groups of visitors there and they always enjoyed it. There are also a couple of nice (not touristy or fancy though) restaurants not too far away on the river(in a southwesterly direction towards Vila Nova da Barquinha).

You probably don't need suggestions on what to do from youro hotel neara Sintra, with three days you'll probably be sticking to the standard high spots in Sintra and Lisbon. Since you'll have to drive in to Sintra, I'd highly recommend getting there very early on the day you plan to visit because it really fills up. How are you planning to get into Lisbon and Belem? I think you'd have several options, combining the car with train.

I agree that you are squeezing a lot into one night/two days in the Alentejo. If it were up to me, I'd probably take out the Salema portion, but I'm not much of a beach person and you may be. (which is not to say that the area near Salema isn't pretty -- for me, the Praia da Rocha is one of the prettiest beach locations anywhere).

But, if you did cut out Salema, you could have one night in Vila Nova, one night either Beja or Evora, and two nights in Terena (or one night Terena, one night somewhere like Marvao). That would give you a lot more time in the Alentejo. That might be too much hotel hopping for your tastes, just depends on whether you prefer a base with out and back trips or more of a circle with different night stops.

All in all, I think the itinerary is not too compressed except for the Alentejo part. The distances are pretty short and most of your travel will be on highways.

Laurie

I agree with lreynolds that the Evora part might be a little compacted as there are wonderful little towns in the area like Estremoz that you might also enjoy.

We plan to spend three nights in Vila Nova de Milfontes and enjoy a little of the Algarve from there.

Enjoy your trip and best wishes.

Thank you Laura and Sher for your responses! I actually would prefer to spend more time in Alentejo than Selema... it's the fiance who enjoys the beaches. Now I'll just have to convince him, and show him your recs! :) Thanks again!

mrwang. Let me just say that the Silver Coast of Portugal has some lovely beaches with none of the Disneyland atmosphere of parts of the Algarve.

But, I am sure you will enjoy yourselves as all of the Portugal coast is lovely.