Portugal - Hotels and Itinerary
 

Will be heading to Portugal for the first 2 weeks of July as a honeymoon.

We booked our flights in and out of Lisbon, but nothing else at this point.

I have read about so many interesting cities in Portugal I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on places to see and hotels to look in to.

The current plan is to spend the first few days in Lisbon to adjust to the time change and then go explore.

Your thoughts/suggestions are appreciated!

Sintra is great.
Tomar was very interesting.
Marvao was a highlight of our trip.
You can't go wrong staying at Pousadas.

My must see list:
Sintra
Obidos
Viano do Castelo
Marvao
Evora
The Algarve is another story, but if you go stay near Lagos.

Our itinerary arrived and departed from Lisbon as well.

We did the following loop:
- arrival at Lisbon, drive to Obidos
- Fatima
- Salamanca (Spain)
- Segovia (Spain)
- Madrid (Spain)
- Toledo (Spain)
- Granada (Spain)
- Costa del Sol (Malaga)
- Sevilla (Spain)
- Faro (Portugal)
- Lagos (Portugal)
- Lisbon (Portugal)


Don't miss the Algarve! They have the most beautiful beaches that I have ever seen.

Thanks for the responses!

bobthenavigator, is that a thumbs down or a thumbs up for the Algarve?

Anyone have an experience with rentals cars in Portugal? I have heard Portugal is one of the more dangerous places to drive in Europe, but the train network does not look as thorough as I have experienced in other European coutries and makes me think a car might be necessary.

The pros of the Algarve are: turistic resorts, night live, extensive usage of English language, lots of tourists, nice beaches, mild temperature, sunny days, higher sea water temperature, cosmopolitan atmosphere.
The pros of proper Portugal are the opposite, less tourists, quiet night live, more sense of history, castles, rural houses restored and adapted to tourism, open spaces, more authenticity.
The choice depends very much on the kind of person you are.

We rented a car for two weeks in April and had a great time. We found the roads in great shape with little traffic and we thought the drivers better than in most places in the US. If you are comfortable with a stick shift, flexible enough to accept roundabouts over intersections and don't freak out when you get lost I think you would have a great time exploring Portugal via car. (Being able to parallell park would also be a plus.)As everyone suggests on this forum do not rent a car until you leave Lisbon, as you do not need one and will just have to pay a high fee to park it.

One other thing. My husband does all the driving and I the navigating because up until this last trip I considered myself a pretty good navigator. This time I found that I either knew exactly where we were or had absolutely no clue! I would think seriously about renting a GPS system next time. In your case as newlyweds this tip may save your marriage.

On a different note one of our favorite areas was the coastline south of Lisbon. It is just beautiful, small towns and not many people. Enjoy!

Given the time I would see the Algrave for sure. Just do not get obcessed with it---Portugal is so much more.

Here is my Portugal photo gallery, but they are all old slides I converted to digital so the quality is not as good as some:
http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=3832

Bob:
How far is Marvao from Lisbon? We will be staying in Lisbon for three days and would like to see the Algarve but really do not have enough time.
Any thoughts?

Marvao is a good drive NE of Lisbon and on the border with Spain---not a day trip. Evora is more doable as a day trip.

Thanks Bob. Looks like that drive is out of the question since we will be heading south and then flying to Venice.

bookmarking

Bob the Navigator, Do you speak Spanish? You seem to have traveled Europe extensively and I wondered if my husband and I would have trouble in Spain or Portugal as we only speak English (and a very limited amount of German and Italian). Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. :)

After 23 trips to Europe---including 13 to Italy and 6 to Spain/Portugal---I still have a basic tourist vocab in both Spanish and Italian. I am not a linguist--never have been. But, you should learn a basic 50 word vocab and be able to read basic signs. My son is fluent in Espanol and owns a townhouse in Merida, mexico.