Heading to Portugal in mid October. We commence in Santiago de Compostela, head to Porto (through Vigo) and finally Lisbon. We are planning 2 full days in Porto and surrounding areas and 5 for Lisbon including a day trip to Sintra. Thoughts on allocation of time? Has anyone recently taken the train from Santiago to Vigo and connect into Porto. Thanks.

A must in Porto is a cruise in the river Douro. The cruises can take few hours or full day. If you would like to take a cruise then I would recommend to stay 3 days in Porto.
To get futher information on the train from Vigo to Porto, check www.cp.pt (click the flag English), then International, Celta Oporto. Where you can find all the info, including prices, and timetable.
Have a nice vacations

We took one of the Douro river cruises and I found it boring beyond belief. I guess it was a good way to kill a few hours but sitting at a restaurant with some good wine would have been more profitable.

With only two days, just try to enjoy Porto and forget the river cruise. You can head out to Foz do Douro on the tram and take a walk on the beach and have a great lunch or dinner at Restaurant Pedro Lemos (http://pedrolemos.net). If you want to dine downtown, then try Largo Restaurante (www.largo.pt).

In Porto try a francesinha, local dish. Porto is very beautiful, you'll have plenty to do in your two days there. Lisbon is very charming as well, you'll find that the two are unique at they're own way. While in Lisbon, go see Fado at night in bairro alto, walk the streets of baixa and chiado, and take a train to belém. Sintra is very beautiful it has his own microclimate, try one travesseiro de sintra in piriquita.

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