AleYeah

Hi all,

My family is planning a long-awaited trip to Portugal in June. The wife and I haven't travelled internationally for a few years now and my kids (ages 7 and almost 9) have never been overseas, so we are all quite excited!

At the moment, we are awaiting our employers' vacation approvals for the first 2 full weeks of June. We're coming from the US, so will be plenty tired when we arrive in Lisbon on Sunday June 4. As we don't plan to rent a car, we'll stick to cities we can easily reach via train. Our initial thoughts are something like this:

• Lisbon for 4 nights (including the weary arrival day)
• Cascais for 3 nights (the kids are huge beach lovers)
• Coimbra or Aveiro for 2 nights
• Porto for 4 nights

For you Portugal experts, how does this sound on paper? I tend to like smaller cities better than larger ones, but I do want to give Lisbon/Porto their deserved attention without feeling rushed (including having to get back down to Lisbon for our departure flight on Saturday, June 17).

Do you prefer Coimbra or Aveiro, or would you perhaps hit both with the tradeoff of less nights in Porto/Lisbon?

Any insight would be very much appreciated. My trip planning skills are a little rusty, so any "reality check" observations are quite welcome.

Seamus

Neither Lisbon nor especially Porto "feels" like a large city, more like a collection of neighborhoods. We thoroughly enjoyed both and you will have no problem filling 4 days in each. We thought Cascais was a one day visit, but we are not big beach fans. Keep in mind that before heading north to Porto fro Cascais you will need to head back into Lisbon to catch the train. You might want to schedule your Cascais visit in the middle of your Lisbon stay - couple days Lisbon, couple days Cascais, couple days Lisbon then head northward.
Can't really comment on Coimbr versus Aveiro, but here's a site that describes both places.
Enjoy!

Maribel

About Cascais,
We had normally just gone to Cascais on a day trip by train from Cais do Sodré, but this year we chose to spend 3 nights.

In June in beach season I think your kids will love it.
In addition to its several beaches, there is a lovely oceanside promenade walk from Cascais all the way to Guincho for pedestrians and cyclists with a stop at the Casa da Guia for refreshments plus the 3 km walk from Cascais to Estoril with other beaches.

https://www.cascais-portugal.com/Gui...ach-bicas.html
https://www.cascais-portugal.com/Att...nade-walk.html

And I think they would enjoy the expansive Parque Marechal Carmona in town with its strolling roosters, duck pond and other attractions for children.
https://www.cascaisportugaltourism.com

And there's Santini ice cream at Avenida Valbom.
https://www.timeout.com/cascais/restaurants/santini

Maribel

As to Coimbra versus Aveiro, I think that Coimbra would be far more rewarding (at least it has been for me), but.... it's very monument/museum centric.... with children I think it would be helpful to read the very useful posts from blogger Julie Dawn Fox to hep you decide. For me, Aveiro would be a one day stop, but these links may help you to decide.

https://juliedawnfox.com/tag/coimbra/
https://juliedawnfox.com/aveiro/

AleYeah

Thanks for the input so far. Since Coimbra/Aveiro are so close via train, we'll probably choose to stay at one and daytrip to the other. Last night we were discussing the possibility of getting over the jetlag for a couple of days in Lisbon, training all the way up to Porto for a few days, and then hitting Coimbra for a couple of days on the way back down south (instead of hitting Coimbra on the way north before we visit Porto). Still thinking about the logistics of fitting in a beach sidetrip.