Portugal itinerary feedback? Should I visit Portugal in Winter?
 

Hello! We are thinking of traveling to Portugal this Christmas break and I had a few questions that I hope someone may be able to answer. First of all, we have 7 days in Portugal.







This is our itinerary so far…







Day 1-Porto







Day 2-Porto







Day 3-Coimbra







Day 4- Road trip from Coimbra to Sintra (Stopping in Nazare, Cabo de Roca, many other stops along the way.







Day 5-Sintra







Day 6-Lisbon







Day 7-Lisbon







Any thoughts on this itinerary?







Another question that I had was that we did some research and from what I could understand, Northern Portugal is very rainy during December. We had second thoughts on spending all of that time in Northern Portugal or even visiting Portugal at all out of fear that many days out of our short trip would be rained out. We were thinking of visiting the Algarve as an alternative to the north however we learned that many things would be closed during the winter. We would still much rather spend part of our limited time in Northern Portugal , however I just wanted to get your thoughts on weather it is a good time to visit Portugal in December with the increased chance of rain and if you may be able to give us some insight from your experience into what the weather may be like during the Winter season.











Thank you so much for your time!

I liked Nazaré and stayed there for a couple of nights. But given your one day itinerary, I would consider Batalha, Alcobaça and Obisos as better stops. Moreover you would lose a lot of time getting to and from Nazaré.

https://flic.kr/p/7Rnef6
https://flic.kr/p/2gx9vXa
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If you feel the need to add another site, consider Conimbriga:

https://flic.kr/p/7QrWQH

In the lower town of Coimbra, for a quick lunch:

https://flic.kr/p/2gxvfdZ

Hi!

As a person living in North Portugal (Porto) I'll try to help, although I might just make you more confused!

Rain in December is not THAT usual. Sometimes it rains, sometimes not. Just for my experience, the worst months concerning rain are February and April. The problem of rain here in the North, is not the rain itself. The problem is that it never stops, you can have 2 or 3 weeks without seing the sun. I lived in Lisbon for one year, and the difference is that it can be a raining day today, but you know it will stop in a day or two, and it is not constant.

Coimbra is not North. I'm not sure about the weather, but it is definetely not North, the land colour is different, at North land is brown, and from Coimbra to the South it's red.

Algarve: many things will be closed during winter. Yes, that's true. Golf, splashing parks, the one day cruises on vicking boats, and all those uggly bars and restaurants made just for tourists, are closed, thankfully. It is enough to have those "things" open during summer. All the other things, for locals, are open, of course: fishing markets, traditional restaurants, picturesque places, and of course there are bars with live music, and places to dance, and... whatever you can imagine it's good for young and old people who live there. Algarve is not a resort, it's a region where many people live and work and everything. My dream is to have a life splited between Porto and Algarve: from October to March Algarve, the other months it's ok to be here, at the North. Due to weather, of course. Weather is much better at Algarve.

And thats it, if you want to clarify any pojnt I mentioned, just ask.

Helena

PS: not mainland, but still Portugal, Madeira is a good place to visit during winter.

the Azores would be nice