My husband and are about 30. We are active, adventurous, love food, wine, culture, and architecture. We are looking for a pre-baby adventure vacation. A 10 day trip before we are tied down with a family. I have travelled extensively in Spain and England. My husband has been to Italy. We want to explore something new together, something off the beaten path of travel. I am thinking Portugal or Sicily. Any advice?

Definitely Sicily. But neither one of these places is off the beaten path.

I agree - Sicily. But, as Adrienne notes, not off the beaten path. Adventurous, delicious food and wine, wonderful culture (influenced by so many conquerors) and architecture.

Sicily is quite different from mainland Italy. I would choose it over Portugal any day.

I haven't been to Sicily so I can't compare it with Portugal but having lived in Portugal for 6 years I'd say you can easily find everything you're looking for here.

It's easy to get off the beaten track in Portugal, especially off season, but even in the height of summer there are plenty of places that feel undiscovered and special, especially in the centre and north of the country. If you want more ideas, let me know.

Of course it's easy to get off the beaten path any place in the world but the point is that the OP thinks (as the post was written) that both Portugal and Sicily are locations that are off the beaten path and they are not.

What the hell is "the beaten path"?

Both Sicily and Portugal have small geographic areas which are systematically hammered by tick box tourists and Northern European sunseekers. Both have huge remaining areas which experience little tourism and retain their non world culture.

We stayed in Siracusa which was probably on "a path" but certainly not beaten. On a day trip to Noto, we came across a few tourists but in the afternoon drove 10 minutes down to the coast and swam at Vendicari nature reserve. We were the only ones on the beach and nobody we asked in Sircausa had heard of it. It was like being back in The Bahamas.

http://www.sicilyholidayrentals.com/...atural_Reserve

Same with Portugal, never been to the south coast but know enough about the British people visiting it, to presume it is pretty dire. We had a trip to the Sado estuary, it was one of the most beautiful and peaceful areas of Europe I have visited.

Portugal or Sicily.

Generally neither.

As a first time visitor to Italy I would avoid Sicily, it is at the extremes of Italian culture. I would head for either Tuscany, Umbria or The Lakes.

I think that Sicily is more manageable than Portugal in the time given. You might want to take a look at my trip report; click on my name to find it.

We've been all over Italy and love it but haven't been to Sicily yet.

I never wanted to go to Portugal but Jack insisted last year and we both loved it. We loved it enough to return this year. It is a really surprising country with architecture, museums and food to rival any place we've been. It is certainly some place that you should go whether this time or later.

Been to both, and I'd pick Sicily hands down. Food, wine, culture and architecture - all stupendous.

What txtree said.

I've been to both. Multiple times to Portugal. I'd be happy to go back to either - suggest you flip a coin.

For my Sicily TR see: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ing-sicily.cfm

Portugal!!!
Good Food, amazing heritage, marvellous beaches, cool cities...
a great destination

I'd go to Portugal, eat meals in the local restaurants and bars by chosing the "meal of the day" signs at lunch time (cheap and every one joins in on big tables. We were there last year and stayed with ex-pat Brits who took us to all these places and found great wine and food. We continued eating at these sort of places after we left our friends and founds the locals welcomed us in.

I'd stay in the Alentejo rather than the Algarve as that is where the locals go on holiday. But then I'd visit some of the ancient towns including Lisbon, I especially like the Arsenal in Lisbon which has still has a royal Galley http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galley which is basically unchanged from the 500AD period and would have been still used in the Med up until the late 1700s at Matapan.

Can only address Portugal in the sense that it will tick ALL the boxes you specified. DH and I hired a car and drove north to Galicia, venturing through the Duoro region and then followed the coast. Plenty of adventure (not counting the driving), great food, fantastic wine,and beautiful architecture. Other than Lisbon, we avoided the larger cities and did not take any organized tours. We chose to stay in smaller and more "remote" destinations where we were often the only tourists. I must mention though, that this was during the off-season.

I imagine that ten days would be perfect...although you WILL want to go back.

-Annie

Looks like the OP has lost interest. 21 days and she hasn't returned for the responses.

Neither place is undiscovered, but IMHO you're more likely to find unbeaten paths in Portugal than you will in Sicily. Other than the Algarve, Lisbon, and Coimbra, Portugal generally isn't high on tourist radar screens. People are more familiar with Palermo, Siracusa, Agrigento, Taormina, etc.

From a pure destination and what-is-there-to-see standpoint, I'd pick Sicily over Portugal. Having been to both, however, I'd pick Portugal. Prices are cheaper in Portugal, and the food is just as good (Sicily and Portugal have different cuisines, but they are each wonderful in their own ways). Many Portuguese buildings are covered in azulejo (?) tile facades. São Bento train station in Porto is an excellent example of azulejos.

You won't go wrong in either place though.