Portugal Wine Vacation
 

I was hoping you Fodorites could give me some guidance on planning a trip to Portugal next summer. Are there good websites (other than this) to look into? Better times to go? Must see cities? I am planning an annual trip for (6-8) 30 something men and women. Recent trips have been to France, Spain, Alaska. Very important to take into account: wineries, nightlife and charm! Moderate budget. Thanks in advance.

Start with this trip report. Wines in Portugal are not my favs--unless you like port. Portugal is much more than just the Algarve beaches and Lisbon.

Oops !
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34483277

You can check out the following web sites regarding Portugal. They can help you with your planning.

http://www.portugal.org/index.shtml
http://portugal-info.net/algarve/

And for bobthenavigator, you might be interested in learning that Portugal has a tremendous amount of great wines, other than Port. You can visit the following web site to see what they have to offer in great wines from Portugal.

http://www.spanishtable.com/

Sorry Robert, I have tried the other wines and was not impressed compared to Italy and France.

Ahhh...Bob. Nothing beats drinking a Vinho Verde while people watching during a hot summer afternoon! :D

The other Portuguese wine I have a soft spot for is Madeira. We visited the island and the tour through the winery was the best. The wine tasting afterwards was also wonderful. Personally, I think Madeira beats out Port and the island is sheer beauty.

Cheers,
Jan

Travlbum, you have wonderful wines here in Portugal. Maybe Bob didn't choose the right ones.
Have you heard about Casa de Santar wines (Dao region)? They are sold abroad and the USA too. They are some of the best.The Reserva then, it's fabulous. My aunt is the owner of it and the wineries are located in the center of Portugal (next to Viseu) . It's a mannor house and they receive many foreign people to see the winneries, the vineyards and taste the wines. Her gardens are also fantastic. If you want to email me I can give you the contact ( my email is [email protected]).
We also have excellent wines in Alentejo region, in Bairrada, just to name a few regions.
If you have any more questions feel free to email me.

Teresa

I have been buying and drinking wine for more than 40 years. I was in NW Portugal and Galicia, Spain in July.
The weather was mostly spectacular unlike the South where the temp in Savilla (SP) on 30 June was 122 degrees F!
I really like the Douro reds and the great white Albarino/Alvarinhos. The Dao reds and white Vinho Verdes are still very rustic and clumsy imho.
Meals (PT food is very salty) were mostly moderate to inexpensive, but the Pousadas/Paradors, 'tho wonderful, were a bit expensive even with the senior 35% discount.
Oporto had lots of infrastructure construction which limited local travel.
Actually, the dry Roses from SP and Portugal were about 7 Euro in restaurants and were as good or better than those from Bobby Katcher in SW France.
I would definitely return to Galicia - esp Baiona

Well, perhaps not so unusually, this thread has gotten a bit off-topic, but I'll roll with the flow (I love a mixed cliche, don't you?).

I want to mention that I just returned from a trip which included Lisbon, Sintra, Obidos, Coimbra, and Oporto. There are many wines there which I found to be good, although I would not say excellent. In fairness, though I only tried a few.

One wine producer that gets rave reviews in the towns I visited is Niepoort. I haven't tried it yet, although I did bring back a couple bottles for later. I'll get back to everyone with a report when I try it.

By the way, Bobthenavigator: your advice on the Estrelagem do Convento was much appreciated. This is a great place to stay if you want to spend a night in Obidos! It has a great restaraunt, too.

Oh, and now that I go back and look, the title DID mention wine, so perhaps this thread was not as off-topic as I at first supposed. I need to pay a bit more attention, perhaps...

Thank you all for your advice. I am a novice on Portugal wines. We are planning 12 days to visit Lisbon, Sintra, Obidos, Coimbra, Oporto, Viseu and Madeira. Also on the list were Evora and Algarve. Any advice on moderate priced lodging for such a group in all cities? (6-8) 30 something men and women. What towns are "must go to's" and which can we skip? What is the best way to get around for a group this size? Best time of the summer? Any festivals not to miss? Which direction to start...North or South? Lot's of questions, I know, but you guys give great answers! Thanks again!

The web sites we posted earlier give you a lot of information on what's happening in Portugal. As far a accommodations go, you might want to check with Petrabax (http://www.epetrabax.com/main/index.asp) to see what they have in regards to Pousadas. You can also check with Secret Places (http://www.secretplaces.com/sp/spen.asp) to see what they offer in Portugal.

Thanks, Robert. Once again, great advice. Love the websites.

Does anyone have any information or advice on renting a villa? Is that an option with some day trips?

If you choose to visit the Alentejo region, you could consider Monte dos Pensamentos for lodging. It is located in Estremoz and is a privately owned home (private residence in the front of the manor house) with rooms and suites in the back. I believe there were also additional rooms in a building behind the house. It was not fancy, but we enjoyed it. Since you will be traveling in the summer, there was also an outdoor pool surrounded by orange trees. I can't remember exactly what guide books I found it in--but I think it was in Fodors and Karen Brown.

If we stay in Estremoz for a few days, what are good day trips?

I'm trying hard to remember...I believe we used Estremoz as a base for Evora, Monsaraz (and dolmens and monoliths in the area),and Vila Vicosa. My trip report was posted in late March or early April of 2003--you can pull it up for more details. I found much useful info from this site--especially bobthenavigator (even though he didn't like the wine :)) Anyhow...my 2 cents worth...
The Alentejo region was one of our favorites. But, we did not care for Evora as much as we thought we would.

We stayed in Pousadas in Obidos, Almeida, Belmonte and Crato. We loved them all except Obidos. We stayed there in order to stay in a castle, but didn't feel it was worth the money. We loved the historical pousadas in Belmonte and Crato. Other than Obidos, we always felt the Pousadas were a great value--large, luxurious rooms and gigantic breakfasts. But we traveled off-season and often midweek.

If you will be driving, have a good, detailed map. Once off the major toll roads, expect steep and winding roads.

Places we loved most were Tomar, Marvao and Sintra.

You might start with the official Pousada website. The map will give you some general help and you can also see if any of the pousadas fit into your route and budget.