My wife and I are traveling to Portugal April 29th till May 9. We will be traveling from the US and leaving for Italy on May 8 or 9. We have never been to Portugal and were hoping to get some recommendations on where to go, places to stay, and how to get around the country. We are both nature lovers and would like a combination of beautiful places to see and some historical sites. We are also open to spending a few days in Spain during this period. Wondering if it is better to use public transportation or rent a car, should we stay in one place for the duration and do day trips to other locations or move around with a few days in different locations. We don't want to be going all the time so we are fine spending time in one location and exploring. I was hoping to start booking the arrangements in the next few days.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

You really need to narrow your references of Portugal. Although not a huge country, it is large enough to limit travel within over a seven day visit. Flying into Lisbon or Porto? Beach towns or historical land locked towns and villages? The Spanish border is close to the Algarve or in Northern Portugal. It can be done from Lisbon as well by car, but a drive of at least 3-4 hours. Your questions are too broad in my humble opinion. If you are booking in the next few days I would highly recommend some research.

Welcome to Fodors Bricud!

I have not been to Portugal but have had the help of this Forum plan an upcoming trip with me. We are spending most of our time in Lisbon and going on day trips to Evora, a UNESCO city to see it and the Chapel of Bones and, and Cascais for a day at the beach and cliffs, and then moving a half hour away to Sintra for hiking in the Sintra -Cascais Natural Park.

Just some food for thought!

I would not go to Spain while you are in Portugal. You simply do not have enough time.

With your time frame, I would spend 4 or 5 nights in Lisbon, and 1 or 2 nights in Sintra, and your last destination could be Porto or Evora and its surrounding area. You need to research flights. Perhaps you could fly into Lisbon and out of Porto to Italy. If that is not convenient, then fly in and out of Lisbon. If you do this, then skip Porto and visit Evora and the surrounding area.

Or another possibility is to spend the majority of your time in Lisbon with day trips to Caiscais and Evora, and 2 or 3 nights in Sintra.

I recommend purchasing a good guidebook or two, such as Lonely Planet, Fodors, or Michelin Green Guide.

So after doing a little checking, we'll be flying into Porto on 4/29 and plan to spend at least 3 days there. Definitely want to go on a Douro Valley tour. There seem to be so many, does anyone have a recommendation which one? Viator lists many of them. Also, is there a recommendation of the best way to see Porto itself? Self guided or with a tour group? Also, we are considering taking a day to see Braga and Guimaraes. Any other must see's while we are in Porto? Leaving on May 3 for Lisbon.

Likely stay close to the city for a few days but take a day or two to go to Sintra. We'll be here until May 9. Both Porto and Lisbon have reasonable flights to Florence, Italy. We'll take a closer look at day trips out of Lisbon to decide if there is a trip we would be interested in. Wondering if it is easier to simply book rooms through VRBO, or Booking.com or is there a better place to fine good lodging at a reasonable price?

Finally, is it better to rent a car or are the trains and other public transportation adequate for getting around?

Thanks.

Looks like you have 6 nights in Lisbon. Good day trips are to Sintra, Cascais, and Evora.

I almost always use booking.com to book hotels. With most hotels on booking.com, you have free cancellation until a day or two before arrival. Sometimes the deadline for free cancellation is 2 - 4 weeks before arrival. All depends on the hotel.

We just came back from three weeks in Portugal. Our favorite city was Porto. If you're doing day trips out of there, I would definitely add a fourth day to make sure you don't give this great town short shrift.

We took a boat tour on the Douro from Porto, and a train to return to Porto. We sailed past vineyards on both sides of the river.
Skip Spain this time.
You barely have time to see much of Portugal. It deserves ant least another week.

Agreed with those saying to pass on Spain for the length of your stay.

It's been a few years since I was there, but at the time, renting a car proved to be a great way to see multiple parts of the country in just a few days. I ended up loving the big beach down near Lagos and I normally do not enjoy beaches at all.