Sightseeing Tours in Portugal
 

Hello All! I'm leaving to Portugal very soon and have most everything taken care of except I cannot for the life of me seem to find any current sightseeing tours of the Algarve, Lisboa, Sintra, Cascais and Estoril? I'll be staying in sleepy Vila Real de Santo Antonio, but would like to see Seville and some of the townships along the Algarvean coast. There was a group called Classico last year but has since closed down. I have actually seen a couple of tours for Lisbon but they sounded terrible, none actually go to Saint Geroge's Castle. Any tips, tricks, or ideas???

Just to clarify: I'm just looking for full day or half day tours.

Hi. If I got it right, your "HQ" will be in V.R. Santo Ant&oacute;nio, in Algarve, and from there you want to make day trips. Correct ?<BR>Let me see. In Algarve, there are several small companies, some managed by Brits, that do one day excursion to other locations in Portugal, and to Spain (Seville, Cordoba, Gibraltar).<BR>Most of this companies are to small to be "spoted" on the web, but will be easy to find in Algarve. The only thing I don't know, is if those companies are represented in V.R.Sto Ant&oacute;nio. I know that in Alv&ocirc;r, and in Albufeira those services are available, so let's hope that they do exist in where you're staying.<BR>As for day excursions to Lisbon. Most of the visited places are those "more traditionally visited", but, I think you can ask for a "detour" and go to the castle. As for Sintra+Estoril+Lisbon+ come and go to Algarve...that's too much for 24 hours.<BR>If you feel like coming on your own to Lisbon, then a good investment would be to fly from Faro to Lisbon (20 minutes flight)aprox 195 euros for a two way trip (depart Faro at 06:00 am and return at 22:00). And then in Lisbon, the aerobus to get you to baixa+ tram to get you to Belem and bringing you back to Baixa + train to Sintra and back, you can do the all thing independently.<BR>Hope you have fun.

Sorry I wasn't very clear. My schedule is:<BR>*Villa Real De Santo Antonio for four days (we'd like to check out Sevile sometimes here)<BR>*Lisbon for four days (love to see Sintra, Cascais, Estoril sometime here)<BR>*Porto for two days (wine tour!)<BR>*Coimbra for another two days (???)<BR><BR>Thnakls again for your help!!!

Sorry I wasn't very clear. My schedule is:<BR>*Villa Real De Santo Antonio for four days (we'd like to check out Sevile sometimes here)<BR>*Lisbon for four days (love to see Sintra, Cascais, Estoril sometime here)<BR>*Porto for two days (wine tour!)<BR>*Coimbra for another two days (???)<BR><BR>Thanks again for your help!!!

Hello again, with that schedule, it's much easier, as for visiting Sintra and Cascais departing from Lisbon, you just have to take the train. To Sintra take it in Rossio, and to Cascais in Cais do Sodr&eacute;. Train takes aprox 1 hour (it stops in many stations) - suburban lines - and you can check the portuguese railway website for further help in www.cp.pt

Lucky You!<BR><BR>I was in Portugal a year ago in May. It is a beautiful country. I remember Vila Real de Santo Antonio, in fact.<BR><BR>There are a lot of day trips to Seville. It is absolutely a beautiful city. My chief regret was that our bus stopped to pick up at so many hotels it cut in to our time. Shop around for the most time actually in Seville. It is the most beautiful city I have seen.<BR><BR>As for Lisbon, I, took a half day tour which was fine. It was whirlwind, but really quite good. Others that I know who spent the night in Lisbon simply used public transit and explored sights on their own, including St. George's castle. Apparently you can take the train to Sintra for the day....this is not to be missed. Unfortunately, I missed it and must return. That is fine, though, since I loved Portugal and was left wanting much, much, more.<BR><BR>Suggestions - rent a car and take the expressway as far west as you can, then see Lands End very early in the morning, then work your way back towards your home base. When you are tired, just hop back on the expressway and whiz home. We did this, and managed to see many of the coast towns and beaches. A good map and guidebook will help you a lot. Be patient, it is not as hard to drive in Portugal as you might think.<BR><BR>As for the sardines.....they are delicious, but are served heads on!<BR><BR>Portuguese coffee rivals Italian coffee....wonderful.<BR><BR>Bon voyage!