Kaba

Our family will be traveling to Portugal this summer (June/July) for 10 days, staying mainly in Lisbon but taking a number of day trips. We know that there is a limit on how many museums, churches, etc. our 13- and 17-year-old sons can tolerate, and are hoping to find some activities such as biking, hiking, or boating that we all will enjoy. Any suggestions?
Thanks!

lobo_mau

Some ideas
Dauphin watch in Setubal: [email protected] (maybe they can redirect you to other activities)
Oceanarium (http://www.oceanario.pt/)
Coach Museum (http://en.museudoscoches.pt/)

zootsi

If you want to do a beach day (it can get pretty hot this time of year), Sesimbra is a beautiful little fishing/resort town with a very nice beach. It's about an hour or so south of Lisbon, and I believe there is public transportation. If you do a day trip to Sintra(highly recommended), I believe there are hiking opportunities there.

GoAway

It is a church, but include a trip to Evora to Capela dos Ossos. (Chapel of Bones). We also took a quick tour of the university there, very interesting. Also in the area are several stone-age menhirs and dolmens.

http://www.off-the-beaten-track.net/...s/pt02s01.html

Kaba

Thank you, all, for your suggestions. Lobo_mau, the boys are happy anytime they are on the water, so nautur sounds promising. Zootsi, we have planned to go to Sintra and will look into the hiking in the area. And GoAway, the Chapel of the Bones is high on our list. Also, I have read about a bike trail that takes you past menhirs and dolmens to Evora, so thank you for the link that provides more information about these sites.

zootsi

The Evora area would be a stretch to do as a day trip from Lisbon. However Evora is a great little town, we spent 5 days there. Some of the hill towns approaching the Spanish border are quite beautiful. There are lots of pre-historic ruins, stone totems, etc in the surrounding countryside. We did the bike trail in October. It is flat and straight and hot (minimal shade), mainly passing thru savanna-like pasture land.

ter2000

Surfing? We were in Eirceira last year and we saw loads of kids surfing. Eirceira is about an hour's drive from Lisbon.

The Aquarium in Lisbon is great - kids seem to love it. Also there's a cable car nearby with great views of the city.

Kaba

Thank you, ter2000--I'm sure the Aquarium will be one of our Lisbon stops; our younger son can't go to a city without visiting its aquarium, if it has one. And if the boys see a lot of kids surfing, I'm sure it will be something they will want to try, as well. Thanks for suggesting Eirceira.

Zootsi, we were planning on spending at least one night in Evora--after reading your post it seems like maybe we should plan on more time there. How long was the bike path? Did you rent the bikes in Evora? We were trying to avoid renting a car, but is the driving fairly easy in the Evora area?

zootsi

I would probably do 2 nights in Evora, there's a lot to see in the area, and the town itself is great. If I remember correctly, the bike path was about 8 miles - very easy, well maintained. There are bike rentals in Evora, but make sure you don't try and rent one during siesta time. It was quite a project for us to find someone open in the early afternoon. Driving in the countryside near Evora is very easy and safe - it's mostly flat, not much traffic until you approach central Evora. We drove into Evora to get to our apartment - it was tricky with the narrow winding streets. Even after a few days, we still got lost a few times. Still, it was worth it to have the car.