Dmitriy

Hi
A group of 6 are planning to go to Portugal in October (11 - 16). We bought round trip airfare to Lisbon.
We are planning rent a car and drive to Porto for 2 days and than travel down to Lisbon. Any suggestions on what cities you would recommend to visit on our way to Lisbon? What Hotels to stay and places to see? We like to walk and explore. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

Dmitriy

PalenQ

Popular ones are Obidos - perfectly walled medieval looking town - Coimbra - known for its wonderful upper town with university library and square area - both can be stops during a day but have you been to Lisbon or Porto before? If not a couple of days in each would be neat.

millie2112

I would not bother with the drive. I am currently sitting in Seville after 11 days in Portugal. We drove from Porto to Lagos and this was a mistake. You only have a short amount of time. I would stay the entire time in Lisbon and do day trips. You can do a day trip to Sintra , and Obidos. Portugal has Toll roads and that all adds up.
in Lisbon we stayed at the Hotel Brittania. We enjoyed our time there

Dmitriy

Our plan was to rent a car upon arrival to Lisbon and drive to Porto on the same day. Spend 2 days there and then start going back to Lisbon.

PalenQ

How many days for Lisbon - really if just splitting time between the two trains could be neat as cars in cities are a hassle - you can easily stop off at say Coimbra for a short visit or Obidos too - if had more time car could be neat but if wanting to see Lisbon much - so many neat places and day trip to Sintra by train - www.cp.pt is the official site of Portuguese Railways site - general info BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com.

Dmitriy

We were thinking of first driving up to Porto. Spend 2 days there and later spend another 2 days in Lisbon. The rest (2 days in between those 2 cities) we would like to travel and see small little towns and their beautiful sceneries.

PalenQ

OK - just rent car for a few days - useless in Porto or Lisbon. For neat seaside town check out Nazarre. Maybe stay in Sintra en route to Lison - wonderful castles and another place everyone loves. Too bad you can't wrangle a few more days...

MoBro

The Avenida Palace in Lisbon is wonderful.
https://www.hotelavenidapalace.pt/hotel-overview

Dmitriy

@PalenQ - I know
I wish I could , but reality is .... have to comeback. We will try to get the best out of those 6 days. Thank you for your advice.

PalenQ

Understood - I'd maybe spend 3 days in Lisbon - landing day may not be much - and 1 full day in Porto, a much smaller city.

KarenWoo

6 days isn't much, but of course I understand you can't get more time off. FWIW, we spent 5 nights in April in Lisbon and loved it! We did go to Sintra for a day, but we still didn't see everything or do everything we wanted to do in Lisbon. Not sure what kind of a traveler you are or how old you are. We are older so we don't like to rush any more and we like to spend time in a place to savor it, see the sites, wander around neighborhoods, etc. We have friends who spent 1.5 days in Lisbon last year and they admit they really didn't get the feel of Lisbon and don't know whether or not they like it. You could spend all your time in Lisbon and also do day trips, such as to Sintra, Cascais, Obidos. But if that doesn't appeal to you, then I agree that splitting your time evenly between Lisbon and Porto makes sense. Although I haven't been to Porto yet, so can't really comment on it.

If you wish, you can click on my name to read what we did in Lisbon. Also, memejs on this forum posted a wonderful trip report during the summer and she did go to Lisbon, Obidos, Cascais, Porto and some others. Her report might be helpful to you. And she included some beautiful photos.

Dmitriy

KarenWoo - Thank you. I read MEMEJS report. Very nice, detailed and helpful.

mike1728

Hello,
I think you are trying to do too much in 6 days. After flying into Lisbon, you then have a three (3) hour drive to Porto. Not sure where you are flying from but that's a long drive after a flight. As PalenQ advised, a car is a total waste in the cities (traffic in Lisbon and Porto is brutal). I realize you already booked your flight, but your plans would have been more doable by flying into Porto, spending two days in the city and then rent a car for your the Lisbon portion of your trip. Lisbon warrants at least three-four (3-4) days especially if you want to explore the beautiful towns of Obidos, Sintra, Cascais, or what I consider the jewel of Portugal, Ericeira (30 min by car).
If you do stick to your plan, a town which I don't think was mentioned and which is directly on the route from Porto to Lisbon is Aveiro. Considered the "Venice of Portugal, complete with canals and gondolas! Great stop for a few hours on the way to Lisbon, It is a beautiful town with an old center on the canals with numerous hotels and restaurants.

Dmitriy

Do you think it makes sense to visit Evora if we are going to be based in Lisbon ? Or it's not make sense of spending all that time driving there for an 40-60 min and rather go somewhere else ?

PalenQ

Depends on that somewhere else is - nothing much closer to Lisbon - maybe Obidos but Evora is a gem. Don't need car in Lisbon and take bus to Evora if on a day trip and will drive as quickly on main roads there and back - if a few days yes drive can be nice - stopping by cork plantations for example.