We will be spending 3 weeks in Portugal May 2015. When planning our itinerary I am not including the Algarve for this May visit. When we went to Andalusia this year the only place that disappointed us was the Costa del Sol. I may be wrong but the beach towns along the Algarve coast seem similar after my early research.

We will be flying in and out of Lisbon. It is my plan to take the train to Porto soon after our arrival at the Lisbon airport.

The itinerary that I've put together so far is:

3 nights in Porto

4 nights staying at a winery in the Duoro Valley

3 nights in Coimbra

4 nights in Nazare

3 nights in Evora

7 nights in Lisbon.

Putting in our travel dates finds us staying in Coimbra during the week of the Burning of the Ribbons celebration. I can't decide if that would be a wondeful time to be visiting or a very bad idea. We are not the same age as the revelers however we certainly would be happy to party with their parents

I'm wondering if adding Braga in place of Coimbra would give us a better itinerary for a first time visit. With the current plan we will not be seeing any of the region above Porto. As our interests lean toward visiting religious sites, museums, palaces and seeking local culture much more than outdoor activities would the area around Braga be a good stop in place of Coimbra?

Thank you for any suggestions or comments to help me with our Portugal itinerary. Deborah

We were in Portugal May 2014 for close to a month. We also skipped the Algarve as when we were there previously it was way overbuilt and not to our liking.

We stayed in the countryside in Lusa near Coimbra. We spent a day in Coimbra and thought it a nice town. Te University is particualry intersting. There are also some roman ruins a bit outside of town. Didnt get to Braga so can't compare the 2. A town we liked alot is Guimares. There are so many lovely places to visit in Portugal taht it is hard to decide. will you have a car?

We liked Braga a little more. We too skipped the Algarve, as we do not care for cluttered seaside resorts.

Other nice northern towns in include Amarante and Viana do Castelo.

I would agree with your instinct that Braga would be be a better fit for your interests given how you describe them. I think you can easily fit Coimbra into the rest of your itinerary. (I am guessing you will be picking up a car after leaving Porto).

From Braga, give some serious consideration to visiting Tuy (Tui). It is right over the border, less than one hour from Braga. And I hope Guimares in in your plans.

You didn't ask for opinions about this, but given the way you describe your interests I would think 4 days at a winery in the Douro area would not be as exciting for you as being in Porto, which is rich with culture and curiosities.

I am just finishing my fifth visit to Portugal, and still haven't made it to the Algarve.

You can visit Braga as a day trip from Porto, I would want more time in Coimbra than Braga. Four nights in Nazare would be too long for me, but I am not a beach person.

For one of your days in Evora consider a wineries visit.

Thank you for the helpful comments.

thursdaysd, we do like being near the water and plan to use Nazare as the base to visit the inland monasteries nearby as well as Tomar. My concern with Coimbra is due to the excessive celebration that seems to surround the Burning of the Ribbons festival and if our choice of that week will not show the city at its best.

sandra, if possible we like to include a stay at a winery when visiting a country. The Duoro Valley has a number of Quintas so that seemed a good choice. We also will devote some of our Porto time learning about Port wine. When we stayed in Jerez this year it was "all about the sherry"

iamdonehere, thank you for those suggestions. It seems the area around Braga has a wealth of sights that would interest us.

yestravel, we will have a car and depending on our travel route would still include a stop at Conimbriga---my husband is always pleased when I can include roman ruins to our trips. The more I research about Portugal, the more I want to add to our itinerary.

Thanks again, Deborah

You might be interested in reading the following reports:

72 hours in Portugal’s Historic Port City
Exploring the Alto Douro Wine Region - Caldas de Aregos to Pinhāo

Quintas like Quinta do Pego (www.quintadopego.com) are smaller and fill up early on certain dates, so book as far ahead as possible.

Quinta do Vallado (www.quintadovallado.com) has added a new section and has a few more rooms available.

I really don't know how rowdy the student festival might get, but the downside of Coimbra when I spent the night there 2 years ago was the palpable sense that the economic crisis and bitten to the bone in Coimbra. An air of celebration would have been welcome (unless it is non-stop drunkeness). Although Coimbra is not huge by an means, I would think the students have their favorite hangouts and don't take over the whole town.

Have you checked out any youtube videos of the event?

One thing you want to make sure of is whether all the sights you want to see in Coimbra during that time are open and accessible to the public. At all times, entrances to the library at the university are timed entrances, and only a few people are allowed to enter at a time, which can make for long waits between buying a ticket and being allowed inside if you haven't booked in advance. With a car and with minimal planning, it is normally very simple to see all the guidebook sights of Coimbra in a single day without rushing (including the Roman ruins outside of town). But maybe the festival could complicate access to sights right in the city (not the Roman ruins I would think).

One way to see Coimbra would be to make it your first train stop before Porto and stay a day or two there, assuming the festivities don't go on for days and days (I've seen the aftermath of the ribbon burning and it looks like a wild time was had by all, probably not the environment you'd want to do touring in). You don't really need a car to see the downtown areas of interest in Coimbra, and if you wanted to see the Roman ruins in Conimbriga, it's only about 13 km away so a cab would be cheap. Then train from Coimbra to Porto is short and sweet.

I agree that Guimaraes is a great little town/city to visit as are Viana do Castelo and Braga. Ponte de Lima is beautiful, I love it. There's not a lot to see but it is very pleasant, easy to drive in and park and walk around for a half day and you'll be happy you did.

When you're in the Douro, by all means take the train to the end of the line. Many people go from Porto to Regua or Pinhao, but the really pretty part is from Pinhao to the end at Pocinho.

If you stay in Braga try and get a hotel on the hill overlooking the city. Since we have not stayed there in a number of years I am loathe to give a specific recommendation.

When I visited Conimbriga from Coimbra I did it by bus. It was a while ago, but would expect you still can.

Yes, we saw buses at Conimbriga with Coimbra as the destination.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. I think we will stay in Guimaraes instead of Coimbra for this trip.

Your comments helped me consider different aspects of each location and I think Braga/Guimaraes suits us better for our May visit. I made a reservation for the Pousada de Santa Marinha for three nights which I hope will give us a stay "out of the ordinary" Thanks again. Deborah