russ_in_LA

We are planning our first trip to Portugal for when the country opens up later this year (we hope). I've read several trip reports and distilled them down to the following itinerary. I'd appreciate any feedback on whether anyone thinks we should spend more or less time in each place, or suggestions of places they preferred to what I have listed. Note that we prefer to avoid one night stops as much as possible, and that my normal strategy is to spend the night in places that get a lot of day trippers, so that we can see them at night and in the morning without the crowds. Thanks!


Day - To See or Do - Place to Sleep

1-4 Lisbon (4 full days) - Lisbon

5 Quinta da Regaleira, Placio Nacional - Sintra

6 Palacio de Pena, Monserrate, C.d.Mouros - Sintra

7 Vila Nova de Milfontes, on the way to... - Lagos

8 Benagil Caves, Praia da Marinha, Ponta da Piedad - Lagos

9 Algar Seco, Carvoeiro, Albufeira - Lagos

10 Tavira, on the way to... - Evora

11 Evora, Almedres Stone Circle - Evora

12 Monsaraz, Elvas, on the way to... - Obidos

13 Batalha, Alcobaca, Nazare - Obidos

14 Fatima, Tomar, on the way to... - Coimbra

15 Coimbra - Coimbra

16 Aveiro, Guimares, on the way to... - Braga

17 Braga - Porto

18-19 Porto (2 full days) - Porto

20 Fly home

thursdaysd

I have spent a fair amount of time in Portugal, but I've never been to the Algarve, however I'm not into beaches so YMMV.

I would recommend more time in Lisbon. My TR for Lisbon is old, but the sights probably haven't changed much. That visit was for nearly a week, and I've been back for more Lisbon since: Loving Lisbon

Consider a winery tour while you are in Evora. I stayed here: https://adcevora.com/ and they arranged it for me.

Obidos is a tourist trap. It's worth a couple of hours, but no more.

Braga is easily done as a day trip from Porto. Consider time in the Douro valley instead.

If you want somewhere fancy to stay consider this: https://www.pousadasofportugal.com/p...-palace-hotel/ - the grounds are worth seeing even if you don't stay there.

jeffergray

Sounds like a great trip, russ_in_LA!

I think your time in Lisbon is reasonable, especially since you're not taking a day trip to Sintra from there. Is Day 1 the day you are flying in?

Your itinerary for Sintra sounds comfortable, maybe even easy-going (not that there's anything wrong with that). I'm a huge history and architecture buff, but I was in and out of the Palacio Nacional in less than an hour. Likewise, while the Castello dos Mouros is well worth seeing, it won't take you that long to see, either. Two days in Sintra should leave you time to also visit nearby places like Cabo da Roca, Cascais, and Estoril. Or perhaps the 18th century rococco summer palace at Queluz, which is roughly halfway between Sintra and Lisbon -- maybe about 10 miles from Sintra.

Otherwise, do you plan to visit Capes Sagres and St. Vincent, at the extreme southwestern end of Portugal? They're only about 20-25 miles from Lagos, but you didn't expressly mention them. Sagres, especially. The cliffs, the views, and the history: knowing that it was essentially Portugal's version of Cape Canaveral, the starting place for the successive expeditions that ultimately took them all the way to the coast of China, was something I found very moving.

I enjoyed Silves on the Algarve, with its castle, cathedral, and archaeological museum. And the church of Sao Lourenco, about six miles east of the village of Almansil on the way to Faro, had some of the most stunning azulejos I saw on my entire trip.

Ebora Megalithica's morning-long tours of the neolithic remains west of Evora are a must: Mario grew up in the countryside there and gives a wonderful tour.

Especially, if you're going to be as close to it as Evora and Monsaraz, I would try to give a night to Marvao, a walled village with a castle atop a high eminence near the Spanish border with expansive views in all directions. It's one of those places with an end-of-the-world feel. There's also a well-preserved small Roman bridge over the little river that flows through the small town from where you take the road uphill to Marvao.

Definitely try to visit the Templars' island castle of Almourol in the Tejo on your way to Tomar. And don't make my mistake and overlook the magnificent aqueduct near Tomar.

Finally, while I found Obidos charming, I fully agree with thursdaysd that it doesn't take very long to see. It just isn't that big. You can definitely walk from one end of the town to the other (and maybe even back) in two hours. While it's mobbed with tourists during the daytime, however, it might be nice to see it in the late afternoon and earl\y morning before the throngs arrive, disgorging from the tour buses that run up from Lisbon.

lrice

I don’t have anything to offer but Portugal is tops on my family’s “next vacation list.” We will only have 10
days but are thinking of Lisbon, Sintra and Porto.

I will be watching this thread

Michael

Except for 16 where you go north of Porto we did that trip in 2019. It's geographically doable within the time frame that you give, but I doubt that you will be seeing as many given sights in one day as you list. For example, item 12 represents more than 5 hours of driving according to Michelin. This does not count visiting the towns, stopping for lunch.

I wrote a trip report that you might find useful; click on my name to find it.

aulop

Hello
Lisbon has lots to see in the city, it's neighborhoods (ex: Belem), and across the river Tejo ( ex: Cristo Rei statue).
Between Lisbon and Sintra is the Palacio the Queluz ( Queluz palace) it was designed by the same architect that designed the palace of Versailles in France - although a much smaller version.
The room of mirrors, the ambassadors room and the chapel are the most beautifully decorated rooms in the palace.
The gardens are nice, at the back there is a small river with walls decorated with handmade tiles, during the monarchy they would seal the river at one end so that the water level would rise to the tile level.There is also horse stables at the back of the gardens.
https://www.sintra-portugal.com/Attr...ce-lisbon.html
Sintra is best visited when the crowds are gone. Parking is limited so ensure your hotel has parking.
If you want a bragging souvenir go to Cabo da Roca where you can get an official certificate that you have stood on the southwestern most point in Europe ( where the land ends and the sea begins).
https://www.sintraportugaltourism.co...o-da-roca.html
Just south of Lisbon is Setubal, they are know for grilled sardines( when in season), fried cuttlefish ( similar to squid but thicker), marlin / swordfish steak and a dessert wine called Moscatel de Setubal. A good spot for lunch on your way to the Algarve.
In Loule (Algarve) on saturday mornings there is a local market housed in a moorish design building
https://www.algarve-tourist.com/loul...l-algarve.html
South of Coimbra you can visit the roman ruins of Conimbriga.
https://www.visitportugal.com/en/NR/...6-689528EAA9DE
Braga visit the Bom Jesus Church - I suggest using the escalator up and the stairs down.
Santuario do Sameiro in another religious building with a great view of Braga.
If available go the top of the Sameiro building to get a even better view - just don't do it when the bells are ringing, they will hurt your ears.
https://porto-north-portugal.com/bra...gal-guide.html

Some practical info:
For tourist info I use these sites:
https://myportugalholiday.com/index.html
scroll to the bottom of the site for different cities and regions
https://www.visitportugal.com/en/
use the drop down menus or use the search option
https://www.yellowbustours.com/en/portugal
use for listing of in city tourist attraction itinerary's that you may copy

Driving in Portugal:
I personally dislike to the drive in Portugal because the locals drive too fast, they look at stops signs as suggestions, the big round about are a nightmare to get in and out at rush hour ( in Lisbon there is a round about with 3 outer lanes and 3 inner lanes separated with a sidewalk - nightmare), parking is atrocious in the big cities ( you may find people trying to assist you with parking - give them a couple of euros or you may find your car scratched, missing a mirror,etc don't forget you still have to pay the parking meter fee), inner streets can be incredibly small in old villages.
Get a transponder from the car rental company to use on the highways, they only have electronic tollbooths.
Buy the CDW ( collision damage waiver) insurance from the car rental company or afterwards you may be charged by the rental company for all sorts of innovative damage charges that you will not be able to fight. Insurance - peace of mind to enjoy your holiday.

Restaurants:
They will bring little plates, butter, bread etc, that are NOT included in the price of your plate - be aware - if you don't want to pay for those simply refuse them or don't touch them (ex: if you eat 1 olive you will have to pay for all the olives).
This does not apply to a complete meal deal ( sometimes named "ementa touristica" or "refeicao completa" , it varies from from restaurant to restaurant so verify whats included or not. I have seen big arguments between tourists and waiters over this because their bill was many times higher than expected.
"Prato do Dia" is the plate of the day is usually what the restaurant found to be a good deal at the market that day and they bought extra or it's a food item the restaurant decided to pre-prepare so that customers don't have to wait long, this is more common in small family restaurants.
Some restaurants charge a "esplanada" fee (patio fee - simply a higher price for the same item) as opposed to eating / drinking inside the restaurant.

Safety / Security:
Be aware of pickpockets in all crowded ares, they are very good. I had my wallet stolen on 2 separate occasions, their skill level is amazing if it weren't for the fact that it' s a crime.
I now keep my travel documents in a secure area ( hotel safe) and carry a certified copy of those documents.
Also I keep large money amounts in a hidden area in my clothes and when needed go into a washroom and transfer money from the secure area to my pocket to pay for the day's expenses.
Cobblestone sidewalks can be very beautiful with ornate designs however the stone becomes very polished and slippery and if wet dangerously so - wear true rubber sole shoes for better grip.

Weather:
The north is cold and wet between fall and spring, best visited in the summer.
The south is oppressively hot in the summer and large number of tourists, best visited between fall and spring.
Plan accordingly where to start and finish your trip.

Happy travels

russ_in_LA

Thank you for the great tips! We would only be in Obidos to eat and sleep, thus avoiding the worst of the tourist crowds, unless you have a better suggestion for 2 nights near our day 13 and 14 sights. The Bussaco Palace Hotel looks amazing! We may have to splurge for that!!

russ_in_LA

Thanks for the info! Day 0 is our flying in day, so we would have 4 full days in Lisbon, starting with Day 1. We were thinking of picking up the rental car after Sintra, but a lot of what you suggests seems like it would require a car. Is that the case? Should we drive to Sintra to see some of the other sights you mention? We will add your other suggestions to our list.

russ_in_LA

I will check out your report for sure. For day 12 I get 4:38 of driving time, which seems busy but doable in a 9-10 hour period, but we could certainly move Monsaraz to Day 10 or 11, or eliminate it completely. Which would you keep between that and Elvas?

russ_in_LA

WOW aulop! I'll be pouring over all of this in the coming days. Thanks for the detailed info!

jeffergray

aulop's comments about security issues, especially in Lisbon, are well worth heeding. Click on the link below to see my memoir of getting pickpocketed in Lisbon. Many Fodorites added useful thoughts of their own about maintaining personal security:

Pickpocketed in Lisbon: A Memoir

As for the driving, I didn't find it at all problematic once I left Lisbon behind (except occasionally when having to negotiate some narrow squeezes in small towns in the full-size sedan I had). The motorways are broad and new and not that heavily trafficked (again, once you get away from Lisbon): I think at one point as I was driving back up to Lisbon from the Algarve, I counted something like 5 cars in view in both directions on the A2 motorway. The A1 and A17 north of Lisbon were also a pleasure to drive.

And I would fully endorse aulop's comments about Queluz. See the pictures below.


One of the garden facades of the palace of Queluz


The throne room of the summer palace at Queluz


Another view of the garden front of the palace of Queluz

Michael

Monsaraz has more appeal:

https://flic.kr/p/2gqDZTF
https://flic.kr/p/2gqE2xs

thursdaysd

I would pick one of Monsaraz and Elvas, and do it on day 10 or 11, as discussed above. Then I would do Obidos and Batalha and perhaps Alcobaca on the way to Nazare. I'd stay in Nazare, or somewhere else on the coast, even if it was a one-nighter. Or maybe skip Nazare and go straight on to Coimbra, doing Fatima and Tomar as day trips, and perhaps Figueira da Foz as well, if you want to visit the Atlantic coast. BTW, unless you have a spiritual interest in Fatima, I thought it eminently skippable.

Don't miss Conimbriga while you are in Coimbra.

Friends of mine visited Portugal a couple of years ago, and decided not to take my advice about Obidos. They told me later that they regretted it.

I didn't actually stay in the Bussaca Palace, just saw the building and the grounds, but would like to.

I commented about my approach to defense against pickpockets on jeffergray's thread. I will add that I interrupted an attempt to steal from my day pack in one of Lisbon's metro stations (not that there was much money there).

Michael

From Nazare we did a day trip to cover Alcobaça, Fatima and Batalha; and it was a full day. The fact that we had visited Batalha before helped, as we did not need to explore it as fully as if it were the first time.

https://flic.kr/p/2gx9SmY
https://flic.kr/p/2gxa2Bf
https://flic.kr/p/7Rnef6

Treesa

I second the suggestion regarding Bussaco Palace. We didn't stay but visited the gardens and had a lovely lunch. Obidos is touristy but a photographer's delight. I found driving in Portugal to be very stressful. I remember once we returned the car a couple of days early so as not to deal with the traffic and the parking.

jeffergray

russ_in_la,

You won't need a rental car to do any of the stuff in Sintra itself; you can do it on foot or by the local buses. And the roads there are narrow, windy, and often congested with both cars and pedestrians. You would need a car to do the Cabo da Roca-Estoril-Cascais circuit (and, actually, you could incorporate Queluz into that pretty easily before returning to Sintra: your route would essentially look like a rectangle, and you could use the large highways on the western perimeter of Lisbon). Alternatively, I bet there are tour operators who run tours from Sintra to Cabo da Roca, Cascais, and Estoril, which would enable you to delay picking up your car until you're ready to leave Sintra. TripAdvisor might have information on these, or check with your hotel in Sintra.

I'll post links below to albums I posted on Flickr relating to the Estremadura area (including Obidos and Alcobaca and Batalha) and Marvao & Castelo da Vide near the Spanish border.

Flickr Slideshows (Photostreams)