hikrchick

Hello Portugal experts! After more time than I expected, our flights and hotels are set (thanks Maribel for the recommendation of flying into LIS and out of Porto) and now I need to work on an itinerary for Lisbon, Coimbra and Porto. I've done some basic research and have a guidebook, but still need to study MaiTai Tom's adventure. And I would welcome advice and suggestions!
The schedule looks like this:
April 18: Flight from EWR to LIS
April 19: Arrive LIS, overnight at Hotel Heritage Avenida Libertade (thank you Maribel for the suggestion!)
April 20: overnight LIS
April 21: overnight LIS
April 22: overnight LIS
April 23: Leave LIS, train to Coimbra (times TBD), overnight at Quinta das Lagrimas
April 24: overnight Coimbra
April 25: Leave Coimbra, train to Porto (times TBD), overnight at Hotel Vincci Porto
April 26: Overnight Porto
April 27: Overnight Porto
April 28: Overnight Porto
April 29: 6 p.m. Flight from Porto to EWR

So we are 4 nights Lisbon, 2 nights Coimbra and 4 nights Porto.
On my list to fit into the itinerary is the Jewish walking tour of Lisbon, some time in Belem, Alfama, hopefully a visit to the Roman ruins in Coimbra, maybe a tour of the university like MaiTai did, and in Porto, a day-trip to the Douro Valley with some wineries. We love walking around, photography, and museums. We also love botanical gardens. We are early risers, rather than late-night partiers, though I would like to see a fado performance one evening. I would love some suggestions of things you have enjoyed in Lisbon/Coimbra/Porto. We will not have a car.

Thank you!

KarenWoo

In Lisbon we loved the Gulbenkian Museum. It was a highlight of our trip. We also enjoyed the Castelo de Sao Jorge, which you can combine with your visit to the Alfama neighborhood.

While in Belem, be sure to take the elevator to the top of the Discoveries Monument. The line is much shorter than the line for the Belem Tower (at least it was in 2018) and the views are spectacular. We also liked the Coach Museum in Belem.

We did not have time to visit the Tile Museum but I have seen photos and it looks gorgeous!

HappyTrvlr

In Lisbon make sure you visit the Tile Museum, Gulbekian Museum and in Belem, the Jeronimos Monastery with its beautiful Manueline architecture.We enjoyed the Coach Museum in Belem too and seeing where the explorers departed from on the river to explore new worlds.
We loved staying at the Quinta de Lagrimas in Coimbra and hope you enjoy it too! They have an excellent dining room too. Read up on King Pedro and his love, Inés, who had a history there! Do take the tour of the university in Coimbra.
We never got to a late night Fado performance but wish we had. We also stayed in Evora, Guimares up in the Minho and Obidos. We especially loved historic Guimares, Portugal’s first capital city. After Porto we had a taxi take us across the border into Galicia, Spain to continue our journey. You could do a day trip to Santiago de Compostela, Spain if you have the time.It was another trip highlight for us.

hikrchick

Thank you, KarenWoo -- that tip about Belem is great!

hikrchick

I appreciate all the Lisbon tips! And you've stayed at the Quinta hotel in Coimbra too -- I'm so relieved to hear that someone else has been there and liked it. We'll be coming into Coimbra by train -- did you do the same? I guess we'll take a taxi from the train station .... does that sound about right to you?

And a tour of the university is on the list -- do I have to make a reservation in advance?

HappyTrvlr

We had a car as we left Lisbon and dropped it outside of Porto.Maribel also stayed at La Quinta de las Lagrimas. It was wonderful and as mentioned, the dining room is exceptional.I was delighted to see it mentioned here.
Read up on King Pedro and his Inés as there was a lot of artwork devoted to them at the Quinta!