Hello all,

I’m looking for itinerary suggestions for our upcoming trip to Portugal this summer. Here’s our info:

• Family of 4, 2 pre-teen kids.
• Flying from Canada to Lisbon in late June, flying out of Porto early July.
• 15 days, 14 nights.
• We like cities big and small, we’re used to walking a lot during our vacations. We also like nature and beautiful scenery. Not big fans of spending a lot of time on the beach though. For reference, one of the highlights of our vacation in England was walking the seven sisters trail.

So far we know we’ll be spending 4 or 5 nights in Lisbon, with a day trip to Sintra. At the end maybe 3 or 4 nights in Porto. We’d like to visit the Douro valley. Coimbra too. We’re thinking about going to the Algarve but haven’t decided yet. If we do it would be for the scenery and the cute towns and not for the beach.

What would you recommend? Also, would you recommend renting a car or using public transportation?

You might consider a night or two in Sintra rather than a day trip. There's certainly enough to do there to justify two days time, and if you only go as a day trip at that time of year it will be absolutely swamped with other day trippers.

If you aren't interested in beach time, skipping the Algarve might make sense.

So 4 or 5 nights in Listbon, 1 or 2 in Sintra, 1 or better 2 in Coimbra, 3 or 4 in Porto ... you're close to your allotted time! You could round out your trip with stops in Evora or Elvas, in Guimaraes or Braga, some of the magnificent monasteries between Lisbon and Porto (Alcobaca, Batalha, Tomar)....

Do you have a good guidebook? I thought the Michelin Green excellent for Portugal.

Hope that helps!