Hello All,

I'm usually vey good at planning trips and enjoy all of the research.
My husband & I are planning a last minute trip to Portugal in September and I'm feeling very overwhelmed - so asking for help as I continue my research.

We will be in Portugal for 5 full days. We arrive in Lisbon at 8AM on a Thursday and the departure from Lisbon is 10AM Tuesday.

As we don't have a lot of time, we are considering visiting Lisbon & Porto, with a day trip to Sintra.

In regard to itinerary, do you recommend that we go directly to Porto and then to Lisbon, as we need to leave Lisbon so early on the departure date.
2 Days in Porto
3 days in Lisbon, with a day trip to Sintra

Sintra has been highly recommended and we want to visit, so thoughts on if we'll have enough time in Lisbon.

What is the best way to travel to these cities, from airport and from city to city? My husband has had some recent health issues so we're not as energetic as usual! We can walk throughout the day, but in regard to transfers from city to city, it can be difficult to take trains with our luggage. I'm not saying that we can't do it, but need to understand what's involved (ie: take cab to the train station, or hire private driver, etc).

Hotel & restaurant suggestions are welcome. I've looked at a few hotels and they're already booked, so I need to finalize itinerary soon,

Thank you in advance for your feedback.

It really depends on what you want to see and experience, but FWIW:

• I wish I'd given Lisbon more than 4 full days.
• I was glad to give Porto 3 full days.
• I was glad to give Sintra 2 full days.

If you decide to visit all three in just 5 days, yes -- go to Porto first. Go by train. Consult seat61.com for exactly how to do it.

Good luck with your planning!

With just five days, I'd stick to one location (in your case Lisbon), and make a day trip to Sintra from there.

We spent five nights each in Porto and Lisbon and could have spent more time in Porto. We also spent three nights in Sintra, so doing all three in five days really is too much IMO.

Getting from Lisbon to Porto will take about 3.5 hours if driving, more if by public transport. Then back to Lisbon, the same. That's alot of time getting from place to place in so few days. The better part of two days will be filled with just transferring.

If it were me, flying in and out of Lisbon, I'd just stay in Lisbon the whole time and visit Porto when you have time to do it justice.

As I’m mapping this out, I think we’ll stay in Lisbon and do a day trip. The initial plan had too much traveling limiting our time in each city. Lisbon as a home base is less hectic.

any suggestions on areas to stay/ hotels? Many hotels are booked. I made reservations at Eurostars Lisboa Baixa. We prefer more boutique type of hotel so were still looking and open to feedback.

thank you

Focusing on Lisbon makes a lot of sense!

If you are still committed to visiting Sintra, you might want to go straight there from Lisbon's airport -- you can get there using public transportation. Staying in Sintra for your first night would give you at least a little time before the masses of tourists arrive. Whether you do that or try for a day trip, you'll need to be very selective, so it would be a benefit to think through your priorities in advance.

If you search this board, you'll find a number of discussions of hotels in Lisbon.

We really liked the Eurostars in Porto, but haven't stayed at the one in Lisbon.

We found Baixa a good location - and it's flat!

We stayed here, and really enjoyed it - https://visionaireapartments.com/

You might enjoy the tile museum in Lisbon, I certainly did.

With such limited amount of time, I would just do Lisbon and Sintra and save Porto for a different trip. We did Sintra as a day trip that our hotel concierge booked for us with Hello Portugal. It was a small van that took us to Sintra, having picked us up in Rossio Square, in time for first group to be admitted to palace, then a stop at the marker for the westernmost point of continental Europe and then to Cascais. You can get to Sintra by train but then need a cab or bus to get to the town itself and then the same to get up the hill to the palace entrance. We did walk down the hill to the town as we had time to walk around and have coffee and a pastry before meeting up with our guide.

Should we assume you mean the Pena Palace? There's also the National Palace of Sintra, not to mention Qunita da Regaleira and the Palace of Monserrate. (Sintra also has a Moorish Castle and several other sites of interest to some of us.)

Yes, sorry not to be specific. Lisbon was the end of our trip in which we did a circle as we drove to Evora for two nights initially and returned our rental car to Lisbon airport before heading into Lisbon for three nights. If I were to do this trip again, I would have spent another night in charming Evora and did day trips. I would have spent a night in Sintra, rather than doing it as a day trip from Lisbon. My cousin and her two daughters did a six day trip during Feb school break a few years ago with two nights in Sintra, two nights in Cascais and two nights in Lisbon. They used Uber to travel from place to place.

My favorite is Porto and the greater area (Vila Nova de Gaia, Foz, Matosinhos, Douro Valley). I've been there many times over the years and highly prefer it to Lisbon where we spent 5 days last year which was one day too many for me.

Recommend the Corpo Santo hotel in Lisbon. Uber is cheap in Portugal but Bolt is even cheaper.

You and me both Myriam.

I’d go straight to Porto on arrival (2 days), then finish in Lisbon (3 days with one for Sintra) so you’re close to the airport. The train between Lisbon–Porto takes about 3 hours and is very comfortable. Both cities are walkable but hilly – Uber is cheap and, for a fun option in Porto, you can even take a tuk tuk tour instead of walking uphill.

Thank you all for your comments.