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Portugal...5 nights between Porto and Lisbon...where ?

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Deal Addict
Jul 23, 2008
1245 posts
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Montréal

Portugal...5 nights between Porto and Lisbon...where ?

Hi !
We (2 adults and 2 kids) will be In Catalonia and Portugal next summer.

For the Portugal part we have 13 nights.

We have reserved 3 nights in porto: visit teh city itself and do a daytrip (Douro cruise ? Guimaraes? Braga ?)

We also have 5 nights in lisbon from which we back home. We want to relax a bit there since it will be at the end of our 24 days trip . We still want to do a daytrip to Sintra.

That leaves us with 5 nights between those 2 places. We ant to rent a car so we can access more ruarl places. We have a hard time figuring where we could stay to see Coimbra, Obidos, Nazare....

Any help is welcome !
9 replies
Deal Addict
Jun 15, 2015
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Toronto
tostaky wrote: Hi !
We (2 adults and 2 kids) will be In Catalonia and Portugal next summer.

For the Portugal part we have 13 nights.

We have reserved 3 nights in porto: visit teh city itself and do a daytrip (Douro cruise ? Guimaraes? Braga ?)

We also have 5 nights in lisbon from which we back home. We want to relax a bit there since it will be at the end of our 24 days trip . We still want to do a daytrip to Sintra.

That leaves us with 5 nights between those 2 places. We ant to rent a car so we can access more ruarl places. We have a hard time figuring where we could stay to see Coimbra, Obidos, Nazare....

Any help is welcome !
I go to Portugal at least twice a year...

I would go the Algarve - it's about 2 hours south of Lisbon. We usually stay in Albufeira or Lagos. Great beaches and lots of nice resorts.

Cascais is another nice beach town close to Lisbon but I much prefer the Algarve.

Are you flying home from Lisbon? I know of lot of nice Beaches in the northern parts of Portugal as well.
Deal Addict
Jul 23, 2008
1245 posts
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Montréal
Thanks for that answer !Y es we are flying home from Lisbon (We arrive at barcelona and stay In Barcelona and around for 11 nights)

We choose to not go in the Algarve for a simple reason: we dont care at all about beaches. Maybe spent some hours on one we can cross but stay there for 3-4 days is not our cup of tea.

Since you are going ther twice a year maybe you could recommand other places to see. Is 3 nights (including one day trip) for Porto and 5 nights (with daytrips) in lisbon are too much ?
Deal Addict
Nov 30, 2003
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Lisbon I personally found a bit boring, it's a big city but doesn't have much to keep the tourist interested.. but don't miss out on the Portuguese tarts! The best shop for them is in Lisbon

Since you have already committed to your plans, I would dedicate more days or even if you can move your accommodations to Sintra, it's a classic old European town with castles and tons to see, doing a day trip won't do it justice

Algarve is quite the area to see, even if your not into sitting on a beach the scenery is amazing, lots to see and do, and can find some pretty good eats, traditional Portuguese ie the seafood Cataplana, which I believe is more a southern thing

Porto we looked into but decided against, limited in interesting things to see and do
Deal Addict
Jun 15, 2015
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Toronto
tostaky wrote: Thanks for that answer !Y es we are flying home from Lisbon (We arrive at barcelona and stay In Barcelona and around for 11 nights)

We choose to not go in the Algarve for a simple reason: we dont care at all about beaches. Maybe spent some hours on one we can cross but stay there for 3-4 days is not our cup of tea.

Since you are going ther twice a year maybe you could recommand other places to see. Is 3 nights (including one day trip) for Porto and 5 nights (with daytrips) in lisbon are too much ?
My last 2 visits to the Algarve were during the winter months and def not beach and pool weather and we had a wonderful time.

The Algarve has a lot more to offer then Beaches (the coastline is stunning with cliffs - very unique). We drove up and down the coastal towns. Sagres is stunning. Also if you have a rental car you can make a day trip to Seville (1+ hour away).

Lots of great dining there and a variety of accomodations.
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Apr 26, 2004
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Mississauga
I'm planning my Portugal trip too. Some interesting destinations that haven't been mentioned yet are Tomar, Evora, Batalha, and Alcobaca. I think I'll visit Tomar. Its Templar castle looks amazing.
Deal Addict
Jul 23, 2008
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Montréal
Thanks for those answers. So Porto and Lisbon are boring nothing to do and Algarve a lot to do. Can you define what is '' a lot to do'' ? I dont know if any of you have been travelling with kids but cliffs, great restaurants ...And Seville would be too hot for my taste ans will means much more time than wat we have. If we decide to go in the Algarve it means that, of course, that we will have to drop something.

Tomar (you are right about that Templar castle) and Batalha are on our list. Evora will be for another time since it's a bit out of the way for the time we got.
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Dec 18, 2007
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tostaky wrote: Thanks for those answers. So Porto and Lisbon are boring nothing to do and Algarve a lot to do. Can you define what is '' a lot to do'' ? I dont know if any of you have been travelling with kids but cliffs, great restaurants ...And Seville would be too hot for my taste ans will means much more time than wat we have. If we decide to go in the Algarve it means that, of course, that we will have to drop something.

Tomar (you are right about that Templar castle) and Batalha are on our list. Evora will be for another time since it's a bit out of the way for the time we got.
Lisbon is not boring. Ton's of history there. Tower of Belen and Caste of San Miguel stand out. I found it neat to just wander around and explore.
Can't comment on Porto, I did look into it when I went but decided on going to Madrid and a desert trek in Morocco. No regrets but definitively want to go to Porto at some point, but I'm really into Port wines (well wines in general) so that's my main reason.

I'm also not a beach person though, so couldn't do more than a day or 2 so don't blame you there.

Why not go up to Galicia? It's not exactly a common area of Spain, but from what I've seen it's looks nice.
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Feb 16, 2003
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I second the sugestions to visit Tomar, Batalha, and Alcobaca.

Leiria has a nice castle that you can visit as well, kids love castles.

i recommend stopping in Mealhada to taste a Portuguese traditional food, succulent piglet.

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