r/TravelPortugal

My partner and I are planning a 10-day trip to Portugal at the end of July to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We're thinking of spending around 3.5 days in Lisbon and the rest of the trip in the Algarve, but we haven't decided on the order yet.

Where would you recommend we spend our actual anniversary day, Lisbon or the Algarve? We're looking for something romantic and memorable, so we'd really appreciate any suggestions for special activities, restaurants, or experiences.

Thanks a lot in advance!

We are travelling to Porto on Tuesday and have booked two nights in Douro valley. I'm a little scared of the fires going on in Portugal now, and I'm contemplating on cancelling the Douro booking. We have a rental car to drive there.

Would you say it's risky to drive from Porto to Douro? The booking is next saturday, but I can cancel for free until tomorrow.

Hi! I'm looking to do a solo trip next year for about two weeks. I mainly want to visit porto, lisbon and the algarve (maybe a couple day trips from porto or lisbon). I have some questions.

\- How many days should i spend in those areas (considering I would be there 14 full days)?
\- Are there great hostels in every one of those areas?
\- Is it safe to solo travel (22 year old female)
\- How much money should I plan for (I want to budget, cause i'm from Canada and the plane tickets to europe are already pretty expensive lol)
\-what other regions should I visit?

We're spending a week in Porto in late September and then on to Lisbon for a few days. Was originally going to rent a car but better judgement says to not struggle with a car in Lisbon. We will each have a suitcase and a small backpack. So, what are your thoughts for getting from Porto to Lisbon? Train? Hire a driver? Not interested in the bus. TIA.

I am driving down from Lisbon on Thursday Sep 24 and driving back the morning of Thursday Oct 1 to catch my flight back home.

I am debating between 2 options:

1. Spending the whole week in 1 town as a base (possibly Lagos?) and doing day trips with the car to explore different beaches/towns (Portimao, Carvoeiro, Albufeira, Falesia, etc)

2. Splitting the week at 2 hotels (1 in Lagos and 1 further east like Albufeira?) I would spend the time in Lagos exploring locally and then from Albufeira exploring different towns.

I am not averse to packing up and switching hotels midweek as I am used to this when traveling in Europe.

How would you spend your week in the Algarve? Does Lagos make sense as a base? TIA!

My husband and I are going to Portugal at the end of the summer for ten nights. We are in our mid-late 30s and like a mix of exploring and slow pace (beach, relax, etc).

Our loose itinerary is 4 nights Lisbon; 2 nights Douro Valley; 4 nights Algarve. I’m a bit torn on if we should do Porto instead of Douro Valley and just do a day trip. Also, I am completely lost on where to start with towns in the Algarve. Any recommendations are appreciated!

My boyfriend and I are traveling to Portugal in mid-October and could use some advice on our itinerary. Our original plan was to fly into Lisbon, spend 2 days there, then take the train to Porto for 3 days.

We would like to do one day trip/night in Cascais or Duoro Valley. What would you recommend based on the time of year and travel time? Should we take one night from Porto for a night in Cascais or is it too cool at that time of year? Thank you!

Helloooo my girlfriend and I are thinking of renting a car and doing a 6 day loop from Lisbon through the Algarve region and ending up back in Lisbon.

I have a friend who we will be staying with for a week in Lisbon afterwards.

Wondering if anyone has done anything similar/has recommendations for where to stay. We have both done Lagos before and will probably skip it. We don’t really party, like food, hiking and beaches.

Obrigaaaadooo ❤️.

Hi everyone! My husband and I are planning on doing an 8 night trip to Portugal this month from Toronto. We plan on flying home from Lisbon

I would have loved to go the algarve (I was thinking Lagos?), alveiro and Lisbon, but logistically it is easier for us to fly into Porto since there is a direct flight from Billund, Denmark, where we will be right before going to Portugal.
We have an 8 month old and I’ve read the hills in Portugal can be quite cumbersome.
Does anyone have any suggestions on our itinerary?
What are your thoughts on Porto with a baby?
Is it worth including the algarve?
Any advice would help, thank you so much!!

Has anyone been through EES arrivals at the Porto airport within the last few weeks? How long did it take? I land from a non-Schengen flight at 7 am on Saturday and am trying to get an idea of how long to plan for it. Thank you!

Hello,

We will be travelling from Porto to Lagos by train. We will first take an IC train from Porto Campanhã to Lisboa Oriente.

At Lisboa Oriente, we have a 10-minute connection to another IC train heading to Tunes.

Assuming our first train arrives on time, is 10 minutes generally enough to make the connection at Oriente? Are the IC platforms usually close to each other?

Thank you!

So my friend(F34) and I(F35) are going to Portugal for 3 weeks. We will be kind of digital nomads so working some and exploring a ton. We are architects so mainly looking at cool buildings and dancing and people watching and day trips (open to recommendations especially if non touristy)

Anyways our debate:

She wants to do the geographically logical thing and head south by going Porto (5 nights) -> Lisbon (10 nights) -> Lagos (4ish nights)

For what I understand the vibes to be I was thinking we should do Lisbon -> Lagos -> Porto with same amount of nights as above. For a more fast city, then beach, then chill.

What order would yall suggest?

Other info:
We plan to take the train between Lisbon and Lagos and fly between the rest. Should we take the train between Porto and Lisbon for ease?

We will probably fly between Lagos and Porto if we go with my order of cities.

Other recs we would be open to if you want to share (can dm if you don’t want to give away you best kept secrets) are second hand/vintage/thrift spots, and type of vintage or cool markets, must have food spots and coolest buildings (old or new) and best views!

Thanks!

Hi guys, planning to stay in Sintra 3rd, 4th, 5th July and come back on the morning of 6th. Need advice on how to plan the day and best things to do in Sintra. I have tried to plan online but the city and overall its seems overwhelming. I will have a car and we are staying in a hut Airbnb.

Would love all the advice. Our main reason to go there is to lay off and see the castles. We generally like visiting tourist attractions, open to good hiking or Miradouros too. Reason of asking here is I have heard Sintra can be very confusing and challenging to navigate.

Depois de 9 anos emigrado, lancei finalmente um projeto meu - LusoSIM

Durante esse tempo viajei bastante e perdi a conta às vezes que tive problemas com roaming, internet móvel lenta ou simplesmente com o facto de chegar ao meu país e não ter dados disponíveis.

Por isso criei a LusoSIM.

É uma empresa portuguesa focada em eSIMs para emigrantes, visitantes e viajantes que precisam de internet em Portugal sem complicações.

https://lusosim.com

Ainda estou numa fase inicial e já tenho o site, pagamentos e parceria telecom operacional. Agora estou a tentar perceber se a ideia realmente faz sentido para outras pessoas.

Gostava de ouvir opiniões honestas:
Usam eSIM quando viajam?
O que mais valorizam num serviço destes?
Há algo que vos deixe desconfiados num operador novo?
Todo o feedback é bem-vindo. 😊

Hi, We're visiting Porto and Lisbon this summer and want to take the train between the cities. We're staying in city center and I'm seeing conflicting advice. The CP web site allows me to book from Sao Bento to Rossio but guides say intercity trains don't go to those stations (but you get free transfer to local train). Which is correct? What's the best plan (we have luggage) to train station transfer would be tiresome; prefer taxi or Uber in that case)

hi guys! i’m a 24 year old woman planning a solo trip to Portugal in the beginning of September and I’m looking for some advice. here’s my loose plan right now but looking for any recommendations/changes. i’m open to anything! I love hiking, meeting new people, trying local food, adventure things in general. really not opposed to anything! i’m also planning to stay in hostels so any recs of those would be perfect. This will be my first time staying in hostels so i’d love a social one where I could meet other people!

days 1-5 - Lisbon
day 1 - arrive and explore Lisbon
day 2 - explore Lisbon
day 3- day trip to Sintra?
day 4- see Belem
day 5- maybe day trip to Cascais?

days 6-9: Lagos
ponta de piedade
praia do camilo
praia dona ana

days 10-14: Madeira
Not a lot of plans yet but definitely want to do some hiking. I’ve heard Porto Da Cruz is cool
also heard that I should do the highest zipline in Europe with Adrenaline Adventure?

days 15-17: Porto
i’ve heard to do a day trip to douro valley?
also to see Livraria Lello?

these are some hostels I heard about
G spot hostel
good morning solo traveler hostel
home - lisbon hostel
cais de sodre hostel
yes! lisbon hostel

Hey!

I'll be travelling to Portugal for a week starting 1st of July (Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon). I've just seen the forecast and seems like the temperatures are going to be as high as 38 degrees Celcius.

I want to ask for any advice how to properly manage with this kind of heat - what to visit and when, is the ocean breeze strong in Porto and Lisbon and will that cool us down a little, is almost all day walking doable in this kind of weather etc.?

We already have planned a trip to the Pena Palace in Sintra and few more, but just want to ask for an advice from a local/someone who has been there in similar temperatures.

Thanks!