Porto & Lisbon

funkey_monkey

Looking to visit Porto & Lisbon for a trip at the end of next month. Is the following a suitable itinerary.


1: am arrive Lisbon - Train to Porto
1: pm Porto sightseeing

2: am/pm Porto sightseeing

3: am/pm Duoro trip

4: am Porto -> Lisbon (Train)

4: pm Lisbon sightseeing

5: am/pm Lisbon sightseeing

6: am/pm Lisbon sightseeing

7: am/pm Sintra trip

8: am/pm Belem trip

9: am/pm Lisbon stroll/relax/shopping

10: depart Lisbon


How would you travel to these destinations?
RyanAir are the cheapest, but as they are striking etc at the minute I'm not sure if I want to go with them. I'm expecting to travel mid week in order to get a cheaper flight and avoid some of the eejits. They also fly direct into Porto.
Aer Lingus who I prefer over RyanAir have evening flights both ways getting into Lisbon at 21:45 and arriving back in Dublin at 01:05.
TAP have much better time slots, but are the most expensive.

I'm not sure if the cabin baggage allowance would be sufficient for me as I need to bring medicines with me.

Anyhow, does the itinerary look okay?

edeldonlon

Looks good. Why not fly direct to Porto?

You could swap one of your lisbon days for obidos if you wanted another day out of the city

funkey_monkey

Only Ryan air fly direct into Porto.
Wondering if I should avoid them.

uck51js9zml2yt

edeldonlon wrote: »

Looks good. Why not fly direct to Porto?

You could swap one of your lisbon days for obidos if you wanted another day out of the city

Agreed, fly to Porto. Depart Lisbon or visa versa

dennyk

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Only Ryan air fly direct into Porto.
Wondering if I should avoid them.

Ryanair's fine as long as you know the rules and fees involved (pay for priority or you don't get a large cabin bag, pay to reserve a seat or you'll end up stuck somewhere in the middle seat away from your traveling companions, etc.). They get you from A to B as reliably as anyone else.

funkey_monkey

The arrival time with RyanAir isn't great into Porto - 22:25. They are the only airline travelling direct to Porto from Dublin.

TAP can get me into Lisbon at 13:15. RyanAir can get me into Lisbon at 09:35 or 20:40. Aer Lingus can only manage 21:45.

Aer Lingus winter schedule is shocking. They arrive back in Dublin from Lisbon at 01:05. RyanAir are back in at 23:55 or 12:50. TAP are back at 16:45.

Flight time is ~ 2:45.


Although I suppose given that the train time is also ~2:45 and metro required to Oriente then there might be less in it than I first thought. Sometimes writing things down clarifies things. I've not flown with RyanAir before and was always hesitant to do so for some odd reason!

Factor in that I have to travel Belfast to the airport too.

Preference is to end in Lisbon as I will be spending majority of my time there.

dennyk

Sure, if a 13:15 arrival in Lisbon (or the 09:35 Ryanair flight) and taking the train to Porto the same day works better for your schedule, then it makes sense to go that route.

missmatty

Sounds like a great itinerary. I did something similar with friends a few years ago but flew into Faro and spent a day there first before heading to Lisbon & Porto, Faro is quite a nice place. Sintra is a lovely spot for a day trip too. If I were you I would probably fly direct to Porto.

funkey_monkey

As a solo traveller would anyone consider driving alone? I found this itinerary which I could mesh in with own:

Day 1: Porto - Fly in, explore Ribeira, ride a funicular & do some shopping
Day 2: Porto to Douro Valley - Embark on a river boat to Portugal's top wine region
Day 3: Drive Porto to Coimbra
Day 4: Drive Coimbra to Nazare to Obidos
Day 5: Drive from Obidos to Peniche to Sintra
Day 6: Sintra - Sightseeing, a magical garden & lots of photo ops
Day 7: Drive from Sintra to Lisbon via some amazing beaches
Day 8: Lisbon - Explore the waterfront & head to an aquarium
Day 9: Lisbon - Explore the old Alfama neighbourhood & experience Lisbon's nightlife
Day 10: Head back home from Lisbon

(Ref: https://lazytrips.com/trip/portugal-road-trip-the-ultimate-porto-to-lisbon-drive)

I'm just wary of driving alone as I've never drove outside of Ireland.

Unshelved

Your itinerary looks great. Did the Douro Cruise from Porto a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Haven't driven in Portugal but have used the bus network a lot and have noticed that a lot of motorways have quite high tolls - something to bear in mind if you're going to be driving.

There's not a huge amount to see in Obidos or Nazaré (although I really like both places) so I think you're right to swap seeing them for an extra day in Lisbon. If you were thinking of travelling by bus instead of the car you could overnight in Nazaré.

grimm2005

I'd personally fly into Porto and out of Lisbon as it looks like the Lisbon to Porto train take the guts of 3 hours and when you include getting to the correct station from the airport and waiting for train etc, that would probably be a pretty tiring day. Choice of airline wouldn't really factor in for me as price is king for me personally with times being second as most short haul airlines offer pretty comparable service these days.

I haven't been to Porto but based on your original itinerary, the Lisbon parts all look great, the only thing I'd change is day 8 as I don't think you'd spend a full day in Belem. It's only about 15 minutes on the tram from centre of Lisbon and I think you could handily fit it in to one of the Lisbon sightseeing days. I'd put a day trip to Cascais in for day 8 instead. It's the same distance from Lisbon as Sintra but there's s different more laid back beachy vibe to it. I would definitely prioritise Sintra over the two myself with that much time you could comfortably get to both.

funkey_monkey

Has anyone got a good itinerary or recommended city tour for Porto?
Anything that should be on my must see/do list?

funkey_monkey

Still trying to get some time off work:rolleyes:

What are the best areas of Porto and Lisbon to stay in? They seem to book up quickly and are expensive.
Just looking for a decent hotel/B&B, nothing lavish.

ted1

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Only Ryan air fly direct into Porto.
Wondering if I should avoid them.

No, why would you ? They fly over 100,000,000 passengers each year. You’ll always hear negative stories when they fly that many.

funkey_monkey

Yes, I'm beyond that query now. Flying into Porto and out of Lisbon, probably both with Ryanair.

Has anyone been to either in mid to late November? The weather report seems to say approximately half of the days were rainy.
Stilll looking advice on the areas.

funkey_monkey

Well, I didn't get the time off from work, so this was parked over Christmas and I'm now looking into it again.

Here is my plan for Porto:

• Riberia & Funciular dos Guindais
• Palacio do Bolsa
• Teleferico de Gaia down to Vila Nova de Gaia
• Ponte de Dom Luis I
• The Se
• Night in Baxia
• Torre dos Clerigos
• Tram to Foz do Douro (0.5 – 1.0 day at the sea? Worthwhile in February?)
• Linha du Douro - day trip to Douro

How long would this take? I'm not sure how long this would all take and whether I should add in another destination such as Guimaraes, Braga or Aveiro. Any suggestions?
Also, Foz do Douro - worthwhile?

Are there any good walking tours for Porto?


What would be the recommendations for Lisbon?

dennyk

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Well, I didn't get the time off from work, so this was parked over Christmas and I'm now looking into it again.

Here is my plan for Porto:

• Riberia & Funciular dos Guindais
• Palacio do Bolsa
• Teleferico de Gaia down to Vila Nova de Gaia
• Ponte de Dom Luis I
• The Se
• Night in Baxia
• Torre dos Clerigos
• Tram to Foz do Douro (0.5 – 1.0 day at the sea? Worthwhile in February?)
• Linha du Douro - day trip to Douro

How long would this take? I'm not sure how long this would all take and whether I should add in another destination such as Guimaraes, Braga or Aveiro. Any suggestions?
Also, Foz do Douro - worthwhile?

Are there any good walking tours for Porto?


What would be the recommendations for Lisbon?

For Porto, you could see the sights (Se, Torre dos Clerigos, the Riberia, the bridge, and Vila Nova de Gaia) all in one day, if you really wanted to. Bolsa might be tricky; it's closed to visitors for the latter half of February. Guided tours are available at certain times throughout the day otherwise, but only a couple were in English, as I recall, so your time options might be limited.

The funicular isn't anything particularly special, just a funicular. OK views, I suppose, but there are better. (You'd have a better one from the top of the city wall there, but I couldn't find a way to get up to it when I was there a couple years back; it seemed to be closed to the public at the time...). The funicular is handy if you need to get to the top quickly, but otherwise isn't worth queuing for or anything.

The Teleferico does offer some nice views, though it's a short enough ride. Handy for getting back to the top of the bridge, though. I'd ride it back from the riverfront up to the top, though; on your way down, take the opportunity to have a wander down the back alleys of Vila Nova de Gaia instead.


If you're there a bit longer, the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal are worth a visit; lovely terraced gardens and several beautiful viewpoints.

Foz do Douro has some beaches and the big fort and some lighthouses and such, so if that interests you, it'd probably be worth a look. I wouldn't plan on swimming or sunbathing, necessarily, but if you just wanted to chill at the beach for a bit, it'd probably be nice (assuming you get good weather).

I had a very nice port and chocolate tasting at Kopke, though they don't have a cellar you can visit, just a shop. If you want the full cellar tour experience, though, there's plenty of places to choose from, both the big commercial ones like Sandeman and a fair number of smaller places as well. You might need to book ahead at some, so check and make sure.

Also, definitely pop into Petisqueira Voltaria sometime for some of the best food in the city. Their black pork cheek sandwich is seriously one of the best things I've ever eaten.

Guimarães is definitely worth a visit. I actually spent a few nights there, but you could do a day trip to see the highlights easily enough. The castle and Dukes' Palace are impressive, and the small historic city centre makes for a lovely stroll.

funkey_monkey

Thanks for such a detailed reply. From reading around and from your reply, it seems that Porto itself could be covered easily in two days.
Add in a day each for Guimarães & Douro Valley. 4 in total?

Would you spend the day fully in Guimarães or would you do a combined and Braga trip?

0. Arrive
1. Walking tour Porto
2. Porto
3. Guimarães
4. Douro Valley
5. Depart for Lisbon

JohnCleary

Fly into Porto, fly out Lisbon - no brainer.

Flew to Porto with Ryanair a while back - absolutely no issues (I've never had an issue with Ryanair... don't get me started on Aer Lingus).

We were 4 nights in Porto and needed every minute (including a day trip to Douro Valley). Same as Lisbon, been twice for 4 nights each time and needed every bit of those 4 nights each time.

funkey_monkey

Might finally get around to doing this trip soon!

kyrasubmit

Agreed, fly to Porto

jessmilligann

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