Itinerary
Day 0 - Fly to Lisbon (Land next day early AM)
Day 1 - Lisbon
Day 2 - Lisbon (Greater Lisbon Area)
Day 3 - Lisbon
Day 4 - Drive to Porto
Day 5 - Porto
Day 6 - Drive to Douro Valley (Wine Country)
Day 7 - Douro Valley
Day 8 - Drive to Algarve
Day 9 - Algarve
Day 10 - Algarve
Day 11 - Drive to Lisbon / Fly Out
Lisbon
We used our first and third day in Lisbon to simply explore the city on our own. The thing about Lisbon is unlike other European cities like Paris are Prague there aren’t many “can’t miss” sights in our opinion in Lisbon. Rather, the beauty of the city is exploring and getting lost in its many neighborhoods that all are connecting.
Sights
Baixa Neighborhood - More modern shopping area,considered to be the centre of the city
Rua Augusta - Walk along Baixa’s main commercial street and you will see most of the neighborhood and sights listed below...
Arco da Rua Augusta - Arch that is at the very end of Rua Augusta that you can climb up for an overlook of the city
Rossio and Praça da Figueira - two main squares in Lisbon
Elevador de Santa Justa - Elevator connecting Barrio Alta to this neighborhood that people wait in line to ride up. There is usually a long line so we just took a picture
Alfama Neighborhood
Castelo de Sao Jorge (Alfama) - Castle overlooking the city. Probably the one main tourist site in the city
Miradouro de Santa Luzia - viewpoint near the castle
Barrio Alta Neighborhood
Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara - Another great viewpoint
Tons of fun restaurants and bars. One of our favorite areas
Principe Real Neighborhood
Where we stayed. Adjacent to Barrio Alta. Cool Concept Stores and Shopping and hip vibe
Chiado Neighborhood
Neighborhood below Barrio Alta, cool photo opportunities for the rail car connecting Bario Alta with the Chiado neighborhood
Sintra
Don’t need more than a half day. Also don’t need a private guide. Can easily take the train. We had a very foggy day. Supposedly very picturesque castles but also extremely touristy with tour buses rolling in and out, flooded with people. Skippable with limited time!
Estoril/Casatril
We just had lunch here and checked out the beaches. If you aren’t hitting up the Algarve or other beaches on the trip and are craving some beach time, then this would be the spot. Otherwise also skippable with limited time!
Belem
Visited the Jeronimos Monastary and Tower of Belem. Also got the famous pastry (Pastel de nata). This outside neighborhood is easily accessible from Lisbon via a rail car/metra and if you are looking for more sights to see outside central Lisbon it is a good option that deserves a half day.
Restaurants
Cantinho do Avillez - Famous Portuguese Chef Jose Avillez has a number of restaurants around Lisbon and Porto. One of his restaurants, Belcanto is Michelin starred and may be on the top 50 restaurants in the world list. This is his supposedly one of his most casual. Recommended by a number of people. We had a reservation. Not memorable in our opinion.
Taberna Rua Das Flores - Another one highly recommended to us. Great tapas style plates. Not too pricey and great food. Pro Tip: No reservations so you need to show up right when it opens or even a half hour beforehand otherwise they will turn you away. It was very good but don’t worry if you don’t make it here or don’t want to show up so early as there are tons of other great options in the city.
Cervejaria Ramiro - My favorite meal of the trip. Tons of seafood. No reservations. Come early but you can drink beer in their patio from a beer vending machine while you wait!
TimeOut Market - Huge food hall near the train station with tons of options. Also not a must-stop but if you have time or want lots of options it is good to know about.
Atalho Real - Stumbled into this place for lunch in the Principe Real neighborhood where we were staying. Great steak sandwich for lunch. Very good if you are in this area
Porto
Similar to Lisbon, Porto doesn’t have many “must-see” sights so I would recommend spending a day or two wandering the city and getting lost in its streets. The beauty in the city isn’t necessarily in one or two sights but in the whole city that lies along the Duoro River. It is very hilly so expect to be sore from all the walking and wear good shoes. I would budget a half day for the area along the river (seen below) and a half day to full day for the city center depending on how many sights you want to see.
Sights
Riberia district
Our favorite area of Porto with restaurants along the river and patios to sit out. Have at least a meal or a drink down here along the river
Vila Nova de Gaia
The area across the River from the city with all the Port Houses and also the 360 Terrace Rooftop. Pick a Port House for a tour (usually hour long and can be arranged the day of)
Port Tour (Ferreira Cellar)
There are lots of options and I think they are all about the same from what we heard. We did the Ferreira tour. Try to fit in a Port tour if you have time since it is what the area is known for!
City Centre
Cathedral of Porto, São Bento train station, Rue de Flores, Avenida dos Aliados, Clérigos Tower, Stock Exchange Building:The Livaria Lello (famous bookstore)
The Stock Exchange Building is not actually a stock market. You need a tour to see it. We never went in but supposedly pretty cool
Livaria Lello is a famous bookstore and supposedly the inspiration for JK Rowling for Harry Potter. Long lines to get in and very crowded and touristy. Depends how big of a Harry Potter fan you are, but I enjoyed it.
Restaurants
Taberna dos mercadores - Highly recommended to us by friends. Another tiny taberna with minimal seating (similar to Taberna Rua Flores in Lisbon) but this one takes reservations so call ahead of time. Great experience here.
Cafe Santiago for the Francesinha - The Francesinha is a Triple decker sandwich (pretty much a grilled cheese with ham but three layers smothered in more cheese and gravy). I got one here which is supposedly a famous place to get it.
360 Terrace: Awesome rooftop for drinks (Port and Tonic). If you don’t make it here because of the limited hours try to check out another one of Porto’s rooftops.
Yeatman Hotel: We didn’t go here but highly recommended and Michellin star restaurant in Porto.
Duoro Valley
Favorite spot of the trip. Amazing Scenery. Spend as much time here as you can :). We spent our time visiting vineyards (quintas as the area calls them) relaxing and drinking wine.
Sights
Quinta Nova
We stayed here so we did their tour which was solid. Amazing views. They also have walking trails. We did not eat at their fancy restaurant
Quinta de Popa
The other Quinta we visited. It is a low key operation but solid tour and tasting with amazing views.
Boat Tour
We did an hour long boat tour (not guided, just floating down the river) leaving from the docks of Pinhao. They depart every few hours but they stop running around 4 or 5. Check with your hotel for times. This can be easily arranged once you are there. We brought some wine on our boat.
D.O.C.
Douro’s famous restaurant along the river. Worth hitting up for an amazing meal and view
General Tips
On Accommodations: We stayed on a Quinta (vineyard), The Quinta Nova, which was an incredible experience. We were also recommended the Six Senses (near Regua) but it was full and the Vintage House (in Pinhao) (both on the south side). AirBNB is another great option.
On Driving: The valley has two sides (north and south). We stayed on the north side at Quinta Nova. The roads are extremely treacherous on this side and it takes 30 minutes to drive 5 miles to town because of how many switchbacks the roads have and they are essentially one lane. However it is very quiet on this side and we loved the quinta we stayed at (Quinta Nova). If you are staying on the south side in Pinhao or Regua then you can pretty much avoid these roads. The south side has a highway connecting all the quintas and towns. A train from Porto is another option if staying in Pinhao or Regua.
On Eating: There are not many restaurants in this area so you are limited to finding a place to eat where you are staying or in Pinhao or Regua.
On Quintas: There are tons of Quintas to visit so just pick a few depending on how many you want to visit, how much time you have, how big of a wino you are and how many different experiences you want to have. Some of these have to be arranged ahead of time and you can opt for more expensive experiences like full-on tours, tastings paired with food or a picnic, or just simple tastings. We did two tours which was plenty.
Algarve
Sights
Lagos
Our favorite town in the Algarve we saw but we did not have much time
Ponta de Piedade - amazing views of rock formations along the beach. This is what you see on all the postcards. Great scenary. You can arrange a kayak or boat tour here I think.
Beaches - Lots of famous beaches but we did not have time.
Town - worth checking out. Fun bars and restaurants
Good base to stay here if you only have a day or two in the region
Praia de Bengali (Taruga Tours)
Arranged a boat tour to check out the famous caves along the Algarve. Had a foggy day but otherwise was a good activity. Lots of famous beaches near here such as Praia de Marinha.
Praia de Rocha
Huge beach resort town we stayed at. Reminded me of South Beach. Very international/touristy and built up with a fun boardwalk with restaurants and shopping. I think I would have preferred staying in Lagos or elsewhere. On the positive note, the town is one of the biggest in the Algarve so lots of accomodation options with beach access, lots of shopping and restaurants and well and easy access to the other beach towns like Lagos etc.
Sagres
Town all the way east (east of Lagos). We went to watch the sunset here