Me, ML & Meg in a window - Our Portugal ItineraryItinerary Background

Okay quick background to our itinerary. My niece, Megan, is studying abroad this semester. So my sister in-law, ML, wanted to visit her and since my brother in-law was swamped with tax season, I got to go too!

It took us a bit of time to decide on Portugal as our meeting location as we were first trying for a beach somewhere. However, we quickly abandoned most of those options as the weather in March didn’t seem as if it would cooperate.

Once we decided on Portugal, we sort of backed into city itinerary based upon suggestions from others and flights, five nights in Lisbon and 3 (sort of – explanation later), nights in Porto. We didn’t bother going south to the Algarve region because again, weather and beaches. We probably could have done one less night in Lisbon due to some overlap but overall, I’m happy with our decision.

If we had a little longer, or if the weather was going to be warmer, I’d probably have started with 3-4 nights in Porto, 4-5 nights in Lisbon and 2 nights in the south, at the beach because I always like to end with a bit of beach.


Here’s our high level itinerary though subsequent pages will have more specific information:

Daily Itinerary

Friday March 22

  • ML & I arrive Lisbon 7:30am
  • Access Apartment (above Bertrand bookstore – review to follow, but excellent location)
  • 2pm – Walking Tour of Lisbon (Best of Lisbon) using David at With Locals

Saturday March 23

  • Market Tour and Cooking Class
  • Megan Arrives 1:30pm
  • Golden Hour Tour – With Locals

Sunday March 24

Monday March 25

Full day tour to Obidas, Nazare, Batalha Monastery and Fatima with Cool Tours Lisbon.

Tuesday March 26

Full day tour to Sintra and Cascais With Locals.

Wednesday March 27

  • 9am train to Porto. We bought our tickets ahead of time (saving money) and did the Alfa Pendular – it was quite nice.
  • 1pm Free Sandeman’s Walking Tour
  • 5:30pm The True Flavors of Porto – 10 Tastings Walking Tour With Locals

Thursday March 28

All day trip to the Duero Valley, including boat ride, lunch at a winery and tour Gustavo at With Locals

Friday March 29

All day trip to Aveiro, Bairrada and Coimbra.

Satuday March 30

  • Spend the day touring Porto utilizing the Yellow Hop on and Off Bus, ending the day at doing a Port Wine Cellar tour and boat ride.
  • Midnight pickup using GetTransfer to drive us from Porto back to Lisbon airport for our early morning flights.