(October 27, 2015 at 2:12 pm)Jenny A Wrote: It looks beautiful, but I'm already sold on Portugal--just not next year when we can only travel in June and July.
If I had just one or two weeks in Portugal, and we were coming in by train from Spain, where do you think we should go? Assume we are using public transport rather than a rental car. We like to walk in town and out. We often rent bikes. We aren't great fans of spending a day sunbathing on the beach though we like to walk ocean cliffs.
If it's just one week, take the train to Lisbon, spend 2 or 3 days there and then 2 days in Porto.
Lisbon
- Castle
- Downtown - all rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake, is now mostly banks and large shops, but still has a few nice corners (beware of pickpockets - they target tourists, specially americans). Here you may ride a few of the old electric trolleys.
- Belém (Monastery and church - church is free to visit when mass isn't going on, the monastery costs money, some 4 or 5 euros - well worth it) Still in the same building, you have the archaeology museum and the navy museum - In a tight schedule I'd go for the navy one - it also has a wing dedicated to flying machines. In between, you'll find the planetarium.
Across the road, you have the CCB, a cultural center with some nice artworks - a part of it is free to visit.
Also, the tower of Belém, well worth checking out, even if just from the outside.
Important detail: all museums and stuff that's "public culture" are closed on Mondays. I'd use a Monday to visit Monsanto, the so-called lung of Lisbon. Don't let the name frighten you, it's a relatively large forest technically inside the city. It has a few very nice places, like Montes Claros and the Alfredo Keil Alameda... but public transport to these places isn't very easy - only bus and not one that goes by very often... I'm sure, if you time it right, I may give you a lift
Bikes are nice once you're already there, they have some nice (dirt) paths... getting there is an uphill struggle.After Monsanto, you may want to stop by the "cathedral", the Stadium of Light (this translation is crappy - Light is the translation of Luz which is the name of the neighborhood where the stadium got built, so a correct translation should always be "Stadium of Luz").
On your way up to Porto, you may want to stop by Coimbra and admire the old University buildings then, time allowing, spend some time at Guimarães, the original capital of Portugal, with it's nice castle and statue of the first king and all.
Porto... Well... I can't say much about it. Only been there once and for only a day. The cathedral (the church kind) is awesome. You may notice there's a slight change in accent of the people there, compared to Lisbon. It's also a bit more chaotic to travel through.
You have downtown with the city hall building right in the top.
The Tower of the clerics is a must.
Also, you can walk along the river (this is actually on the other side of the river, at Gaia) and look at the city from there.... It's really nice.
They have some tour boats that go up river, some take one day up, and another day back down; others go up and down in one day. You may glimpse the train track that also follows the river in some places, and muse at how beautiful it is to be on that train.
When in Porto, you want to have something called "Francesinha". IT looks like breakfast, but is more of a complete lunch.
You can return to Spain from Porto, through Vigo and, most important, Santiago de Compostela. This is one place you shouldn't miss. It's mostly for the religious stuff, but the architecture is well worth it! You can take a train from Porto-Campanhã to Vigo (Spain) and then another to Santiago.
From Santiago, you can get a train to Madrid, or wherever.
For ocean cliffs, you'd need to go to the coast, a bit north of Lisbon, but public transport to that place is almost non-existent
There is another place, closer to Lisbon, but it's mostly for looking at. It's called "Boca do Inferno" (Hell's mouth)... it's more impressive in the Winter, when the sea is rough and you think you don't want to fall there.
This is close to Cascais, which is a posh touristy area... not much to see, actually.
TL;DR: you need to come visit Portugal!
