Portugal

[emmjay]

I'm going to Portugal with some friends in early April for 10 days or so. I have been there before w/ my husband, but it a quick trip (less than a week) and we mainly stayed on the southern coast. Can anyone give recommendations for hotels in Lisbon? Places to go in the north, or specific recommendations for Porto? Activities? Pretty much anything about Portugal would be appreciated!

Oh, and I prefer "off-the-beaten-path" types of places and hotels, if that makes a difference. Thanks! :)

ETA - we're going to rent a car so we will have the transportation taken care of.

[Marilyn]

I have never been to Portugal but we are going for a few days in May. I don't know if you ever go to Fodor's message boards but here are a couple links to recent posts about what to do in Portugal.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=34740328

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=34735509

[meatpie]

We stayed in Cascais the first few nights of our honeymoon. It's a small fishing village (I think) North of Lisbon near Estoril, which has a famous casino. We loved it there. It's a wonderful place to walk, the coastline is incredible. We also visited a huge market that is located outside a bull ring and they had the BEST sandwiches ever made at this market. We also just walked a ton, visited a few castles, drank by the water, shopped for Port, linens - it was AMAZING. We stayed at the Hotel Albatroz in Cascais in case you might want to spend a night on the coast.

And actually you don't need a car to get there from Lisbon. You can take the train to the Estoril Coast, which is a great way to see everything. We did the opposite route, train to Lisbon from Cascais for a futbol match. If you like sports I would certainly try and take in a futbol/soccer match while you are there. It's a wonderful way to experience their culture. We had a blast partying with the locals in pubs before the match.

I also remember hearing wonderful things about Sintra and that it was not to be missed when in the area. We didn't go - didn't have time. Plus, we loved Cascais too much so we didn't really want to leave.

[emmjay]

Marilyn - thanks for the links! I do use Fodor's sometimes but I usually check Lonely Planet first - I didn't even think to look at Fodor's.

meatpie - first, every time I see your handle I want a New Zealand meat pie! :D Thanks for all of the great info - we do want to see a soccer match while we're there. We basically skipped Lisbon/surrounds the last time so I want to see more of that on this trip. That market in Cascais sounds great!

Any other info would be very welcome - thanks! :)

[meatpie]

I love me some meat pies, too!!!

You'll have a great time at a soccer game. The team in Lisbon just recently built a new stadium for the European Championships last year - when we were there they still played in an old, rinky-dink stadium that was very, very cool in its own way. But I would love to see the new stadium.

I do have to say the boards on fodors.com are a great resource - I use/d them often. That's how we found Hotel Albatroz. Anyway...as I said before everyone told us to go to Sintra. And I wish I knew hotels in Lisbon but I can't recommend anything. Have a great trip!!

[emmjay]

Bumping because we just bought our plane tickets!! We're definitely going to see a soccer match, and we have some towns we are going to visit but I'm going to really start researching tonight.

Any more advice/info would be great!

[jdevaz]

I am of portuguese heritage, as is my husband, so we go to Portugal often. We are both from the northern part of Portugal (my family from Chaves and Vila Real in Tras os Montes and my husband from Braga in Minho). I would definately recommend going to northern side to visit the mountain views, which are spectacular. We also stay in the city of Tomar every year. It is located about one hour from Lisbon and is so quaint. We stay at the Hotel dos Templarios for a little pampering. The prices are great for nice hotel rooms and it's right in the middle of the city. While we are there, we always make a day trip to Fatima, where the apparitions of Our Lady took place to three shephard children. It's quite moving to see the amount of faith and devotion, regardless of your beliefs.
While up north, I would make it a point to visit Braga and Guimaraes. A nice place to stay about 30 minutes outside of Braga is the Pousada de Amares Santa Maria do Bouro in Amares. It is beautiful - an old monestary that has been converted. We attended a wedding there last winter and it was really wonderful to sip port wine by a huge stone fireplace. Highly recommended. You can find more pousadas at the website, www.pousadasdeportugal.com.

I'll keep thinking of more places - let me know if you have any specific questions.

[Goldie]

The Sintra castle is very nice! And the Four Seasons in Lisbon is supposed to be amazing. Pricey, but probably very worth a splurge!

[nyclaura]

I would like to collect some tips and "must sees" of Lisbon. Has anyone been? My husband and I are going for 10 days at the end of Dec. mainly for R&R. We'll be staying at the Four Seasons and not traveling outside of Lisbon. Our plan is to make this a very slow and relaxing vaca - so tips on spas, shopping, and restaurants would be great!!

Thanks!

[emmjay]

I have been to Lisbon twice but I am more of a budget traveller so we'll see if I can help at all! :) I would recommend taking a look at the Fodor's Lisbon guide (http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=lisbon@89&cur_section=ove)- there are reviews by other travelers (and based on my experience working in a travel store, people who use Fodor's seem to be more upscale/luxury travelers so I think they would have some good suggestions for you). I have heard the Four Seasons is gorgeous, BTW!

I can recommend going to the Belem area and getting the local dessert specialty, which is made of pastry and custard. Another general tip is that the Herdade de Esporao vineyard in the Alentejo region has excellent wine if you see it on a wine list. And if you decide you want to do a day trip you should go to Sintra, which is about 45 minutes away and still in the Lisbon district (I'm sure your hotel does day trips) . It is an absolutely beautiful little town in the mountains and I think it is definitely worth a visit for a day.

[nyclaura]

Thanks Emmjay!

We picked the Four Seasons so we could get a room that overlooks "Old Lisbon". Usually we pack our vacations full of activities but we're trying to keep this one more low key.

Sintra is a great tip! We were thinking about Porto too as a side trip.

I'll look into the Fodors guidebook. I haven't gotten one yet and need to.

[meatpie]

I would defintely try to work a day trip to Sintra or the coast (Cascais is where we stayed and its a beautiful little town). If you do a day trip to Cascais there is an amazing flea market outside of an old bullring that we went to.

Dunno if you are sports fans, but we watched Lisboa play a soccer/futbol match at their old stadium that was torn down for the Euro Championships. It's a fun thing to do, have a few beers with thousands of people, watch a match.

Come to think of it, there was an article in the NY Times travel section awhile ago that talked about the best place to see fado, their traditional music. It was a wonderful article and made me wish we spent more time in Lisbon instead of on the coast.

Have fun - it's such a beautiful city...and the trains and very, very easy to take to the coast.