Portugal in 2 Weeks: Lisbon, Porto & the Algarve

Stops on this route

Day by Day

1. 1

   Lisbon

   • Day 1

     Arrive in Lisbon — Alfama & Miradouros

     Transit

     Fly into Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport and take the Aerobus (€4) or Metro's Red Line to Marquês de Pombal (30 minutes). Check into a guesthouse in Bairro Alto or Intendente — expect to pay €60-90/night for a double room in a good location. Spend the afternoon walking up to the Alfama district to watch the sun set from the Portas do Sol or Santa Luzia viewpoints (miradouros) over the terracotta rooftops and the Tagus estuary. Finish with dinner at a traditional tasca: grilled sardines and a bottle of Vinho Verde for €12-15 per person.

   • Day 2

     Belém — Pastéis de Nata, Jerónimos & Torre

     Take Tram 15E or the Metro's Yellow Line west to Belém, Lisbon's monumental riverfront neighbourhood. Join the queue at Pastéis de Belém on Rua de Belém — the custard tarts (pastéis de nata) here have been baked since 1837 using a secret recipe, and even the 20-minute wait is worthwhile; two tarts with espresso cost €2.50. Tour the Jerónimos Monastery, a UNESCO-listed Manueline masterpiece where Vasco da Gama is entombed (entry €10). Walk to the Torre de Belém on the riverside — the 16th-century fortified tower is best photographed at golden hour. Return to Lisbon via Tram 28, squeezing through the medieval lanes of Alfama.

   • Day 3

     Sintra Day Trip — Pena Palace & Moorish Castle

     Transit

     Take the direct train from Rossio Station to Sintra (40 minutes, €2.40 each way) — trains run every 30 minutes from 6 AM. In Sintra, buy a combined ticket (€26) for Pena Palace and Moorish Castle. Hike up to the Moorish Castle ramparts for panoramic views over the Atlantic horizon, then continue to Pena Palace — a Romanticist fairy-tale fortress painted in vivid yellow and red perched on a cloud-shrouded crag. Eat a Travesseiro pastry from Piriquita bakery in the village. Return to Lisbon for dinner in the Príncipe Real neighbourhood, Lisbon's most elegant quarter.

   • Day 4

     LX Factory, MAAT Museum & Mouraria Night

     Spend the morning at LX Factory, a repurposed 19th-century textile complex in Alcântara packed with independent design studios, vintage clothing, bookshops, and brunch spots — the Sunday market is the best in the city. Visit the MAAT (Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology) for contemporary Portuguese art with its reflective riverside façade; entry €11. Walk Mouraria, Lisbon's oldest Moorish neighbourhood and the birthplace of fado — smaller and more authentic than Alfama, with tiled bacalhau restaurants and community murals. Catch live fado at Tasca do Chico on Rua do Diário de Notícias in Bairro Alto (€30 minimum spend including dinner).

2. 2

   Évora

   • Day 5

     Day in Évora — Roman Ruins & Bone Chapel

     Transit

     Take the Rede Expressos coach from Sete Rios station to Évora (1.5 hours, €12) and store your luggage at the bus station. Évora's compact historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site you can walk entirely in an afternoon — start at the 1st-century Roman Temple of Diana, one of the best-preserved Roman temples on the Iberian Peninsula, standing 14 columns tall against the blue Alentejo sky. Visit the macabre 16th-century Chapel of Bones (Capelas dos Ossos) in the Church of St. Francis, where the walls and columns are constructed from the bones of 5,000 monks. Taste Alentejo wine at a local taberna before boarding the afternoon coach north toward the Algarve via Faro.

3. 3

   Algarve

   • Day 6

     Arrive Algarve — Lagos Old Town & Ponta da Piedade

     Transit

     Arrive in Lagos by bus or train and check into a guesthouse in the old town (intramuros) — budget €50-80/night in shoulder season. Lagos's old town is surrounded by 16th-century Moorish walls, packed with whitewashed churches, azulejo-tiled fountains, and seafood restaurants. Walk to Ponta da Piedade in the late afternoon, a 2 km cliff path south of Lagos where ochre and cream limestone stacks rise from translucent turquoise water — the best light is in the final hour before sunset. Rent a kayak from the beach below (€15/hour) to paddle through the arches and grottos.

   • Day 7

     Benagil Sea Cave & Carvoeiro Cliffs

     Book a morning boat tour from Benagil Beach to the Algar de Benagil (Benagil Cave) — a domed sea cave with a beach inside, illuminated by a natural oculus in the ceiling; tours run from Carvoeiro or Benagil village for €15-20. The only way inside is by boat, kayak, or strong swimming. The cliff walk between Benagil and Carvoeiro passes dozens of smaller grottos and hidden coves accessible by steep wooden staircases. Return to Lagos for a late lunch of cataplana (seafood stew in a copper pot) at one of the restaurants along Rua 25 de Abril.

   • Day 8

     Sagres & Cabo de São Vicente — End of the World

     Rent a car or join a day tour (€30) to drive 30 km west to Sagres, where the Portuguese Age of Discovery was planned in Henry the Navigator's 15th-century school of navigation. The Sagres Fortress juts into the Atlantic on a flat mesa above 70-metre cliffs — entry €3. Continue 6 km to Cabo de São Vicente, the southwestern-most point of continental Europe: a lonely lighthouse on a rocky promontory where the Atlantic crashes unobstructed all the way from New York. Buy smoked fish and local gin from the roadside vendors for a cliffside picnic. Return to Lagos for the evening; take the evening train north toward Coimbra.

4. 4

   Coimbra

   • Day 9

     Coimbra — Joanina Library & Student Fado

     Transit

     Arrive in Coimbra by train and check in for one night near the Praça da República — the city's medieval university quarter crowds the hillside above the Rio Mondego. The absolute must-see is the Biblioteca Joanina inside the University of Coimbra: a Baroque hall of gilded shelves stacked floor-to-ceiling with 300-year-old manuscripts and a colony of bats that protect the books by eating paper-destroying insects; book timed entry online (€12.50 combined ticket). Eat at O Papaboa on Praça da República for arroz de pato (duck rice). In the evening, listen to student fado in a bar near the Arco de Almedina — Coimbra's fado style is more melancholic and formal than Lisbon's, traditionally performed by male university students in black capes.

5. 5

   Porto

   • Day 10

     Arrive Porto — Ribeira, Dom Luís Bridge & Gaia Cellars

     Transit

     The Alfa Pendular train from Coimbra to Porto takes 1 hour and 10 minutes (€12-20, runs hourly). Drop bags in the Bonfim or Miragaia neighbourhood — boutique guesthouses in renovated tile-covered townhouses from €60-90/night. Head straight to Vila Nova de Gaia across the Dom Luís I Bridge for a port wine cellar tour: Graham's, Ramos Pinto, and Sandeman all offer 45-minute guided tours and tastings for €10-20. Watch the sun set from the upper level of the iron bridge with a glass of tawny port, looking north over the UNESCO-listed Ribeira waterfront's multicoloured houses and rabelo boats moored on the Douro.

   • Day 11

     Livraria Lello, São Bento Azulejos & Francesinha

     Queue early for Livraria Lello on Rua das Carmelitas — one of the world's most beautiful bookshops, with a neo-Gothic staircase and stained-glass ceiling that inspired J.K. Rowling during her Porto years; the €5 entry fee is deducted from any purchase. Around the corner, visit the Igreja do Carmo for its spectacular azulejo-tile exterior mural. São Bento Station's grand atrium is covered in 20,000 blue-and-white azulejo tiles depicting Portuguese historical scenes — a masterpiece of civic art entered free of charge. Lunch: order a Francesinha at Café Santiago on Rua de Passos Manuel — Porto's signature beer-and-tomato-stewed sandwich smothered in cheese is like nothing else in Europe.

   • Day 12

     Foz, Matosinhos Seafood & Clerigos Tower

     Ride Tram 1 west to Foz do Douro where the river meets the Atlantic — the Felgueiras Lighthouse and the rocky Molhe do Douro breakwater are great for an early morning walk with strong Atlantic winds. Take bus 500 north to Matosinhos for the best grilled seafood lunch in the region: restaurants along Rua de Heróis de França serve massive plates of charcoal-grilled fish for €10-15, packed with local workers. Return to Porto: climb the 240 steps of the 18th-century Clérigos Tower (€6) for the best panoramic view of Porto's red-tiled rooftops. Evening: natural wine at Aduela bar in the Bonfim neighbourhood.

6. 6

   Douro Valley

   • Day 13

     Douro Valley — Train Through the Vineyards & Quinta Tasting

     Transit

     Take the spectacular Douro Line train from Porto Campanhã station to Pinhão (2.5 hours, €10 one way) — the railway hugs the river through terraced vineyard-covered schist hillsides, passing almond orchards and ancient quintas with white manor houses. Pinhão's train station is famous for its 24 azulejo tile panels depicting the Douro harvest. Visit Quinta do Crasto or Quinta da Pacheca for a vineyard tour and tasting of vintage Douro reds and aged tawny ports (€15-25, book ahead in peak season). Return to Porto by the 6 PM train or overnight in a quinta guesthouse.

7. 7

   Aveiro

   • Day 14

     Aveiro's Canals & Final Departure

     Transit

     Stop in Aveiro en route to Porto Airport — the town is 45 minutes south of Porto by train (€3.30) and has luggage storage at the station. Take a 45-minute moliceiro boat ride on the central canals in one of the hand-painted flat-bottomed boats traditionally used to harvest seaweed — tours depart from Cais dos Botirões for €15 per person. Buy a box of Ovos Moles, Aveiro's signature egg-yolk-and-sugar sweets wrapped in rice paper shells shaped like shells, fish, and barrels — they make ideal gifts and survive the journey home. Return to Porto by regional train in time for check-in at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport.

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Further reading

• Europe on Wikipedia
• Europe travel guide on Wikivoyage