Here is the itinerary from when my husband and I traveled to Portugal for vacation :) I planned the trip on my own and we figured things out along the way. I included everything I could remember.
Pro-Tips
Our airbnbs and hotels were willing to keep our bags after check out which was super convenient and helps you save money while still exploring the city. There are also plenty of luggage lockers all over the cities
Pack Light: Porto & Lisbon both have a lot of hills and stairs so I would recommend packing light if you plan on using public transportation.
We visited at the end of September so there were some cooler nights in some cities, but it wasn't busy which was nice
A comfortable pair of sneakers is a non-negotiable, you will definitely be walking
I've found that if you want to take public transportation in a new city, you have to plan to make mistakes, build in additional time for it, and just accept it in advance. At first I used to get super frustrated, but I'm glad my husband is more patient than me and it's empowering and exciting when you do finally figure it out because you are free to travel anywhere without considering traffic or distance
Find a travel budget template and estimate how much transportation, shopping, entertainment, restaurants, and souvenirs will cost so you know how much to save up for the trip- DM me on IG @ktorr1 if you would like mine
Bring cash in case of emergencies, some places don't accept certain credit cards
Day 1: Wednesday (Porto)
✈️Land at OPO Airport at 3:40pm - $1,000 round trip
Stay: Airbnb in the Bolhao area
Visit the Dom Luis Bridge @ night & walk around city
We used the Andante card for public transportation in Porto
Day 2: Thursday (Porto)
🍽️Breakfast: Cafe Negra
loved this!
Visited the Clerigos tower (200 steps for a nice view)
definitely would recommend, amazing view
Dom Luis Bridge
Walked around the park in Gaia near the Dom Luis Bridge
Cais da Ribiera (boardwalk next to the Douro River)
there was a cool 2-story store, "Conservas Portuguesas", that had hundreds of tuna cans with different years and a fact from that year on each can
🍽️Lunch: ZigZag Cafe
Livrerio Lello
this was a unique book store, but I don't think it's worth paying for
Took pictures at the Porto sign in the city center
🚆6pm Train to Aveiro - (1h train) $10/pp - bought with CP app
The main part of Aveiro is small enough to just walk around; we didn't use public transportation here, just the Uber to get to the beach
Day 3: Friday (Aveiro)
Aveiro is a very cute small town, I would recommend staying here for a few hours or 1 night max
Stay: Airbnb in Centro de Aveiro
🍽️Breakfast: Porta Do Cafe
Moliceiro Boat Tour
a boat tour on the river through the city
Salinas de Aveiro (salt making)
we visited a place where they harvest salt from salt pans, this was something I had never seen before so I thought it was cool. there were huge mounds of salt everywhere
🚗Uber to Praia de Costa Nova
you'll see this location on TikTok when you type in Aveiro and I enjoyed this area because of the striped houses and the beach
Watched the sunset on beach
🍽️Dinner: Un Poco Loco
It's rated 4.4 ⭐ on Google Maps, but it wasn't doing it for me, wouldn't recommend
Day 4: Saturday (Aveiro / Lisbon)
Lisbon was for sure my favorite city in Portugal. I would visit again and I could live here. Because Portugal colonized Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde and many other places, it is a very diverse city. I love visiting places where I feel like people can't tell if I'm a tourist and I blend in.
🚆1pm Lisbon train (2.5h) - $21/pp? - bought with CP App
Evening walk at Praca Marques de Pombal
Portugal doesn't play about their statues of people
Stay: Airbnb in Baixa de Lisboa
It was a great location, but kind of loud at night with live music
Day 5: Sunday (Lisbon)
🍽️Breakfast: Mil Sabores
It's giving touristy and I ain't mad at it, we loved the food.
Visit Praca do Comercio & Arc de Triomphe
nice place to walk around
La Alfama walk
we walked through this area and while it does have nice views, it's something that can be skipped
Sao Jorge Castle
interesting history, but can also be skipped
Time Out Market
This is a place I kept seeing on TikTok with a lot of food options. Despite it being October 1, it was so crowded. So we walked in, did a lap to look at all the food, then walked out.
Visited Botanical Gardens
LX Factory
I loved this area! There were restaurants and small business owners, good vibes.
🍽️Lunch: Chickhinho (in the LX Factory area)
loved the chicken from here
🍽️Dinner: Natraj Tandoori
5/5⭐, would recommend and would definitely go back
We took the metro and buses everywhere in Lisbon
We used the Viva Viagem card
Day 6: Monday (Lisbon)
African Lisbon Tour
There is a famous company that does African tours, but we didn't sign up early enough so we couldn't find a booking. Instead, we did a tour through "your locals" ; definitely enjoyed walking through the city and learning about the history of Portugal.
🍽️Lunch: Cantinho do Aziz (Mozambique restaurant)
I'm biased because I love African food, but 5/5 ⭐ would absolutely go back
Beach Day! Praia de Sao Joao do Estoril
We took a train to the beach and I definitely would suggest saving one of your Lisbon days to go
Side Note: The line for Tram 28 (TikTok trend) was super long and we read something about locals being annoyed by tourists clogging up their transportation to work so we opted out to try not to add to the problem and also because we didn't think the wait would be worth it
Day 7: Tuesday (Lisbon)
✈️TapAir Flight to Malaga, Spain @ 12:25pm (1hour) $100/pp?
Excluding the international flight, our total budget for 7ish days in Portugal for lodging/ transportation/ shopping/ dining out was $2,500 or $1,250/pp.
If you'd like to see our travel itinerary through Spain (Malaga, Madrid & Barcelona), I will be posting it on my blog too. Who knows when 🤪
Comment if you have any questions! :)
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