Originally Posted by
Desirees
Here is the plan:
Sat -Fly Into Lisbon from Madrid around 10am. Do the HOHO.
Sun - rent car, then day trip - need suggestions on where we should go. Sintra is an option or Evora. Trying to figure out where we should go, to see scenery, history - without requiring a lot of walking.
Mon - Check out, drive to Aviero - make that our base - and then drive to Coimbra for a day tour.
Tues- Spend in Aviero, maybe driving around, local sightseeing. Eating local food.
Wed - Drive to Porto. Sightseeing in Porto
Thurs - Day trip to ?
Friday - Douro River Cruise
Sat - Morning flight to Madrid.
What are your thoughts on this itinerary? Nothing is finalized except for flights in and out of Portugal so open to suggestions.
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give it one more day to Lisbon (you can cut the Thursday which you have not scheduled yet).
Do the HOHO one day (just visiting Jeronimos + Natas café , Belem tower and Descoveries monument is 3h easy at slow pace)
Another day take an electric Tuktuk from Praça da Figueira and ask for the hilltops tour (I did last year and there are amazing views from these), it's mostly out of the HOHO path, and this gets you into the old corners of town which are gorgeous.
For the day trip from Lisbon you can do Sintra in the morning (visit the Palace and maybe a trip to Cabo da Roca - Western most point in continental Europe) and on the way back go through Cascais and Estoril which are nice to have a quick stroll and enjoy the ocean.
Aveiro is a great and I recommend it (i'm from around so extremely biased :-) )
However you don't need it as base. Just go 1 night to Coimbra, then 1 night in Aveiro and then Porto (being based in Aveiro the backtracking to Coimbra is not worth it)
For the day in Aveiro besides the old town and a canal boat tour you can go to the beaches in an afternoon:
Praia da Barra(8 minutes drive from Aveiro):
Lighthouse tallest in Portugal (open Wednesday afternoon as of 14h45 for visits, 4 groups can go up at 30 min intervals)Walk along the canal near the lighthouse (goes all the way to the entrance of the lagoon).At the entrance of the lagoon on the fields on the right you can see the old codfish drying location (those codfish brought from Canada)
Have an ice cream in Sherbet (amazing flavors).
Visit Tribo do Sol for some cool beachwear and a huge sands collection from all over the world
Churrascao restaurant if you need food here (local food, grilled squid is my highlight. fish of the day usually pretty good as well)
Barba Azul sushi restaurant
Just enjoy one the 4 beach bars.
Costa Nova (3 minutes drive from Praia da Barra):
Go here to enjoy the old stripped houses
Have a nata in the Atlantida Café (in the middle of the houses)
Enjoy a quick stroll along the Ria
Go to the beach (super white sandy beach) If you want to eat here, Marisqueira da Costa Nova (Clams – ameijoas ‘a bulhao pato or any fish of the day) is probably the best.
These 2 beach places are fairly small, so the walking is easy.
I agree with others if walking for your parents is a big burden skip Sintra