Vacation in Portugal - would appreciate some advice
Hi! I'm planning a vacation for my wife and I to Portugal (in June), and I was hoping to have some questions answered!
We booked an award flight into LIS from JFK (TP 208). The flight lands in LIS at 10:55AM the next day, and we would like to immediately head to Porto. I'm assuming the quickest way to get there is to just fly? To that end there is a 12:00PM flight and also a 2:00PM flight to OPO... ideally I'd like to take the 12:00PM flight, but would that leave us enough time to pass through customs? And if my origin flight was delayed would TAP get us on a later flight out?
Once in Porto, we'll be staying there for 3 days. Is there a particular neighborhood anyone would recommend? I'm thinking to stay by the Douro river in an AirBnB, but I want to make sure we stay somewhere that is safe and also has a lot to do in walking distance.
After Porto, we'll fly down to Algarve (though FAO) for a 4 day beach stay at Vila Vita Parc. Does anyone know anything about this resort? The property looks gigantic and I'm unsure of which room to book. The main priority for my wife and I is that we are as close to the beach as possible and ideally have a room with an ocean view.
After Algarve, we plan to go to the Sintra-Cascais Nature Reserve and stay at the Penha Longa resort for a few days. My question here is one of transportation... what is the most efficient way to get from Algarve to Sintra? Should I just rent a car and drive up myself or are there bus/train routes that would be better? If I were to drive it myself, how difficult is the drive for someone who's from another country?
And for the final leg of our trip, we'll be headed to Lisbon for a few days in an AirBnB. My question here is the same as my question for Porto... what neighborhood should we stay in? Ideally I'd like someplace with a lot to do in walking distance, and also reasonably fast access to the airport for our flight home.
Thanks so much for reading! And if anyone has a recommendation for something we "must do" I would love to hear it! Thank you!