Sept. Portugal Trip Suggestions?
 

My wife and I will be making our first trip to Portugal on 9/24 and returning 10/5, into Lisbon and out of Porto. Right now we will be staying 6 nights in Lisbon an 5 night on Porto and I'm looking for suggestions on what we should do, where to go.
1. First time to Portugal but many trips to other European locations so familiar with travel.
2. We like history but really are food and wine people
3. Want this to be relaxing so I'd like to stay at only those two locations. In other words day trip suggestions are great but I'm not sure we want to stay in more than the 2 locations selected.
4. IF! we do add a third stay location what would you suggest? Algarve? Coimbra? NE area?
5. car rental or train? Right now I'm planning on the train between Lisbon an Porto
6. Dinner spots to not miss, we like local spots and don't feel uncomfortable around locals.
7. BTW we will be staying at the Fontecruz Autograph in Lisbon and the Sheraton on Porto ( got to use up some Bon Voy points.

We realize that all of this may get cancelled or dates changes based on Covid or other factors but ya gotta have plans right?

Thanks in advance.

What else?

We had a car, so we could see places between Lisbon and Porto.

You do have a central location in Lisbon; it's walking distance to most tourist attractions and museums. I'd recommend a day trip to Sintra and Cascais. Evora is very interesting, but it is approximately 80 miles away and I'm not sure of the logistics of getting there without a car.

From Porto, a day cruise on the Douro River to Pinhão will give you spectacular views of the vineyards along the banks of the river. If you are willing to venture farther out, I highly recommend the Convento de Santa Cruz do Buçaco in Luso (it's closer to Coimbra than Porto).

I recommend either Coimbra or Evora if you decide to add an additional destination. While both are accessible by train from Lisbon, it has been a number of years since I visited so cannot advise re: details.

Trying to dig up some memories of our trip a few years back. We stayed at the Fontecruz as well. It's a great location. Day trip to Sintra (as suggested above) for sure. You can walk to the train station from the hotel, it costs about $5/person, and when you get to Sintra, it's maybe a 2 minute walk to a bus that will take you into the downtown area and to many of the castles.

As far as food, Lisbon is one of my favorite cities. Lots of good seafood, but I can't recall names of most places we ate. We found some hole in the wall places near the river that had fantastic food. We had several dinners in the Bairro Alto neighborhood, just a walk uphill from the hotel. Lots of good small places there. The only one I remember is here: https://100maneiras.com/en/bistro/ . The site isn't rendering correctly in my browser, so hopefully it's still there and still has great food. Near the hotel is an area where there will be hawkers and signs out in front of the restaurants -- avoid this area completely. Also, read up on dining practices in Portugal. Two things that we found different compared to other European countries: 1) the normal dinner time was later than most European countries, and 2) they will automatically place appetizers out on the table when you sit. They aren't free, but they're usually not expensive either. Our rule was if they look good, eat them. If not interested, ask the server to remove them and you won't be charged.

Of course, while you're there you'll have to try the vinho verde (green wine) and ginjinha too. I actually buy a couple bottles of vinho verde here in Chicago every summer now after having it there for the first time.

I know you didn’t specifically ask this, but what passports do you hold? You may not not be admitted into the EU at that point.

I would just add that Sintra is best reached by Uber. Cheap prices and you cut out all the hassle of public transport. Getting an Uber back from Sintra you may need to wait a bit longer, but you will find one.

US passports and I'm aware that there is an upcoming EU vote on whether to allow US citizens in due to Covid

I think you should probably work on the basis that you won’t be permitted entry and explore options with the airline or travel insurer.

"Best" is very subjective. But with several direct trains each hour and a 45 minutes travel time the "hassle" of public transport is pretty manageable I'd say. (If I remember well, you even have a choice of stations from where to depart from in Lisboa.) And Uber's cheap prices will not be as low as the few Euros that you'll pay for the train (although personally I also feel that price is not always the most important).

If anything, if I wanted to avoid trains, I'd simply take a taxi. I'm pretty sure that there were taxis available in Sintra to get you back, without having to wait (like you would for Uber). Maybe someone else can confirm.

The train doesn't take you from your hotel door to the palace door, does it? Uber is much more relaxing, way faster and definitely worth the few euro extra (not much difference when you are two people, actually).
A taxi would be far more costly and the potential to be scammed much greater.
The Ubers can pick up at the palace, you just need to be a bit more patient as demand can outstrip supply.

Thanks for all the responses but it looks like I'll put conversation on hold for now. With the possibility of not being allowed entry , I've already contact Delta ( mileage tix) and confirmed I can redeposit and the hotel in Bon Voy so no cancellation issues there either.

Gonna give it 30 days or so and see how it shakes out.

Thanks

I'd take the train every time. I like to walk a little bit, I don't need someone to pick me up right at my door. If I'm driven from door to door when on vacation, it feels like I'm just there to see the tourist sites rather than experience the location. It's a few minutes walk from the OP's hotel to the train station. But it's a matter of preference. If I had my mother's bad knees, I'd go with Uber.

Good idea. A lot can change in 3 months, even as we look back at early March...

A report jus out now that Lisbon is going back into full lockdown...

Not all of Lisbon.

According to The New York Times:

Yes, but the bigger point is that more of these should be expected going forward. The avid travellers need to keep this in mind.