Where would you go semi-nearby within Europe after visiting Lisbon?

Looking for inspiration that I might not have thought of.

Looking for inspiration that I might not have thought of.

What month of the year?

What month of the year?

Late May – good weather time

The common answer (and a good idea) is to visit Spain. Personally, we like to rent a car and drive. You can take a route along the southern coast of Portugal and then perhaps go up to Seville (this is less then a 4 1/2 hour drive). And then within Spain you can explore just about anywhere in the Southern half of the country without having to spend a lot of driving time. We would also recommend looking into the Spanish "Parador" system which has many fascinating places to stay around the country. There is even a Parador located inside the Ahlhambra (probably the best and most expensive Parador in Spain).

Hank

I'd agree with Hank, Andalusia would be a great choice...May is before it turns too hot. If you are uncomfortable renting a car, you would need to fly from Lisbon to a Spanish city, but those flights are cheap. Once in Spain, the rail system is very very good with many high speed lines.

If you are looking for things close to Lisbon....Evora, Cascais and Sintra are all nice.

And, if you are the type of traveler that will end up doing many future Med cruises...you might look to towns that either take to much time to do on a shore visit, or need more time. I learned that lesson, our first trip to Spain included Barcelona for five days...then we started cruising and well.... let's just say we keep following the progress of La Sagrada over the years.:)

I'd agree with Hank, Andalusia would be a great choice...May is before it turns too hot. If you are uncomfortable renting a car, you would need to fly from Lisbon to a Spanish city, but those flights are cheap. Once in Spain, the rail system is very very good with many high speed lines.

 

If you are looking for things close to Lisbon....Evora, Cascais and Sintra are all nice.

 

And, if you are the type of traveler that will end up doing many future Med cruises...you might look to towns that either take to much time to do on a shore visit, or need more time. I learned that lesson, our first trip to Spain included Barcelona for five days...then we started cruising and well.... let's just say we keep following the progress of La Sagrada over the years.:)

lmao! I get your drift. Thank you! I will say that I'm a crazy traveler (I try to squeeze in many places in a short time - I don't mind the full full days).

Anywhere in Italy that would be convenient(ISH) to Lisbon that I couldn't get in a future cruise? And yes, we'll be cruising to the Med for the rest of our lives the way I see it (and we're in our 30's) :)

Well, I'm doing something similar next early June. Cruise ends in Rome, we're going to train to Lake Como for 5 days and fly back to the US from Milan.

If I see George Clooney I'll let you know:D

Paris or Bordeaux or both.

Keith

Paris or Bordeaux or both.

 

Keith

Or fly to Marseille and pick up a car and do Provence the way it should be done. Granted, Marseille is a frequent port, but the best places in Provence are too far away to do comfortably.

Or fly to Marseille and pick up a car and do Provence the way it should be done. Granted, Marseille is a frequent port, but the best places in Provence are too far away to do comfortably.

Omg! I forgot about that region. I researched it extensively as I thought we were going there this year! We ended up way further south.

But I forgot about making Nice a hub and driving along the entire riviera. Nice call!

We went to Paris in 2013 and I would love to see the Bordeaux region too. But mostly Procence. Aha, decisions!

Omg! I forgot about that region. I researched it extensively as I thought we were going there this year! We ended up way further south.

 

But I forgot about making Nice a hub and driving along the entire riviera. Nice call!

 

We went to Paris in 2013 and I would love to see the Bordeaux region too. But mostly Procence. Aha, decisions!

One thing to keep in mind, if you are going to cruise a Western Med itinerary a lot in the future, much of the French Riviera is within easy striking distance and make nice port days. But, the real cool towns in Provence over by the Luberon are kind of difficult....and there are a slew of them. In other words, I wouldn't make Nice a hub unless you don't think you'll hit the area again on a cruise....I'd go further west for a hub - St. Remy, Avignon or just east over toward the Luberon.

Italy from Lisbon? Tis a long way and you would probably want to fly. As an example it is about 1500 miles from Lisbon to Rome if you drive.

Hank

I would head north to Oporto and the Douro Valley, then on up to Galicia in Northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela and beautiful surrounding countryside and Coast. If I had time, I would then drive across to the East of Spain incl. Barcelona.

Why not stay in Portugal? It is such a great country with a rich cultural and historical heritage, easy to drive and loads to see, really friendly people, great food, good weather in May.

I could go on and on about the hundreds of sights we have visited over the years in Portugal, the quaint hilltop towns like Obidos, Monsaraz, Marvao, Castelo Branco, Elvas and Sintra; larger towns with thousands of years of history such as Coimbra, Guimaraes or Evora; the magnificant palaces and convents such as Mafra, Alcobaca, Sintra, Tomar; the beautiful nature, the best beaches in Europe around Cascais or the Algarve.

Or why not go to other Portugese territories? It costs under 100 EUR return from Lisbon to fly TAP to Madeira or SATA to the Azores (the lowest rate I could find is € 79 for a return late May!)

We would also recommend looking into the Spanish "Parador" system which has many fascinating places to stay around the country.

Hank

They have the same type of historic hotels in Portugal, called Pousadas there. Neither are as cheap as they used to be and some can get booked up well in advance, but wonderful locations to stay after the hassle of a big city and really good, local style food, served in brilliant restaurants. Well worth googling if only for window shopping purposes. Inland Portugal is lovely and not as spoilt as parts of Spain.

It all depends on interests,budget and time. If flying is not an option then I'll second previous post & spend time in mainland Portugal. Its easy to get to Porto & do some day trips from there (Braga, Guimaraies & Douro valley). That should fill at least 3-5 days. I got links to my 2011 pics if anyone is interested. If plane is an option then everything is semi-nearby (1-1.5 hr flight). Lisbon has cheap flights (if purchased ahead of time) to Madrid, Barcelona, Madeira & Azores. Also there is an overnight sleeper train to Madrid which is not cheap but then it saves 1 hotel night so probably at par with flight cost.

Northern Portugal

https://picasaweb.google.com/104501985950388024465/NorthernPortugal2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Madeira

https://picasaweb.google.com/104501985950388024465/Madeira2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

It all depends on interests,budget and time. If flying is not an option then I'll second previous post & spend time in mainland Portugal. Its easy to get to Porto & do some day trips from there (Braga, Guimaraies & Douro valley). That should fill at least 3-5 days. I got links to my 2011 pics if anyone is interested. If plane is an option then everything is semi-nearby (1-1.5 hr flight). Lisbon has cheap flights (if purchased ahead of time) to Madrid, Barcelona, Madeira & Azores. Also there is an overnight sleeper train to Madrid which is not cheap but then it saves 1 hotel night so probably at par with flight cost.

 

Northern Portugal

https://picasaweb.google.com/104501985950388024465/NorthernPortugal2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

 

Madeira

https://picasaweb.google.com/104501985950388024465/Madeira2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Thank you! Flying is most definitely an option and a likely one.

I would suggest spend time in the rest of Portugal. Take the train down to the Algarve.

Here are some ideas: http://aguide2portugal.com/

Renting a car in Portugal and dropping it off in Spain would cost a fortune.

I would stay in Portugal, there is lots to see there, both north and south of Lisbon.

Renting a car in Portugal and dropping it off in Spain would cost a fortune.

I would stay in Portugal, there is lots to see there, both north and south of Lisbon.

Good advice. In recent years we have noticed that inter-country drop off fees are often outrageous and mitigate booking that type of one-way rental. One-way rentals within a country are usually reasonable. The situation has become so bad that we once drove 6 hours from our location within France to get over to Milan just to save on the one-way drop fees for a car that was rented in Italy.

Sometimes a good rental car strategy is to drop a car at a city near a border, use public transit to get to a city on the other side of the border, and then rent another car. Kind of seems crazy, but when we do lengthy driving trips this can save us hundreds of Euros.

Hank

fly to Madrid and spend some time around there, as they are not places that you would end up on a cruise.

It all depends on interests,budget and time. If flying is not an option then I'll second previous post & spend time in mainland Portugal. Its easy to get to Porto & do some day trips from there (Braga, Guimaraies & Douro valley). That should fill at least 3-5 days. I got links to my 2011 pics if anyone is interested. If plane is an option then everything is semi-nearby (1-1.5 hr flight). Lisbon has cheap flights (if purchased ahead of time) to Madrid, Barcelona, Madeira & Azores. Also there is an overnight sleeper train to Madrid which is not cheap but then it saves 1 hotel night so probably at par with flight cost.

 

Northern Portugal

https://picasaweb.google.com/104501985950388024465/NorthernPortugal2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

 

Madeira

https://picasaweb.google.com/104501985950388024465/Madeira2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Thank you for the pictures of Northern Portugal. We are spending 6 days in Porto after our cruise ends in Lisbon and then returning to Lisbon for 4 more days before catching another cruise to London. The pictures are getting me all excited about our land stay. We will be visiting Guimares, Braga and the Douro Valley on day trips.