Portugal itineraries: 1 week, 2 weeks and 3 weeks

Match the route to the nights you actually have. Everything below assumes you land in Lisbon or Porto and leave from a different airport where noted, which saves a backtrack.

This is the default first trip and the one the country page recommends. Four nights in Lisbon gives you two full days in the city, one day for Sintra and one for arrival or Belém. Sintra is about 40 minutes from Lisbon by train and works as a day trip; the palaces use timed tickets, so book before you go and start early.

Take the Alfa Pendular train from Lisbon to Porto, roughly three hours city centre to city centre. Three nights in Porto covers the Ribeira waterfront, the port lodges across the river in Vila Nova de Gaia and a half day for the tiled churches and São Bento station. If you have a fourth night, spend it in the Douro Valley rather than adding a city.

Fly into Lisbon and out of Porto. Open-jaw tickets usually cost little more than a return and remove a wasted travel day at the end.

Two weeks lets you run Porto to the Algarve without rushing. Start in Porto for three nights, then two nights in the Douro Valley among the vineyard terraces. A car is easiest from Porto into the Douro and back out; the train along the Douro line is scenic but slower and stops are limited.

Coimbra takes one night on the way south: the old university and the Joanina Library, which runs timed entries, so book the day before. Lisbon gets four nights, with Sintra as a day trip. Then one night in Évora for the Roman temple and Alentejo food, and three nights in the Algarve — Lagos for cliffs and grottoes, or Tavira for a quieter base near Faro airport.

Trains cover Porto–Coimbra–Lisbon and Lisbon–Évora well. The Alentejo and Algarve legs are easier by car or coach; Lisbon to Lagos by coach or by train with a bus connection is the common no-car option.

With three weeks, run the 14-day loop and put the extra week into Madeira or the Azores. Both are short flights from Lisbon or Porto and both reward 4–7 nights. Madeira suits levada walks and year-round mild weather; São Miguel in the Azores suits crater lakes, hot springs and whale watching, best from May to September.

The alternative is to slow the mainland down instead: two nights in the Douro, two in Évora, and more beach time in the Algarve. That trades breadth for fewer packing days, which most travellers prefer by week three.

Island flights and ferries fill in summer; book the inter-island or mainland legs before you leave if your dates are fixed.

Prices below are 2026 estimates and change with season and how early you book. Lisbon and Porto in July and August cost the most; April to June and September to October are cheaper and cooler.

Distances are real travel times, not map distances. The Lisbon–Porto train is the one leg where the train beats driving; almost everywhere else the car or coach is more flexible.

Keep one spare day. Strikes and summer wildfires do affect transport and roads, and a buffer day is cheaper than a missed flight.