Portugal in July?

[Anonymous]

Would highly recommend going to the Azores too- lovely!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all very helpful, thank you!

9:47 PP, are you using hotels or Airbnb for your rentals in the different locations?

Is my US drivers license all I’d need to rent a car over there?

Will my Amex work fine in Portugal or do they prefer cash/euros?

You usually need an international driver's license (easy to get from AAA, only costs $20)

I’ve never needed an international driver license and I’ve rented cars in multiple countries for years.

Portugal will take pretty much any credit card, or cash (euros of course).

We were very underwhelmed with the food in Portugal. The seafood is great but there were few other things that had much taste at all. I’d pick Spain, France or Italy for the food over Portugal for sure.

[Anonymous]

A friend recently published a couple of articles about Lisbon including one about a food tour. Might be useful.

https://muckrack.com/nomaditis/articles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am planning a trip to Portugal this July but for 2 weeks. I've been researching the weather and the heat does not seem to be oppressive, especially if you stay in coastal areas. My kids are much younger but this is our itinerary:

Fly in/out of Lisbon:

Drive to Cascais (30 minutes from Lisbon) and spend 3 nights. There are beaches right there that are nice and you are less than 20 minutes from Sintra and the castles/gardens/national park.

Drive to Obidos and spend 1 night (beautiful village, you can stay in a castle cheaply)

Drive to the Bucaca National park (about 1.5 hours from obidos) and take a nice hike/picnic and spend the night in Aveiro (another 30-45 minute drive) (beautiful canals and colorful boats) then have a beach day in Costa Nova (beautiful beach though possibly some rougher waves and colorful houses)

Then drive 45 minutes to Porto and spend 3 nights there. Maybe do a short boat/wine tour if there's one appropriate for families out in the douro valley, otherwise we might just drive and check out a couple of places.

Start making our way back and visit Coimbra (about 1.5 hours from porto) - medieval city and nearby roman ruins and spend the night there and then back to Lisbon for 3 nights.

I don't love the idea of moving all over but at the same time, it makes more sense than driving extra time and we'll pack light. Some of the places we'll need to just have a quick overnight bag and so we'll leave some stuff in the trunk of the car.

This was the itinerary recommended to me for a mix of beaches/hiking/beautiful villages, some history, and some city life. Hope that's helpful in planning your trip!

PP, if you're still here, would you mind reporting back on your trip? We're headed there this summer and would love insight on what you liked (and didn't, if applies!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HOT AS HELL

Not true! Portugal in July was surprisingly cool and windy (especially near the coast).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HOT AS HELL

Someone who doesn't understand local climates. If you stay close to the coast the ocean moderates the temperatures significantly. Average high temp in July in Porto is 84.

Now, if you move inland, yeah it will heat up real quick. Wouldn't recommend adding Madrid to your trip in July.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did this years ago over Labor Day weekend and loved it. Portugal is small, charming and very accessible. We did a week and flew in and out of Lisbon with a rental car. (DH is fearless about driving in other countries although you couldn’t have paid me to do it - but it worked really well.) We did Lisbon, Sintra, Porto, and then drove down the center of the country to a couple days on the Algarve for the beaches. I would absolutely skip Algarve. It’s nothing impressive at all and feels very touristy. If I could do it again, I would have stayed longer in Lisbon and just done Sintra as a day trip instead of changing hotels (although we stayed at a nice place that was owned by Ritz Carlton but not flagged as such) and then spent longer in Porto and done some wine touring.

Enjoy, it’s a great trip!

Oh and PS: funny Portuguese quirk that makes tons of sense - if drivers in the left lane think the car in front of them is going too slowly and should get in the right lane, they put their left blinkers on even though there isn’t another left lane.

This is neither funny nor is it a “Portuguese quirk”. It is what you are supposed to do when someone is going slowly in the left lane and you want them to move over (and it is done all over Europe).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all very helpful, thank you!

9:47 PP, are you using hotels or Airbnb for your rentals in the different locations?

Is my US drivers license all I’d need to rent a car over there?

Will my Amex work fine in Portugal or do they prefer cash/euros?

You usually need an international driver's license (easy to get from AAA, only costs $20)

I rented a car in Portugal and didn’t need an international license. My US license was enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all very helpful, thank you!

9:47 PP, are you using hotels or Airbnb for your rentals in the different locations?

Is my US drivers license all I’d need to rent a car over there?

Will my Amex work fine in Portugal or do they prefer cash/euros?

You usually need an international driver's license (easy to get from AAA, only costs $20)

I’ve never needed an international driver license and I’ve rented cars in multiple countries for years.

Portugal will take pretty much any credit card, or cash (euros of course).

We were very underwhelmed with the food in Portugal. The seafood is great but there were few other things that had much taste at all. I’d pick Spain, France or Italy for the food over Portugal for sure.

Agree with all of this except for the Pasteis de Nata which I love, love, love and couldn’t get enough of!

[Anonymous]

Portugal is HOT in the summer. Last summer they had a huge heat wave, drought, and huge wildfires as a result. I would definitely plan some beach time. TONS to choose from. I liked Porto better than Lisbon but if you are ONLY going to one, then I'd pick Lisbon and spend some time as Cascais as well and visit Sintra. Plenty for a week.

[Anonymous]

It will be hot in Portugal both months and absolutely thumping with tourists.