Lisbon and Porto in 7 days?

Not too ambitious at all, actually that time of year the it'll be too cold for beaches so its a decent amount of time to see some of Portugal's best attractions. Plan on one full day exploring Lisbon city itself, including the historic old city and the area around Belem, and another full day checking out the beautiful palaces and gardens of Sintra. Palacio Pena and Montserrat are the best palaces in Sintra, but there's others too. Its easy and cheap to get the local train to Sintra from Lisbon if you wanted to save on car hire, but you will need to take buses or taxis to get to/from the various palaces there.

So I'd recommend 3 nights in Lisbon, 2 nights in Porto and maybe 1-2 nights somewhere else. Its well worth seeing one of the other smaller historic cities of Portugal, like Evora to the east of Lisbon, or Coimbra which is on the way between Porto/Lisbon. Hiring a car is more worthwhile to get around the countryside, like the villages around Evora / Portalegre, or the Doura in the north, as driving/parking in the cities is a real pain.

Thanks almondy. Any suggestions on wineries or methods to explore the Douro/Porto? Any experience with the Pousadas?

Actually, I dont know that area well at all. The Portugal guidebooks explain it well, or other members might know more than me. I'm a budget traveller, so not too sure about pousadas either, sorry.

I recommend going to Sintra by train. It is very difficult to find a parking place in Sintra. You can waste a lot of time driving round and searching. I also suggest you take a packed lunch. It can be a long wait to get a seat in a restaurant, there are so many tour-coach groups with block bookings..

Hi. I've been many times to Porto, and twice to Lisbon.

They are two very nice town!! 7 days is enough... 3 nights in Lisbon, 2 in Porto, and on the way I would recommand one night in Figueira da Foz... Nice resort, with many hotel with seaview for reasonable prices (like for 60€ you get a double room with seaview in a 4 star hotel..) outside summer.

Or Aveiro for one night too, a very nice small town about 1 hour south of Porto.

For me that would be way too fast. Lots to stumble upon.

I agree with the last comment. Too much to see in just 7 days. I have been in Lisbon 3 times and in Oporto maybe 5 or 6 times and I do wonder how I could see both places in just 7 days plus Sintra or Cascais. I do recommend going to Sintra by train and to Cascais by train and then take one of the free bikes at the station to go for a ride along the beach.

I too agree that Lisbon needs more than one day, even without going to see the Belem Tower and the monastery. We spent a week there on our second trip and didn't run out of places to see while wandering around.

And indeed, Sintra is easy to reach by commuter train -- no hassle with looking for parking.

Cascais is more of a summer destination so not worth spending time there in March.