One Week in Portugal: An Offbeat Itinerary
Seven days on the euro is genuinely the minimum for a true Lisbon-Porto-Algarve loop, not a suggestion; anything shorter claiming to cover all three is overpromising given the travel time between them. You’ve already spent six days running Lisbon, Sintra, a Coimbra stopover, a full Porto day and the Douro; day seven closes the loop south to the Algarve, where the A22 motorway has been fully toll-free for cars since a 2025 change, making the Faro-to-Lagos drive an easy final leg. Summer means peak heat and a packed coast; spring and autumn are calmer everywhere else you’ve already been.
This is the full run underneath the 6-day version , which stays in the north. If you’d rather go deep on one city instead of the whole loop, our Lisbon and Porto week-long itineraries do that.
Book these before you go:
- A Ribeira, Porto hotel for your Porto and Douro nights.
- A Douro Valley wine cruise from Porto for day six.
- A Lagos, Algarve hotel for your final two nights.
- A Benagil sea cave boat tour , the smaller shared boats from Portimao run far cheaper than a private charter for an identical view.
Day 1: Alfama, the miradouros and fado
Land at Humberto Delgado Airport, take the metro’s red line in, and spend the day in Alfama’s lanes and the Portas do Sol and Senhora do Monte miradouros. Skip Tram 28 for the ride itself, a documented pickpocket route; the 737 bus covers similar ground. Book a small fado house for the evening.
Day 2: Belem and the tile hunt
Morning is Belem: the Jeronimos Monastery (roughly EUR18, free Sunday morning for residents only) and the Belem Tower (EUR8), both UNESCO-listed. Queue at Pasteis de Belem for the original pastel de nata, a recipe from 1837. Afternoon is the Museu Nacional do Azulejo, the National Tile Museum in a former convent.
Day 3: Sintra
Take the CP train from Rossio, about 40 minutes, and go straight to your timed Pena Palace slot, booked via parquesdesintra.pt , roughly EUR20 combined with the park, before the tour buses arrive. Add Quinta da Regaleira (EUR15) if time allows.
Day 4: Coimbra, then on to Porto
Take a morning Intercidades train toward Coimbra, roughly 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours, for the University of Coimbra and its Biblioteca Joanina, the 18th-century library that keeps bats loose overnight to eat paper-damaging insects. Entry runs as a bundled “Palace of Schools” ticket, roughly EUR13.50, in timed groups that sell out on busy days, book via visit.uc.pt . By evening, take an onward train into Porto.
Day 5: Porto proper
Spend the morning on São Bento’s tiled hall, the Se cathedral’s terrace, and a walk through the Ribeira . Climb Clerigos Tower, then treat Livraria Lello as the ten-minute stop it is, EUR10 silver or EUR15.95 gold, credited toward a book. In the afternoon, cross to Vila Nova de Gaia for one port lodge tour rather than three.
Day 6: The Douro Valley
Take a regional Comboios de Portugal train up the Linha do Douro from Porto to Pinhao, roughly 2 hours each way for around EUR12 one way, hugging the river almost the entire route. Pinhao’s own 1937 station has 24 azulejo panels worth a look before the wine. Spend the afternoon at a walkable quinta in the Alto Douro Wine Region , then the train back to Porto.
Day 7: The Algarve
Fly from Porto (OPO) to Faro (FAO), or if you’d rather see the country instead of the inside of an airport, rent a car and drive south; the A22 motorway across the Algarve has run completely toll-free for passenger cars since a 2025 change, a real improvement over the old transponder hassle. Base in Lagos and book a shared boat, not a private charter, out to the Benagil sea cave, the natural-skylight cave that’s genuinely reachable only by water; shared tours from Portimao start far cheaper than Lagos departures for the same view. July and August genuinely sell out here, so lock the boat in advance if those are your dates. Spend what’s left of the day on the beach before your flight home from Faro.
| Day | Focus | Getting there | Rough daily cost (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Alfama, miradouros, fado | Metro from the airport | 60-90 |
| Day 2 | Belem, the tile museum | Tram 15E or a short taxi | 50-80 |
| Day 3 | Sintra, Pena Palace | CP train from Rossio, about 40 min | 70-100 |
| Day 4 | Coimbra, then Porto | Intercidades, then onward train | 70-100 |
| Day 5 | Ribeira, Lello, Gaia | On foot, then across the river | 70-110 |
| Day 6 | Douro Valley, Pinhao | Linha do Douro train, about 2 hours | 80-130 |
| Day 7 | Algarve, Benagil | Flight or a toll-free A22 drive | 80-140 |
Is seven days really the minimum for this whole loop?
Yes, and the dossier behind this route treats anything shorter as overpromising. Lisbon and Sintra alone want three days done honestly, the north wants three more once Coimbra and the Douro are in the mix, and the Algarve needs its own day rather than a rushed layover on the way to the airport.
Should you fly or drive from Porto to the Algarve?
Either works, but the toll-free A22 makes driving the more interesting option now, not just the cheaper one; a rental also solves the region’s actual transport gap, since public transport thins out fast beyond Faro and Lagos themselves.
Keep a printed or offline copy of your Benagil boat confirmation; signal along that stretch of the Algarve coast is patchier than the marketing photos suggest.