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Portugal is by far one of the best-value destinations in Europe. And on top of its affordability, Portugal is also just an awesome place to travel. It’s a small country, but packs a big punch when it comes to history, architecture, and incredible food.
Most people will tell you to do a road trip in Portugal in order to see it all, but I spent 10 days in Portugal, and was able to get around just fine using trains, buses, and my own two feet. In fact, if it’s your first visit to Portugal, I would recommend seeing it just like I did.
If you’re interested in copying my 10-day Portugal itinerary, read on for all the details (or get a printable version here)! It covers Lisbon and Porto, plus several day trips to places like Sintra and Braga.
The best time to visit Portugal
First of all, let’s talk about when to go to Portugal. The good news is that you can visit this part of Europe pretty much year-round; the weather here is much milder than on other parts of the continent in the winter.
But for decent weather and fewer crowds, you’ll want to visit in March-April or October-November. May and September are good months, too, though you’re likely to run into higher temperatures and more people.
Months to avoid in Portugal are December and January (rainy season) and the height of summer (late June through August, when it’s super hot and generally pretty crowded).
I’ve been to Portugal twice in March (in 2019 and 2023), and thought it was a great time to be there. It was already starting to get warm and busy in Lisbon (Lisbon’s “low season” gets shorter and shorter every year), but was only just starting to feel like spring further north in Porto. I had mostly sunny days, and it was the perfect temperature to be out exploring.
How many days in Portugal do you need?
You could easily spend weeks exploring this amazing country, but since my audience (that’s you!) typically doesn’t have weeks to spend on one trip, I’m giving you suggestions for a 10 day Portugal itinerary. In 10 days you can see a lot of the highlights, including Lisbon, Sintra, Porto, the Douro Valley, and more.
If you want to see even more (including the Algarve or any of Portugal’s islands), you’ll need at least 2 weeks.
10 days in Portugal: My itinerary
I opted not to rent a car in Portugal. I don’t really love driving alone in countries I’ve never been to before, plus it seemed pretty easy to get everywhere I wanted to go in Portugal without a car – and it was.
I also decided to just focus on two main cities on this trip (Lisbon and Porto), rather than try to cover every corner of the country in less than two weeks. The good news is that there are some easy day trips from both these cities, so you can still see most of the highlights in just 10 days.
Without further ado, here’s my Portugal 10 day itinerary that you can use to help plan your own trip!