Portugal tour and (maybe) Germany river cruise

[stephenson]

Hi All,

Planning trip to Portugal in late April/early May - post vaccination effort, otherwise it is a no-go.

Current plan is to meet friends in Porto end of April 2021 (they are coming off a bike cruise in Porto), then 4-5 days in:
1. Matosinhos
2. Viana do Castelo
3. Coimbra
4. Lazare
5. Lison prior to departure

BUT, we want to do a river cruise by ourselves in Germany on the way to Porto or after leaving Lisbon.

Any advice on:
1. River cruise timing - before or after Portugal route?
2. Locations in Portugal chosen (some tough choices)?
3. Flow of events re airlines - best solution?
4. Do we need to stay closer to Lisbon airport (someone gave us GREAT advice two years ago on staying at Hilton at Rome airport the night prior to departure - waaaaaay easier)

Thanks - as always!

 

[Nemo2]

Déjà vu all over again?

https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f46/portugal-2020-a-101246.html

 

[stephenson]

Yeah - exactly like that!

Oh, wait - it seems like it is exactly like something that happened before ... minus the pandemic!

 

[Souschef]

I have attached 2 trip stories, one about a German river cruise, and the other contains what we did in Portugal.

Out of Lisbon, we took a day trip to Sintra, Cascais, and Estoril, which were beautiful. Do not miss the Quelez Palace, either.
We wish you safe travel.

 

[Bamaman]

You're probably going to be there too early to do the German river cruise. You'd do better to go after Portugal.

We missed our Berlin-Dresden-Poland-Hungary trip in March/April, 2020. Looks as if we're going to take a 2 year hiatus from European travel--picking up in 2023. And we really miss our trips.