Lisbon and Porto milestone family trip in February

[toycat]

Planning a milestone birthday trip next February and thinking of Portugal as neither of us have been, and heard it's budget friendly!

Ideally would love to check out both Porto and Lisbon, possibly Sintra too. Kid will be 7 years old.

We love city breaks, music, art - kid is still big into playgrounds but not massive walks, so good public transport key. Temperature will be fine that time of year as we struggle in the heat :-)

I'm wondering how best to split the trip between the places in a week, or if we should just focus on one or the other? Any tips much appreciated!

I think you can easily do both in a week. February should be a good time with less crowds too. I’ve just been to Lisbon & it was too hot for me, would definitely go earlier in the year if I went back again.

Brilliant, thanks! Is Sintra worth a visit too with kids?

I haven’t been but they would probably enjoy it, maybe stick to just looking at the castles from the outside, unless they are really into it.

Lisbon buses and trams are very easy to navigate. Taxis are also cheap, although we ended up using buses mainly as it was so easy!

We went to Porto the following year (partly as we loved Lisbon so much!) - it is much smaller (and less hilly!) than Lisbon so we walked most places. We got a cab across the river for dinner one night.

We did 4 nights in Lisbon and 3 in Porto which I think is the right ratio for a week split.

love Lisbon & Porto. Porto in February can have very similar weather to the UK so be sure to take waterproofs and layers! Both are very hilly so maybe let the tram take the strain. Both have metros but Porto’s is very small, Lisbon’s more extensive.

Sintra is beautiful but I don’t think will appeal to 7 year olds. I’d save that for a few years

You could do both in a week as they’re only 3/4 hours apart by train

Thanks all! I think we'll go check out Sintra another time. That split of 4 nights Lisburn, 3 in Porto sounds good.

Are both Lisbon/Porto similar to Madrid and Berlin with lots of playgrounds to break up a walk?