Best Portugal Honeymoon Itinerary: 10 Days Including Lisbon, Porto, Douro Valley & the Algarve

Best Portugal Honeymoon Itinerary

The Complete Journey, Day by Day, from the Capital’s Rooftops to the Sea Caves of the Atlantic South

You will land in Lisbon and spend the first three days letting the city rearrange your definition of what a capital is — old, warm, tiled, musically alive, draped across seven hills above a river so wide at its mouth it looks like the sea. On Day 4 you take the train north and spend two days in the Douro Valley — the world’s oldest wine region — where the terraced vineyards stepping down to the river will make both of you understand why people who have been here once return every year without feeling they need an explanation. On Day 6 you arrive in Porto and spend two evenings on the best urban waterfront in Iberia. Then the train south carries you to the Algarve for the final three days of a honeymoon whose arc — city, wine country, coast — is not a compromise between different travel personalities but the single most complete experience Portugal fits into ten days. Every transport cost, departure time, booking window, and practical tip that makes the difference between a trip that runs smoothly and one that costs two hours of a honeymoon to untangle is below.

Before You Travel — The Pre-Departure Checklist

Book the following in advance or risk the specific frustration of watching an Algarve sunset from a car park instead of a sea cave: Pena Palace, Sintra (buy timed-entry online — summer queues without a ticket can consume 90 minutes of your morning); Douro Valley full-day wine tour departing Porto (books out 2–3 weeks ahead in peak season); Benagil Cave sunrise kayak tour (limited to 20 people, the 7:30 AM slot sells out weeks in advance); and your hotels in all four destinations — especially the Algarve for June through September, when the most walkable, centrally located boutique properties fill 3–4 months out. Book all CP (Comboios de Portugal) train tickets through cp.pt — Lisbon to Porto and Porto to Faro — as early prices on the Alfa Pendular are considerably lower than walk-up fares. Keep a single dedicated folder on your phone for all confirmations, timed-entry tickets, and hotel addresses — the 10-day pace is comfortable, but arriving at a quinta in the Douro without the address is a specific Portuguese country road problem.

Day 1 — Lisbon Arrival: Alfama, Fado & the First Pastel de Nata

Morning/Afternoon — Arrival and Check-In
Land at Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport and take the Metro Red Line direct to the city centre — Oriente or Baixa-Chiado stations — in approximately 30 minutes at a cost of €1.85/$2.05 per person including the €0.50 Viva Viagem card. Check into your hotel, leave the luggage, and resist the entirely understandable urge to lie down. The most important thing to do on Day 1 of a Lisbon honeymoon is to walk toward the river and let the city introduce itself on its own terms.

Afternoon — Alfama District
Head to the Alfama — Lisbon’s oldest neighbourhood, the Moorish quarter that survived the 1755 earthquake when everything else fell — and simply walk uphill without a specific destination. The streets are too narrow for cars and too steep for tourists in a hurry, which means the neighbourhood self-selects for the visitor who is willing to be surprised by what is around the next corner: a miradouro where four people are sharing wine, a doorway tiled in 18th-century azulejos that has not been photographed yet today, a grandmother’s window box of geraniums in a red that the light at 4 PM turns extraordinary. Stop at Miradouro da Graça — the viewpoint above Alfama with the widest panorama of Lisbon’s rooftops, the Tagus, and the castle on the hill to the east — for a late afternoon ginjinha (the small glass of cherry liqueur that Lisbon has been drinking at viewpoints for 200 years) at a café terrace.

Evening — Fado Dinner
Book a table at a casa de fado in Alfama — Tasca do Chico or Mesa de Frades — for a full dinner with wine and live Fado, the musical form that carries the specific Portuguese emotional quality called saudade in a woman’s voice over simple guitar accompaniment, starting at approximately 8 PM. The meal costs €40–€80/$44–$88 per person including wine and the music — book three weeks ahead in peak season. This is the evening that will feel, in retrospect, like the moment the honeymoon actually started.

Day 2 — Lisbon: Belém, Tagus Cruise & the Chiado

Morning — Belém at Opening Hour
Take Tram 15E or an Uber from central Lisbon to Belém — 20 minutes, €5–€8/$5.50–$8.85 — arriving at the Pastéis de Belém bakery at 8 AM before the queue forms. Order two pastéis de nata with espresso (total: €3–€4/$3.30–$4.40), sit at the tiled interior counter, and establish the baseline against which every custard tart you eat for the rest of your lives will be measured. Walk 10 minutes east along the riverfront to the Jerónimos Monastery — the greatest surviving example of Manueline architecture, admission €15/$16.60 per person, open from 10 AM — and allow 45–60 minutes for the interior cloister, whose stone carved into maritime ropes, coral branches, and armillary spheres by 16th-century craftsmen is the aesthetic expression of a country that understood the sea as the source of everything. The Monument to the Discoveries and Tower of Belém are a 15-minute riverside walk east, admissible separately (€6–€8/$6.65–$8.85 each) or viewed free from the waterfront — the Belém morning is one of Lisbon’s great free walks even without entering either structure.

Afternoon — Tagus River Sailing Cruise
Return to the Cais do Sodré riverfront by Uber (€8–€12/$8.85–$13.30) and board the 2-hour Tagus River sailing cruise departing at approximately 3 PM — group tours from €35–€50/$38.75–$55.35 per person, or private charter from €150–€280/$166–$310 for two. The cruise passes under the Ponte 25 de Abril suspension bridge at water level, circles the Belém monuments from the river, and returns to dock as the 5 PM light turns the Alfama hillside to amber — the specific Lisbon afternoon light that the city’s landscape painters have been chasing for two centuries. A private charter at sunset is the single most romantic two hours available in Lisbon and the most cost-effective use of the premium.

Evening — Chiado & Bairro Alto
Dinner in the Chiado neighbourhood — Lisbon’s most refined dining district — at a restaurant serving bacalhau à brás (salt cod, eggs, potato, and parsley, the dish that Portugal has been producing 365 ways for five centuries) or arroz de pato (duck rice baked with chouriço) at a price point of €20–€35/$22–$38.75 per person for a full dinner with house wine. End the evening with a walk through the Bairro Alto — the bohemian hillside neighbourhood whose narrow streets fill with wine bar crowds from 9 PM — finding a tasca that suits you by the smell of sardines and the sound of someone’s guitar.

Day 3 — Sintra & Cabo da Roca: The Fairy-Tale Palace and the Edge of Europe

Morning — Train to Sintra, Pena Palace by 9 AM
Take the Rossio Station train to Sintra — departs every 20–30 minutes from 6 AM, journey 40 minutes, ticket €2.30/$2.55 one way — arriving in Sintra by 8:30–9 AM. From Sintra station, take Bus 434 directly to the Pena Palace gates (17 minutes, €3.30/$3.65 return, included in the combined bus pass) — do not attempt to walk the steep uphill road in summer heat. Your pre-booked timed-entry tickets (€14–€17/$15.50–$18.85 per person for palace and grounds) allow immediate access — the palace grounds open at 9 AM and the staterooms at 9:30 AM, giving you the extraordinary first 30 minutes in the gardens before the crowd’s critical mass arrives. The palace exterior — yellow and red towers, battlements, Manueline windows, and the rooftop terrace with the Atlantic visible on clear mornings between the mountain mist — earns the 40-minute train journey from every angle.

Midday — Quinta da Regaleira
After Pena Palace, take Bus 434 back down to Sintra village (10 minutes) and walk 10 minutes to Quinta da Regaleira — entry €12/$13.30 per person, allow 90 minutes for the full garden circuit. The Initiatic Well — the 27-metre spiral stone staircase descending through nine Masonic-inspired platforms into tunnels that surface in grottoes and fountains throughout the garden — is the specific experience that makes Regaleira feel like a fairy-tale that also has a philosophical argument. Lunch in Sintra village at Tascantiga (€12–€18/$13.30–$19.95 per person for a full meal with local wine), then back to Lisbon by mid-afternoon.

Afternoon Extension (Optional) — Cabo da Roca
From Sintra, Bus 403 runs to Cabo da Roca — the westernmost point of continental Europe, a 140-metre cliff above the Atlantic where the stone marker reads Luís de Camões’s line: “where the land ends and the sea begins” — in 40 minutes, then continues to Cascais (further 30 minutes) where the train returns to Lisbon. The complete Sintra-Cabo da Roca-Cascais-Lisbon loop costs approximately €15–€20/$16.60–$22.15 total in public transport and ends back in Lisbon by 8 PM.

Evening — Last Lisbon Dinner
Book the evening at a restaurant you passed earlier in the trip that you promised yourself you would return to — Lisbon rewards the return visit.​

Day 4 — Porto & the Douro Riverfront

Morning — Transfer Lisbon to Porto
Take the Alfa Pendular train from Lisboa Oriente station to Porto Campanhã — fastest service takes 2 hours 39 minutes, departures from 6:30 AM approximately every 30–60 minutes. Ticket prices: €19–€35/$21–$38.75 booked in advance, rising to €40–€55/$44–$61 for walk-up fares — always book CP trains at least one week ahead for honeymoon trips. From Porto Campanhã, the Metro Blue Line delivers you to central Porto (Trindade or Bolhão stations) in 7 minutes. Check in, leave luggage, and head directly to the Ribeira waterfront — the 12th-century UNESCO-listed riverside frontage of medieval buildings, restaurants, and bars that makes Porto’s riverbank one of the most visually distinctive urban waterfronts in Europe.

Afternoon — Porto City Walk
Walk the Dom Luís I Bridge upper deck — 45 metres above the Douro River — slowly, pausing at the midpoint to take the photograph of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia that the city’s tourism images have been reproducing for 100 years. Cross to Vila Nova de Gaia on the opposite bank and visit one of the historic port wine lodges — Graham’s or Sandeman’s — for a guided cellar tour and tasting covering the full Port spectrum from white port aperitif to 20-year tawny (tours from €15–€20/$16.60–$22.15 per person, book ahead). Return across the lower bridge to Ribeira for the late afternoon walk along the riverfront, stopping at the Livraria Lello bookshop (entry €8/$8.85, redeemable against a purchase) — the 1906 Neo-Gothic interior staircase, stained glass ceiling, and painted friezes of a 120-year-old bookshop make it the most photographed interior in Porto.

Evening — The Yeatman Dinner
If budget allows, reserve dinner at The Yeatman Hotel restaurant in Vila Nova de Gaia — a two-Michelin-star wine-focused tasting menu at €120–€180/$133–$199 per person with wine pairing, the most curated food and wine experience in Porto with the city’s most famous river view from the dining room. The alternative — a tasca dinner in the Ribeira with grilled codfish (bacalhau grelhado), caldo verde (potato and kale soup with chouriço), and a bottle of Douro red for €25–€40/$27.70–$44.30 total for two — is the Porto that locals eat and the meal that most couples retrospectively describe as the evening that Porto took them by surprise.

Day 5 — Douro Valley: Vineyards, River Cruise & Quinta Sunset

Full Day — Douro Valley Wine Tour from Porto
Book the Douro Valley full-day tour departing Porto — specifically the tour that includes transport from Porto, two estate winery visits with commented tastings, a 45-minute rabelo boat cruise departing Pinhão, and a traditional winery lunch with wine. Tour departure is 8:30 AM from Largo da Lapa church in Porto; cost €75–€100/$83–$110.80 per person for group tour, or €200–€350/$221–$388 private full-day charter for two. The route follows the Douro River valley east from Porto, climbing through the Marão Mountains before descending into the terraced vineyard landscape at the World Heritage boundary near Régua — the moment the valley opens below as the bus descends is the visual that the rest of the day’s wine will not displace from the honeymoon memory.

At the first quinta, the winemaker walks you through the schist terraces, explains the specific iron-poor, water-retaining volcanic soil that forces the vine roots 15–20 metres deep for water and concentrates the grape sugars that produce the Douro’s characteristic fruit intensity, and pours a tasting of five wines — young Douro white, a Douro red, a white port, a ruby port, and a 10-year tawny — that sequences perfectly into a food-and-drink education. Lunch at the winery restaurant — traditional rojões (braised pork with potatoes), arroz de pato, and francesinha variants in a quinta dining room overlooking the river — includes wine and takes 90 minutes, which is the correct amount of time. The rabelo boat cruise from Pinhão in the early afternoon carries the two of you down the river between the terraced slopes that are simultaneously the scenery and the explanation for everything you have just drunk. Return to Porto by 7 PM, having consumed the Douro Valley’s argument in the most complete single day the region makes possible.

Evening — Porto Sunset
Drinks at the Miradouro da Vitória viewpoint above the old town as the day’s last light crosses the river, then dinner in the Foz do Douro neighbourhood at the river’s mouth — Restaurante Antunes or any of the marisqueiras (seafood restaurants) whose grilled sea bass and Douro white wine at the Atlantic edge make the final Porto evening feel earned.

Day 6 — Porto to Algarve: The Journey South

Morning — São Bento Station & Final Porto Hour
Before departure, spend 20 minutes in São Bento Station — the central Porto train station whose entrance hall is covered in 20,000 azulejo tiles depicting scenes from Portuguese history, painted by Jorge Colaço in 1905 and installed between 1905 and 1916 — which is simultaneously a working commuter station and one of the most beautiful tiled interiors in Europe. The 20 minutes are justified by the specific pleasure of looking at a 20,000-tile mural of your own country’s history while waiting for a train to leave.

Transfer — Porto to the Algarve
The Alfa Pendular train from Porto (Vila Nova de Gaia-Devesas station) to Faro runs twice daily — the practical morning service departs approximately 7 AM, arriving Faro in approximately 6 hours (the journey passes through Lisbon Oriente and the Alentejo plains), with tickets from €57–€90/$63–$99.70 booked in advance. For couples who want to save 3 hours, the Porto to Faro flight (TAP, Ryanair, easyJet) takes 1 hour 10 minutes from approximately €40–€90/$44–$99.70 one way depending on booking timing — fly if you want the extra afternoon in Lagos; train if the journey itself is part of the itinerary and the Alentejo plains rolling past the window is a landscape worth observing. From Faro Airport or station, take a regional train or taxi to Lagos (45–60 minutes by train from Faro, €8–€12/$8.85–$13.30) and check into your Algarve base.

Evening — Lagos First Impression
Drop bags, walk directly to the Ponta da Piedade cliff path (10 minutes by Uber from Lagos centre) and stand at the promontory above the golden sea stacks at the hour before sunset — the first Algarve view that both of you will agree required no preparation and no context and no expectation management. Dinner in Lagos old town — any restaurant on the Rua da Barroca or Rua 25 de Abril for grilled local fish, local white wine, and the particular ease of a holiday that has arrived at the coast.

Day 7 — Benagil Cave & Praia da Marinha: The Algarve’s Most Beautiful Morning

Early Morning — Benagil Cave Sunrise Kayak
Set the alarm for 6:30 AM. Your pre-booked sunrise kayak tour departs Benagil Beach at 7:30 AM — hire your own car or Uber from Lagos (35 minutes, €25–€35/$27.70–$38.75) to the beach, find the kayak rental point, and launch into the Atlantic early enough that when your kayak enters Benagil Cave through its arched sea entrance, you are among the first people inside. The interior — a circular sea cave whose eroded roof skylight drops natural light directly onto the cave’s sand floor in a beam that moves across the interior walls as the sun climbs — is the photograph that the Algarve’s entire tourism industry is built around, and the sunrise version, without the afternoon boat flotilla, belongs to the couple with the early alarm. The tour guide takes the kayak photograph of the two of you inside — this is the image that goes on the wall.

Midday — Praia da Marinha
After returning the kayaks (tour ends approximately 9:30–10 AM), drive or Uber 15 minutes west to Praia da Marinha — consistently ranked among the most beautiful beaches in Europe, a cove of golden sand framed by stratified limestone cliffs whose geological strata have been compressing and recording 200 million years of ocean history. Arrive before 10:30 AM to claim a position on the beach before noon fills it, swim in the Atlantic, eat the picnic you packed from the Lagos market that morning, and spend the afternoon doing nothing with the specific competence of two people who have earned it.

Evening — Carvoeiro Village
Drive or taxi 20 minutes east to Carvoeiro — a former fishing village that has grown into a boutique resort town without losing its whitewashed-cliff character — for dinner at a restaurant above the beach with a sea terrace facing west. The Carvoeiro beach at last light, when the cliffs turn deep amber and the fishing boats are coming in, is the Algarve evening at its most unhurried.

Day 8 — Sagres & the End of the World

Morning — Sagres Peninsula
Drive or arrange a private tour to Sagres — the extreme southwestern corner of the Algarve, 30 minutes west of Lagos — where Prince Henry the Navigator established his school of navigation in the 15th century and sent out the fleets that mapped the African coast, found the route to India, and built the Portuguese empire whose architectural monuments you have been walking through since Day 1. The Fortaleza de Sagres (Sagres Fortress, entry €3/$3.30) stands on the cliff above the Atlantic with the 43-metre Rosa dos Ventos — a mysterious wind compass of stone, 43 metres in diameter, whose exact purpose and date archaeologists still debate — at its centre. The specific quality of Sagres is the wind — the unimpeded Atlantic wind that made Henry’s navigators understand the ocean as a physical force to be understood rather than feared, and that makes standing at the Cape St. Vincent lighthouse (the southwesternmost point of Europe, a 75-metre cliff) a full-body experience in a way that no other cape on the European coast quite manages.

Afternoon — Meia Praia or Luz
Return east toward Lagos and spend the afternoon at Meia Praia — a 4-kilometre-long Atlantic beach of fine sand directly north of Lagos, the longest and least crowded beach in the immediate Lagos area, where the afternoon ocean breeze that the Sagres wind predicts makes the water conditions ideal for the couple that wants waves rather than the rocky cove experience of Marinha.

Evening — Lagos Farewell Dinner
Last dinner in Lagos at a waterfront restaurant — order cataplana de marisco (the traditional copper-pot shellfish and fish stew, a dish that requires 20 minutes to prepare and delivers the specific flavour of everything the Algarve coast caught that morning, combined with the olive oil, coriander, and white wine that the dish is cooked in) — and finish the evening with a walk along the Lagos marina where the boats rock in the harbour and the old town walls are lit against the night sky.

Day 9 — Algarve Slow Day: Spa, Beach & Sunset Sailing

Morning — Couples’ Spa Treatment
This is the day with no agenda and the most rewarding structure. Book a couples’ spa treatment at your resort or at a dedicated Algarve spa — a 90-minute session typically costs €100–€180/$110.80–$199.40 for two, and the combination of the Atlantic thalassotherapy treatments available at Algarve spas (seawater, sea salt scrub, algae wrap) with the specific post-hiking-and-kayaking muscle gratitude of Day 7 and 8 means the timing is precisely correct.

Afternoon — Beach of Choice
Return to the beach that earned the most loyalty over Days 7–8 — Marinha if you cannot stop thinking about the cove, Meia Praia if you want the long stretch, or Praia dos Três Irmãos near Portimão if neither of the above, whose sea caves and accessible rock arch experience require only a 10-minute walk from the car park.

Evening — Sunset Catamaran
Book the afternoon sunset catamaran cruise along the Ponta da Piedade coastline — departing from Lagos marina at approximately 5:30 PM, returning at 8 PM, cost €45–€65/$49.85–$72 per person — which takes the sea stack and sea cave landscape of Ponta da Piedade that you saw from the cliff on Day 6 and shows it from the water, at the hour when the golden limestone turns to amber and the Atlantic light from the west turns everything in the opposite direction to rose. The catamaran cruise is the honeymoon photograph that the cliff walk produces as a landscape and the water produces as an immersive experience — both are correct, and doing them on different days is the specifically Portuguese approach to not rushing.

Day 10 — Final Morning, Faro Old Town & Departure

Morning — Ria Formosa and Faro’s Hidden Old Town
Depart Lagos by car or train to Faro (45–60 minutes) with enough time before your flight for the experience that most visitors to the Algarve miss entirely: the Faro Old Town (Cidade Velha) inside the medieval walls, a compact historic quarter of Roman, Moorish, and Portuguese architecture anchored by the Faro Cathedral (Sé Catedral) whose rooftop delivers a panorama over the Ria Formosa Natural Park — the 60-kilometre lagoon system of tidal channels, barrier islands, and saltmarsh that runs east from Faro along the Algarve coast, home to flamingos, chameleons, and the specific stillness of a protected wetland that exists 15 minutes from an international airport. The ferry to Ilha Deserta (20 minutes from Faro pier, €5/$5.55 return, runs every 30–60 minutes) lands you on the most isolated beach in the Algarve — a protected natural park island of white sand that is literally called Deserted Island (Ilha Deserta) and lives up to its name with a seriousness that the developed Algarve resorts are structurally incapable of. Allow 2 hours if departing from Faro Airport by early afternoon, or the full morning if flying early evening.

Airport Transfer
Faro Airport is 5 minutes from Faro city centre by taxi (€8–€12/$8.85–$13.30) or bus (€2.35/$2.60) — the most efficiently located airport departure in Portugal, leaving time for a final pastel de nata and galão (the milky Portuguese espresso drink) at the airport café before boarding.

Transport Summary

Key transportation routes and approximate costs across major Portuguese destinations (as of early 2026). Prices are one-way unless noted and subject to seasonal variation.

Daily Budget Breakdown (per couple)

Estimated daily expenses for two people across budget, mid-range, and luxury travel styles. Costs are approximate and based on typical 2026 pricing.

All figures are approximate and derived from current 2026 data (CP trains, metro, Ryanair/TAP flights, taxi apps, and typical hotel/restaurant pricing). Costs may vary by season, booking timing, number of travelers, and specific choices. Exchange rate used: 1 EUR ≈ 1.11 USD (mid-February 2026 average). Always verify current fares and availability directly.

FAQ

What is the best base for the Algarve section of this itinerary?
Lagos is the best single base for a honeymoon Algarve stay — central to Benagil Cave (35 minutes east), Sagres (30 minutes west), Ponta da Piedade (10 minutes south), and with a historic old town whose restaurant scene sustains three dinner evenings without repetition.

Should I fly or take the train from Porto to the Algarve?
Fly if you want the extra afternoon in Lagos — the 1-hour 10-minute flight saves 5 hours of journey time and the price difference is marginal when booked in advance. Take the train if the journey through the Alentejo plains is something you want to experience — it is a genuinely beautiful route through the flat agricultural south of Portugal.

When should I book the Benagil Cave kayak tour?
Minimum 3–4 weeks in advance for the 7:30 AM sunrise slot in peak season — this is the single most over-subscribed paid experience in the Algarve and the one whose cancellation would most damage a honeymoon morning. Book the day you finalize your Algarve dates.

Can I do the Douro Valley as a day trip from Porto?
Yes — the organised full-day tour including transport, two winery visits, river cruise, and winery lunch departs at 8:30 AM from Porto and returns by 7 PM, making it a complete Douro Valley experience without an overnight in the valley.

What is the Alfa Pendular train and how do I book it?
The Alfa Pendular is Portugal’s high-speed intercity train — comfortable, air-conditioned, with restaurant car — connecting Lisbon, Coimbra, Porto, and Faro on the CP (Comboios de Portugal) network. Book at cp.pt at least 2 weeks in advance for the lowest fares, which can be one-third the walk-up price.

Is a rental car necessary for this itinerary?
Not essential — Lisbon, Porto, Sintra, and the Douro day trip are all manageable on public transport and tours. The Algarve is significantly more flexible with a car (Benagil Cave, Sagres, and the cliff coast roads between beaches all reward independent timing), but Uber and private tours cover the same ground without parking stress.

How much should I budget for the Douro Valley wine tour?
Group tour with transport, two winery visits, river cruise, and lunch: €75–€100/$83–$110.80 per person. Private full-day charter for two: €200–€350/$221–$388. The private option adds the flexibility to stay longer at the winery you prefer and leave before the group’s agreed departure.

What is the best time of year for this 10-day itinerary?
May, June, September, and October balance warm weather, swimmable Atlantic water, manageable crowds, and hotel rates below peak. August delivers the warmest sea but the highest prices and fullest beaches — book everything 4 months ahead and arrive at Benagil before 8 AM if you visit in August.

When the flight home climbs above Faro and the Ria Formosa lagoon appears below in the afternoon light — the long silver channels between the sand islands, the Atlantic beyond, and somewhere behind you the Douro Valley and the Alfama rooftops and the Pena Palace in the Sintra mist — the specific feeling is not nostalgia, because the places are too vivid and too recent for that. It is closer to the feeling the Portuguese call saudade: a longing for something present, because the thing is ending while you are still inside it. Portugal does that to people who arrive prepared to be surprised. It turns out to be the country that invented discovery, and it does not stop doing it even when you have been there for ten days.