We rented a car and took our little family on a Portuguese road trip of a lifetime. Read on to find a two+ week road trip itinerary through Portugal with a toddler and preschooler, visiting the following places:
2+ Week Road Trip Itinerary through Portugal with Kids
Drive about 1 hour north of Lisbon or fifteen minutes west of Caldas da Rainha to find the adorable, romantic, and picturesque town of Óbidos. Be sure to:
This was probably the highlight of my trip, so…you must stop here.
Drive about 1.5 hours north of Óbidos to Aveiro, the “Venice of Portugal.” We recommend you:
- Take a canal tour on a historic moliceiro boat
- Eat ovos moles, a local dessert
- See the striped houses in the Bairro dos Pescadores in Costa Nova
Stop here for a day on your way to Porto. We wished we had more time to explore the beaches and lighthouse.
Drive one hour from Aveiro to Porto. Spend a few days drinking wine, seeing the sights, and enjoying the history. Be sure to:
- Climb the Clérigos Tower
- Visit the Livraria Lello
- Walk the bridge or take the cable car to port wine tasting at Cais de Ribeira
I loved all of the blue tiles, my husband loved the port wine, and my toddler loved the many baby Jesus statues on display at every museum or church. There is something for everyone in Porto!
Drive three hours south from Porto to Sintra. Sintra is a magical place, full of castles, villas, and grottos. Spend at least one day in Sintra to:
- Visit the Pena Palace
- Explore Quinta da Regaleira
- Climb the Moorish Castle
- Wander the historic streets of downtown Sintra
Many visitors come to Sintra via train from Lisbon as a day trip. I highly recommend you stay for at least two days in order to see more castles at a kid-friendly pace.
Drive 45 minutes from Sintra to Lisbon to spend a few days in Portugal’s capital. Make sure you:
- Visit the Castelo de São Jorge
- Walk through the roofless Convento da Ordem do Carmo
The historic city is bustling with activities and delicious places to eat.
The drive from Lisbon to the Algarve, or the southern coastal region of Portugal, is about three hours. Stop in Alcácer do Sal for lunch on your way down. Once you reach the Portuguese Riviera, make sure you:
The Algarve is a popular tourist destination in the summer months but was mostly empty when we visited in December.
We made the drive back to Lisbon in the morning, arriving in time to grab lunch before our afternoon return flight home.
Portugal was the perfect place for our little family to explore. Everywhere we went, we saw beautiful historic buildings, castles, and stunning views. We ate delicious food, tried delicious wine, and left feeling very welcome and safe.
Since our flight into Portugal was round-trip from Lisbon, it felt difficult to plan a trip that started and ended at a location that was basically in the middle of the country. If I could do it again, I might have spent more time in Porto, flowing up the Douro River, and would definitely have stayed in a castle somewhere overnight. Next time!
I was surprised to see so few mixed-race couples, and honestly so few BIPOC locals. Most of the locals we met where white, and while they were well-meaning and overall very kind to us, they made me wonder where all the brown people were.
Still, overall I would highly recommend anyone to take their family to Portugal. It was beautiful, safe, full of delicious eats, easy to navigate, and relatively inexpensive as compared to many other European countries.
Have you visited Portugal with little kids? Share your tips below.
Puerto Rican & Indigenous mama of two. Bay Area native. Salsa dancer. Backpacker. Doula. Angel (she/her/hers) is a co-founding member of the Beautiful Brown Adventures team. She has traveled to over 30 countries and loves to explore the world with her two daughters & partner - one ice cream shop at a time.
All good with that itinerary but why travel up and then down and then up again? I’d start from Porto down to Lisbon continuing down to Algarve and finish there.
Hi Hugo! I totally agree. It was cheaper for us to fly in and out of Lisbon, so we had to start in the middle of the country and travel North to get to Porto. We debated skipping the Algarve all together so we would avoid the back and forth, but are glad we decided to go there despite the extra travel time.