been meaning to mention this to you. only time I've been to the mainland was 11 years ago (on our honeymoon), not sure if you were there in 2008. we loved it. spent four days in Lisbon, then took the train up the Atlantic coast, stopped a few nights along the way to way (one night at a vineyard winery b&B), a few nights in porto, then rented a car and drive east and then south along the Spanish border and stayed in a few tiny fortress towns with a population of a couple of hundred people (Almeida, Marvao, couple of others). circled back thru evora then over to sintra, then Lisbon for a night before coming home. avoided the Algarve.