Your top choices should be United or TAP airlines. They'll have the most flights available with many direct to Porto. Flights directly to Porto are 6.5 hours so you might not want to add any layovers. However, you may find fights with a layover to be a cheaper option. We recommend TAP if you are looking for the full "Portuguese experience."
If you are flying direct to Porto, the flight is about 6.5 hours to and about 7 hours on the way home. Flights on the way home from Portugal are longer due to the wind and the spin of the earth going against the plane.
That will be totally up to you to decide. There are plenty of transportation options, like Uber, available to you. Your decision will really depend on how you are looking to spend your time in Portugal. If you are planning on exploring the many regions of Portugal, then we absolutely recommend you rent a car. Our wedding venue is located in the north of Portugal and while there is most certainly plenty of attractions in that region, there is also so much to see in the South.
We recommend the hotel we provided in the "travel & stay" section but that does not mean you have to stay there. We picked this hotel because its in the City of Braga which is a big tourist town in Portugal. The venue is about 15 minutes from Braga and this hotel will provide a shuttle service to and from the wedding! Although, there are plenty of other hotels in Braga if you rather something different, or you can look up hotels in Amares if you would like something closer to the hotel.
There is no humidity in Portugal which can make packing tricky. No humidity means it's chilly in the early mornings and gradually warms up throughout the day. Its usually the hottest in Portugal around 2-3 o'clock and then as the sun goes down the temperature drops dramatically. It can go from 90 to 65 in the timeframe of a few hours. The answer is, pack a little bit of everything. Be sure to pack shorts and tank tops for the hot afternoons. Although, don't forget to pack some jeans and sweatshirts for those cool nights!
Check out the things to do section for our favorite tourist spots!
You DO NOT need to know Portugese to travel throughout Portugal. I have been with Chris for 9 years and I still don't understand or speak Portugese. In the tourist areas, there is always someone that speaks English, usually the younger generations. You will need to learn this line, "Eu não falo português. Falo Inglês." This translate to: I do not speak Portugese. I speak English. Copy & paste that into translator and press the speaker button to hear how it sounds!
We have seen them as low as $600 and as high as $2,000 for a round trip (right now the rates are about $1,000). Christian's family says that the best time to buy tickets is usually between September - November.