This cruise was a retirement cruise, as I retired August 31, and we left for Lisbon just a week later. We purposely scheduled an extra three days in Lisbon on our own, and we scheduled private tours using Viator for 1 1/2 days. We booked our hotel the same as the one used by Viking so that we would not have to change hotels.

The Lisbon part was land-only, and they did a good job of getting the large coach around Lisbon's narrow and curvy streets. We hit some of the highlights of the city, and we deliberately did not do these during our three days prior to Viking. We paid extra for a really nice "Foodie" walking tour, which was in the early evening and visited three true neighborhood bars/wine bars/local watering holes. Nothing fancy, but a very nice time and a delightful walk.

On route to Porto, we stopped in Coimbra where we had some time in the downtown to do some walking and shopping, then spent time at the hilltop University. This was a highlight of the trip, where we got to visit the magnificent library (no pictures) and the chapel, after which we were treated to a lovely lunch that included men Fado musicians, which was wonderful. Read more