Hey everyone!
Once again, I have questions (I'm sure I'll have lots more once I figure out exactly what it is that I'm doing)....

I'm leaving to study in Salamanca in about a month, and I just want to know how far is Portugal (ANY close city or village) from there?. It seems that we will only have the weekends to travel to other cities and the weekdays (after classes are done at 2pm) free to do whatever we want. I just thought it would be cool to at least just set foot there, you know?

I'm figuring we'll get there by bus... but I'm not sure. Can I do like a 1-day trip? Any of you done this trip before?

And will there be anything that I will need to cross the border? Passports? ID's? Pay any fees?

I will be relaying all of this info to my other trip-mates who want to do this "fun escapade", too. Unfortunately, our professors don't want us to "leave Spain" for "insurance reasons" (so asking them for info was useless), but our families are willing to provide any extra insurance the school won't cover in case of an emergency.

Any of you with good info, please let me know.
�Ol�!

Hola Cotorrita,
You may want to take the RENFE train from Salamanca to Lisbon, here is the itinerary: click here for the schedule.
There are also buses that go from Ciudad Rodrigo to Portugal. I am not sure which bus line, though, perhaps another member may remember.

Okay, so you must already be in Salamanca by now and I hope you are having a fantastic time. You may have already worked out a way to get to Portugal, but if you haven't there is a travel agent located in Calle Bermejeros opposite the cafe La Monja (just up from Plaza de la Constitucion and the Gran Via) which organises day trips to Portugal.

Once a month on a Saturday they organise a bus that goes to the town of Miranda do Douro, which is right on the border with the province of Zamora. It costs about 6 euros return, and is filled with little old ladies who pop across the border to stock up on sheets and pyjamas. They literally buy suitcases full of the stuff.

Miranda is quite pretty with lots of white-washed houses and cobbled laneways, and you get to spend about 6 hours there, which is more than enough because there isn't too much to do besides wander a bit and enjoy a tiny little taste of Portugal. Of course if you enjoy shopping for pyjamas you're in for a treat because there are tonnes of pyjama shops everywhere. In fact my friends and I simply refer to Miranda Do Douro as Pyjama-town because of the amazing array of shops selling pyjamas.

It makes a nice day trip from Salamanca, and if it's the only chance you get to visit Portugal than I definitely recommend going. Make sure you try some Portuguese chicken, custard tarts, almond tarts and bread while you're there. Yum.

I can't remember the name of the travel agent butit is the only one in that street and there should be a sign in the window about the trip. They also run a trip to another market just over the border in Portugal on a different Saturday in the month, but I can't remember exactly which town it is, or know if it's worth visiting.

If there is anyway that you can find a couple of extra days so you can make it to Lisbon or Porto I would highly recommend it. They are two of my favourite cities ever.

Hope this isn't too late to help!

Hasta luego,

Sally