Six and a half hours from Newark, only five hours ahead, and warm enough in April for castles, cliff walks and boat days without the summer crowds. Here's how I build a Portugal spring break for families, including the one thing I always warn parents about before they book.

Lisbon and Porto are wonderful, and they are also where everyone goes. These five places sit an hour or two off the main route, from a fishing village with the biggest waves on earth to Portugal's only national park, and they are the ones my clients end up talking about a year later.