10 day trip advice needed

I'm in the process of planning our 24 night trip to Portugal next May so have not been myself but my first thought is --

You have 6 changes of location in just 10 nights. Each hotel change takes a good chunk of time out of your day.
A 1 night stay means you have basically a half a day to see the town, get up next am and move on to your next town.

I have found hotels with parking Coimbra a bit scarce so- maybe stay in Tomar and visit Obidos, Coimbra, Alcobaca, Batalha, Nazare from there? Or pick your must dos

I believe the only sights closed on Monday in Evora are the Museum of Evora and the market. Since you don't sound real enthusiastic about Evora maybe drop it and just head north?

Lisbon 4
Tomar 2
Lamego 2
Porto 2

If you don't want to drive from Lamego into Porto to drop car you can drop it in Regua- they close at 12:30 on Sat ( I just realized this myself and it really helped my itinerary :))

I think your plan is pretty good, I'd just quibble about some details. And a caveat - add 50% to estimated driving times, unless you're on the toll roads.

Evora - there aren't that many sights. Which ones are closed? You could drive out to a cork factory tour. I did it in May this year and learned a lot and they have a wide range of quality products in their store at good prices. You could take a megalith tour or visit on your own. Evora is an outlier for your plan. Unless it is a high priority, skip it.

Tomar - I spent more time here, good location for day trips, but not a lot to see in the town. I went to both Alcobaca and Batalha, still don't know which I liked better. Batalha is much more ornate Gothic and draws bigger crowds so apparently most people prefer it. Visit Obidos first thing in the morning or late afternoon, there are liable to be way too many tourists in the middle of the day. I thought Nazare was much too touristy and uninteresting, just a big, big beach lined with shops and unattractive cafes. I get the impression from others that it's a nice place if you stay longer than 2-3 hours and see other bits of it. I didn't bother with the cliffs/seaview, saw plenty of that on the coast of California, Oregon . . . Nazare was a bit of bad planning on my part since I'd been told there are other seaside towns/fishing villages that are much nicer but I didn't research them.

You might be better with staying 2N in Tomar, arriving late on Monday and leaving early on Wednesday for the better part of a day in Coimbra. If you skip Evora, consider continuing on to Viseu after the day in Coimbra. Viseu was more attractive, had more sights. You could stop in Lamego for the church on your way to the Douro Valley.

Lamego - stay at a quinta in the Douro Valley instead!! I stayed in a wonderful one just outside Regua - Quinta de Marrocos.

I've lost count of the nights. Try to spend the last 2 in Porto. Less than 2 days is short-changing it. Drop the car at the airport on the way in and take the metro to the city center.

As you may have figured out by now, the trouble with Portugal is: too much to see, too little time.

Thank you Christine and Chani,
You both raise some good points. I don't think I want to deal with a car in Coimbra, plus we have 6 days in the cities of Lisbon and Porto, I would rather see the countryside. I also like your idea of dropping the car off in Regua and taking the train into Porto. You mentioned Viseu which looks like an interesting stop, I saw there is a Pousada there that looks good. There is also a Pousada in Obidos which I like. Perhaps after Evora, or in place of, stay a night in obidos, and Viseu? We don't mind changing hotels every night if it makes sense and in this case it does so we can keep moving north. We booked The wine house in Leming for a night before Porto . Any other helpful information is greatly appreciated!

Depending on what you plan on seeing and doing in Lisbon, I would spend 5 nights in Lisbon, to include a day trip to Sintra. That’s what we did, and there were a few things we didn’t have time to visit.

I thought Viseu was more much interesting and much less touristy than Obidos. Obidos is a walled town and you'd have to park outside the walls (AFAIK) and then walk in/out. It was pretty small. Viseu is much larger and has modern streets, easy to drive around. Evora also has much more to offer than Obidos. Coimbra - it should be easy enough to drive to the center and find parking, then spend a few hours seeing the sights - the RS guide has a good walking tour that includes the university. Then drive to wherever you're spending the night.

Hi all

I'm also planning a 10 day to Portugal in mid Nov. As we are arriving & leaving from Lisbon we are thinking of 4 days in Lisbon with a day trip to Sintra and another to Fatima followed by a final day in Lisbon.

With the remaining 5 days, we are thinking of 2 days in Porto but undecided whether to stay a night in Coimbra or can this be done as a stopover on the way to Porto if we are driving? Should we visit Evora or Algarve?

My husband is also quite concerned about renting a car as we have read so many horror stories about hidden costs and the hassle of parking. Hence, any recommendation on car rental companies? Can we pick up a car in Lisbon and drop off in Porto?

Many thanks!

Welcome Martha

It is best if you post your questions in a new thread rather than in this one. Your question will be seen by more and you will get notifications when someone responds to YOUR thread.

As I said above I am in process of planning our trip so have not been to Portugal yet, but can offer a few suggestions:
Car rental/driving- it's really not that awful! We always use AutoEurope.com for our European rentals- they are a US based consolidator with usually the best rates but more importantly the greatest customer service. We have used them in Italy, France Germany- Hertz or EuropCar and have always been very pleased. We will use them for our Portugal trip. Yes you can pick up in Lisbon and drop in Porto or wherever else you need to drop! I am not noticing any higher rates for diff drop off locations.
All drivers will need an IDP International Driving Permit that you get here in US at AAA for about $15

Where are you flying in from? If overnite from US it is usually best to NOT drive right away on arrival and you would not need or want or car in Lisbon- pick up car as you leave, drop off before you re-enter a city.
You may find you don't really need a car at all once you settle on an itinerary

Is your trip 10 NIGHTs or 1 0 days? Count your trip in nights.
Since you are flying RT Lisbon many would suggest putting all your Lisbon nights at end of trip so you don't need that backtrack/last night in Lisbon for departure.

I am going assume you have 9 NIGHTS and would suggest something like this and you won't need a car:
On arrival- train to Porto 4 nights- from here you can day trip to several places via train- Coimbra is 1 hour, Douro Valley, Barga/Guimareaes/Aveiro- just some suggestions
Then train back to Lisbon for final 5 nights- day trips to Sintra, Fatima (perhaps look for a tour that also includes Alcobaca and Batalha)
You can even day trip to Evora from Lisbon but be sure you allow enough time for Lisbon before adding too many day trips!

If you really have 10 nights- You also might consider spending a night or 2 in Sintra- seems like the perfect place to get over jet lag-
Arrival- to Sintra 2 nights
Train to Coimbra 1 night
Train to Porto 3
Train to Lisbon 4 nights- with day trip to Fatima area

There is a recent trip report written by Priscilla who traveled via train thru Portugal just this past spring- lots of good info in it:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/portugal-our-trip-in-progress
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/evora-our-trip-in-progress
From there follow the other links to bits about Coimbra, Porto, etc

If you haven’t yet pick up a copy of RS Portugal latest edition

Many thanks, Christine for your advice. Excellent ideas. It is my first time on this forum. Will post new questions in a separate thread.

We are from Singapore and hence not used to driving on the right side. Hence still weighing the pros n cons of driving.

Martha, since I didn't find a new thread from you, I'm answering here. For your itinerary I think a car will be a complete liability, no advantages at all. Caveat - I didn't go to Fatima, but I expect you can visit from Lisbon on public transport or find a day tour.

Thanks for helping us make up our minds about not driving.