12 Days in Portugal - Car vs Train and Itinerary Suggestions

We found Nazare to be a heavily touristed beach town with lousy food. I’d skip it and stay in Coimbra instead. Consider using a night or two away from Porto and spending it in the Douro river valley area, especially if you like wine. We were on a RS tour so I can’t comment on best ways to travel place to place.

Thanks Alan, any suggestions on where to stay in Douro?

Nazare and Obidos could be a stretch without a car, but based upon querying rome2rio you could do it with bus. What does your guidebook say about ease of access to those towns via transit? Obidos is more of a day trip destination for me. My wife and really enjoyed Nazare but we did not stick around town all day, used it as a place from which to visit Obidos and Alcobaqa. I would stay two nights in Sintra myself, people always want to do it as a day trip but it's so magical and you need more than a partial day to even see the sights. Four nights in Lisbon, one being the day of arrival and you are going to do three day trips--don't you have any interest in Lisbon itself? In answer to your question, for this itinerary I'd say car but not in the big cities, of course.

We stayed here on the tour: http://www.vintagehousehotel.com/en/. Lovely place.

I loved Nazare and wish I had spent a night there instead of just half a day. It seems to be one of those places people either love or hate.

In May I did a quick trip all by train and bus: four nights in Lisbon, train to Coimbra (stop in Tomar for a few hours) two nights in Coimbra (day trip by bus to Nazare), and train to Porto, three nights in Porto. I had planned on doing the Douro Valley while in Porto, but it started to rain after the first day so I didn't even bother. Porto is small and honestly I didn't find much to do there - and it was more touristy than expected. (I guess recently it has been "discovered" more than in the past.) Two nights would have been plenty for me without the day for the Douro Valley that I didn't even bother with.

I'd probably take a day from Porto and add it to Lisbon - or even do a night in Sintra. It's a pleasant town, and spending a night (when it is pretty quiet it seems vs. the busy daytime) might let you pace your Sintra activities more.

There is lots more to Portugal than just these places, though.

Add a night in Evora at the Pousada, lovely.
Stay in Porto, Coimbra, Evora and Lisbon. Do NOT stay in Obidos. It is cute, pretty, exists for tourism and can be seen in a maximum of two hours.
Include stops at Alcobaça, where the royals tombs are located. Nazaré for seafood lunch,. We enjoyed staying in Pousadas throughout Portugal. Good dining there too.
However, in Coimbra we enjoyed staying and dining at Quinta de las Lagrimas.
We took a day boat trip up the Douro, terraced vineyards, over and ovet. monotonous.
Train back, nice lunch and service on the boat.

I would substitute Coimbra and Evora for Nazaré and Obidos. Óbidos is definitely not worth two nights and a very recent trip found many tour bus crowds. June will also be crowded. And, I’m one of those that thinks Nazare is overrated - especially if you aren’t beach people.

Both Coimbra and Evora have lots of history, great food and are worth two nights.

And, while possible by bus, Tomar might be best with a car.
Lastly, my scouting trip to Portugal was two weeks plus and I could have spent more nights - without including the Algarve. So, you are not staying too long with your present itinerary.

Thanks to all for your suggestions. Have made some changes to allow for more day trips and fewer shorter stops. Your feedback was so helpful. Many thanks.