We have already booked rooms in Lisbon, Sintra and the Algarve. We have 11 nights left to plan. We prefer staying in a place for a minimum of 3 nights and up to a week. We are looking at Evora, Coimbra, Monasaraz, Castelo de Vide and Aveiro. We prefer to travel by bus or train. We prefer natural and old town beauty and unique locations and cuisine. We love to walk and enjoy cafe life. We are hesitant to go to Evora, Monasaraz, or Castelo de Vide due to the summer heat that I have read about. What would be your suggestions. We are also open to suggestions outside of the towns listed above. Thank you so much.
Posted by
172 posts
You have to include Coimbra for 3-4 nights. It meets all your requirements. Lovely city.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
208 posts
Yes to Coimbra. We also visited Evora and enjoyed it. But, we didn't go in July.
We spent a couple of nights in northeast Portugal (near the ruins of Castle Melhor), the least populated area of Portugal, and very much off the beaten track. Hired a guide to see some paleolithic rock drawings. We enjoyed it.
I wouldn't necessarily be afraid of some driving in Portugal. We drove our entire trip (except for the last 5 days we spent in Lisbon). The freeways are excellent, were never too busy when we were there, and they very strictly adhere to the rule "keep right except to pass," which makes it easy to drive them. The older non-freeway roads can be narrow, though, and you do have to be prepared to deal with roundabouts when off the freeways.
Is there a reason you are not going to Porto?
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1665 posts
Since you will be here in the summer, I totally agree with avoiding Evora and Monsaraz. It gets very hot in the Alentejo and AC is limited.
Especially that time of the year, I would suggest heading north. Porto, the Douro, Guimarães, Braga and even driving over into northern Spain would be a good use of that remaining time.
Coimbra and Tomar in central Portugal are quite nice, especially if you have a car to drive to other areas of central Portugal.
As another poster mentioned, driving in Portugal (and northern Spain) is easy as long as you stay out of the big cities (Lisbon and Porto). You could train from Lisbon to the north before renting a car.