4 day/3 nights b/t Lisbon and Porto advice please

Obidos is a small village and can be seen in 2-3 hours, but it has a very nice hotel there. It is a Pousada.

Also, consider Coimbra and Batalha Cathedral.

Hi,
If you spend 3 nights in Lisbon and intend to visit Sintra during that time, then you only have 1 day for Lisbon.
If you have never been to Lisbon before, 1 day is tight: I would suggest 4 nights in Lisbon.

Conversely, 3 nights in Porto could suffice, a full day there is fine for highlights + a day for the Douro Valley. More is always better, but i would rather do 4 nights Lisbon and 3 nights Porto than the other way around.

Between Lisbon and Porto, you could pick a westerly route going through Obidos, Nazaré if you want (no huge need IMO), Alcobaça or Batalha (pick one), Coimbra; or an easterly route going though Santarém, Tomar, Coimbra.

I slightly prefer the westerly option. You could drive from Lisbon to Batalha via Obidos, stay in Batalha (for example) for 2 nights to visit the area (Nazaré, Fátima, Tomar...), then continue to Coimbra for 1 night, and on to Porto.

This is very helpful, thank you! Do you suggest skipping Evora entirely?

We also have one night in Lisbon at the end before we fly out and will drive from Porto and then bring the car to the airport the next day. Wondering if we should change our plans and stay in Sintra the last night instead? Or somewhere else not too far from the airport?

Thanks for all!

Evora is worth visiting but it is not on the way between Lisbon and Porto, and I do not think you have time for this side trip.

And this last bit of information about your need to drive back to Lisbon to catch your flight does change my perspective! Staying in Sintra before your flight is a good idea, and I would stay two nights in Sintra to have enough time for a proper visit - otherwise, the drive from Porto would eat too much time in your sightseeing day.
If I am counting your nights correctly, your route could be as follows:

1. Lisbon
2. Lisbon
3. Lisbon
4. Lisbon - Obidos if you want - Batalha (for example)
5. Batalha - Coimbra (or stay in Batalha and visit more of that area)
6. Coimbra (or Batalha - Coimbra)
7. Coimbra - Porto (no need for side trips on the way IMO)
8. Porto
9. Porto: Douro valley day trip
10. Morning & lunch in Porto, drive Porto - Sintra (3.5 hours)
11. Sintra
12. Sintra - Lisbon airport

With the limited time you have I’d skip Evora for this trip. It’s not near or in between the Lisbon-Porto corridor you’d be traveling. The suggestions already mentioned could fill more than the three days you have available.

Jenny,

We also have one night in Lisbon at the end before we fly out and will drive from Porto and then bring the car to the airport the next day. Wondering if we should change our plans and stay in Sintra the last night instead? Or somewhere else not too far from the airport?

Given above information, I’d suggest you consider switching your plans (if possible) and start your trip in Sintra (day or arrival) and end your trip in Lisbon.
This will avoid one hotel change and you’ll be much closer to the airport on day of departure.

You may also consider dropping off the car in Porto and taking the fast train back to Lisbon.

My young adult daughter and I enjoyed our time in beautiful Portugal (pre-pandemic)
Here’s my trip report if you’re interested:
Our trip in progress… Sintra!

Wishing you a wonderful trip!

Thank you everyone for your help! And Priscilla, this is a wonderful and thorough trip report!

Not to make everything crazy confusing, but what if we kicked off our driving trip by spending the night in Sintra? I know it's very close to Lisbon but that would give us more time for Lisbon (as recommended) and more time in Sintra as well. It seems Sintra is worth more than a few hours, which is what I was originally planning.

I think we would like to se the monastery at Batalha (or the other one whose name is escaping me). If we did that do you recommend staying in this town? Or is there somewhere else en route to Coimbra that would be more interesting?

I don't think we will go to Nazarre since it won't be big wave season and I've heard it's not something we would really love. We will be coming from the Azores and I think that will give us a great water fix!

You all seem to think Evora is too out of the way, but I keep coming back to it as a very interesting place. We don't mind driving, in fact my husband loves driving in Europe! If we spent our first driving night there, I think we would drive straight to Batalha and after that Coimbra. We could drive to Obidos on the way back to either Lisbon or Sintra, depending on where we decide to spend our last night before the airport.

Thanks again and I apologize for making this so complicated!

Jenny,
Sintra is a great place for the start of your trip.

You don’t really need a car in Sintra, IMO.
I’m sure you’ll get information about that from others who’ve actually rented a car while in Portugal.

If you’re set on visiting Évora then you should!
But… Not sure you’ll have time to visit the other places on your list.

This was our itinerary (via public transportation only)
Sintra > Évora > Tomar > Coimbra > Porto > Lisbon (day trip to Cascais)

You’ll find links to the next destination at the end of each of my trip reports.

P.S.
Since you’ll be visiting the Azores Islands, do consider getting Carl’s guidebook.
You can read about it at the very top of the Portugal forum.

Hello from Wisconsin,
Balso's idea is a sound one. Lisbon deserves as many days as you can afford.
wayne iNWI

Thanks again everyone for these great suggestions! I appreciate all the help and will now try to re book some of our stays.