8 Night Itinerary Help - What to do after Lisbon and Salema

I haven't been down to the Algarve in years, but I'm thinking May might be a little early for the beach. Others can give you guidance on that. The views are pretty and walking the cliff along the most southwestern point in Europe is nice, if very windy -- bring a sweater and hang on to each other! Cape Sagres and the School of Navigation are interesting, but unless you're a big Henry the Navigator fan, you might want to rethink that part of the trip. Personally, I'd put more time into Lisbon and Evora, and give the Algarve a miss.

For a trip of this duration, I would drop the Algarve. You could easily extend your time in Lisbon and head to Cascais or Sintra then have a couple of nights in Evora. If you want beach time, there are places closer to Lisbon that would be easier to get to than the Algarve.

How do you plan on getting to the Algarve? You really need a car if heading west as public transport is sketchy. Salema was a quaint fishing village until about a decade ago when 2 huge developments changed its character. There’s no fishing there these days. Just tourists. I have stayed in Salema several times in the past, but I always head to Zavial, Figueira or Carrapateira beaches. Salema beach is good for children. The sea is cold, as it’s the Atlantic. Late May should be beachable if you can get out of the wind. We have often been blown off the beach by early afternoon - sand blowing to head height isn’t pleasant!

Sagres is a cold, windy spot even in the height of summer, popular with surfers. An hour there should be plenty including a coffee break. You can buy woolly jumpers from the market stalls at the tacky market at Cape St Vincent even in August. Many turn up in T-shirts and shorts and have to buy something warmer!

Lagos and Salema are only 10 miles apart, so it’s not worth changing bases. I would stay in Lagos if you must include the Algarve - transport is better and there’s a better choice of accommodation and restaurants.

You can take a direct train for the day from Lisbon’s Sete Rios station to Évora (1h 30m).

With everyone's feedback, we are going to drop Algarve. We have Lisbon May 14 - 18th already set but now open the rest of the trip when we leave the 22nd. We plan to visit Sintra for half a day during the initial May 14 - 18th and then looking at doing Evora for 2 nights and Cascais for a couple more nights to spend time on the coast or head to Coimbra and Porto before heading back to Lisbon and flying out the evening of the 22nd. I understand these are different but what do people think is more enjoyable when comparing Evora to Coimbra and Porto? Evora seems like a place with more history to visit but looking for others input who have visited all 3.

For only two nights (by my count), I would not go all the way to Porto. Coimbra and Cascais are lovely for very different reasons.

Coimbra is a university town with great food. A walking tour that includes the university library is a must. It will be more similar in some ways to Evora.

If you want to be on the water for a bit and have a shorter train ride (40 minutes), Cascais is more beautiful to me, but I may not be very objective. There is history here but the charms of the city are more about the water, great seafood, etc.

I’d say look at pictures and read about attractions to see what interests you the most. You really can’t go wrong (IMO) with either.

Appreciate the input. We'll take a look at the cities and just see what sounds more appealing. I think you understood what I meant but we were thinking one of two 2nd legs of the trip. Either Evora and Cascais for the last 4 nights (2 in each) or Coimbra and Porto for 4 nights (2 in each). It sounds like we could do Coimbra and Cascais though too so we'll definitely do some more research. If anyone else has input, always appreciated.