My husband and I just got back from 5 weeks in Portugal. We like slow travel, renting a car, staying in apartments, and experiencing the areas that we stay in. We don't need to fill our day from sunrise to sunset roaring around seeing everything that is "recommended". We loved Portugal. The people and food are amazing. Loved shopping in the grocery stores and farmers markets.
Lisbon - stayed in the Baixa-Chiado area. Easy access to metro and trams. Our hotel/apartment was Feeling Chiado 29 - part of Feeling Chiado 15 b+b hotel. This is on the 4th floor with no elevator - 62 stairs. Amazing view of the castle and Tejo River. Very happy with our stay there.
Vila Nova de Milifontes - We stayed here 7 nights. This is about 2.5 hour drive south from Lisbon on the Atlantic. It's part of the Rota Vicentia/Fisherman's Trail hiking route. We loved it here. Lots of grocery stores and restaurants. Great walking and hiking along the ocean and cliff top trails. Drove down to Sagres one day to explore the Sagres Fortress (amazing..!!). Up to Mirobriga another day - this is a Roman settlement just east of Sines. Very interesting. Lots of lovely beaches and smail villages north and south of VNdM to explore.
Estremoz - We stayed here 13 nights. This market town is situated between Evora and Elvas/Spanish border. LOTS to see in the area. This part of Portugal is the marble producing area. Most building have some sort of marble as part of their construction - floors, tile work, door frames, sidewalks, etc, etc. Beautiful! We went to Evora one day - only 30 minute drive. We spent an amazing day exploring the UNESCO classified forts in Elvas - stunning. We took a tour of a cork factory in Azaruja - very interesting and a very nice factory store. We took a marble quarry and factory tour another day with Rota do Marmore in Vila Vicosa - unreal! Another day we drove north a bit to tour the Coudelaria de Alter farm - this is a Lusitano horse stud farm established in the 1700's by Portugal's king at the time. Estremoz has a fabulous Saturday farmer's and antique market - lots of fun. We would have seen more towns and forts in the area, but we got caught up in the wild rain and wind of Storm Claudia, so hunkered down in our apartment for a few days to wait out the worst of the weather.
Lousa - We were here for 7 nights. This town is about 35 minutes drive east of Coimbra. Lots of restaurants and grocery stores. It's on the edge of the Serra do Lousa range and very close to many of the schist/shale villages. We enjoyed a couple of days driving around the villages. Lots of hiking trails in the area linking Lousa to the villages. We drove one day to Conimbriga, a massive Roman settlement. Really enjoyed our visit here. They have a lovely little cafe that we had lunch in. We didn't drive into Coimbra, but there is easy access if one wished.
Three very different areas of Portugal, but loved every location.