A couple questions RE: car rental in Portugal.
1) Is there much difference between Porto and Coimbra in terms of vehicle availability? I would strongly prefer automatic transmission (yes, I know it's more expensive). I like the idea of taking the train to Coimbra and picking up there, but if Porto is more likely to have a vehicle with an automatic, I would pick up there instead.
2) How bad is the morning rush hour traffic around Lisbon driving north toward the Humberto Delgado airport? I am coming from the south (leaving from Aljuezur) and passing through/near Lisbon between 8 and 9 on a Friday (Flight leaves at 12:50). I wouldn't be driving into the city--just directly to the airport.
Context: After picking up a car in Porto or Coimbra, driving south to Algarve/Costa Vicentina for 4 nights. Staying near Aljezur. The drop off options: drive an hour-ish to Faro airport to catch a 6 a.m. flight to Lisbon. I like the idea of not driving in/near Lisbon. However, the Faro flight to Lisbon leaves at 6 a.m., which means getting much less sleep and spending almost 6 hours sitting in the Lisbon airport. The more appealing option (per 2 above) is simply driving the 3 hours (so says Google maps - is that accurate?) north to Lisbon and dropping the car off at the airport.