We're planning a 10-day family trip to Portugal in late August with our two teens (ages 17 and 14). This will be our third time to Europe with the kids (we've done Germany and Italy with them in the past), and while we normally like a longer amount of time to tour, we have to squish this trip between other summer commitments and the start of the next school year.
I'm putting together the itinerary right now. We're a family that likes to be on the move. The 17-year-old is a history and travel nerd (seriously, they started watching Rick Steves when they were 8 years old whenever they were home sick). The 14-year-old is easygoing and athletic and just wants to be busy. We like to take trains and buses where possible, but are don't mind renting a car in places where it makes sense.
So far, for sure, the family would like to spend time in Lisbon (plus a day trip to Sintra) and the Algarve. I know some have said the Algarve is not worth it, but this is the only place the youngest has requested to go (and we live in Canada, so I will never turn down a warm day or two at the beach before winter arrives). Tomar and Evora are also appealing, but seem like places we can try to tack on depending on how everything else shakes out.
So, my question is whether to bother looking into traveling up to Porto and/or Coimbra as well. It really seems like the main things to do in Porto revolve around eating and drinking. While we like good food (and our kids aren't picky), and my husband and I like wine, it seems out of the way to go just primarily for that. Is there enough to do there that isn't just eating and drinking? For Coimbra, the only unique thing catching our eye is King Joao's library, which I know my oldest would love to see. But again, I'm not sure if it's worth the effort just for that? If Coimbra is worth it, could we do it as a day trip from Lisbon?
Another option, which isn't outlined in the title, is to see if we could squeeze Seville in there (maybe a few days in Lisbon, drive to Seville and hit Evora along the way, then drive back to the Algarve before heading home). But then I feel like we aren't really doing "Portugal".
Gah - I really wish we had more time for this trip - our other two trips were long enough that we didn't really have to make any hard decisions! Any suggestions would be welcome (especially if there's other advice for things that would be really appealing to teens).