Help with 2 week Portugal Itinerary

Hello

I have spent. a few days in Lisbon post cruise.

I loved Lisbon.

I spent a half day in Belem and a half day in Sintra. Think it is great that you are going to explore both. I hope that you can give both of them more than a half day. I found Belem more interesting than Sintra and noticed some very popular bakeries in Belem.

I had been on a. cruise and we ported in Porto. I took an excursion to Braga and highly recommend Braga as a day excursion. It is a very religious community with a Marian Shrine and many beautiful churches. Braga closes down on Sunday so try to avoid Sunday if you visit. However the churches and the Shrine will be open.

I may be wrong but I think that I have heard that the Portuguese would prefer you speak English rather than Spanish. I think that I heard they get offended by Spanish. And again I might be wrong.

There are persons on this forum who know much more than me about Portugal and they will be jumping in.

I think I’m remembering correctly that there is a good Roman site near Coimbra. Conimbriga (?) If you are in Coimbra, it’s well worth a visit.

It seems to me that going to Tomar for a day trip from Lisbon and back means you are backtracking. I would (tentatively) suggest stopping in Tomar for a night (which I did and enjoyed) before continuing on to Coimbra, or spending most of a day in Tomar and then on to Coimbra. This would leave Evora as the day trip from Lisbon. Perhaps someone will comment on whether this makes more sense.

I also heard the warning that people in Portugal get offended by tourists using a few words of Spanish as if it is all the same language -- like saying gracias rather than obrigado. However, I suspect it may be different for a native Spanish speaker. I was on a very small guided tour of a small church with a couple from Spain. The guide communicated in Spanish to them and English with me even though they could also speak English. I think that if you introduce yourself as a Spanish speaker who can understand Portuguese, you may be fine.

Thank y’all for the responses!

Your itinerary is very well structured and totally manageable by train. The Lisbon–Évora–Coimbra–Porto route works smoothly, and booking long-distance trains in advance is a good idea.

A couple of thoughts that haven’t been mentioned yet:

Near Coimbra, consider Conímbriga — outstanding Roman ruins with beautiful mosaics and very walkable.

From Porto, based on your interests (walking + history + not wine-focused), I’d choose Guimarães over the Douro. Compact medieval center, castle, great atmosphere.

Óbidos is charming but small and quite touristed. Since you’ll likely visit Guimarães, I wouldn’t sacrifice Porto time for it.

In Porto, consider starting with a guided walking tour to get historical context, then explore on your own. Companies like Bluedragon offer well-structured walking tours that help you understand the city layout and history before you dive into your 12-mile days.

Language-wise: as a native Spanish speaker, you’ll understand a lot. Just be polite — either start in English or explain you’re Spanish and understand Portuguese.

Overall: very reasonable, active, and well balanced trip. You’ll love it.

If you’ve been to the ruins of other Roman towns, Conimbriga is much the same, and might not be the best use of your time. The ruins are 11 miles outside of Coimbra and if traveling by public transportation, a taxi would be the quickest way to get there. Taking a bus, the ruins are a 20 minutes or so walk from the bus stop. When we visited we had a rental car and had to pass right by the ruins en route to Tomar.