Active couple, early 60s, 1st time in Portugal, renting car in Porto & dropping off in Lisbon. Please advise:
5/18/25 U.S. to Porto
5/19/25 arrive Porto (pick up car)
5/20/25 Porto
5/21/25 Coimbra
5/22/25 Nazare
5/23/25 Evora
5/24/25 Salema
5/25/24 Lisbon (drop off car)
5/25/25 excursion to Sintra
5/26/25 Lisbon
5/27/25 depart Lisbon
Lodging: 5/19 & 5/20 Porto, 5/21 Coimbra, 5/22 Nazare, 5/23 Evora, 5/24 Salema, 5/25 & 5/26 Lisbon
I won't comment on your itinerary because we all have our own pace and priorities. We spent 5 days in Lisbon and 3 in Porto plus a day driving between the two with a couple of stops and thought that worked well.. We did a daytrip to Sintra and wished we'd spent 2 days.
Where are you staying in Porto? Parking was €50/ night near where we stayed in Ribeiro. Consider not getting your car until your ready to leave. We paid €14 for Uber to the airport.
That is a lot of driving to/from Salema for a small payoff in my opinion. I am not sure you can fit in Sintra in the same day. I would cut out Salema and add extra night in Lisbon. Even then, I would find your itinerary to be too packed for my tastes; I am usually not a fan of one night stays. Good luck.
Porto>Coimbra>Lisbon are linked by high speed train.
Evora can easily be done as a day trip from Lisbon via frequent buses or trains.
So, if willing to remove Salema and Nazare, you can reduce the 1 night stops and not even need a car.
If you require a beach, can always do a day trip to Cascais from Lisbon via commuter train.
We went to Algarve and enjoyed it very much. But it is way too much trouble for one night. We stayed 3 nights.
You do not want a car in Porto.
Driving was more difficult than we expected so the idea of having an itinerary you could do by train is something to consider.
I really appreciate all your responses! They are very informative, so keep them coming please. :)