Itinerary help for trip to Spain and Portugal

There are far more than 5 weeks of possibilities to fill. Some more info could help you get better input. Things that interest you? Do you linger and wonder, or 'push through' lists and agendas? Arty? Foody? Minimum nights per place? Any prior experience with these destinations? Any known goals/objectives/to-dos?

Thanks Scudder for your additional questions. We are not people who like to rush through things. We just returned from a trip to Italy and we stayed 3-5 nights in each location we stayed and that worked well. We like to leave time in our trips for down days or days we can just take a walk. We like to hike and look for activities that involve walking/hiking. We love food and enjoy foodie tours. We don't particularly like art and going to museums. We love the natural beauty of areas and the architecture.

For example, one of our best days on our recent trip was in Bologna, Italy where we spent the day walking through the city looking at the cathedrals and buildings, stopping at a coffee shop for a pastry, walking through the Giardini Margherita park, and stopping on the way back to our hotel for an early dinner at a small, local restaurant. We stayed in Camogli, Italy instead of Cinque Terre and only lasted half a day in CT due to the crowds.

I hope that helps clarify what we like to do. Thanks again for your questions.

Lisbon and Porto as base cities is all you need.

From Lisbon you can visit, Sintra, Cascais, Évora as day trips.

From Porto you can visit Braga, Guimarães, Aveiro, Douro Valley as day trips.

I wrote a trip report that has photos of Braga if you want to check it out.
https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/extended-trip-to-portugal-1711933/

We recently spent 24 days in Spain and Portugal, starting and ending in Madrid. I did post a trip report, so maybe you could get some ideas. We did have a rental car. The places we used as bases, or visited, in Portugal include: Penalva do Castelo, Coimbra, Tomar, Porto, Nazaré, and Óbidos. We only spent one night in the last two.

Thanks everyone for your reports and suggestions. This gives me a starting place to research an itinerary for our trip!!!