Itinerary thoughts for 4 weeks in Portugal

Couple of thoughts. I think you are short changing Lisbon - there is so much to see and do there - 3-4 days easily. and we stayed 2 nights in Sintra - again there is much to see and do there. Hiking to palaces and the town is nice too.

I know its tempting to scoot over to Spain, but you are doing a lot of traveling. If you haven't already, check out Rome2Rio.com for distances and timing. you might consider shuffling things so that you are not overshooting everything to get to Porto and then have to retrace steps back down to Coimbra, Tomar, and Evora.

We did this trip 2 years ago and it was terrific - you will love Portugal.

Thank you for your response. We are locked into the hiking days and flying in/out of Lisbon, hence the need to get up north first so we can do the hike on the days listed. Appreciate your thoughts on Spain. I agree that perhaps sticking with Portugal is the best use of our time. What are your thoughts on staying in Sintra vs. day tripping it?

I have been only to Lisbon and Sintra in Portugal, and I have traveled throughout Andalusia. I agree with Andrea that you are shortchanging Lisbon, and you are also shortchanging Seville.

With your current itinerary, it looks like you only have 2 full days in Lisbon. I don’t know when you arrive in Lisbon, but you will be jet lagged that day. And on May 24, you have to travel from Granada to Lisbon. I know there are TAP Airlines flights from Seville to Lisbon, but not sure about Granada. I think Seville deserves at least 4 nights; you won’t see much in 2 nights, which gives you one full day. Is it worth it to do that extra traveling for such a short visit. I would save Andalusia for when you could do it properly and include Córdoba, and perhaps Malaga and some white villages.

So, back to Lisbon and Sintra. What is your travel style? Do you like to see and do everything there is in a city? Do you like to have time to wander neighborhoods and savor the ambience? Or are you content with only seeing a few things? While we did visit Sintra as a day trip, we didn’t see much. I would definitely spend 2 nights in Sintra especially since you have the time. I would spend 3 or 4 additional nights in Lisbon at the end of your trip. And perhaps spend a day in Cascais by the sea. We drove through there after our day trip to Sintra, and we thought it was very pretty and would be a nice place to spend a day or half a day.

I haven’t been to any other places yet in Portugal, but I am wondering if you have enough time in Porto and the Douro Valley. Hopefully, someone else on this forum can help you with that.

I am also planning a trip but for earlier that month and have a couple of locations similar to yours. Monsanto is out of the way but we love the pictures and that it’s different than what a person would normally see. That said, our thought is to rent a car for driving central Portugal. We are thinking to stay a 2-3 nights in Coimbra or Tomar to visit one or two of the Abby’s, maybe Nazaré, spend time in one of those towns & to do a day trip to Monsanto (approx 2& 1/2 hours each way). So quite similar to you except my thought for you is that by staying a night in Monsanto, your next day of Tomar, Batalha, and Alobaca could be very rushed (sorry, long story to get to my point🤗). Anyways, just something for you to debate. Have a great trip!

If you eliminate Spain, a wise decision since Andalucia rates a minimum of 2 weeks, here's how I might organize your trip.

April 29: arrive Lisbon, Uber to Sintra 3N. Sintra is charming without the daytrippers. 2 full days and you'll see most if not all the sights and there are very good restaurants.
May 2: Uber to Lisbon Oriente station and train to Porto 3N
May 5: bike tour
May 10: Porto 1N - your discretion. I think Porto could use another night, but I don't like 1-nighters.
May 11: rent car (maybe at the airport), Douro Valley 2N
May 13: Castelo Rodrigo 1N. Take a night tour of the ancient rock art.
May 14: Guarda, Belmonte, Monsanto 1N
May 15: Coimbra 1N
May 16: Tomar 2N, day trip to coastal village (not Nazare), Obidos, Batalha, Alcobaca
May 18: Elvas 1N
May 19: Evora 2N
May 21: Lisbon 5N

I think Sintra is worth at least one overnight if you are hikers. There are hikes throughout the hills to the palaces. Also, the Palace of Monserrate was very worthwhile for both the building and the gardens. not as touristy as the ones closer to town.

I like that new itinerary suggested. so much to do in Lisbon. Check out the marionette museum - we stumbled into it trying to avoid the crowds elsewhere, and it was a delight -- puppets from all over the world--- wonderful craftsmanship and art. and we had the place to ourselves.

Queluz National Palace also was a treat-- bit out of town-- we took an Uber. the gardens were great. and we literally had the place to ourselves. it was almost creepy being in this palace with no one else.