Libon to Madrid April 18 to 24, 2024

You can stay in Obidos as a base. The town itself is only worth a couple of hours. We stayed in the Pousada Castelo de Obidos which was lovely and highly recommend it.
Porto- we stayed at Hotel Infante de Sagres which was very nice and had a wonderful dining room.
We loved Alcobaça, don’t miss it.
Definitely give Coimbra a night. We stayed at La Quinta de las Lagrimas, an historic place across the river connected to the legend of King Pedro and his love, Inès. Excellent dining there too.
Avila is not worth a stop. We did and thought it a waste of time with so many other places to visit.
In Madrid we loved our hotel, The Principal, near the art museums and Retiro Park, just off of Gran Via.
And we were advised that even though we can speak some Spanish, not to. Speak English or Portugese. There is no love for Spain or Spanish culture in Portugal.

Of those you mention, Tomar would be my choice. It’s a cute small town and the castle is very interesting. If you can manage it, stop in Conimbriga outside of Coimbra. It’s a Roman settlement with great intact mosaic floors.

In Porto, I like the area around Rua dos Flores. Lots of restaurants and easy access to most areas of town.

I’ll vote for Tomar too. The convent of Christ is one of the best I’ve visited. Óbidos is only an hour from Lisbon, too short a drive to stop for a night, and by using it as a base you’d drive up to Alcobaca and Batalha monasteries then have to backtrack to your base. Using Tomar as a base you’d be driving in the direction you want go without the backtracking. It’s only 35 minutes from Batalha which would be your last stop. From it, it’s easy to head to Porto.

In Tomar we stayed at Thomar Boutique Hotel. There is a free parking right in front of the hotel and another a couple minutes walk away. In Porto we stayed at NH Porto Jardim. It was easy to reach, in a good location, and has its own pay parking garage.

Because you want to visit Óbidos, Alcobaca, and Batalha on the same day, take the toll road. Using the back roads you’ll be driving at about 30mph the entire way because of continually entering and leaving small villages.

In Batalha we parked for free at a lot off of Av. dos Descobrimentos. It’s by Condestável Sports Café and across the street from an Intermarché store. If you need gas, you can get it at that store. Before pumping ensure it accepts credit cards. We came across one in another town that was cash only.

In Alcobaca we parked for free at Parque de Estacionamento da Cova da Onça de Alcobaça. It’s a huge free lot. Both parking lots I mentioned are about a five minutes walk from the monasteries.

There are no must see sights in Ciudad Rodrigo. We stayed at the Parador there that is an old castle. Between Ciudad Rodrigo and Salamanca consider taking a detour to visit the very much off the beaten path villages of La Alberca and Mogarraz. They are a few kilometers from each other. We spent about an hour in la Alberca and two in Mogarraz (stopped for a soft drink).

Salamanca is between 2-2.5 hours from Madrid airport, so if you had the time a short stop in Ávila is fine. Its main draw are its walls and towers that encircle the town. One can get a great view of them from the Cuatro Postes overlook. You can also walk along the walls if so inclined. It’s also home to Saint Teresa of Ávila. There’s a church where her house used to stand. Her remains are actually in a church in Alba de Tormes (Convento y Basílica de la Anunciación, MM Carmelitas) just outside Salamanca. It was interesting to visit.