Navigating Portugal

Hi,
- Algarve at the end of October gets quiet, and I don't think you have time. However, Évora can be done as a day trip by train or bus from Lisbon, and with five nights there you could have time if you're keen.
- why do I say "five nights" in Lisbon? Because you need a third night in Porto if you are to visit the Douro region. I would suggest you head straight to Porto after arrival, it is a short (<3hr) train ride from Lisboa Oriente Station which is close to the airport. That way you don't split your time in Lisbon so it's more efficient: you do 3n Porto, 5n Lisbon
- You can only do one stop between Porto and Lisbon if you use trains, Coimbra is easiest. Never actually been to Fátima, so I don't know if you could stop both in Coimbra and Fátima if you were doing a one way car rental instead.

All of this is possible, and probably preferable, via public transportation. It's nice to have your own wheels, but parking in Sintra and Fatima is challenging, and having a rental car in either Porto or Lisbon is a pain in the neck. The Algarve is always nice, but at that time of the year, it won't be warm enough for the beach, and it will probably rain. It's pretty hard to do Evora justice on a day trip. With your wish list, I'd hold them for the next trip and concentrate on your Lisbon/Porto itinerary.

See if you can open jaw (fly on a "multi-city ticket" not two one-way tickets) into Porto out of Lisbon or vice-versa to save yourself backtracking and saves you from having to split up your time in Lisbon. This is how I visited Portugal last year.

I flew into Lisbon, took the train north to Coimbra for a few nights (detouring to Tomar for a few hours), then on to Porto, from which I flew out. I day tripped to Nazare for half a day from Coimbra by bus - loved the town, wished I had spent a night there. I had planed a day trip out to the Douro Valley from Porto, but by the time I got to do that it was raining so I didn't bother.

Thank you for helping us get some clarity as to what makes the most sense and will make the most of our time in Portugal. Very much appreciated.

Don’t even think about the Algarve with such a short time in the country. Fatima is not as easy via public transport and the other sites you mention are much better IMO.

Flying into Porto and out of Lisbon is much preferable but if that’s not possible, be aware you will definitely need three nights in Porto to see the Douro. It’s a long day trip from Porto to really see much and with two nights, that would be your only day there. You might have to skip it this time if you can’t spare an extra day.
You might consider just stopping over for a few hours in Coimbrã. The luggage storage has been an issue in the past but someone on this forum - or TA - might have up to date information on that. Whether you end up spending the night in Coimbrã or not, Go Walks has great (and inexpensive) walking tours of Coimbrã that would help you make the best of your time.

8 days is a bit short, but you can see what you have outlined.
Day trips to Sintra and Evora from Lisbon are easy.

Porto is great and you need two days there. Even with two days you won't see much of the Douro River Valley which is awesome.

We did a 7 night river cruise and it was great. You can take the train that runs on the north side of the river.

Thank you for these helpful suggestions. I was mistaken in my original post saying we had only 8 days and nights. We actually will have 10 days and nights. If this opens us up to enjoying one vs the other city to spend some extra time in.
Where would you suggest?

I liked the suggestion to take the train to Porto upon arriving.

Thanks