Nazaré or Coimbra

We found Nazare to be a beach town with tacky stores and second rate restaurants. Nice views though. Coimbra had some interesting sites but was good for a day. Evora is worth your time, consider it instead. We appreciated I more in hindsight, wish we had more time there.

Like Alan, I was unimpressed by Nazaré. I didn't go to see the coastline - and you can see similar on a half-day trip to Cascais.

I loved Coimbra, arriving early evening from Porto, staying 2 nights and leaving early for Lisbon, so just one full day there. The RS self-guided walking tour was excellent and took an entire day, what with browsing the shops, entering the sights, especially the university, and going to a fado concert near the end of the route. Of all the places I visited between Lisbon and Porto, that was my favorite.

I also liked Aveiro which is also on the main AP train route between Lisbon and Porto. You can day trip to Aveiro from Porto if you don't want to stay the night.

Nazaré is tacky. Another vote for Evora.

I had only a few hours in Nazaré, but I loved it. Yes, it was tacky, but I was expecting that. I found it very different from Cascais near Lisbon (which was beautiful, just much more...upscale or something?). I wished I had spent a night in Nazaré.

Coimbra is a nice little town but small. Very untouristy, which was a nice change from Porto and (especially) Lisbon.

I would add that if you choose Nazaré, you'll probably need to take the bus from Porto and then the bus from Nazaré to Lisbon. (Possible to do trains but much more complicated and less convenient.) If you choose Coimbra you can do it all by train. I spent two nights in Coimbra and day tripped (by bus) to Nazare from there - that's the compromise I made when I faced the same choice you did. If I were going to do it again, I would just have done one night in each, despite having to change hotels. Two nights in Coimbra was a night too many for me, and I regretted not having a night in Nazaré.

I haven't been to Coimbra or Nazare so can't comment on those. However, I recommend staying with your 5 nights in Lisbon, especially if you plan on seeing Sintra as a day trip, and because you don't want to change hotels too often. We spent 5 nights in Lisbon last year, and that included a day trip to Sintra, and we thought it was perfect. And even with 5 nights, we didn't see everything we wanted to see in Lisbon.

Stay in Evora, lunch in Nazaré by the beach, stay in Coimbra.

I suppose it depends what you are looking for. My husband and i spent 3 days in Nazarre a few years ago. We had planned for 2 nights but in the end stayed for 3 as we had ben travelling through Spain and southern Portugal and just wanted to rest and do very little. We found Nazarre to be beautiful. Lots of local people on the beach, good restaurants with fresh seafood. I don't remember finding it too "tacky". Loved the beach, massive waves at times, quiet moments in the morning, walking the streets, going up to the church on the cliff. we loved it.

another vote for Evora, a perfect 2 night stop, easily reachable by train. If you are looking for beach time you can day trip to Cascais from Lisbon, or take the bus/metro to Matsosinhos in Porto where there is a beautiful beach and tons of seafood restaurants.

We found Nazarre to be beautiful. Lots of local people on the beach, good restaurants with fresh seafood. I don't remember finding it too "tacky". Loved the beach, massive waves at times, quiet moments in the morning, walking the streets, going up to the church on the cliff. we loved it.

I think by "tacky" people mean it has a lot of obvious catering-to-tourists shops and signs that aren't exactly charming. I would agree with that, but I still really enjoyed the place like you did and envy that you got to spend three nights there. I don't think it's a matter of "go to some other beach town besides Nazaré, they are all the same." Nazaré seemed unique to me - I liked it better than Cascais for sure. (Even though Cascais is beautiful too.)