Portugal and how to manage time.

I would add a few more days to Portugal. It is a wonderful small country with lovely people.
Lisbon and a day trip to Sintra by train.
Perhaps a day trip to Evora by bus( I think.)
Coimbra
Porto with perhaps a day trip to Guimares and/or the Douro River Valley.
Lisbon or Porto to Barcelona by train would be a long trip. I would fly there.
I looked at my photos from Portugal and there are bricks, cobblestones, stones, and pavements throughout the country.
As a photographer you will have so many opportunities to photograph the beautiful Portuguese tiles, on walls outside and inside as well. I highly recommend a visit to the Tile Museum in Lisbon. You will find many interesting back streets too.
Alfama is Old Town but the whole city is very atmospheric. We stayed on a hill overlooking Baixa and Chiado. We rented a one bedroom apt from www. visitingportugal.com, owned by expats from the USA. They offer several properties.
Recently there was a lot of discussion about traveling in Portugal on Fodors Europe forum.

Hello!

You asked:

"Is it possible to take a high speed train from Lisbon to Barcelona?" - The answer is no. Not high speed train, no train at all.

" Are the streets and walkways… cobblestones? " - Yes. I think you mean Lisbon, but they are everywhere.

Stairs... yes, a lot. You have to start thinking of using taxis or uber.

Botanical gardens, Architecture, museums... Yes! That and a lot more! Fountains, museums for old materials, back street mosaics, are you kidding? Lot's of it.

Helena

Since you're so familiar with Barcelona, I'm thinking you have a reason to go other than the major sites. For us, 2 - 3 days was plenty. You'd have to fly there from anywhere in Portugal. We spent most of August in Portugal, and I'd go back in a heartbeat. Spend as much time as you can there. There are heaps of things that as a photographer, you'd find interesting, I think. Remember that Lisbon's seven hills are tough on many seniors, but we used Uber exclusively (never a bus or metro) and it was very inexpensive, in some cases, less than public transportation would have been. Remember, too, the elevators in town. They save a lot of wear and tear on your knees. Scenic little backstreets in Alfama are nice to photograph. Getting up there is a bear. Time Out Market is crazy busy, but fun for photos and food. The Sao Domingos church was destroyed in a fire, but rebuilt including some of the scars. The Carmo Convent was destroyed in the 1755 earthquake, but the arches were left standing as a reminder, Looking up through the arches at a blue sky is wonderful. Of all the churches in Lisbon, I liked Sao Roque the best. It has a gorgeous lapis lazuli and gold side altar and the ceiling is tromp d-oeil; it's quite a site. You can take a full day to head out to Belem for the monastery and related sites.

A day trip to Evora and perhaps Sintra, depending on how many days you allot to Lisbon, would be worthwhile. While I liked Coimbra, with as few days as you will have, I'd skip it in favor of giving Lisbon or Porto more time. In Porto. Make time to get to Porto's Botanical Garden; it's not huge, but it is lovely. In April, I don't think that the Douro valley will be much to look at. Using a whole day to get there and back might not be worth it. To do the port wine thing, perhaps a visit to one of the port wine houses in Gaia would suffice. The Bolsa is a photographer's dream, as are many of the churches, especially San Ildefonso, San Francisco, and the views and cloister (but not so much the Se itself) at Porto's cathedral. Rua Santa Catarina is a very busy shopping street, with lots of good people watching. The Miradouro da Vitoria is where you go to get the classic view of the bridge, but go in the (late) afternoon for the best light. The Ribeira is fun for colorful houses, lots of people watching, the Dom Luis bridge, as photo subjects. I took a private photographic tour with a professional photographer I found on the Airbnb website. I'm a beginner and learned tons, but for an experienced photographer you'd enjoy the out-of-the-way places you'd never find on your own. You can design your own plan; PM me if you want his name. If you decide on a day trip to Guimaraes, pick a sunny day. It's a very grey place and really benefits from good light. Porto is also very hilly, and has lots of stairs within the neighborhoods. Without the benefit of elevators, Uber is your friend, but the subway/tram/bus system is also good until you get well into the neighborhoods. We had to walk about 75 yards to get our Uber from the apartment -- the street was too narrow for a car..

All over Portugal you'll find the calçada portuguesa, or Portuguese pavement, which is a traditional, artfully placed black and white stones. They are beautiful, but beware -- they are also slippery in the rain. Good shoes a must here. The Julie Dawn Fox website has a nice little article on calçada with lots of photos.

As for places to stay, as I said, we had an apartment. But many people here love InPatio Guest House. Book early--it's only got 5 rooms.

Wanderlust… thank you and to the other replies… thank you. I did try to reserve at the place you suggested but the 5 rooms are booked.
Does anyone have other guest houses I can try that I have a lift or are not on the 3rd or more floors without a lift?

There are many guest houses/apartments to rent on the ground floor or with lift. I’m also a senior with knees that don’t like stairs. I use Booking.com a lot of times as I can use the filters for handicapped accessible. It will narrow down your searches a lot but there are almost always a few. The newer and remodeled buildings will have lifts. The Baixa area of Lisbon is flat, as is Cais do Sodré. As mentioned previously, Uber or Bolt is very inexpensive - relatively speaking. Lisbon also has a lot of Tuk tuks that would help with the hills one day.

Sintra, Evora and Cascais are all easy on the train. As a photographer, all of these would provide a lot of places to photograph.

And, as also stated earlier, the trains between Spain and Portugal are pretty much nonexistent. You would need to fly to Barcelona. But, Easyjet and Ryanair provide very inexpensive flights. However, if you choose a budget airline, pay very close attention to baggage fees. At this point both only allow a large purse without a fee. Btw - you could easily spend your entire trip in Portugal and not see everything interesting.

Kathryn.... Thank you for your reply. I have decided to cancel Barcelona from my journey.
Can you or members of the forum recommend a place to rent? In the meantime I will research booking.com.

Hi!

Ribeiredge guest house has a lift. It is very well located, at Rua Comércio do Porto. It's a building with 350 years, but very "new" due to renovation, so you feel both the old scent and the new one. In terms of locations, it is the same as In Patio. It is very quiet, no garbage trucks during day or night, as it is located in front of a private hospital. Oh, and in front of Palácio da Bolsa, and two steps from the river. IMO it's the best guesthouse in Porto, although it is only 8,2 at Booking. Well, some people don't know what continental breakfast means, and others complain that the lift is small! I mean... a guesthouse with a lift in the heart of Porto, but the lift is small!

I work at a guesthouse in the historical center, wich has only stairs. 1st floor: 18 steps. Last floor: 72 steps. You don't want that! I mean, it's a very nice guesthouse, with cosy bedrooms, good breakfast, well located (one of the walls is the ancient wall built by romans 15 centuries ago), very good for young or fit people, perhaps not for others. Certainly not for you.

Hope you have a wonderfull stay in Portugal!

Helena

My hubby and I are on our way back from our first trip to Portugal (loved it!!), but commented while we were there how much easier this trip was while still young. Lots of stairs and cobblestones. Not to discourage you at all, but I second being prepared to take more Ubers than normal/strategize walking routes.
We were surprised at how gorgeously lush the area around Sintra was!! And how much there was to see. We didn’t get a chance to wander the town but it did seem charming. If you love gardens you might want to consider staying there a night to enjoy Quinta de Regaleira and Monserrate. We didn’t make it to Monserrate but I found Quinta’s garden enchanting. We only did a day trip to Sintra but plan one day to go back for longer. Our trip was just a week so I don’t have any hidden gems for you.