Portugal in 30 days

If it were me I would rent the car in Lisbon, visit all your towns in central Portugal except Evora and return the car after visiting Douro, spending 2 nights in the gorgeous Douro River Valley. In the Douro, we stayed at Quinta do Tedo. They have a lovely location with a pool, reservation includes breakfast and a tour and tasting at their winery.

Then return the car in Porto or Lamego or any location near Porto.

I would do Evora as a day trip from Lisbon, as it is south and west of Lisbon and not close to the other central Portugal cities. You could also choose to spend a night or two in Evora, which is easily accessed via bus or train.

I like the suggestion. Thank you

We spent 2 nights in Evora November 2022 and loved it, alot less busy at the end of the day and it’s an easy drive from Lisbon, we stopped on our way to the Algarve. On an earlier trip we used Sintra as a base, there is more to see than just a day trip. Porto and Douro is wonderful, personally Lisbon was the least fav part of our trip. Loved our trips to Portugal and we had beautiful weather through to mid November.

Thank you I've reconsidered our itinerary, and will make Evora 2 night stay. Any recommendations on hotels/B&B?

GeoffB
Thank you for the detailed and descriptive information. We like long stays in places, and day tripping around the region.

I’m going to throw out a potential hotel to stay at since you have plenty of time; Parador Casa da Ínsua in Penalva do Castelo. It’s an 18th century house and a number of its rooms remain the same as when it was built. There’s also an on-site museum and cheese farm. One can walk into town in about 10-15 minutes. From it we took a day trip to Viseu and Lamego.

We stayed at the paradour that James recommended. We loved it. I'd call it a mansion/chateau.

These are great recommendations and suggestions, I'm building many into our itinerary. Thank you