Tomar or Nazare for 2 nights on the way from Sintra to Coimbra?

First, the chances of big waves in September (Nazaré) are very slim. They happen in the winter. September is still very much summer in Portugal.

I much prefer Tomar to Nazaré but some people really like it. Tomar isn't so much on the tourist track so is more authentically Portuguese.

I would likely skip Batalha, if you need to cut something. I saw both Alcobaça and Batalha in the same week. Out of the two, I’ve been back to Alcobaça but not Batalha. If you are into battle monuments, you might like Batalha, though.

My daughter just returned from Portugal. She did not go to Nazare because she wasn't interested in a beach town but did go to Tomar (from Sintra) and loved it. She only spent one night there en route to Coimbra but wishes she'd had two. Fwiw

Tomar doesn’t need a full day. I stayed in Caldas da Rainha when I covered this region and would head back there.

I am looking for a walking tour in Tomar. We will be there one day on our way from Evora to Coimbra. I am mostly finding day tours from Lisbon and we will be driving ourselves. Any help would be appreciated! I have tried Google and the 3 guidebooks I have, including Rick Steves.

I'm going to be odd man out and suggest that you have 1 night in Obidos. It is busy in the daytime, but quiet and prettier overnight. I stayed two nights in Tomar and felt it only merited one, but we were not daytripping from there. I do think that Coimbra has enough to support 2 nights, and will be much less sleepy than either Nazare or Tomar, so I would give the extra night to there.

I don't think I'd want a car in Sintra. It's faster to take a tuktuk, which zips past the long lines of cars and buses waiting to drop passengers and/or get into the parking lot. Most of the other sights are in or are walking distance from the center. You can take a taxi or uber to the airport (or Oriente station in Lisbon) to pick up a rental car. It's about the same time/cost to either.

I used Tomar as a base to visit Obidos, Nazare, Batalha and Alcobaca. It's easy to drive in and out of and there's plenty of parking. OTOH there really isn't much to see and do as a tourist, but it is pleasant and has a lot of restaurants. A highlight of my stay was a mostly authentic medieval dinner at Taverna Antiqua.

I liked both Batalha and Alcobaca and thought they were very different, though both are Gothic. Alcobaca, the earlier (by about 2 centuries) is early Gothic and austere, majestic in its simplicity. Batalha is Flamoyant Gothic and has much more detail to admire. I'd suggest doing one each day, easily combined with same-day visits to Obidos and Nazare (or another coastal town - I'm sure Kathryn can recommend more than one).

I thought the beachfront at Nazare was both touristy and tacky. It took me a while to get a parking place and it was time-limited, so I didn't stay long. From all the positive reviews, I apparently missed the good parts.

I stayed 2N in Coimbra to have a full day there, which was just right for me. The RS walking tour was very good and I went back to a fado performance at the place recommended on the tour.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions, I am getting a much clearer picture of what to expect thanks to all of you!
Regarding Sintra: I definitely do not plan to drive to the sights as I have read about the difficulties. I want to spend the night as I have a day and a half of sights to see there, and then I need another full day for a hike along the Sintra coast leaving from Cabo da Roca. My thought was to stay in Sintra three nights and use the car only for the day hike, and then be able to leave at the time I need to without the hassle of picking up a car. But maybe it's easier to get a cab or Uber to Cabo da Roca, and then rent the car when I leave Sintra? My thought was that it would be easier to pick up the rental car when I leave Lisbon and then park it for a couple of days in Sintra, but maybe I should train in to Sintra and pick up a rental car from that area? Does anyone have experience with that?

We picked up a rental car as we left Sintra a few years ago. I believe it was Hertz. We were able to drop at Lisbon airport.

In that case, you may be better off with the car. Cabo de Roca is really in the middle of nowhere. It's definitely possible by bus (that's how I did it) but the bus drivers don't seem to know the posted bus schedules. I don't know about Uber/taxi. It may be really expensive because it may be a round-trip drive both ways for the driver. Can you get an estimate on the Uber app?

I found it easy enough to go from Sintra to Lisbon Oriente by Uber and pick up the car at the train station. At some point while I was in Portugal I checked Uber and it was about the same price from Sintra to Oriente or to the airport. If you expect to get into morning traffic entering Lisbon, the airport may be better. It also may depend on the rental rates. Also I wonder if there may be more rental options (and bettr prices) from Lisbon than from Sintra.

Thank you all so much! Based on your recommendations here's what we've decided:
- Lisbon 5 nights
- Mon morn: pick up car in Lisbon, drive to Cabo da Roca and do a full day hike, sleep Sintra
- Tues: Pena Palace, Moorish Castle, National Palace, sleep Sintra
- Wed: Quinta de Regaleira, Monseratte, drive to Obidos for late afternoon, sleep Obidos
- Thurs: see Obidos early morning, drive to Nazare, take funicular to Sitio, have lunch. Alcobaca in afternoon, sleep Tomar.
- day in Tomar, sleep Tomar
- Batalha in morning, Coimbra in afternoon, sleep Coimbra
- Day in Coimbra, sleep Coimbra
- Drive to Porto
I so appreciate your input, I will report back about how it goes!

In Tomar, besides the Convento do Cristo, we enjoyed the matchbook museum, the tile workshop across from the museum, the aqueduct, and the church where the Templar Grand Masters are buried.

Hello Portugal Bound!

We are wrestling with similar questions re: Sintra. Looks like you've decided to rent a car before going to Sintra. Where will you park the car while staying in Sintra? We're deciding whether or not we should turn in the car prior to Sintra rather than trying to find parking. Thanks!

Thank you all so much for your help! Gail, I appreciate your parking advice. I believe that our hotel has parking, but it may be more trouble than it's worth and I am happy to have your notes on how to park outside of town.

CSB, based on what I've read in this forum as well as books, if you're able to drop your car before Sintra I think that would be better. The reason we're taking a car to Sintra is because we're doing a big hike along the coast that is hard to reach by public transport with the timing we have in mind, and also because it is at the beginning of our trip where we will be driving to many places and it saves time to pick up the rental as we leave Lisbon. After much research we decided that it would be better to rent the car as we leave Lisbon, park it while we're in Sintra, and then head off to the places that are best reached by car.

Prunepicker, I've read about the matchbook museum and was intrigued, will definitely try to make time to see it!