Two weeks in Portugal

There is a lot to do in Portugal...2 weeks...2 months.....it's a wonderful place. One recommendation - pick up your rental car as you leave Lisboa. Having the car, there will be more of a problem than a convenience - and public transportation is very good. I can recommend an excellent Fado club in the Chiado district of Lisboa if you like - but there must be a hundred of them and I only can recommend what I have visited. Evora is a very nice city and worthy of at least one night.

Because you say you don't like to rush around, I recommend 5 nights in Lisbon, including a day trip to Sintra. That is what we did in April 2018. We loved Lisbon! Some people might recommend spending a night or 2 in Sintra, but that is up to you. Depends on how much moving around you want to do. If you decide to spend a night in Sintra, you should spend at least 4 nights in Lisbon to do it justice. What do you like to do? We loved the Gulbenkian Museum, and we spent a lot of time there, including a light lunch in their café. We spent a day visiting Sao Jorge Castle and exploring the Alfama area. We spent just about a day in Belem, visiting the Jeronimos Monastery, taking the elevator to the top of the Discoveries Monument, had lunch by the water, and visited the Coach Museum. Didn't have time to visit Belem Tower, but saw it from a distance. We also visited some small churches, the miradouros, and wandered through the neighborhoods.

We didn't visit anywhere else in Portugal so can't help you there. But you are wise to spend 2 weeks traveling through Portugal. I wish we had the time to do that, and hopefully we will return one day.

With only two weeks, I would suggest skipping the Algarve. It won’t be beach weather and the Algarve is really all about the beaches. You can easily spend more than two weeks with the other places you mention.
Evora is well worth two nights so you have time to do the Megalith Tour I have recommended many times. You are wise to not stay in Nazaré, IMO, but there are other beach towns in the Silver Coast area that would give you a taste of beach towns - especially if you skip the Algarve. Óbidos is only worth an hour or two, but Tomar and Coimbra are very nice. Go Walks does a great walking tour of Coimbra that includes the university library - which is pretty spectacular.
Spend the bulk of your time divided between Lisbon and Porto, then fill in nights as your time allows. Porto is really lovely and very different from Lisbon. You can do a small group day tour into the Douro to give yourself a taste of it, without the stress of driving.

I agree with Kathryn - skip the Algarve, as two weeks is barely enough time to cover the area between Lisbon and Porto. If the Algarve is a must, then stay in Lagos or Tavira, not the disappointing, overdeveloped Salema.

I stayed near Caldas da Rainha, which was a good base for seeing Obidos, Tomar, Alcobaca, Fatima etc. Caldas itself has a good local market and was formerly the centre of tile production in Portugal and many of the older buildings are still tile clad.

Five nights is a good length of stay in Lisbon plus any day trips. Evora can be done in a day but is better with an overnight stay. Porto itself is compact and can be seen in a day, but you will need more time for the Douro.

Skip the Algarve. Porto and what is between Lisbon and Porto is wonderful.

Hi,
We had a lovely month in Portugal. We included Madeira Island as part of the visit. A mountain in the Atlantic Ocean off Africa with great fire roasted meats.

But on the mainland a couple places we liked we Viseu which was an easy drive to get near the Spanish border and the castles and fortified villages there. The other place we much enjoyed was Evora, but many do. And there is a real memorable restaurant there. Along with one heck of a Roman viaduct. Once again, Evora is close enough to tour border villages.

What to skip. I think the River Duro can be skipped. If you are on it it might be wonderful. But in a rented car trying to get views of the river was nearly impossible. Others have mentioned the beaches, good point, skip.

I was not raised a Roman Catholic but we did go to Fatima. Well it was memorable but not for the right reasons. 9000 seat church which was worth getting into when it wasn't used. Lovely mural.

We stayed in Lisbon for a bout 4 days, went to Madeira for a week, then picked up a car at the airport and went north from Lisbon. We stayed in Obidos, and then Viseu before coming back through Lisbon (didn't stay) but stopped for days in Evora. We ended the trip with about 4 days in Lisbon.

We were in Lisbon in March and the tourist numbers were low. Not zero, but low. And we loved the city. The fog and mists pierced by the occasional classic wooden tram. You might think there were secretive conversations among desperate refugees escaping German occupation. When we returned it was April and tourist numbers inLisbon were up significantly. But I guess May-June is crowded. In April the Lisbon weather started to get hot. If you can shift your travel dates a week earlier in the year you might find the numbers of tourists lower and temperatures more non-sweaty. Don't get me wrong, April was good, but I am of Irish/English decent and don't handle humidity and heat well.

You will have a great time. Sea bass is a really good price in the restaurants that serve locals. The wine is good. The boiled potatoes, so-so.

wayne iNWI, a flush of snow fell while friends were visiting.

Thank you all so much. Hard to decide but one thing is definite we will have a fantastic trip in Portugal.