Lisbon daytrips - Evora?

I really liked Santarem (an hour from Lisbon, by hourly trains) and Tomar (another hour on the same line). I spent two nights in Santarem, and then saw Tomar as a day trip from there. Rick doesn't discuss these, but take a look at another guide book (I used Rough Guide) to see if they interest you. For me, the highlight of Santarem (in addition to its overall nice vibe) was the Igreja de Marvila, with its astonishingly beautiful azulejos. The highlights of Tomar were the synagogue and the museum of matchboxes (yes, really - fascinating).

We visited Sintra as a day trip and loved it. An overnight stay would have been nice. Beautiful little town-Unesco site I think.

It was back in 1997, but we found that commercial (I'm not talking about public bus routes) full-day bus tours from Lisbon were a very good value for those who don't rent a car. Back in pre-GPS days, the road signs in Portugal were greatly inferior to, say, Spain. Navigation was difficult. (We rented a car after our days in Lisbon.) You have to be reconciled to their schedule, their time limits, and all things people disdain about commercial tours. But you can get to three or more major "daytrip" attractions in ONE day, with no navigation or fuss. Honestly, I forget what was paired with Evora, but another day we saw Obidos, Nazare, and Fatima all in one 8AM-7:30PM bus tour ("portugal tours"). It was tiring, but no planning or tickets to buy along the way. We did take the regular train to Sintra, however. But there was a little too much walking in the heat there for us.

I'm more of a DIY traveler than a commercial tour-taker. I find the planning and the meandering around to be a part of the fun, and I don't mind getting lost a bit. I rented a car for 2 weeks in Portugal on my previous trip, so I understand about limited signage and directions (I had a blast, driving from Lisbon to near the Spanish border, then back down.) I will look into all the places you've (all) mentioned; thank you.

Speaking generally, commercial day trips can be very enjoyable and a good value. If you can find a tour company with a day trip that will take you to 2 or 3 places in the area, you may pay about $100. I took day trips from Bath and from Nice. I don't rent cars in Europe and some places are difficult to reach using public transportation.

Evora is a pleasant day trip. We found the roman temple to be very striking at night. It is well lit and ethereal. But also very beautiful in the daytime with its garden. The market and cathedral are also noteworthy, a nice walking town. If you have not seen Sintra, however, I would bypass Evora and take the train to Sintra. It is a full day and one of the nicest places on the Iberian peninsula IMO. Very easy day trip but give yourself the full day and follow RS guidebook scrupulously to get it all in and enjoy it. I would not go to Caiscais again, we found it boring and nothing spectacular, although we went on a Sunday so that usually knocks a lot of life out of any place.

I agree with David for the most part. Evora is interesting but if you haven't been to Sintra, you must! I took the bus to Evora. The station is slightly outside the center but it's just maybe a 5 minute walk into town. The things in Evora david mention are nice. plus, it's a bit morbid but i found it fascinating, they have a bone church. bones of about 5000 monks decorate the chapel. sintra.....you can easily take the train form lisbon. i think you can spend the whole day there if you want...the moorish castle, pena palace, national palace, small little city centre and the quinta regaleira (sp?). cascais and estoril are an easy (and very pretty) train ride away right along the coast. but not much to do there. i vote for spending the time in lisbon with a day to sintra.
i loooooooooooove portugal. my favorite place in europe! :-)

Sintra is the one mentioned most by people who have been there. I haven't been yet - started planning for Portugal, then decided a month wasn't enough to see even Spain properly so dropped any other destinations.

Definitely Sintra if you've not been.