Portugal -- Evora or Coimbra?

Interesting, Ed. Neither bahn.de nor the Portuguese railway website recognize Evora as a station. Did you notice whether it was called something else?

I will be traveling via buses and train. I am going next May and I read that they will be starting a new high speed train from Lisbon to Evora that should open early 2012. If that does not happen then I planned on bus to Evora. And yes Evora is out of the way but close enough to Lisbon (a few hours) if it is significantly better of a stop than Coimbra. I was drawn to the idea of a "white washed town" as something different

Nope. But I think the train was orange or red if that helps. And it was a pax train, not freight. It might have stopped suddenly, the last time I was there was November. I think it's the same line that goes on to Elvas and then into Badajoz province. Come to think of it, there are a couple sets of tracks going out to the north as well. I might be wrong there, can't picture the terraine.

I don't care for Coimbra that much. Elvas is as good as Evora, if not better. Having reavealed that I know squat about trains, I'd still try to hook these two together somehow.

How are you planning to get around in Portugal?

Still haven't made it to Evora but love Coimbra, which also has good Roman ruins at Conimbriga (frequent buses). You need a bus to get to Evora but Coimbra is on the rail line.

Coimbra is closer to Nazare so you'll spend less time travelling. It's also a good walking town, although with many hills and steps, with lots of great architecture, churches, museums, etc. You can visit one of the oldest universities in Europe and cross the river and visit ruins of an ancient monastery. We also like Evora but Coimbra might be better for this trip.

The Evora train station is about a mile south of the center of town. I've seen trains in it, but never ridden them.