Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - 10 days in Portugal

My boyfriend and I are traveling to Portugal for 10 days at the end of August before heading over to Italy. We're flying into Lisbon on Aug. 25, arriving on Aug. 26 around 10 a.m.

We'll be backpacking, although wouldn't mind spending a night or two at some point at a nicer B&B or hotel. We like hikes, history, beaches, being by the ocean, and cool little towns. I'd also love to do a wine tour. We're thinking of renting a car from Lisbon and traveling south, then back up on the Silver Coast. Here's our proposed, rough itinerary so far:

Tuesday, August 26:
- Arrive in LIS at 1010am
- Spend afternoon in Lisbon
- Overnight in Lisbon

Wednesday, August 27:
-Spend most of day around Lisbon
-Rent car head to Evora
-Overnight in Evora

Thursday, August 28:
-Explore Evora and surroundings (megaliths). Maybe quick trip to Estremos and/or Castelo de Vide?
-Drive down toward Algavre
-Arrive in Tavira (or other close town) late night
-Overnight where in Tavira or?

Friday, August 29:
-Beach time (where's a good place to hang out?)
-Visit surrounding areas (beach time)
-Overnight again in Tavira?

Saturday, August 30:
-Visit Lagos, Cabo de Sao Vicente for some beach time
-Overnight in Lagos?

Sunday, August 31:
-Continue drive along Silver coast.
-Visit Vila Nova de Milfontes and Setubal
-Overnight in Vila Nova Milfontes

Monday, September 1:
-Drive north toward Cascais and Sintra
-Overnight in Sintra or head back into Lisbon for dinner/late night and sleep (thought might be nice to enjoy more of Portugese night life in a larger city? Overnight where?

Tuesday, September 2:
-Continue drive along coast to Batalha, Coimbra (is there much to do here?)
-Overnight in Coimbra? (or should we just drive into Porto arriving late at night?)

Wednesday, September 3:
-Head toward Porto with stop in Aveiro (might not stop here if we're running short on time, is there much to do there?)
-Arrive in Porto around lunch
-Walk around the city, dinner, overnight in Porto

Thursday, September 4:
-Drive to Dourro Valley
-Visit some local wineries, river cruise?
-Overnight in Porto

Friday, September 5: Fly Porto to Rome
-Drop car off at Porto airport and fly to Rome

We know this might sound like an exhausting itinerary, but we like to be kept busy and believe is REALLY seeing countries while we're there. Looking for accommodation (hostels), food, activity (best winery to visit?), specific tours/tour companies (ie: river cruise in Douro Valley) and off-the-beaten track recommendations. Also which of the smaller towns are worth spending more time or should we skip them? We're willing to make some changes based on feedback so feel free to let us know what worked, what didn't for you.

I should also mention that in terms of accomodation, we are on a backpacker's budget. So, looking at some lower-priced accomodations if possible. Will consider a couple nights to splurge at a nice place if it's worth the money.