All:Traveling for the first time to Portugal the first half of November. Most of our itinerary has been penciled out, but the last 4 days are still up in the air. Would love to hear opinions and thoughts regarding the remainder of our trip.

Our favorite way to travel is to relax and people watch, sipping a coffee or a glass of wine. Beach time wouldn’t hurt also. Plan on visiting castles, churches and universities but trying to do and see everything is not our highest priority. We are renting a car when needed—won’t be driving in either Porto or Lisbon. Full days on the ground are as tentatively planned:

Three nights: Lisbon

Two nights: Evora

Two nights: Coimbra

Four nights: Porto

Here’s where we are stuck with four full nights left before an airport overnight in Lisbon…options

1) Two nights in Douro and then two nights in Nazare (accommodation recommendations?)

2) Four nights in Nazare or Ericeira (Nazare or Ericeira preferences?)

Definitely want to decompress the last couple of days before traveling back to the West Coast.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions…

Have you explored options for flying into Lisbon and out of Porto? If you can do that, you can avoid backtracking and spending that last night in Lisbon. If you are committed to flying into and out of Lisbon, you might consider taking the train to Porto immediately upon your arrival and reversing your itinerary, ending in Lisbon -- that would be another way to avoid a one night stay the night before your flight.

FWIW, 3 nights seems to me to be very little for Lisbon, particularly if you'll have jet lag when you get there.

I skipped Ericeira; when in Nazare, I was happy with my stay at Hotel Magic.

Please see your other thread:
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...ember-1731475/

And click on the orange triangle beside at the end of your post, to the left. Use the screen you get to ask the moderators to merge your two identical threads.

I'm fond of Nazaré but it's not everyone's cup of tea. In low season the funicular between Nazaré and Sitio (for Praia del Norte and the huge waves) is frequently out of service, and many of the restaurants - while very good - only open at weekends. It's a little bit shabby and while the beaches are beautiful there is little to do. If you are renting a car it's easy enough to drive to Obidos, Alcabaca, Batalha and Tomar so it could be a good base. I'm reluctant to recommend hotels because the last time we were there was BC (before Covid) but we stayed in Hotel Praia back in the day and it was fine. If I were you I'd extend your time in Lisbon and spend a couple of nights in Eirceira, which is a prettier town and closer to Lisbon. It's also just a short journey from there to Mafra with the amazing convent and library.

No interest in Sintra?
Three nights in Lisbon would be a little rushed for me

I'd go for five nights in Lisbon instead of three, and two nights in Sintra to round out the other four days.

Here's my trip report from 2022.

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/portugal-2022/

Thank you for all the feedback so far...lots to consider. Leaning at the moment to go up the river for a couple of nights and then back to Lisbon for the other two. Hate to miss the beach though.

We are contemplating a private guide for a day trip to Sintra. Trying to avoid "touristy" things...

Duplicate threads merged

Even if off-season, a day trip to Sintra could be "touristy" in the extreme. If you want to see Sintra -- and there's plenty to see there -- spend a night, or better two nights, there to see some of it's delights when not swamped with tourists.

I trust you realize that beach time in Portugal in November is just that -- BEACH time, unless you're willing to swim in chilly waters. Scroll down to the "Average Water Temperature" chart.
https://weatherspark.com/y/32064/Ave...gal-Year-Round