Help with Almost Final Plan
 

After following this forum and doing massive reading, we have come up with a plan that appeals to us but would appreciate the experts giving their two cents for feasibility. I always end up having to pare down our plans as I am travel greedy but enjoy slow travel. This makes for conflicted planning.

We arrive in Lisbon on March 8 and will stay in Lisbon that night with an auto rental the next day heading to the Alentejo for one week (first three nights at ADC). Then to Lisbon for 10 days in an apartment rental with day trips to Sintra, Tomar and Alcobaca, and Portinho da Arrabida for a day hike.

Then another rental car driving Lisbon to Coimbra for 2 nights over Easter with the desire to see the library and university. From there we will head into the Serra de Estrella making our north to the Douro for a total of 17 days combined (Serra and Douro). We then drive to Porto dropping off our vehicle staying 3 nights Porto with train to Lisbon. 3 days for hiking the Rota Vincentina and then back to Lisbon the night before our plane to Amsterdam where we are staying 6 nights before winging home to Seattle at the end of April.

I think this will give us an opportunity to taste a bit of Portugal without wearing ourselves out trying to see it all. As mentioned we would like to spend a minimum of 2 nights (3 or more is better) in one place and would especially like to do some short hikes in the Serra de Estrela. If anyone has some suggestions for a central base for hiking and visiting villages in the Serra de Estrela, please share.

We originally wanted to see the Peneda Geres N.P. but have decided it was a little too much for this trip. It is on our list to combine that with southwestern Spain on another trip.

So any thoughts or suggestions for this plan would be so appreciated. Having just finished a South American 4 month trip where distances between areas were vast and time seemed generous, I am having trouble conceptualizing the possibilities with the rather short distances between areas in Portugal and the time that we have. An experienced assessment is probably needed.

Thank you very much for your valuable input.

P.S. If anyone has some recommended reading for Portugal, fact or fiction, we would appreciate some suggestions.

You are correct that distances in Portugal nothing compared to SA and the roads are great. I'm not sure I understand why you don't stay in Lisbon upon arrival or at the end of the trip. Any reason to go back to Lisbon and the onwards only to end your trip in Lisbon.

My mistake. Our rental starts on the 16th and we arrive on the 8th. We had to change our flight after our airbnb was rented and not able to adjust our dates. We are trying tomout a happy face on that one!

Serra da Estrela, in spite of being the highest mountain in continental Portugal is less a tourist destination than Peneda Geres NP. Serra da Estrela, is pretty much naked of vegetation while Peneda Geres is always green, with water falls, natural pools and richness of wild live including wild horses. Peneda Gerês is a short distance from Porto and Douro Valey and surely easy to combine.
What is ADC? Alter do Chão? If so, reserve some time to visit the home of the Lusitanian horse (www.alterreal.pt).

Lobo_mau, we were thinking we might have a better chance for dry weather in the Serra Estrela than Peneda Geres. Is there any sense to that? Thanks.

yestravel, I have just read an old post that said you spent a month in Portugal in 2014. Did you write a trip report? Can't find it on Fodor's.
Thanks.

Hate when those logistical changes occur. Given that the distances are rather small, it really won't be a problem backtracking.

No, we didn't do a TR for our month (May 2014) in Portugal, but will be happy to answer any questions. We meandered alot and only had reservations in a few places. Lots of nice, interesting towns that can be visited. People were delightful and the food& wine very good. I loved the Duoro valley and esp enjoyed the train trip from Pinhao to the end of the line-really pretty. We were supposed to stay in Peneda Geres but bad weather altered that plan. We did spend a nice day driving thru the park and thought it very nice & would have enjoyed hiking there.

I'm not a particular lover of pork, but the pork outside Coimbra in the Luso/Mealhada area was superb. We stayed overnight in Marvao, but I would have been just as happy just day tripping there. We did not spend a night in Castel de Vide, but thought it appeared to be an interesting town and we enjoyed an afternoon there. Off the top of my head, those were some of what I recall.

Thank you, yestravel, for the information re your trip. This is helpful.

We are still a bit stymied about our Coimbra stay which is over Easter weekend. The information on open hours is conflicting on the web and the university's website is more than a little confusing. Does anyone have recent knowledge of hours during Easter weekend?

Thank you.

Do you plan to drive to Sintra? Is there anyway you can stay a couple days in Sintra? We are here in Sintra right now and it is lovely. There is quite a bit to see and do. If you do plan to drive be sure to use gps as the streets are twisty turny and mostly one ways. Very lovely though.