Thanks to all of you for the feedback! I will start to poke around at hotels in that area I assume you think it also would be better to not try to drive into the city? Either way, if we leave the car out in Cascais or drove it into Lisbon, we will just leave it parked while we are in the city, but I am thinking it might just be easier to take a train in....

Much, much better, easier, less stressful, I think, to leave the car outside of the city, for example, in Cascais and take the commuter train into Lisbon. I highly recommend that visitors not try to drive in the city. Commuter traffic can be brutal, you would be negotiating the streets with those very speedy taxi drivers that careen down the narrow, congested hills, the eléctricos (trams), the proliferation of tuk tuks that have now invaded the city--they're everywhere. We've never attempted to drive in Lisbon because of this.

Thanks Maribel for being the voice of sanity. We have been doing driving trips the past 20+ years but more and more as you say, it is getting to unpleasant to drive in any of the big cities between trams restricted bus lanes, pedestrian zones etc. So you are right we will park the car out and train in-much less stressful. That is pretty much what we do now for all the "big" cities and sometimes even the smaller cities. Since we use the Open Europe lease program we always have a car but now we are just avoiding driving into most of the cities.

Thanks again Iwan2go for letting me hijack your thread! I am going to be excited to read more about both your trip planning for January and your trip since we will probably be there in March/April. I hope you have a wonderful time!

You do have to be cautious in Lisbon if it's been raining on the famous limestone sidewalks.

https://www.citylab.com/design/2018/...ewalks/573643/

Uber is your friend. But still, be careful.

I also liked the Avenidas.

Sintra does have some hilly areas also, but taxis are available.

I think a car is more trouble than it's worth.

@ Iwan2go -I am so sorry to hear about your trip postponement-fingers crossed that you can still make the trip! I will definitely post a trip report of our adventures next spring and will be happy to help you if I can with info if we get there before you guys :)