My husband and I are planning an 8-day trip to Portugal with our 1.5-year-old for late April / early May. We are flying into Lisbon and flying out of Porto. Friends recommended Cascais, and my husband wants to drive between Lisbon and Porto and make stops along the way (my son is great in the car, and we've done European road trips previously). Any itinerary / lodging / activity advice for a trip that time of year? We tend to prefer apartments over hotels, when traveling with our toddler.

Thank you!!!

Hi, i'm from Lisbon,

Cascais is a beach town very close to Lisbon, more or less 30 minutes away. It's a good base to explore the all Lisbon area. Besides exploring the beautiful coast line of Cascais you should reserve yourself at least 1 day to explore Sintra, very close to Cascais.
I recommend a 2 day visit to Lisbon city. Since you have a car you should definitely check the amazing Arrabida natural Park and Troia peninsula with there amazing beaches(only 50 km away from Lisbon and on the way the 20 km long stretch of beaches.
On the way to Porto you should stop in Tomar to check the Knights templar castle, Fatima, the very famous pilgrim site and Coimbra. to check one of the oldest universities in the world.
For apartments is easier and less expensive to find one in Lisbon since in Cascais are mostly hotels. Check airnbnb.
In Porto you should consider to do a river cruise in the Unesco protected Douro River.