My Portugal Itinerary
 

The plan is to fly into Lisbon, rent a car and drive to Lagos. Overnight there, then putter around the Algarve, move to Evora for the night, then Castelo Branco for the night, Coimbra for a night, drop car off at the airport and head to Lisbon for two nights.
We really want to see the country so we can decide where we want to go back and spend more time.
I think we may change Castelo Branco to two nights in Coimbra.
Any thoughts about stops along the way? Thank you.

Hi,

1st check if you have flights to the Faro airport in the Algarve, you'll save a 250 km trip from Lisbon to Lagos.
You're not saying how many days you'll be staying in the Algarve.
From the Algarve to Évora stop in the city of Silves to see the amazing castle. In Évora visit the amazing medieval walled city of Monsaraz an d the greattest lake of Europe , the Alqueva, and Vila Viçosa village.
Why Castelo Branco? its no that interesting...
On the way to Coimbra visit instead the outstanding Knights Templar castle of Tomar, much better. While in Coimbra visit the roman ruins of Conimbriga, one of the best well preserved roman ruins in the world. The Fatima region, on the way to Coimbra has a lot to see, the castles of Leiria, Porto de Mós, Tomar, Ourém, the pilgrim site of Fátima, the biggest caves of Portugal in Miradaire, the Battle Monastery, the Alcobaça monastery. Close to Coimbra you can see the beach town of Figueira da Foz, the biggest beach of Portugal, the Montemor o velho Castle, and mountain villages of Luso mountain and the palace of Buçaco.

While you are in the south you might be interested in checking out Monchique. We are going in April at the suggestion of a friend-just one night stop of a driving trip. We are staying at Villa Termal das Caldas de Monchique Spa Resort which looks pretty fun-hot baths etc.

Thank you so much. We will only be in the Algarve one day. Then we will head to Evora and the other destinations I mentioned. Thank you for the input on Castel Branco. I decided to stay two nights in Coimbra instead of stopping there. We are only there a week, and it is a lot to take in but we want to see as much of the country as possible so when we go back, we will have a better of where we want to concentrate our time. I spent a week in Lisbon and loved it, but we will only be there two days. When we return, we will fly in to Porto and work our way through the northern part of the country. Thank you for your wonderful suggestions. I am really looking forward to traveling through the country and seeing the different places.

Thank you for the information. I will certainly look into this area.