Portugal
 

We are arriving in Lisbon on a cruise ship in September and staying on for 7 days for a quick sight see. Wanting to have an idea to hiring car and driving to Porto.
Is there any places of interest to stay on route to Porto. We have to turn to Lisbon to catch our flight back home. Again any suggestions to routes.

I like Obidos and Coimbra en route. You could do a half day in Obidos, with the overnight in Coimbra.

Sintra and Tomar are also great!

Completely agree on Sintra. Tomar, I haven't been to yet. Shame on me!

Thanks for the input, anyone with any tips with car rentals.
Is it best to book online or when we arrive at Lisbon.

It is much better to book online for the car. I believe that you will receive the best price.
Try to drive along the Silver Coast. The coast line is wonderful.
With a car you can just about pick anywhere that you would like to go.
Have a great trip. We return to Portugal for the fourth time, for which I am really excited.

We liked guerin for Portugal as far as car rentals go. Pay extra and rent a diesel as gas is very expensive in PT. Also, make sure you have no excess insurance coverage. It is often included.

I often book through economycarrentals.com and have had luck 75% of the time. They fall short if you are booking in the Algarve. Don´t get the cheapest and they are usually ok. I always check them agaist guerin's website, though guerin uses them as a distributor too.

Hi, en route to Porto I would advise Tomar, Alcobaça and Coimbra.

You just take A1 Highway (connects Lisbon to Porto) and all of them are small detours. Of course if you want to do it in one day You'll have to leave early and maybe you won't have enough time to enjoy it.

Regarding Coimbra, I would suggest that you visit Coimbra and then spend the night in Bussaco (Also spelled Buçaco...) in the Palace Hotel inside the national park. It's around 25/30 kms form Coimbra. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bussaco

Well, just trying to take you a small bit out of the most beaten path.. :-)

cheers,
miguel

I would not bother to rent a diesel for this fairly short trip. Diesel was 1.49 € in June, petrol 1,65 €.
We always book our cars through a broker, mostly AutoEurope. They give much better conditions than the rental companies themselves and you can opt for 'all inclusive' with excess insurance coverage included. We've had cars from Guerin, Europcar, Auto Jardim, Avis through AutoEurope.

The Silver Coast is very pretty, indeed. Do visit Costa Nova do Prata with its striped houses.

Tomar is good for a few hours. Óbidos is very touristy during the day and also worth a few hours.

Sintra deserves at least a few days if you want to visit some of the palaces/gardens.

Enjoy!