Seville to Lisbon in 10 days - Zafra, Monsaraz, Evora, Sintra?
 

After much indecision my family and I have decided to skip the Algarve coast/Sagres and travel directly north from Seville to Zafra, then head west to Lisbon. We have 10 days for this part of our trip.
The draft plan is:
- Day 1: Travel from Seville to Zafra (1 night)
- Day 2: Travel from Zafra to Monsaraz (1 night)
- Day 3/4: Travel from Monsaraz to Evora. Spend 2 nights and complete a day trip to Evoramonte & Estremoz
- Day 5/6/7: Travel from Evora to Sintra (3 nights): Visit Obidos & Cascais
- Day 8/9/10: Travel from Sintra to Lisbon & flights home.

Any other suggestions for how this could play out & key destinations that should be included/excluded?

If you want to include Óbidos in your itinerary, then I would drive from Évora directly to Óbidos for the night, then down to Lisbon (2 nights) and drop off the car. You can take the local commuter train out to Cascais and to Sintra.

Thanks Robert. That makes good sense.

The one change you might consider is the leg from Zafra to Monsaraz. It's 111 kms without any great stops on the way (I've been to Jerez de los Caballeros but wouldn't say it's a must see stop). Monsaraz is really a "one horse town." It is very tiny, picturesque, but really not much to see other than the bullring at the end of town, a street or two of white stucco houses and a castle wall. It's very pretty, though, so it may fit your idea of a great way to relax for a day.

But if it were me, I'd head from Zafra for 166 kms up to Marvao for the night. It's another castle town, but this castle provides a lot of opportunities for exploring and climbing. It's got a pretty cool cistern and a nice small museum. The town itself is still a town, not a city, but it's got a lot more going on than Monsaraz. And the view is equally spectacular.

The advantages of this alternative, IMO, are that (1) the drive from Zafra to Marvao is nicer than the drive to Monsaraz; it takes you through Elvas, which is a town worth a stop, as is Castelo de Vide closeby and (2) the drive from Marvao to Evora allows you to stop in Estremoz on the way to Evora. Evoramonte is essentially nothing more than a small castle to visit but it has a few interesting architectural features. That would mean you would arrive in Evora having already visited the things you had planned for a day trip, which means you can just spend extra time in Evora or take a different excursion (and like others, I'd suggest ARraiolos, especially a visit to the pousada and a coffee in its cafe or a walk through its grounds plus a trip through the rug-making streets of town). Other possible day trips from Evora would be pottery in Redondo or Sao Pedro de Corval (but beware, there is a LOT of junk in Sao Pedro) or maybe Beja and Serpa to the south.

Though I've been to Obidos several times and appreciate that it is very well preserved and picturesque, I wouldn't say it's a must see stop if you've already visited some of the other castle places. It is also, depending on time of year, extremely full of tourists, lots of day trips on buses from Lisbon.

Just my ideas. Laurie