15 Day Portugal Trip

You cant miss Algarve, the south region of Portugal.
From Sagres to Tavira, from the interior to the most beautiful beaches and coastal villages you will find a place of nice and warm people, excellent fish, seafood and traditional pastry...

For some of the day trips I suggest you hire a car because public transportation will take long time and because the ride and the stopping or wandering off on the way is worth the extra cost. So hire a car for Braga and Guimaraes. For Bucaco as well, so you can make your way around in the countryside.
Nazare and Obidos can be a day trip from Lisbon with rented car. You can combine it with Mafra and sleep on the way somewhere. One day trip Mafra and Obidos is doable. Drop Nazare if you lack time and want to do it all in one day because there's not much to the place comparing to the other places you want to see. It's a old fishers village but closer to Lisbon/Sintra you can find another village called Ericeira, that's even nicer.
Sintra can be made as day trip from Lisbon with public transportation. Once there just make sure you have easy shoes and a sweater you can wear if cold. You have to walk a lot but it's worth.To Sintra: train to Cascais and then bus to Sintra getting out halfway on Cabo da Roca, for the sights and a cup of coffee getting on the bus again later to go on to Sintra. Back to Lisbon as late as you want, just take the train in Sintra to Rossio Station.

I don't want to confuse you but try to figure out how long transportation takes between places and look at different alternatives. Saving time in transportation means more time to relax and enjoy yourself and the sights.

Don't pay attention to #10 because you can't do it all in one go. Do the Algarve next time, from April til october, the best time to go is May , June if you like the beauty of spring and the quietness. July and august if you like the hot weather and places full of people, september, october if you want quietness and some sunshine before winter strikes.The rest of the year the Algarve as far as the touristic coastal towns concerns is quite empty even thou the weather is still not bad. In the more interior villages life goes on as usual. It's a good place if you have the time to wander around at slow pace. So next time....

When planning your day trips think about: getting out of the door as early as possible, because you don't want to waste your day and it gets dark earlier in wintertime. Also think about driving out of the city early to avoid getting caught in the traffic jam.

Wow thanks for all those great tips. The info for the day trips really helps in planning all of this!