7 Days in Portugal - Itinerary Advice

What a difficult decision! They're all amazing destinations, and you can make arguments for visiting any and all of them. If you're interested in the coast, it would seem that you'd want to spend some time in Nazare; you could then move on to Coimbra after that. I personally wouldn't want to have missed either Evora or Obidos for anything -- both are wonderful -- but it's not as if you're going to deprive yourself on some wonderful experiences by saving them for another trip.

I know, trying to decide is doing my head in!! I have just (5min ago) managed to snaffle an extra 2 days from work, so now I have 9 days in total. Doesn't make the decision that much easier though unless you think I could do it all!?

put 3 to 4 days aside for Lisbon -if you are into heritage/architecture you will be in heaven

if had to pick one it would be Obidos - no doubt, absolutely beautiful - Tomar was ok, but nothing unique
not sure why (perhaps weather was crappy) - but I was not impressed by Evora

I liked the town of Sesimbra - 1 hr south of Lisbon, has a nice beach and castle

I just loved Evora! Especially if you are into heritage. Close to Evora you can also visit a Megaliths place. Great. And I also really liked Coimbra with its big university. Will you rent a car? What we did is stayed in Lisbon 3 days. Went to Sintra (great but plan an extra day for it), went down to the Algarve (lots of nice little places) and then up again to Evora with some stops on the route and then headed for the north (I think you do not have enough time for that) but you could then go to Coimbra.
And personally, I also really liked Porto (have been there two times already), this is also worth staying another 2 days or so.

I´m brazilian and my father is portuguese. I love this country and visit it very often.
In my humble opinion, don´t go to Coimbra and don´t you ever ever miss Guimaraes, which is only 80km far from Porto and is really beautiful.
I´m travelling to Portugal next month with my girlfriend. It´s her first time abroad and I´m going to show her Guimaraes, Braga, Alcobaça, Obidos, Sintra and of course Lisbon. These are my favorites!
The south is great too, but we don´t have much time to spend. But I still would recommend you Evora and Algarve, but surely takes time to get there.

But concerning to Coimbra, I found it boring last time I visited. This time I won´t go there, even being only 20 km away from my cousin's house. Well it´s up to You anyway.

We spent a week in Portugal in May, and had to make the same types of choices. We (I) usually over-program us, and tried to keep it simple this time. We landed (from the US) early in the morning, and drove up to Tomar, where we had lunch. It was a very enjoyable stop. We then drove on to Coimbra, where we spent two nights. We loved Coimbra - the university library was extraordinary. We visited Coninbriga while there, then headed on a circuitous route to the coast (Peniche was our goal); en route we stopped at a very lovely small seaside town west of Coimbra (can't recall the name and don't have my guide books here, but it wasn't Figuera de Foz), then toured Alcabaca for lunch - my favorite of the cathedrals we visited in Portugal. We stopped in Obidos late in the afternoon, and I was very disappointed: it was like Disneyland - full of souvenir shops and tourists. Peniche was also a bit of a disappointment, although interesting; the coast to the north and the guest house 15km. outside of Peniche were very nice. Sintra was lovely, and we were glad we had spent a night there (could have spent two). We ended our trip with two nights in Lisbon, which was of course enjoyable. We stayed in the Baixa neighborhood, which was very central, but would probably have preferred a less commercial area. As you might discern from this, we prefer smaller, less crowded cities. It was a great trip in a lovely country.

rent updated cottages in a 16th century estate/vineyard a nice big hostel GO NORTH! Sorry for the caps there, but I wanted to make sure you noticed my enthusiasim. I had 10 days in Portugal this past spring and would highly recommend my itinerary. I flew into Lisbon and spent 3 nights there, regretfully. I liked Lisbon, don't get me wrong, but if I'd known how amazing the north was going to be, I would have only spent 1 or 2 nights in Lisbon. It's a small city anyway so you can see it pretty quickly. From Lisbon, I rented a car and drove up to Cascias for a bike ride (free bikes) up the coast in the morning and then touring around Sintra in the afternoon. You could stay in Sintra (amazing place) or, to break up the driving some more, head to Leiria, like I did. There was a nice big hostel there and some good restaurants. Anyway, then I drove to Viana de Castelo on the coast. It's a charming little village with the most amazing "manor house" where you can rent updated cottages in a 16th century estate/vineyard for a very affordable price. Using my cottage there as a base, I explored the Portugal/Spanish border, including hikes in the national park, a relaxing day in Ponte de Lima (stunning), the markets in Barcelos, the long gracious beaches, and eventually Porto. My only regret is that I didn't have another day for Porto, but that just means I'll have to go back. Oh, and I flew out of Porto to come home. I found that flying into Lisbon and out of Porto was actually cheaper than just going in and out of the same one. Also, just be advised that this route is only feasible with a rental car. I looked into doing it with public transport but since the north is so rural, it doesn't have much. But it's well worth the extra investment!

No matter what, you'll love Portugal. it's been my favorite of nearly 20 countries so far!

So what did you end up doing in Portugal for your 9 days?