Feedback on Spain-Portugal Roadtrip

It's really a lot of driving and a city oriented trip (with one full day everywhere?) where having a car can/will be a burden.
Personally i would stick to Spain with your timeframe so you can focus a bit more on smaller places as well, places where you'd need having a car to get there.

That being said in this itinerary i would skip Faro ( not a highlight to me and not interesting enough for driving that far for) and drive from Lisbon to Seville via Evora, a part of Alentejo and maybe Extremadura as well (various possibilities there).
A bit the same for Murcia… it's an interesting city if you have already visited much in Spain. In your case i would skip it and drive from Granada to Albacete via Baeza, Ubeda, Cazorla and its NP.
I think that both alternatives would result in a better balance between cities and (small) towns, nature and general scenery where having a car would be an advantage.

Thanks artemis ... will re-work it and get back. So Porto and Lisbon aren't essential?

For a start, if you haven't already seen it, here is a Guardian article about the Douro valley:
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/may/21/douro-region-wine-port-tour-restaurants

Neither Porto or Lisbon are a good place to have a car, and I do think you are cutting your time in Lisbon a bit short. The drive from Porto will take a long time and it leaves you only one full day in Lisbon, which definitely deserves more. It's a great city.

It looks like a lot of driving, but if you want to do a road trip, I guess this is it. Have a look on the search function -- there is a long thread from a year or two ago about a special fee for driving in Portugal.

Would it be reasonable to retain Porto/Lisbon (3 nights not 2), and delete Murcia, since the cruise includes Malaga / Alicante? Just drive from Granada north back to Madrid in our time?

So Porto and Lisbon aren't essential?

They both are interesting, especially Lisbon (and for more than one full day) but what is essential? You will have to make choices here for working out a balanced trip where the driving time isn't too long so you can do the places you visit some justice. And that means you can't do it all.
You can always come back and visit Portugal another time. I have spent two weeks between (and excluding)Lisbon and Porto alone. There is so much to see there as well.
Bear in mind that this is a road trip and not something like an inland cruise where you get limited time for visiting a place. Take advantage of that and you can make a quality trip (over a quantity trip).

I've never been to Lisbon. Porto's interesting, but I wouldn't say it's one of Iberia's highlights, and I'd certainly put it in the "potentially missable" list.

Granada is fabulous, and merits extra time if you can. If you like scenic drives, there are some spectacular little roads heading through the villages of the nearby Sierra Nevada. Toledo's an obvious place to stop on the way into Madrid from anywhere in the south. The place is especially atmospheric late in the afternoon, when all the day-trippers leave. You could also look into Cordoba.

The Duero starts somewhere in the area of Soria and finally ends in Porto. I can't figure from you post which part of the Duero you explicitly plan to visit. However, if you skip Portugal completely, you could visit the Spanish part of the Duero, end in Zamora, then go South to Salamanca and via Cacerés and Merida to Seville. On the way to Zamora you could stop in Toro, and try their (excellent) wines. Zamora itself is interesting as are Salamanca, Cacerés and Merida.

The Algarve is okay but not amazing, especially if you are accustomed to Australian beaches. I'd suggest that you skip Faro (2n). Add 1 of those nights to Lisbon and add a day trip from L. to Sintra. Use the other night for an overnight stop in the in/near Evora on the way to Seville. BTW, Córdoba is also very worthwhile (the Mezquita, Alcazar de Los Reyes Christianos, the Jewish Quarter--the city is a Unesco World Heritage site) if you can squeeze in a half day there.