Stops needed between Porto and Lisbon

Yes - I know this topic has been done before - have read LOTS of posts ... but here is mine:

April 2014 ... land in Porto 18th (good Friday) and depart Lisbon 26th (following Saturday.

A little about us: We are two adults and a 14 year old boy. Boy likes "non-European looking cities". We have previosly visited Alejento region, Cascais and Lisbon in 2010 and he liked Evora and Lisbon. I am looking for places VERY different as we have traveled a lot thru Europe and the little snot is very particular ("gee mom, Verona looks like every other European city". We don't want places that are too dead - like to go out and have drinks and meet people. We will certainly spend one or two nights in Porto and two or three in Lisbon. So - in between I would love to see Tomar, Obidos, Aviero and Coimbra. OR possibly see somewhere over the border in Galicia Spain. Prefer trains but are not averse to driving for a portion of trip (maybe Coimbra - Tomar - Obidos).

Given the info above where would you stay? Where would you visit on a day trip? We don't need crazy nightlife but we do need a bar to hang at and some sort of places which are not dead. Any of these places which you would scrap right away? Anywhere that would be a nice fit for us? University towns are a good choice as they usually have some liveliness.

In Lisbon - any hotels, inns, hostels (have seen some which may work with private room) in a hopping neighborhood (Barrio Alto?) What do you think about day trips from Lisbon - we have been to Sintra but may do that again as we got lost hiking in the woods and then caught in a rain storm.

Even though it's a WAYS in the future our dates/flights are fixed. THANKS! Looking forward to a fun adventure.

If it's not too far for you, i'd reccommend Santiago de Compostela in Spain for a few days.

The connections by train between Portugal and Galicia are rather poor. You better rent a car in Porto and do a daytrip to Galicia. If I have the time I usually take the ferry from Caminha to A Guarda across the river Miño. A Guarda is a typical fishing village, and the drive to Vigo along the coast is impressive. Go from Vigo to Tui, which is overlooking the Miño and has still some of the old walls in place. Take the freeway back to Porto or stay away from it and go along the N201. If you have time you could visit Braga and Guimaraes on the way back.

Hello,

I'm living in Porto and I got to know lots about my country. You are coming in April and between Porto and Lisbon you may find it quite dead during that season because most tourists on that time of the day spend their vacations rather on Porto or Lisbon or on the south of the country, in Algarve if the weather is already pleasant to go to the beach.
Nevertheless, I would suggest some places you may find attractive, but look for them on the internet to search for pictures and check if you like it too.

• If you don't know Porto I would definitely suggest that you spend a day and a half or two here, depending on how vigorous your travel style is to see the whole city.

• Between Porto and Lisbon you may go to Aveiro and Costa Nova (beach nearby) which you can reach by train directly from Porto Central Train Station (São Bento) that takes about an hour and costs € 3 per person, no discounts.

• If you prefer to stay North for more time, I suggest you to visit Guimarães, also in a day-trip from Porto using urban trains from São Bento Station and it takes around 1:15 to get there - also €3 per person.

• I would also recommend Nazaré, Óbidos and Tomar, all of them are nice places but you may find it easier to travel between by car rather than by public transports. However, you may look for specific schedules for trains in [http://www.cp.pt] or for buses in [http://www.rede-expressos.pt] and try to fit everything.

• Alcobaça and Batalha have two precious monasteries. If you like to visit those kind of things, they are very well-known too.

• Spend at least one day in Sintra after you reach Lisboa region - for me, it is much better than Lisboa itself although the capital city obviously deserves one day and a half or two days itself!

Hope I helped, feel free to answer and ask more advices :)

Jorge

Last time I was in Lisbon and Porto in 2011 I rented an Apartment for a few days rather than stay at a hotel -generally the minumum stay is 3 nights. I'll be back in Porto later this year and have rented an apartment again.
Make sure you go to Sintra - You can do it as a day trip from Lisbon or stay there.