2 Weeks in Portugal: A Road Trip Itinerary

Two weeks is the right amount of time to drive Portugal from top to bottom without living in the car. This plan starts with three car-free days in Lisbon, then loops north to Porto and the Douro and south to the Algarve. Only one day has more than about three hours at the wheel.

The route: fly into Lisbon and spend 3 nights there without a car, with Sintra by train. Pick up a hire car on day 4 and drive Óbidos → Nazaré → Coimbra → Porto → the Douro → Évora → the Algarve, then drop it at Faro and fly home. That’s 13 nights and roughly 1,400 to 1,500km of driving, plus a one-way drop fee. (Rather not drive? See 2 weeks in Portugal by train.)

The plan at a glance

Days	Base	Nights	Drive time
1–3	Lisbon (Sintra by train)	3	No car
4	Nazaré, via Óbidos	1	About 1h40 in total
5–6	Coimbra, via Alcobaça and Batalha	2	About 1h45 in total
7–8	Porto, via Aveiro	2	About 1h45 in total
9	Douro Valley (Pinhão)	1	About 1h45–2h
10–11	Évora, with Monsaraz	2	About 4h30–5h, via Tomar
12–13	Lagos	2	About 3h
14	Fly home from Faro	–	About 1h to the airport

Times are without stops and vary with traffic.

Days 1–3: Lisbon and Sintra, no car

Don’t collect the car when you land. Lisbon’s hills, trams and one-way streets make driving stressful, and parking is scarce and charged.

• Day 1: Baixa, Alfama and São Jorge Castle, with fado in the evening.
• Day 2: Belém. Book slots for the Jerónimos cloister and Belém Tower, which reopened on 27 May 2026 with timed entry.
• Day 3: Sintra by train from Rossio, about 40 minutes.

Go to Sintra by train, not by car. Private cars can’t drive up to Pena Palace, and traffic in the historic centre and on the road to the palaces is restricted. From the station, buses 434 and 435 run up to the palaces. Pena tickets are for a set date and time (the Essential Visit is €20), so book ahead. See visiting Sintra.

The Glória, Bica and Lavra funiculars and the Santa Justa lift have been closed since September 2025. See our 3-day Lisbon itinerary.

Day 4: pick up the car, Óbidos and Nazaré

Collect the car on the morning you leave. Picking up at Lisbon airport puts you straight onto the ring roads heading north, and Óbidos is about an hour up the A8.

• Óbidos: walk the walls of this whitewashed medieval town and try ginjinha, a cherry liqueur, in a chocolate cup. Allow two or three hours.
• Nazaré: about 40 minutes on. Head up to the Sítio clifftop and the fort above the famous big-wave break. Big waves usually arrive between October and March. The funicular up the cliff has had long maintenance closures, so check it’s running.

Sleep in Nazaré for sunset over the sea.

Days 5–6: Alcobaça, Batalha and Coimbra

Day 5 takes in two monasteries, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites.Alcobaça is about 15 minutes from Nazaré, and Batalha about 25 minutes further. Batalha’s monastery costs €15, though the church is free. Then it’s about an hour up the A1 to Coimbra.

Spend day 6 in Coimbra, Portugal’s old university town. Book a slot for the university and its baroque Joanina Library (about €16.50 with the library), then walk down through the steep old town to the river. The Roman ruins at Conímbriga are about 20 minutes south.

Days 7–9: Porto and the Douro Valley

On day 7, drive north via Aveiro, about 50 minutes from Coimbra, for a boat ride on the canals. Porto is about an hour further.

In Porto, leave the car at your hotel or a public car park. The old centre is steep and narrow, and the lower deck of the Dom Luís I bridge has been closed to private cars since 2023. The Guindais funicular has been suspended since July 2026, so expect to walk uphill. Spend day 8 on the Ribeira, São Bento station’s tiles, the Clérigos Tower (about €10) and the port lodges across the river in Gaia. See things to do in Porto.

Day 9 is where the car earns its keep. Drive to Peso da Régua (about 1h15), then follow the N222 along the river to Pinhão between terraced vineyards. Visit two quintas (book tastings ahead, especially at weekends and in the September harvest) and stay the night at a wine estate, so nobody drives after the tasting. See our Douro Valley itinerary.

Days 10–11: Évora and the Alentejo

Day 10 is the longest drive: about 4.5 hours from Pinhão to Évora without stops. Break it at Tomar, a little over halfway, where the Knights Templar’s Convent of Christ (€15) is worth a couple of hours. Tomar to Évora is then about two hours. Want a shorter day? Base all three nights in Porto, do the Douro as a day trip, and leave from Porto, about four hours to Évora.

On day 11, see Évora’s Roman temple, the cathedral and the Chapel of Bones. Late in the afternoon, drive 45 to 50 minutes to Monsaraz, a hilltop village above the Alqueva lake. Stay for sunset and the stars: Alqueva became the world’s first Starlight Tourism Destination in 2011. Évora is European Capital of Culture in 2027, opening on 6 February, so book early if you travel then.

Days 12–14: the Algarve

On day 12, drive about three hours south to Lagos, finishing on the A22, which has been toll-free since January 2025. Late in the day, take a small boat into the grottoes at Ponta da Piedade, or walk the clifftop paths there for sunset, about 30 minutes from the old town.

On day 13, drive about 40 minutes east to Benagil. Since August 2024 you can’t swim to the cave or land on its beach, and kayaks may only go with a licensed guide, so see the Benagil cave on a licensed boat trip or guided kayak tour. Then walk part of the Seven Hanging Valleys trail (5.7km one way).

On day 14, enjoy a last swim, then drive about an hour along the A22 to Faro airport. Leave time to refuel and return the car. See things to do in Lagos.

Car hire

• Pick up when you leave Lisbon: you save three days of hire and parking fees.
• One-way fees: collecting in Lisbon and dropping at Faro usually costs extra, often around €30 to €100 or more.
• Automatic or manual: most hire cars are manual. Automatics are rarer and pricier, so book early.
• Size: a small car is far easier in medieval towns and on narrow Douro roads.

Book your car: we compare deals on Discover Cars, which searches international and local firms at once and shows one-way fees up front. Read our Portugal car rental guide first.

Tolls

Ask for a car with a Via Verde transponder. It pays every toll automatically, including the electronic-only gantries on several motorways around Porto, and the rental company bills you afterwards, often with a small daily fee for the device.

• Still tolled: the A1 from Lisbon to Porto (€25.05 the whole way in a normal car), the A2 from Lisbon to the Algarve (€23.80), the A4 between Porto and Amarante, the A6 to Évora and the A8 towards Óbidos. You only drive parts of these, so you’ll pay less than the full fares.
• Free since 1 January 2025: the A22 across the Algarve, the A23, A24 and A25, the A13 and A13-1 in central Portugal, and the A4 beyond Amarante.

See Portugal tolls explained.

Parking in historic towns

• Óbidos and Monsaraz: no cars inside the walls. Use the car parks outside the gates. At Óbidos, some charge a small fee, sometimes cash only.
• Coimbra and Évora: steep, narrow or restricted old streets. Park by the river in Coimbra and outside the walls in Évora.
• Nazaré and Lagos: busy in summer. Arrive early or choose a hotel with parking.

When to go

• April to June, September and October: warm, with fewer crowds. September to early October is harvest time in the Douro.
• July and August: the Douro and Évora can pass 35°C, so drive early.
• Winter: quiet roads, cheaper rooms and Nazaré’s big waves, but short days. December is the Algarve’s wettest month.

See the best time to visit Portugal.

Budget: a rough guide

• Daily costs: about €150 to €250 per person a day mid-range, sharing a room, before the car.
• The car: hire prices swing hugely with the season. Add the one-way fee and the toll device fee.
• Fuel: budget for roughly 1,400 to 1,500km.
• Tourist taxes: €4 per person per night in Lisbon (under-13s free) and €3 in Porto.

See how much a Portugal trip costs.

FAQ

Is 2 weeks enough for a Portugal road trip?

Yes. Two weeks covers Lisbon, Porto, the Douro, the Alentejo and the Algarve with only one long driving day.

Should I hire a car in Lisbon?

Not for your days in the city. Collect it on the morning you leave, ideally at the airport.

Can you drive to Pena Palace in Sintra?

No. Private cars can’t drive up to Pena, so take the train and then a bus up the hill.

Is it better to see Portugal by car or by train?

Trains suit Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve, but a car makes the Douro, the Alentejo and the walled towns much easier. See 2 weeks in Portugal by train.

More: our Porto to Algarve road trip, the best road trips in Portugal and 10 days in Portugal.

See also: Óbidos, Nazaré, Coimbra, Porto, the Douro Valley, Évora, Monsaraz, Lagos, Benagil cave, car rental, driving in Portugal and tolls.

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