Coimbra + Conimbriga
Romans, bats & miniature Portugal
Coimbra: Science Day
The full university circuit & hands-on science
Evora
Castles, stone eggs & a church of bones
Sintra
The storybook castle & the well to the underworld
Tomar
Knights on horseback & a river to swim
Mafra
The giant palace, the deer park & 92 bells
Obidos + Nazare
Castle walls, a dead queen & the sea
Setubal + Troia
Wild dolphins, a ferry & a Roman cannery
Badoca Safari
Giraffes, zebras & holding a snake
Lisbon
The ocean, the cable car & the science lab
The Tesla has a Via Verde device: every gantry toll on A1/A2/A6/A8 and the bridges (25 de Abril, Vasco da Gama) is billed automatically — nothing to sign up, nothing to prepay, no Toll Card needed. Just drive. Free roads: A23 (Tomar), A37/IC19 (Sintra). Approx tolls each way: Coimbra ~13.5 · Evora ~12 · Setubal ~7 · Badoca ~13 · Obidos ~6 · Mafra ~3 · Tomar ~10.
Consumption: ~205 Wh/km (120 km/h, AC, full car) = ~365 km planning range. Stops: Sat 8 Condeixa 25 min (leitao lunch — skip only if the Coimbra hotel has confirmed overnight EV charging) · Sun 9 Coimbra 25 min (only if the hotel didn't plug) · Fri 14 Evora 15 min (Praca 1o Maio). Everything else fits one battery. Set the limit to 100% the night before a charging day; precondition from the app. Filter Tesla stations out of the fleet app.
Tonight: Joanina Sat 15:30 (visit.uc.pt program 116) · Pena Mon 10:30 (bilheteira.parquesdesintra.pt) · Regaleira Mon (regaleira.byblueticket.pt or 60 EUR family at box office). Tomorrow: Vertigem Azul Fri 21 14:30 tour (+351 265 238 000). This week: Tapada Sun 16 · Badoca Sat 22 · Oceanario Sun 23 early slot · Sintra434 day tickets. No booking: ferry, PdP, Conimbriga, leitao strip, Evora, Alcobaca, Nazare. (Tolls: automatic via the car's Via Verde.)
Lisbon 30-35°C · Coimbra 29-32 · Evora 34-38 (hot — midday = churches) · Setubal 31-36 · Sines coast 25-29 (Badoca day). No rain. Outdoor blocks are all before 12:00 or after 16:00 by design.
Coimbra+Conimbriga 195 + hotel ~130 · UC Science 115 · Evora 110 · Sintra 215 · Tomar 110 · Mafra 150 · Obidos 120 · Setubal+Troia 250 · Badoca 150 · Lisbon 185 ≈ 1,730 EUR + tolls ~155 + charging ~35.
Depart Lisbon
A1 north, exit Condeixa — snack box loaded, it's a big day: Romans in the morning, the bats library, miniature Portugal at dusk, and a hotel night in Coimbra. No highway home tonight.
Conimbriga
Museum FIRST (indoor, cool), then the Roman streets: the House of the Fountains and the LABYRINTH MOSAIC — find the monster. Free QR audio guide (23 stations); kids' corner with cartoon guides Alia & Rufus.
Leitao lunch + CHARGE
The leitao strip on the IC2 in Condeixa — roast suckling pig carved at the table, the Bairrada way. 25 min charge while you eat (fleet app: >=150 kW in Condeixa or the A1 service area). KEEP this top-up unless you've confirmed the hotel has overnight EV charging.
Biblioteca Joanina
TO BOOK the 15:30 slot — the gilded baroque library with the two resident bat colonies. NOTE: the 16.5 EUR ticket is the ONLY one that includes the Joanina (the 12.5 EUR option excludes it). It's valid 2 days — the chapel + Royal Palace today, the palace interior + Science Museum tomorrow (Sun).
Chapel + Royal Palace
Capela de S. Miguel — reopened at 15:30 today (closed 11:30-15:30 for ceremonies), so it's fresh. Quick courtyard pass on the way out.
Portugal dos Pequenitos
The miniature kingdom — now in the COOL evening window (open to 19:00, last entry 18:30). Family ticket at the box office.
Dinner + check-in
Riverside dinner on the Mondego or the Baixa tascas, then the hotel. Night walk to the illuminated Santa Clara bridge. Hotel recommendation: Vila Gale Coimbra (family chain, pool) or Tivoli/NH/Tryp in the Baixa — filter by EV charging when booking.
Hotel checkout
No highway this morning — the palace is 10 min away. Check the hotel plug status: if it charged overnight, skip any top-up today.
Royal Palace (Paco das Escolas)
The throne room and royal halls of the old palace — included in the ticket, valid today. 45-60 min.
Science Museum (UC)
Chemistry Laboratory, Cabinet of Curiosities, Mineral Gallery, Academic Museum — the cabinet of curiosities is the kids' favorite room. ~1.5 h.
Lunch + optional CHARGE
O Trovador, Largo da Se Velha 15 — verified, TheFork bookable, ~15-20 pp. 25 min top-up at the Coimbra MOBI.E stations ONLY if the hotel didn't charge overnight.
UC Exploratorio
The hands-on science center: mirror maze, Hemispherium 360° films, the Game Lab, the solar boat on the Mondego. The kids' heaven. Open Sun 10:00-19:00.
Drive home
A1 south, arrive ~18:50 — no rush, kids can nap in the car.
Depart Lisbon
37°C forecast — this is the early-bird day. Hats and water bottles in the door pockets.
Castelo de Montemor-o-Novo
Free medieval castle on a hill — walls and towers to climb, views over the endless Alentejo plains. 35 min stretch.
Almendres Cromlech
The 'Portuguese Stonehenge' — ~100 granite eggs standing in a circle, 7,000 years old. FREE. Last stretch is a dirt lane — drive slow. Cork-oak shade.
Lunch + CHARGE
Long lunch at a Praça do Giraldo tasca — migas, acorda, black pork. 15 min top-up at the Praça 1º Maio station, right in the old town.
Se Cathedral + Roman Temple
Cool stone inside, then the rooftop terrace walk over the whole city. The Roman temple is the postcard.
Capela dos Ossos
The church of 5,000 human bones — 7 EUR adult, 5 EUR youth (both kids pay youth rate). Sofia will be fascinated; warn Bruno first, the garden is the plan B.
Jardim Publico
Playground, ROAMING PEACOCKS and the Dom Manuel palace gardens — the kids' reward, in the shade.
Drive home
A2/A6 back, arrive ~19:10.
Depart Lisbon
To Lourel park-and-ride (A37, free road). NEW RULE 2026: tourist cars stop here — the Sintra434 bus does the hill.
Sintra434 bus
Every ~10 min up to the Pena gate. Day ticket 13.50 EUR online (sintra434.com) / 18.35 on board.
Palacio da Pena
The pink-and-yellow storybook castle on the hilltop. Visita Essencial: palace + full park + Chalet. Download the free 'Pena Quest' game — the kids solve missions as you walk.
Lunch in the historic center
Tascas around the old quarter. Sintra's famous travesseiros for dessert.
Quinta da Regaleira
The Initiation Well — a spiral stone staircase descending into the earth like a dungeon from a fantasy movie — plus grottoes and tunnels. THE kids' favorite place in Portugal.
Praia das Macas
20 min drive to the coast — beach, waves, ice cream. (Or Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe.)
Drive home
Arrive ~18:45.
Depart Lisbon
A1 then the toll-free A23.
Convento de Cristo
The Templar fortress-monastery. THE moment: the Charola — the 16-sided round church where the knights attended Mass ON HORSEBACK. Plus the Manueline Window and the castle walls.
Lunch by the Nabao
Riverside restaurants in Tomar's old town.
Praia Fluvial do Agroal
Blue Flag river beach, 15 km from Tomar: crystal water, boardwalk into the nature park, rocks to climb. The best swim of the trip.
Drive home
Arrive ~18:25.
Depart Lisbon
A8 north — the shortest drive of the trip.
Palacio Nacional de Mafra
The megalomaniac baroque palace: 1,200 rooms, the hunting room, and the LIBRARY — 36,000 books guarded by resident bats. (Basilica closed for works — palace unaffected.)
Lunch in Mafra
Town tascas in the shadow of the palace.
Tapada Nacional de Mafra
The kings' 800-hectare walled hunting forest: 75-min electric-car tour among deer and boar, beekeeping workshop, hiking. Enter by 14:00 for the full program.
Birds of prey show
Eagles and falcons flying over the audience — 30 minutes of gasps.
FREE carillon concert
Back at the palace square: every Sunday at 17:00 the carillonneur plays the 92 bells — audible from the terreiro. The crown jewel of the whole trip.
Drive home
Arrive ~18:45.
Depart Lisbon
A8 north.
Obidos
FREE medieval walled town: walk the castle walls at kid height, the Porta da Vila with its blue tiles, and ginjinha in chocolate cups for the adults.
Alcobaca monastery
The tombs of Pedro and Ines — the dead king kissing his dead queen — and the giant medieval kitchen with a stream running through it. Cool stone at midday.
Lunch in Alcobaca
Tascas in front of the monastery.
Nazare
Funicular up to the Sitio cliff (adult 2.50/4.00 rt · child 2.00/3.00 rt) and the Fort of Sao Miguel viewpoint (3 EUR — BOTH KIDS FREE, under-10s): the 100-m cliff where winter waves break.
Beach time
Praia da Nazare — Blue Flag, umbrellas, promenade, ice cream. Swim till 18:00.
Drive home
Arrive ~19:45.
Depart Lisbon
To the Doca do Comercio ferry terminal.
Ferry to Troia
Atlantic Ferries: car+driver 21 EUR one-way / 37.80 return, extra passengers 5.50 each (both kids pay — only 0-5 free). 25 min, every 30 min in summer. NO reservations — arrive 15-20 min early. Dolphins often visible from the crossing.
Roman ruins of Troia
The 2,000-year-old fish-salting factory: tanks, mosaics and the story of Rome's garum empire. Kids under 12 FREE.
Lunch at Troia
Frangasqueira — grilled chicken, daily 12:00-15:30. Beach views.
Ferry back
14:15 at the marina, 5-min walk to the dolphin boats.
DOLPHINS — Vertigem Azul
~30 resident bottlenose dolphins in the Sado estuary — 80-90% success rate, ~3 h on the water. Life jackets for everyone.
Praia da Figueirinha
The calm Arrabida beach — Blue Flag, lifeguards, pool-like water. Parking frees up in the evening. Swim till 18:45.
Depart Lisbon
A2 south to Grandola, then the IC33. The coast keeps it 25-29°C — the pleasant day.
Badoca Safari Park
Open daily 9:30-18:00. FIRST: the box office — swap tickets, book the safari slot, get the day's show times.
The Safari
45-min tractor-trailer through the savanna: giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, ostriches, buffalo — live commentary. Sit at the trailer's edge for the best view.
Shows
Raptor show, lemur feeding, and the REPTILE SHOW — the kids HOLD the snakes and iguanas.
Lunch
On-site restaurant (12:00-15:00) or picnic — allowed. Optional memory-makers: lemur hand-feeding +15.90 pp, African Rafting 4.90 pp.
Petting farm + playground
Quintinha animals and the net-climbing adventure playground.
Praia de Santo Andre
13 min away: ocean beach with lifeguards — the late-afternoon swim. Flamingos on the Lagoa on the way out.
Drive home
Arrive ~19:00.
Parque das Nacoes
Park at the Vasco da Gama mall car park.
Oceanario
The best aquarium in the world: the giant central tank, sunfish, sharks, penguins, sea otters. Book the 10:00-11:30 slot — it's also the cheapest.
Telecabine
8 minutes over the Tagus — the whole park from above. Oceanario combo from 33.9 EUR/adult.
Lunch
Riverside esplanades of Parque das Nacoes.
Pavilhao do Conhecimento
The hands-on science museum — the kids' request. Explora exhibition, the Fishanario, experiments everywhere. Open every day, weekends 10:00-19:00.
Optional: Zoo
If the kids vote animals: Jardim Zoologico (adult 31 / child 19, online -5%) — dolphin shows 11:00/14:30/16:30, petting farm.
Home
(Pastéis de Belem: been there, done that.)