We will rent a car for one week in Portugal and drive to Seville and back.
Does anybody have any tips and tricks to avoid encounters with traffic police? For example, should speed limit signs be strictly obeyed, even if the locals are speeding past you? Are speed radar traps common?
Are roundabouts common in Portugal and Spain? Any quirks about them?
Are no parking zones in towns and villages strictly enforced?
I certainly do! Prior to my 2022 road trip in Spain and Portugal I had driven over 20 times in Europe with only one minor ticket - a highway speeding ticket in Switzerland picked up by a camera and only 5 kph over the speed limit. I was wrong and should have paid closer attention to my GPS and its speed limit monitoring/warning features.
Last summer, egads! Two tickets. One for speeding (less than 10 kph over the speed limit) - again on the highway and I should have been more vigilant (& it was a camera not an officer). The second citation (again picked up by a camera) may have been due to my exit from an underground garage and not following a directional sign. Once again, I was not driving in an unsafe manner I simply did not realize the proper exit route.
Both tickets occurred in the Basque Country. The remain 3700 kms of our trip was uneventful.
The roundabouts are plentiful and generally easy to navigate - in fact, the GPS provides excellent cues as to which exit from the roundabout to take.
Don't speed. Follow all directives - both driving and parking.
A little more than months go until my next road. My goal - zero citations!
We hope to visit Portugal soon. My third great-grandfather grew up there before coming to the US.
We've rented cars and driven in several other European countries. Most have automated speed detection. You don't have to see a police car to get caught speeding, so I play it safe. The last car we rented in France was great because its speedometer would warn you about speed limit changes and would alert you if you were speeding. This and this might help.
Just curious, will you be renting the car in Lisbon and driving round trip from there to Seville and back?
If so, Google Maps has a couple of route options, both of which take about 4 1/2 hours driving time via main roads. Follow the directions from your starting place to your destination and zoom in to check on some of your questions and to see where other more interesting roads might take you, even if it would take longer to drive them.
Having been to both Portugal and Spain, but not driving or riding in a car in either, a road trip like you plan to do sounds great, even if you won't have much time to explore along the way. Sometimes the going is as much or more fun than the being there. 😉
There are plenty of speed cameras in both countries. Speed limits should be observed accordingly - keeping in mind that speedometers typically overstate your speed by a few kph.
Roundabouts are plentiful. No quirks, they're similar to the ones found in some US states like Massachusetts.
You'll find road quality to be generally excellent in both countries.
As for parking zones: definitely obey them, as getting towed (worst case) is really, really annoying to put it mildly. And expensive, and with a risk of damage to the car.
Chances of actually being pulled over by a police car are slim. Getting caught by a traffic camera is a different story. My last ticket in Spain was in 2017 and it was for going about 5 kph (3 mph) over the limit when leaving a small town. I started the accelerate prior to the speed change sign. Live and learn. Stay at or below the posted speed and don’t speed up until after passing the new limit sign. When I received my ticket it stated exactly where the camera caught me; road number and kilometer marker. I actually looked it up and sure enough, there it was.
Pedestrian only areas are generally blocked off with bollards. Parking areas, paid or free, are fairly well marked. Yes, parking is enforced. It you know some of the places you’ll be stopping, look up parking lots and mark them on Google maps. Use street view to try and determine if street parking is allowed. Generally speaking, parking in small towns and villages isn’t much of an issue. In Spain, once outside of towns, traffic is generally very light.
For Portugal, ensure you know how tolls are collected.
Thank you for your replies. Our route would be from Albufeira to Gibraltar to Cadiz to Seville, return to Albufeira. Over two days/one night.
So a fair amount of driving. I have already learned that we will park in La Linea, and walk into Gibraltar to avoid the bumbling at the border crossing.
ViaMichelin extimates your route will require 9 hr. 54 min. of driving time. That doesn't include stops, navigational errors, traffic tie-ups, the search for parking or the time needed to walk from your parking place to something you want to see. Of course, you'll need time for a bunch of meals over the course of the two days as well. There will be precious little time for actual sightseeing at the places you plan to go. I'm puzzled about this plan. I always recommend four nights (three full days) for Seville alone. Of the places you've mentioned, Seville has the most to offer.
Thank you for your replies. Our route would be from Albufeira to Gibraltar to Cadiz to Seville, return to Albufeira. Over two days/one night.
Sorry to be blunt, but that's too much. Is there any way you can spend 2 nights to make this somewhat better while still more or less following your plan? Like, a night in Cadiz and a night in Sevilla, skipping Gibraltar altogether?
With just one night, I would go no further than Seville, personally. And if you have two nights, you won't regret spending both nights in Seville either.
Estimated driving time Albufeira-Seville-Cadia-Albufeira: 7 hr. 29 min.
Estimated driving time Albufeira-Seville-Albufeira: 4 hr. 41 min.
Cadiz is a worthwhile stop, but it really doesn't compare to Seville, and adding the detour to Cadiz (and it is a detour--ViaMichelin routes you back past Seville on the return) costs you almost 3 hr. of driving time--in real life, quite possibly more.
Thank you for your comments. The major goal is Gibraltar. I have not used Michelin, but Google Maps tells me Albufeira to La Linea (routing through Sevilla) is 4.5 hours. Then 1.25 hours to Cadiz, overnight. Cadiz to Sevilla, 1.5 hours. Sevilla to Albufeira, 2.5 hours.
Am I missing something here?
Not in terms of the numbers, no. 9.75 hours (Google) is very close to 9 hr. 54 min. (ViaMichelin). Understand that those are both best-case estimates that may not play out in the real world.
Balso and I are pointing out that the ratio of time sitting in the car to time actually sightseeing is going to be very, very low. I, at least, don't understand the prioritizing of Gibraltar over Seville (or even over Cadiz). Seville is one of Europe's top tourist destinations. Gibraltar is simply not; most people don't bother to go there ever, much less on what seems to be a first quick trip to southern Spain. But perhaps you have a special reason for wanting to go to Gibraltar.
That’s a lot of driving just to see Gibraltar. I enjoyed it for a couple hours to see the apes, but I wouldn’t drive for 9 hours to see it. The time could be better spent elsewhere.
....but Google Maps tells me ....
I have found it to be 'optimistic' ---- to be safe I usually add ~20%. There may be times when that is overly cautious, but will be a minority of the time.
Gibraltar Cemetery has the graves of seven Canadians who perished in early days of the Second World War. Respect.
I appreciate that many days could be spent in Sevilla, but I thought overnighting in Cadiz would be a more interesting experience.
That's a good reason to go to Gibraltar, then.
It's just a shame that going to either Gibraltar or Cadiz, much less both of them, requires you to skirt Seville, yet you really don't have to time see it. I also don't know how much you might get hung up in Seville, dealing with a car.
Gibraltar Cemetery has the graves of seven Canadians who perished in early days of the Second World War. Respect.
I appreciate that many days could be spent in Sevilla, but I thought overnighting in Cadiz would be a more interesting experience.
In that case, I would prioritize Gibraltar and stay overnight somewhere smaller than Cadiz, which you can skip.
For example:
To complete this thread, we drove from Albufeira to La Linea, parked, and walked over the border. Regrettably, it was a very rainy day.
Our one night stay in Cadiz was easily one of the highlights of the entire trip. The old city is fantastic!
