Route?

Hello @jean.h3131,

The fastest way (not the shortest) for you to do that is by driving from Salamanca to Vilar Formoso border (A62 Spanish road), there take the A25 highway and drive for 52 km (+/-) and then the IP2 to Vila Nova de Foz Côa. From there, take the N222 national road that will take you all the way to Porto through Douro Valley... However, this trip to Porto may be time consuming so I'd suggest you spend a night in Pinhão or surrounding area.
The shortest way but longer in time, would be the one from Salamanca to Vila Nova de Foz Côa taking the CL-517 in Spain and drive all the way to the border where you should take the Portuguese N221, drive some km and then take the N222 to Vila Nova de Foz Côa.

I'm from Porto area so I can tell you you'll love the city, the gastronomy, the people, the monuments, etc ;)

Enjoy your trip :)

Should we drive from Salamanca to Pinhão to Peso de Régua then follow N222 all the way to our accommodations on Lavadores Beach???

The drive between Pinhão & Régua was voted World's best drive in 2015? This is an exceptionally long drive from Salamanca to Porto and as we have our nights pe-booked with deposits, we can't change without penalty. Should we follow N222 all the way to Lavadores Beach or take faster route after we drive the best part?

Thanks Paulo Martins,

Jean H.

Hello @jean.h3131,

I agree, the best part is between Pinhão and Peso da Régua even though the rest of the N222 is also great. However, since the itinerary is long, my suggestion is that you take the A24 highway in Peso da Régua and drive north until the intersection with the A4 highway... it's much faster (around 1h25m) than driving through the N222 all the way...

I live close to Lavadores so I know that area very well... if you need anything PM me ;)

Enjoy!

Hi Paulo:

Wow, that would be a big time saver! We changed our whole itinerary before finding out we should drive through the Duoro Valley! We arrive at Madrid airport and are staying one night in Salamanca before driving to our condo in Lavadores; originally it was a stopover on a long drive; shorter on the day we arrive as we'll be tired after a long flight...

We are in Porto for 4 nights; should we just tour Porto or is a there a good side trip we should see?

Many many thanks, this really shortens our drive!

Jean

Hello again :)

Well, you should spend at least 2 or 3 days visiting Porto, its monuments, getting to know the people, gastronomy and nightlife, hang around through all the wonderful places in the historic centre but also close to the sea... If you're staying in Lavadores, you could drive through the riverside from Vila Nova de Gaia to Porto by crossing the Luis I bridge and then continue through the riverside until you get to the sea and admire the seascape ;)

You could do a side trip to Guimarães (birthplace of the nation and beautiful historic centre) or Braga (religious city with many religious monuments) in the north - it's a 50-minute drive for each side; to the south, you can go to Coimbra and also admire some of its many POIs like the Joanina library, Quinta das Lágrimas gardens, monasteries and so on... to Coimbra it would be a 1h30m drive though...

Enjoy ;)

Hi Paulo, I had made note of Braga & Guimaraes return, so you've just confirmed my thoughts; also thought of day trip to Vigo via Viana do Castelo return. We do want to spend most of our time in Porto. (I realize these are long drives return but want to see as much as we can in probably our only trip to Portugal); which of these two would you recommend?

Thanks again,
Jean

Hello,

I can understand your dilema since there is much to see in such a short time...
Having said that, I believe that Braga and Guimarães are a better option than going to Vigo (even though Viana do Castelo is also great)... the trip to Vigo takes around 2 hours which means one hour more than going to Braga / Guimarães (two hours both ways)... since you're coming from Spain I believe you should stick to Portugal :)

Enjoy!

I just love this forum... thanks Paulo...
Jean