1st draft Spain/Portugal Itinerary 2024

I don't believe you've got the most efficient routing for the places you want to go.

• I think "Huevos" is a typo--maybe Hervas? I haven't been there; in fact, I've never even heard of it. Of the places on the driving route from Salamanca to Seville, I think Caceres is the most interesting. Plasencia and Merida (the latter for Roman ruins) are also worth a stop.

• Granada and Cordoba are much closer to Seville than to Valencia, so you'd be smart to see them before going to Portugal.

• Arcos de la Frontera is a popular stop, but it's fairly small. I only spent a few hours there, and I'm a notoriously slow traveler. I'd think one night would be more than enough, and there are some other stops that could use an extra night.

• I wonder how important Oviedo is to you. Atmospherically, it's a quiet town, albeit one with some historically important churches. Going there is adding about 135 miles to your trip, yet you're skipping right past Bilbao on the way to San Sebastian.

• Cuenca's right on the super-fast rail line between Valencia and Madrid, so you could perhaps drop the car in Valencia. If the rental-car credit makes shortening the rental ill-advised, you should still hit Cuenca between Valencia and the final stop in Madrid.  

2.5 days is very short for Barcelona and for Lisbon if this is your first visit to those cities.

Although you have a lot more time for this trip than most people can manage, it seems like a great deal of driving to me, and I wonder whether you're going to hit the wall at some point. I'd consider reining in the extent of the trip somewhat (maybe dropping Valencia and Cuenca?) so you needn't spend so much time sitting in a car. I'd recommend breaking the trip into likely segments and feeding each one into the ViaMichelin.com route planner to see what sort of total driving time you're facing.

Slow down. Enjoy life.
50 days. I envy you.
Plan for an average of 5 days per location. More for the big cities. So, 4-6 nights typical.
Relax.
2 days in Porto and 3 in Lisboa are inadequate and ridiculous. We have spent 10 in Lisboa and could easily spend another 10.
Reduce your drive time—unless you work for a car rental company.

Hi,
Hey thanks for the input....I have ALOT of examining to do and will take your advice in reference to route, days allotted etc. As I mentioned, this is the initial list and have otherplaces in the mix as well but do realize i need to "tighten up" some things. Thanks again i really appreciate evryones comments/advice.

If you're open to some significant revamping, I'd suggest making better use of the car since it appears to be a given on this trip. There are areas where fast train service isn't available or doesn't follow straight-line routes, buses aren't terribly frequent, etc. Including more areas like that would take better advantage of having a car. It is much, much faster to travel between Barcelona-Madrid-Cordoba-Seville by express train than by car, for example. I've spent time traveling across northern Spain, with a good bit of time in Galicia and the Basque Country as well as stops in Leon, Oveido, Gijon, etc., and a car would have been very handy in those areas.

Another interesting possibility would be a loop out of Cuenca including Teruel (only on a regional rail line) and Albarracin (with exactly one bus per day in each direction.

Just a thought.

Just a point of clarification..... we have been to Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon and Porto prior.....in fact we have considered not even really spending time there this trip..but loved our time there previously. I DO need to spend more time checking the route etc and am looking for the continued advice. Utilizing the car is what we need to do .sooo any other out of the way suggestions such as the Cuenca loop we would love to hear that too. We would love to spend 5- 7 days in a couple of destinations.....what would you suggest?? Thanks again....I love being able to get the feedback!

Since you will be driving in Portugal, visit its tolls site to know how they work and how to register your Spain rented car.

Essentially, most tolls are automatic. You pass under the transponder, it reads you plate, and your credit card is charged. Other roads use the old style pick up the ticket and pay at the booth when you leave the road. Look for the manned booth sign if you think there may be an issue paying by card.