Driving Spain-Portugal itinerary

Do you have tickets for in and out of Barcelona at this time? We have done portions of your potential itinerary in 3 separate greater than 14 day trips. In May Portugal. 4000 km + after 10 days was too much! It may be over 8000 km for your trip. Road trip from Madrid to Santander and Pico Europa area was very pleasant with long days to get to and from Madrid. I enjoy Madrid. You will pass parts of Santiago de Compostela with individuals in exposed areas going north from Madrid and along coast road in the north of Spain. Second road trip with arrival in Granada and greater than 14 days. Areas included Ronda and Neja area. This was a pleasant trip. Wish I had included Seville in this area. Malaga area and Gibraltar could require more time than designated. Now, Portugal. Evora to Seville was a very nice drive. Seville to Faro was a very nice drive. Portugal coast if I get off the toll road can test my patience for east/west direction. Drives into the north hills are pleasant. On the coast we stayed in Burgau in a clean modest apartment with a veranda and a beautiful beach view. Luz to the east is a bit more upscale with a very nice beach. No significant high rise buildings. I would skip the coast of Portugal. Your current route has two zig zags, one to the south coast of Portugal and another to Marbella. It is my understanding you may not find parking in Lisbon or Sintra. Sintra needs to be giving it's own nights of stay! Then, if you want to see some beautiful churches Lisbon is the place to be. As I write this I think it would be a good idea to stay in Spain. Also, some of the trip does not require a car. If you continue to wish to do both countries with a car maintain routes either north only, mid only, or south only. 65 km of country side you have never seen before can be a slow process.

I don't see any value to having a car before Day 8. The train will be faster and you won't have to worry about or pay for parking.

The five one-night stops in a row would be utterly miserable for me, and I don't think you're allowing adequate time to see the places you're driving to. Better to skip some and spend more time in the rest.

Two days would be inadequate for Barcelona even if one of those days were not your jetlag day. I see that you have more time in Barcelona at the end of the trip, but it's inefficient to split the visit that way. I'd head to Zaragoza upon arrival in Spain and schedule all the Barcelona time at the end.

A day and a half in Madrid is terribly short unless you don't intend to set foot in any of its museums.

I wouldn't want to combine Segovia with the much-less-interesting Avila on the same day.

Salamanca and Leon both have large historic districts, and I'm afraid that you'll only have a few hours in each by the time you get there and get settled in your new hotel.

Santiago de Compostela is even worse. To go all that way for just part of a day seems like a waste to me.

I haven't been to Portugal or Andalucia recently, but the second half of the itinerary also seems a bit rushed. It's all the opposite of what I would consider relaxing. If you're looking for pretty scenery, I feel like you're missing much of the best that Spain has to offer (Picos de Europa, Pyrenees, Basque Country, most of Galicia).

I would throw the trip in the trash. Too, too much. More of a scavenger hunt than a vacation. And you want to soak up the culture?? Spain is too big to see in one trip. Our feelings: Barcelona and the northern part of Spain is one trip. Madrid and the south half is a second trip. I think you will be very adept at packing, unpacking, and staring at your auto steering wheel with your current plan.

In 2012 we spent 3 weeks seeing Madrid, Cordoba, Granada, Rhonda, Sevilla, Jerez de la Frontera, Gibraltar, overnight in Tarrifa to do a ferry day trip to Tangier - see Rick's book for a great family run hotel. Can't think of a single reason to go to Algeciras except to get to Gibraltar. The Alambra in Granada is divine - it is a whole day. I could redo it and take 2 days!! It is that striking. Warning - tickets are for only specific entry times; signage/friendliness/warm welcome are at an all time low in this place - no kidding - our worst experience of 50 years of touring/traveling for business and pleasure. Their motto seemed to be "Give us your money" and "You can leave now." If I were you and already had your airline tickets. I would do Barcelona and the north half of Spain (doing Portugal is a toss up) and save the unseen portion of the Iberian peninsula for another trip.

If you have seen a lot a of Europe my observations on seeing Spain: slow down, things move slower and don't expect much English and personal warmth as in the rest of Europe. The Spanish can be warm and friendly but they tend to be more proper, polite, distant, dignified, and on balance less familiar with the English language then any place we have visited in Europe. This later statement even more shocking when you see that southern Spain is almost a British colony!

And signs. I have never seen so many strange things with signs. Sometimes missing. Sometimes in error. Even street signs on Michelin maps would differ from reality. In the Alambra it took an extra 45 minutes to find the right way through an unsigned maze of walk ways to get from the parking lot, past the ticket booth, museum stores, etc. to enter the Alhambra. *(Arrive early, Arrive early, did I say arrive early? They won't let you in if you are late. N-o k-i-d-d-i-n-g.) Read Ricks books re Alambra entry. Another sign experience: We make a day trip from Sevilla to Farro in Portugal. The moment we crossed the Portuguese border the signs improved 400%, and this was on a motorway! I would go Spain again & again in a heart beat, but it is its own planet.

One little tip. In Madrid the Holiday Inn Pyramides has access to Metro, bus, and separate high speed light rail system 30 ft. from the front door! The metro is just 2 stops to the center of Madrid. You can dash one block to the freeway (for a short drive to Toledo, Segovia, and El Escorial) just walk 30' to public transportation for access to all of Madrid and the airport. Best of all worlds (except the hotel feels as Spanish a hotel any in Denver). Parking at this hotel is underground. Sometimes Spanish hotels appear to have no parking but a poorly marked "garage" door will let you into an underground parking lot. A maneuverable rental car is in order. The Holiday Inn parking was roomy, actually huge. In some hotels the parking has been added to an older building and it is tight. Enjoy your adventure.
Don & Mary

I think it is an exhausting trip because of way too many 1- and 2-nighters. Also, that doesn't give you time to see the places where you are staying. Here's a sample; I used viamichelin.com for driving times, which are net and assume optimal conditions - no traffic, no getting stuck behind a slow-moving vehicle, no pit stops, so pull-outs for scenic views . . . and of course, no looking for city parking, no getting lost, no unexpected detours.

Barcelona to Zaragoza is at least 3.5 hours. You have to rent the car and pack it up before you leave Barcelona. It's closer to 4 hours to drive on to Madrid. You'll have about 1/2 day in Zaragoza, then you'll be stuck with a car in Madrid (bad traffic, parking issues). Instead, you could day trip by train from Barcelona to Zaragoza (about 1.5 hours each way on the fastest trains). Then take a 2.5 hour train ride from Barcelona to Madrid.

You have doubled up on Days 11 &12.

For a trip of one month duration, I wouldn't want more than x4 one night stays (and you have x13). Add the train and plane to reduce the amount of driving. Day trip from Madrid.

Barcelona (4)
Train to Madrid (4)
- day trip to Toledo & Segovia
(Pick up car)
Salamanca (2)
Leon (1)
Santiago de Compostela (2)
Porto (2)
Coimbra (1)
Lisbon (3)
- day trip to Sintra
Evora (1)
Lagos (1)
Seville (3)
Ronda (2)
Cordoba (2)
Granada (2)
(Drop off car)
Fly to Barcelona (2)