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Sept./October timeframe for Spain road trip?

Hola,

My husband and I (retirees) are planning a 5 or 6 week road trip to Portugal and Spain - mostly Spain though we'll be flying in to and home from Lisbon. We have complete freedom to set the timing of this trip.

I was thinking that to avoid scorching weather and summer crowds, and on the other end avoid snow in the mountains, we'd do the trip from around September 20 through the end of October. Is there any reason this time frame might be bad?

And any tips or links for the most scenic drives in Spain? We love interesting scenery and culturally rich small towns and won't be spending a lot of time in museums or the big cities. (I've already been to Madrid and Barcelona, though my husband hasn't.)

Gracias,
Marcia

Posted by
6732 posts

Pretty good timing, I think. I might start a few days earlier, but it's impossible to predict the weather with any certainty.

Spain's northwest corner and north coast are spectacular, really beautiful country. Of course, the cooler weather will arrive there a little earlier.

Posted by
5503 posts

We are going early to mid November and most of our time will be in Andalusia. I've been watching the weather. (Yes, I'm a little excited) The forecast in Sevilla for the next 5 days is for highs above 100F. I'm thinking November is going to be perfect for me!

Posted by
381 posts

Spain's northwest corner and north coast are spectacular, really beautiful country. <<

David, any highlights in those areas you'd care to share? We love discovering scenic places that aren't really in the guidebooks!
Thanks.

Posted by
26829 posts

If you plan to include the Basque Country, Galicia or higher elevations in the Pyrenees and could go there first, you'd probably be OK starting the trip a little earlier. Those parts of northern Spain are not usually hot even in mid-summer. I have not researched fall weather in Spain so cannot provide any personal guidance on that score. However, the website wunderground.com has actual day-by-day weather stats that you can access by choosing History > Monthly. Take a look at 2017, 2016, 2015, etc., to get an idea of the range of weather you can expect.

I haven't been to Andalucia recently and have gotten close to, but not into, the Spanish Pyrenees. Of the parts of the country I have seen (summer 2016), I thought these were the most scenic--speaking of countryside here, not townscapes or historic districts of cities, where Spain provides very many wonderful choices:

  1. Picos de Europa (but has a limited season if you don't want to ski)
  2. Basque Country
  3. Galicia

Much of the area around Madrid is scenically dull.

If you like visiting the back of beyond, Extremadura has some off-the-beaten-path cities that wouldn't be terribly far from a Lisbon-to-Spain driving route, but I didn't find the scenery as dramatic as the areas I listed above.

Another infrequently visited place I really liked was Teruel with its mudejar towers and scattered early-20th century buildings. With a car you could efficiently see Teruel, Cuenca and Albarracin, a place I have not been able to reach by public transportation.

My first step would be to read a comprehensive guidebook for Spain. I think you'll quickly see that even with six weeks you must be very selective. There are just too many fascinating destinations.

Posted by
6384 posts

Great time to go and with that much time you can see a lot, especially since it seems you will be driving. Scenic is a relative term since it could mean mountains, forests, arid land, or driving along the beach. With 5 or 6 weeks you can see it all, but could easily use 12 weeks. Some popular culturally rich towns are Merida, Granada, Segovia, Toledo, Córdoba, Santiago de Compostela, Salamanca, Avila, Burgos. There are others, but you’ll also be traveling many smaller places equally interesting, e.g., Santillana Del Mar, Cuenca. Ronda, Almeria. In Galicia there are many places with Celtic ruins, Andalucia the white towns, Cantabria the Picos de Europa, and there are castles throughout the country.

Posted by
7175 posts

Maybe an outline like this, and yes, leaving out Barcelona.

Week
1. Porto >> Santiago de Compostela >> Oviedo
2. Bilbao >> San Sebastián >> Zaragoza
3. Segovia >> Madrid >> Toledo
4. Córdoba >> Granada >> Ronda
5. Jerez >> Sevilla
6. Algarve >> Lisbon