Spain

Barcelona to Granada is a long drive. We stopped at Valencia and then headed to Granada the next day. You should stay in Granada for 2 nights just to spend a day at the Alhambre/Generalife and Granada's central area. After this 3rd night en route, head down to the Costa del Sol and stay there - no reason to return all the way back to Granada. We pre-booked our rental car from home, took our own GPS and road map. Check viamichelin Maps for a rough idea of travel times (usually shown shorter than we found and I speed). We stayed at a nice place in Granada with a kitchenette, underground parking, a pool and gardens if you are interested.

You can also fly a discount airline from Barcelona to Granada to save time and rental/gas money if the south of Spain is your goal. Last spring I had friends take this flight for about $100pp. Then rent a car in Granada. You need to check what the rental car policies are about renting a car in Spain and taking it to Portugal. It can be quite difficult and expensive as in the rest of Europe. Search the Helpline as I think this has been discussed before. If you take discount airlines, you must read the fine print as luggage size and weight is very limited and fines can double the cost of the flights. Also everything costs extra. Assigned seats, boarding first, drinks, snack, etc. Read The Fine Print. These are great cheap airlines if you know what you are getting in to. Major airlines do not do midsize cities country to country or flight is extremely extremely expenisve. Search the Helpline on this topic as well. Good luck with your plans! Bobbie

You will almost certainly face a hefty drop-off charge if you leave the car in Portugal. www.gemut.com, a US based company, guarantees the lowest rates.