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Northern Spain / Portugal road trip

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1.8K views 16 replies 9 participants last post by  Trev5  
N
#1 ·
Hi
Planning a road trip to Northern Spain / Portugal in August.
Plan is to get ferry from Wexford to Bilbao and stay there for a few days during the festival. Then to Santander and along the coast to Santiago de Compestela. My wife then flies back to Dublin for a Coldplay concert and fly back again, dont ask, so I have a couple of free days, oh dear what will I do?. Then Down to Braga, Guimares,Mondim de Basto, Pinhao and Porto though maybe not in that order. Then down to Averio (little Venice they call it). Might go to Lisbon. Then northwards inland via Salamanca, dont know where after that but hope to end up in San Sabastian then return ferry from Bilbao. Should be about 3-4 weeks. Dont have return ferry booked yet. Not booking hotels, b&bs yet. Going to see how it goes when we are there.
Looking for some advice / suggestions for where to stay along the way, things to do. I like history so old towns, villages, castles etc, wife would sit on the beach all day if she was let, but in her favour she loves wine so plan to do a couple of vinyard tours. Any ideas welcome especially from any Spanish / Portugese menbers or someone who has done a similar trip.
Not much room in the boot of a 172 as you know so am going to ditch the spare and carry a can or two of that puncture repair stuff. Have to have some room for alcohol coming home.
Thanks
 
#3 ·
Not made it to Spain - Yet......:cautious:

But worth checking out the Harry's Garage Road Trip He did to Northern Spain, as it looked really good where He went (y)


Best watched on the Big TV, rather than phone..!!

@spaceacowboy may also be able to chip in..?
 
#4 ·
Done a few road trips in Spain - a lot of the roads are a bit boring - long and straight although once away from the cities they are genarelly not very busy and it's easy to overtake. The mountainous areas generally have the best roads - the central North of Spain (Astorias) has some fantastic roads in the Picos de Europa range - a good base to explore that region is Potes.
 
J
#6 ·
I'd say you'd better stay longer at San Sebastian and reduce Bilbao to a minimum. As stated, going near the coast (in the North, starting either San Sebastian or Bilbao, through Santander and Asturias to Galicia, then South into Portugal) you'll find plenty of interesing backroads.

If you go as South as Lisbon, I'd take the turning back something like Lisbon -> Mérida -> (either Ávila or Salamanca, both if at all possibly) -> Burgos -> San Sebastián. If you "just" go as South as Aveiro/Coimbra, then right to Salamanca through Ciudad Rodrigo.

Lots of interesting roads, sightseeings and good food.
 
#9 ·
But late to this party. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/...d-trip-san-sebastian-basque-country-a-coruna-galicia?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other is not a bad place to start. My first trip to Spain was 1966 in an MG midget on my honeymoon. That nearly led to a divorce due to travelling through France on the first weekend of their Summer break. If price is not too crucial you could search out the Paradors. The last one I stayedi in last September in the north was in Hondaribbia. Square block castle still with the French cannon shell holes but lovely on the inside. And a couple of fabulous restaurants there and also a 5* Michelin one in Irun ..only €50 for an extraordinary lunch.
Then you are a bit spoilt for choice. Leon is a famous one but you'd have to drop down from the coast. Santiago de Compostela is possibly the most famous in Spain, usually fully booked in the summer and usually very expensive. You could then drop down to another castle at Bayona near Vigo if heading to Portugal. And just for the historical record when on our honeymoon we usually paid just under 1£ for a cheap hotel and about £5 for a Parador. Export currency controls were £50 per head plus some for fuel.
 
#12 ·
Doing France and Spain in a couple of weeks,
Image


My excuse is that I need to take some stuff to the house that airlines tend to frown at - ie too big for carry on luggage and I refuse to pay more than the cost of a flight for a suitcase.

12 days of fun in the sun. Can't wait.
 
N
#13 ·
Enjoy
We will be doing the coast road from Altea up to Cadaques including Valencia and Tarrogana and a few other places, lets know how you got on.
 
#14 ·
And what a great trip it was. 3100 miles in 10 days and the car never missed a beat
Image

Approaching Andorra on the way down from the south (but that's another story).

On the way back I happened upon this:
Image

Image

I've been over this bridge before, back in 2005 and it cost me the grand total of €6.80 to cross. This time it was €24 in addition to the €38 tolll for using the motorway.

Ah well, at least the fuel was cheaper (marginally).
 
N
#15 ·
Is that bridge in France, it looks familiar. Glad you enjoyed your trip. looking forward to ours
 
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