Road Trip through Spain and Portugal

Road Trip Spain and Portugal 3155 km in 15 days

The vacation was good! Actually ‘good’ is a too small word to describe it. It was too good! Road trip through Spain and Portugal, two countries in a row, Spain and Portugal; 3155kms of driving, halting at all odd places, heritage sites, towns and cities! Besides the drive we walked a lot along the old tracks in the cities.

Road trip Spain and Portugal

The night halts were at: Barcelona – Granada – Seville (2 nights) – Evora (Portugal) – Lisbon (3 nights) – Tomar – Braga – Salamanca (Spain) – Segovia – Madrid (2 nights) – Barcelona (2 nights).

The car was booked from Avis and luckily we faced no problems during our drive through entire stretch of 3155kms.

We selected hotels which had duplex rooms so that we could be together. It was little heavy on pocket but I had the peace of mind of having my daughters with me. Some of the rooms we stayed in had cute colorful fittings for children.

Good music for road trips is a must! Some stretches of drive was really lengthy and didn’t have much scenic view either. Vast stretches of plain land. Spring hadn’t set in yet so it was colorless. Music gave us good company then. And it was old Hindi Bollywood songs most of the time.

Road trip Barcelona to Barcelona

Road Trip Barcelona to Barcelona via 3155kms in 15 days

Halts in Road Trip of Spain and Portugal

The route of sightseeing was like this: Barcelona – Granada – Seville to Cordoba to Seville – Merida – Elvas – Evora – Lisbon – Sintra – Alcobaca – Batlaha – Tomar – Coimbra – Porto – Braga – Guimaraes – Salamanca – Avilia – Segovia – El Escorial – Segovia – Toledo – Madrid – Zaragoza – Barcelona (25 sites).

Walking Tour of Barcelona Spain – Day 1
Barcelona to Granada Road Trip – Day 2
Tour of Granada, then Road trip to Seville – Day 3

Read here: Granada Things to Do
Road trip Seville to Cordoba and back – Day 4
Road trip Seville to Merida to Elvas to Evora – Day 5

Read the above journey through southern Spain here –> Road Trip through Top Attractions of Southern Spain.

Road Trip Evora to Lisbon – Day 6

Self Guided Tour of Lisbon – Day 7

Day Trip from Lisbon – Day 8

Road Trip from Tomar to Braga – Day 9

Braga to Salamanca in Spain – Day 10

Night Halt at Salamanca Night 10

Road Trip from Salamanca to Segovia – Day 11

Segovia to Madrid Road trip – Day 12

Madrid Walking Tour – Day 13

Road Trip Madrid to Barcelona – Day 14

Last two Days in Barcelona – Day 15 and 16

This road trip covered several UNESCO World Heritage sites scattered across Spain and Portugal. 23 of the above mentioned 25 sites ate UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Road trips are fun! The best part of the tour like any other tour was eating local cuisines through out the entire road trip Barcelona to Barcelona, via Portugal! It was not an elaborately planned trip. The booking of the car and the cities to halt were the fixed points in our itinerary. Some places to visit got added to list, while some got deleted. I enjoyed seeing the cities as much as the small off beat places. Cities like Madrid and Barcelona have lost their local flavor, while small towns though they are heritage sites have retained their local flavor very well.

Road Trip local cuisine Spain

Interaction with Locals

Exchanging pleasantries at the local shops and learning few new words in their language are some of the memorable experiences. Did you know ‘pan’ in Spanish means ‘bread’! A smart restaurant owner in at Segovia uses the online google translator to understand his customers. Another restaurant owner in Barcelona learned to say ‘you are welcome’ in Hindi to reply to our “thank you”. He has written it down so that he can respond to a future Indian tourist at his place.

At some places my daughters opted for McDonald’s to my utter disappointment. Their argument was the McDonald eats in Europe tasted lot better than their products in India. I am glad they have given up eating McDonald stuffs in India after tasting their better version Spain and Portugal. (Makes me suspicious they have double standards.)

Road trip spain portugal

Travel Tips for Road Trip

  • Most of these roads have toll booths. So be prepared to shell out money unless you are prepared with a card.
  • There are plenty of fuelling stations with shops and restrooms along the road. You can stock yourself with water and food for the trip.
  • Some long stretches tempt you to speed up. It is best you stick to speed limits mentioned in sign boards.
  • This particular route is dotted with several historical sites. You can plan more elaborate stays in this route.

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