Driving from the UK

[Colana]

Can anyone give me an indication of the cost of driving from the UK to Carvoeiro please?
I have the ferry crossings costs but any advice on the actual motoring costs, fuel, tolls etc. from Bilbao to Cvo. would be very helpful.

[sunman]

hi Colana,
this has been covered dozens of times on here, so you can find more answers than this;
basically,
it's a doable drive in 1 hit if your ferry docking time is early morning,
the ferry I'm using docks in the evening so you have to break the drive, Valladolid is a good spot, it knocks a hole in the drive and leaves you about 7 hours the next day, plenty of reasonably priced hotels there,
Spanish petrol is cheaper than Portuguese so stay in Spain as long as possible, theres a good road via Salamanca, Caceres, Merida to Seville then come across the border; you can choose to stay on the A22 & pay the tolls or get straight off & follow the N125, there are no Spanish tolls on that route,
drive at 120kph & it'll cost you not very much,
enjoy

[matoserrao99]

Hi take a look at http://www.viamichelin.com
From memory from the ferry in spain i usually say its approx £100- £120 worth of diesel and takes about 12 hours
Tolls are cheap in Spain and if you go through the centre of Portugal via Evora low in Portugal
If you go across towards Lisbon / A2/A22 then add about another £50
If you go the recommended route - but personally not my favourite - towards Madrid then also add extra for the tolls etc - probably about £30-£40
Bom Viagem

[Bruce Wallis]

As I've said before...... we have done it both ways....the 10 hour dash, and stopped off en-route, but we dont go for the big cities like so many seem to, we go for the historic small towns like Trujillio in the Extramadura. Stunning el-cid walled medieval towns.

The 10 hour dash is very tiring, obviously uses alot more fuel, at about 160+kmh, but its over it one hit.

The stop over is 2 relatively easy stages of 5 or 6 hours each, over 2 days, and is a mini holiday.

Use the Seville route as it saves on petrol prices and tolls.

You can pick up the N125 at the Spanish border, and avoid the A22 tolls.

The 3rd route we have done is Santander - Across the Basque country and Galacia in the north of Spain, enter Portugal at the very top, and drive down through the Douro region, around Porto, once again over nighting. Very enjoyable, but the most expensive in tolls, and obviously the greater distance.
I personally believe that all of us who have homes in the Algarve should experience this route at least once!!

[cumbria sue]

we're doing the Bilbao crossing next month.only problem with it ,it does'nt dock till 5.30 so we have booked a hotel at Burgos
opposite the cathedral to break the journey up and then do the rest next day. we usually go via Santander which we prefer
but the trip we wanted was full

[DaveK]

We drove down last weekend using, for various reasons, the Portsmouth Caen crossing, docking in Caen at 06.45 UK time. Very good run down Western France for a hotel near Burgos. Then down to Carvoeiro by way of Seville by late the folowing afternoon. Tolls, in France and from San Sebastian to Burgos were quite expensive.

Our preferred route is Santander to Salamanca then head down to Seville and accross to the Algarve. Good roads and no tolls unless you want to use the A22. This time we did register our car registration and a credit card at the machine just over the border at the start of the A22. We do not use the A22 much but did this more to see if and how well the system for foreign registered cars works.

Incidentally, if you use the Seville route try to avoid a combination of rush hour and sunset. We hit both once, the traffic was chaos and sun visors useless!

[shanagarry]

I did it last week - Cvo to Santander 12 driving hours - one refuelling stop, one overnight and two comfort stops. Arrived in the UK with two thirds of a tank of fuel. I did it previously in 14 hours - at night in one go (not recommended).

Apart from the Beja/Evora stage - the road network is excellent and empty. Tolls in Portugal only - none in Spain.

The route: Carvoeiro - Beja - Evora - Badajos - Salamanca - Valladolid - Santander. Arrived at the port with an hour to spare - total distance 964 kms.

Super crossing - very comfortable.

[roy4eyes]

Interesting !! We drove A22 - Seville - Santander in 10 hours driving time (11 hours total time) without exceeding the speed limits.
It would appear that driving through Portugal is not only more expensive in terms of petrol and tolls but also longer because of stopping and starting to pay the tolls !!

[shanagarry]

Roy

Not the case - I have a transponder and did not have stop at any of the 3 tolls I encountered. As you will see from my time and distance I averaged 80kms an hours not exactly Vettel speed

I have driven the Seville way and find it a very boring route. I don't envisage doing it again anytime soon - but the 7 times we did it found it to be a very pleasant experience. Taking your time and relishing the scenery of Northern Portugal is a must as it contrasts so much with the Algarve landscape

[Matryx]

As I've said before...... we have done it both ways....the 10 hour dash, and stopped off en-route, but we dont go for the big cities like so many seem to, we go for the historic small towns like Trujillio in the Extramadura. Stunning el-cid walled medieval towns.

The 10 hour dash is very tiring, obviously uses alot more fuel, at about 160+kmh, but its over it one hit.

The stop over is 2 relatively easy stages of 5 or 6 hours each, over 2 days, and is a mini holiday.

Use the Seville route as it saves on petrol prices and tolls.

You can pick up the N125 at the Spanish border, and avoid the A22 tolls.

The 3rd route we have done is Santander - Across the Basque country and Galacia in the north of Spain, enter Portugal at the very top, and drive down through the Douro region, around Porto, once again over nighting. Very enjoyable, but the most expensive in tolls, and obviously the greater distance.

I'm definitely going to try your third route Bruce, as I've heard so much about the beautiful landscape in Northern Portugal.
I personally believe that all of us who have homes in the Algarve should experience this route at least once!!

[shanagarry]

I personally believe that all of us who have homes in the Algarve should experience this route at least once!!

Don't stop at once - it's essential 'nourishment for the senses' and should be taken at every opportunity.

Entering Portugal at Braganza (not the correct spelling) and zig-zagging from east to west - the scenery is awesome - you'll think you've died and gone to heaven. You can avoid the tolls - but give yourself a lot of time

[laserblazer]

Has anyone gone via Santiago de Compostela? It's a place I have wanted to visit.

[Bruce Wallis]

Has anyone gone via Santiago de Compostela? It's a place I have wanted to visit.

Ask Julia and I next May.... we are going to walk the 700km comino Santiago da Compostela from St Pierre Port in the French Pyrenees, through Burgos, Pamplona, and Leon, to Santiago da Compostela. We will back pack it, and expect to take about 2 months on the trip.

[laserblazer]

Has anyone gone via Santiago de Compostela? It's a place I have wanted to visit.

Ask Julia and I next May.... we are going to walk the 700km comino Santiago da Compostela from St Pierre Port in the French Pyrenees, through Burgos, Pamplona, and Leon, to Santiago da Compostela. We will back pack it, and expect to take about 2 months on the trip.

Wow! Don't forget to pick up your cockle shell

[Colana]

Thank you for all the replies, very helpful ....