Driving to Portugal

masicat

Just wondered if anyone has driven to the Algarve, or does on a regular basis? I'm off next week and will then be driving there and back a couple of times a year. I'm euro tunnel and then hoping to break the trip with a night in San Sebastián, interested to hear any tips or pointers as I haven't done this for many years.

_MrDick

I've driven to the South of Spain. I took the ferry from Plymouth to Santander. Nice easy drive down on virtually empty toll roads. Plenty of stop off points en-route. Quite of few people heading to Portugal as well. The good thing about going that way is you can easily do the driving in a day. The ferry took about 18 hours. If you go from Portsmouth, that takes about 20 hours

PragueAddick

My friends drive to Portugal each summer, using Portsmouth - Santander. The Portuguese motorways are great, although they are toll roads. Driving becomes a pleasure again. If you plan to stop in the Douro valley and need a recco for a place to stay, let me know, we found a really wonderful place.

Algarveaddick

masicat said:

Just wondered if anyone has driven to the Algarve, or does on a regular basis? I'm off next week and will then be driving there and back a couple of times a year. I'm euro tunnel and then hoping to break the trip with a night in San Sebastián, interested to hear any tips or pointers as I haven't done this for many years.

If you are near Albufeira, do pop in and say hello masicat...

Chizz

Oh! One more thing...

In this country...

stonemuse

PragueAddick said:

My friends drive to Portugal each summer, using Portsmouth - Santander. The Portuguese motorways are great, although they are toll roads. Driving becomes a pleasure again. If you plan to stop in the Douro valley and need a recco for a place to stay, let me know, we found a really wonderful place.

...and Douro wine is excellent

PragueAddick

stonemuse said:

PragueAddick said:

My friends drive to Portugal each summer, using Portsmouth - Santander. The Portuguese motorways are great, although they are toll roads. Driving becomes a pleasure again. If you plan to stop in the Douro valley and need a recco for a place to stay, let me know, we found a really wonderful place.

...and Douro wine is excellent

Yes, and great value. The place I mentioned to stay in is also a small producer. In a town called Regua, which is on the motorway south from Villa Real.

masicat

Algarveaddick said:

masicat said:

Just wondered if anyone has driven to the Algarve, or does on a regular basis? I'm off next week and will then be driving there and back a couple of times a year. I'm euro tunnel and then hoping to break the trip with a night in San Sebastián, interested to hear any tips or pointers as I haven't done this for many years.

If you are near Albufeira, do pop in and say hello masicat...

Am in Quinta Algarve. Place called Vilar Do Golfe. Been a regular for many years although I suspect too hot to hit a golf ball next week. You have a bar in Albufeira?

Algarveaddick

Not any more, but you will find the wife and I in One 4 the Road bar on a frequent basis...

Addickted

Surely it's better to fly and hire a car whilst you're there?

operationpig

masicat said:

Just wondered if anyone has driven to the Algarve, or does on a regular basis? I'm off next week and will then be driving there and back a couple of times a year. I'm euro tunnel and then hoping to break the trip with a night in San Sebastián, interested to hear any tips or pointers as I haven't done this for many years.

I've done it! and it was brilliant.

Stopped in Rouen first, then Bordeaux, over the border (delightful) and the next stop was Salamanca via San sebastian then stopped in Saville.

Crossed over into Portugal the following day, would I do it again? anyday! It was fanstastic!

Addickted

Only because you were getting further and further away from Sheffield.

ads

operationpig said:

masicat said:

Just wondered if anyone has driven to the Algarve, or does on a regular basis? I'm off next week and will then be driving there and back a couple of times a year. I'm euro tunnel and then hoping to break the trip with a night in San Sebastián, interested to hear any tips or pointers as I haven't done this for many years.

I've done it! and it was brilliant.

Stopped in Rouen first, then Bordeaux, over the border (delightful) and the next stop was Salamanca via San sebastian then stopped in Saville.

Crossed over into Portugal the following day, would I do it again? anyday! It was fanstastic!

Don't stop in Saville, he's massively unpopular these days

stevec

I always drive down in Spain then across to Portugal near Zamora. If you take the Burgos/Slalamanca/Seville road it is dual carriageway all the way and toll free after Burgos. Traffic is virtually non existent, plenty of fuel and coffee stops all the way down.

Fumbluff

Sleazy jet to Faros then hire car, that way you don't even pay for the tolls -yay

Algarveaddick

Fumbluff said:

Sleazy jet to Faros then hire car, that way you don't even pay for the tolls -yay

Unless you use the A22...

Fumbluff

Algarveaddick said:

Fumbluff said:

Sleazy jet to Faros then hire car, that way you don't even pay for the tolls -yay

Unless you use the A22...

Yeah, used it, went through loads, and popped to Seville and back too, but never paid a cent in tolls when we returned the car

PragueAddick

Car hire in Portugal is bloody expensive in high season. And I don't know how @fumbluff got away without paying the tolls, it was all done by chip, at least in our car hired in Lisbon

Fumbluff

Yeah ours was too, I said to the lady when we returned it that we'd been through loads of tolls so we'll need to pay and she said they couldn't tell the amount until 24-hrs after the car was returned so they'd just bill us.....and almost 2-years later.....not a sausage

ShootersHillGuru

Fumbluff said:

Yeah ours was too, I said to the lady when we returned it that we'd been through loads of tolls so we'll need to pay and she said they couldn't tell the amount until 24-hrs after the car was returned so they'd just bill us.....and almost 2-years later.....not a sausage

Have you tried e mailing them ?

Fumbluff

Every single day...

RedRooster

I have done it on a motorcycle before. Apart from having a sore A**e and wishing I had just got a plane it was ok.
Wish I had never bothered as I didn't enjoy it. More worried about the long ride home! Would never do it again though it's long for me...

Hastingsaddick

stevec said:

I always drive down in Spain then across to Portugal near Zamora. If you take the Burgos/Slalamanca/Seville road it is dual carriageway all the way and toll free after Burgos. Traffic is virtually non existent, plenty of fuel and coffee stops all the way down.

Done a trip in 2013 which included the road from Pamplona to Salamanca was amazed at how little traffic was on the road, stopped at a place called Tordesillas before stopping at Salamanca for a couple of nights. In Portugal we went to a town called Miranda do Douro, nice place and the roads around the NE of Portugal were very good...I think they were mainly paid for by EU subsidies. Do you have to pre-pay to use the motorways in Portugal?

PragueAddick

Hastingsaddick said:

stevec said:

I always drive down in Spain then across to Portugal near Zamora. If you take the Burgos/Slalamanca/Seville road it is dual carriageway all the way and toll free after Burgos. Traffic is virtually non existent, plenty of fuel and coffee stops all the way down.

Done a trip in 2013 which included the road from Pamplona to Salamanca was amazed at how little traffic was on the road, stopped at a place called Tordesillas before stopping at Salamanca for a couple of nights. In Portugal we went to a town called Miranda do Douro, nice place and the roads around the NE of Portugal were very good...I think they were mainly paid for by EU subsidies. Do you have to pre-pay to use the motorways in Portugal?

There are two different toll systems in Portugal, the older one, which we encountered from Lisbon going north is pay at the booth. The newer one, further north is the chip system. Hire cars have the chip installed. When you bring back the car, they are able to get a printout of what tolls you incurred, and you cough up. Unless you are Fumbluff:-)

The motorways were indeed partly funded by EU structural funds, as are the brilliant 4g telco networks and the high speed trains. You might think they used the opportunity better,for themselves and the rest of the EU, than the Irish did. The Portuguese will reap the benefit from this infrastructure in the coming years, and good for them, I say. I don't think there are more friendly and welcoming people in the whole of Europe.

Hastingsaddick

PragueAddick said:

Hastingsaddick said:

stevec said:

I always drive down in Spain then across to Portugal near Zamora. If you take the Burgos/Slalamanca/Seville road it is dual carriageway all the way and toll free after Burgos. Traffic is virtually non existent, plenty of fuel and coffee stops all the way down.

Done a trip in 2013 which included the road from Pamplona to Salamanca was amazed at how little traffic was on the road, stopped at a place called Tordesillas before stopping at Salamanca for a couple of nights. In Portugal we went to a town called Miranda do Douro, nice place and the roads around the NE of Portugal were very good...I think they were mainly paid for by EU subsidies. Do you have to pre-pay to use the motorways in Portugal?

There are two different toll systems in Portugal, the older one, which we encountered from Lisbon going north is pay at the booth. The newer one, further north is the chip system. Hire cars have the chip installed. When you bring back the car, they are able to get a printout of what tolls you incurred, and you cough up. Unless you are Fumbluff:-)

The motorways were indeed partly funded by EU structural funds, as are the brilliant 4g telco networks and the high speed trains. You might think they used the opportunity better,for themselves and the rest of the EU, than the Irish did. The Portuguese will reap the benefit from this infrastructure in the coming years, and good for them, I say. I don't think there are more friendly and welcoming people in the whole of Europe.

How does it work when you have your own car, do you need a chip when using the newer system?

PragueAddick

Hastingsaddick said:

PragueAddick said:

Hastingsaddick said:

stevec said:

I always drive down in Spain then across to Portugal near Zamora. If you take the Burgos/Slalamanca/Seville road it is dual carriageway all the way and toll free after Burgos. Traffic is virtually non existent, plenty of fuel and coffee stops all the way down.

Done a trip in 2013 which included the road from Pamplona to Salamanca was amazed at how little traffic was on the road, stopped at a place called Tordesillas before stopping at Salamanca for a couple of nights. In Portugal we went to a town called Miranda do Douro, nice place and the roads around the NE of Portugal were very good...I think they were mainly paid for by EU subsidies. Do you have to pre-pay to use the motorways in Portugal?

There are two different toll systems in Portugal, the older one, which we encountered from Lisbon going north is pay at the booth. The newer one, further north is the chip system. Hire cars have the chip installed. When you bring back the car, they are able to get a printout of what tolls you incurred, and you cough up. Unless you are Fumbluff:-)

The motorways were indeed partly funded by EU structural funds, as are the brilliant 4g telco networks and the high speed trains. You might think they used the opportunity better,for themselves and the rest of the EU, than the Irish did. The Portuguese will reap the benefit from this infrastructure in the coming years, and good for them, I say. I don't think there are more friendly and welcoming people in the whole of Europe.

How does it work when you have your own car, do you need a chip when using the newer system?

I am not at all sure about that. They must have a system, because there are no working booths for manual collection in those sections. Hopefully @Algarveaddick knows the answer

operationpig

I forgot to mention that driving from Sheffield to Caroveiro in the Algarve worked out at about 24 hours with non stop driving to get there, now obviously I didn't want to do that so I split it over four days and I used Ibis hotels on route, every one of these cities had one and they were very cheap.

Algarveaddick

This is a fairly good guide to the options available

http://www.theportugalnews.com/a22-algarve-tolls-what-you-need-to-know

If you are on a one off visit, I wouldn't really worry about it - they have no way of chasing foreign cars for unpaid tolls, however if, like musicat you are coming backwards and forwards, best take up one of the options on offer.

The whole thing is a farce really, the seven motorways in the automatic toll network were all built using money that mostly came from EU grants, they were, by law, supposed to be free forever, as Portugal didn't really own them, the EU did. Then they changed the law... Welcome to Portugal.

PragueAddick

Algarveaddick said:

This is a fairly good guide to the options available

http://www.theportugalnews.com/a22-algarve-tolls-what-you-need-to-know

If you are on a one off visit, I wouldn't really worry about it - they have no way of chasing foreign cars for unpaid tolls, however if, like musicat you are coming backwards and forwards, best take up one of the options on offer.

The whole thing is a farce really, the seven motorways in the automatic toll network were all built using money that mostly came from EU grants, they were, by law, supposed to be free forever, as Portugal didn't really own them, the EU did. Then they changed the law... Welcome to Portugal.

Nothing is free forever. As we are about to find out if we use German autobahnen....

Algarveaddick

PragueAddick said:

Algarveaddick said:

This is a fairly good guide to the options available

http://www.theportugalnews.com/a22-algarve-tolls-what-you-need-to-know

If you are on a one off visit, I wouldn't really worry about it - they have no way of chasing foreign cars for unpaid tolls, however if, like musicat you are coming backwards and forwards, best take up one of the options on offer.

The whole thing is a farce really, the seven motorways in the automatic toll network were all built using money that mostly came from EU grants, they were, by law, supposed to be free forever, as Portugal didn't really own them, the EU did. Then they changed the law... Welcome to Portugal.

Nothing is free forever. As we are about to find out if we use German autobahnen....

I wouldn't mind R, but they were only free for about six or seven years...

Algarveaddick

Oh - and the improvements to the only alternative road - the EN125 - which were supposed to have been made BEFORE the tolls were introduced, have still not started almost five years later...