You have some very good advise so far that I would agree with . I can only add a couple of things. On the major 'interstate" like roads do not sit out in the left lane dawdling along at under 70 mph.You will soon have drivers sitting on your rear bumper blowing the horn to have you move to the right.

I have been to Andalucia for the last 10 years,always rented a car for the month and never had to produce an international drivers licence. I think this advice must apply to drivers from third world countries.

In the very small towns like the white villages in Andalucia I suggest that you park just as you enter town and walk in since the roads are winding and in small cases just wide enough for a small car.

" I would think we would drop off the car in Madrid, but I don't suppose we would do any real driving in Madrid."

This won't help too much. It is a major problem to find your way from the freeway exit, assuming you locate the right one, to a location in down. On our last trip, it took us almost 2 hours just to figure out how to get from a gas station across from the train station across 6 lanes of traffic to return our rental car to Hertz in the train station. In three cities, we came off the freeway and could not find how to drive to our hotel - ever. I had to park the car and walk to the hotel, find a porter to come back with me to my car and then direct me on how to reach it by car. And I'm not car wuss. I've been driving around the world a long time, but have never experienced anything like Spain. It's even worse than Italy.

Believe me, you have no idea what you are letting yourself in form by driving anywhere near Madrid or any other Spanish town or city. All the maps in the world won't do you any good, especially at night when the few stret signs become invisible.

I'll have to say that we didn't experience much of the difficulty that metellus described.

We've returned a rental car in Madrid twice. We drove into town, went straight to our hotel to drop off our luggage, and then returned the rental car.

The roads are a little confusing as you come into town, but I didn't think it was that hard at all if you have a good map.

In Madrid we dropped our car off at the airport which was pretty easy to find and there was a gas station nearby to fill up. From the AP there is a very nice new metro station to go anywhere in town.

>Believe me, you have no idea what you are letting yourself in form by driving anywhere near Madrid or any other Spanish town or city. All the maps in the world won't do you any good, especially at night when the few stret signs become invisible.


I'll third that motion. It isn't that difficult. I had to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road and didn't experience any unusual problems. i found driving the streets of Dublin more difficult.

Like one poster pointed out. On the freeways the left lane is for passing only. Lots of people go 100-130mph so stay out of their way. I rode a motorcycle last year 10,000 miles in Spain. When I would pass someone on the freeway, I would really be sure no cars were approaching in the passing lane, pass the vehicles as fast as I could and then right back in the right lane. Most of the time there was a vehicle right behind me as I returned to the right lane. Also when you are waiting for a light to turn green hesitate for a few moments because they like to run the fresh redlight. All in all they are good drivers and I wish in the USA the left lane would be for passing only

when you recommend to take the train between Seville and Madrid instead of driving are you not missing any must see towns ie Toledo.? Thanks Wylie

We always rent cars and have driven all over Europe. Rent the smallest car you possibly can when in Spain because in the towns the roads are so narrow. No one has mentioned this as far as I can tell, but we found that Andalucia has the narrowest roads in towns we have ever seen anywhere in Europe. I believe this is because the towns are built to keep out the hot rays of the sun. Some places we had to manouver by backing up and then going forward just to make a turn. We had a Renault Scenic which was spacious inside and yet still manouverable in the towns.

My thread is still alive! All of this is wonderful information, and I thank you all.

I have, and will continue, to share all this information with my S/O - who has since told me he does not expect to do all the driving. YIKES! That means I'll have to do some driving! Thankfully, he knows I'm a far better navigator so can possibly help with city driving, and I can get by with more of the country driving.

My S/O - thankfully - is one of very safe drivers in the States, so no worry about him driving slow in a passing lane (his adult sons call his driving "old lady&quot and he is respectful of other drivers. (Which is a whole lot more than can be said of me) He thinks the idea of the International Drivers Permit is a good one, which sort of surprised me, but then he likes to do things by the book when it comes to driving. It's the old truck driver in him, I suppose.

I have been doing research on various hotels, and most that I have researched have been very explicit about where parking is, or where you can drive to and then call the hotel so some one can meet us and show us where to go. That makes me feel a bit more comfortable.

As far as driving in Madrid? From what I've read here it is just a big city with all the requisite issues that driving in a big city has to offer. We plan on picking up and dropping off the car at the Madrid airport, and I figure most cities have clear directions on how to get to major airports. Plus, we are allowing ourselves plenty of time when we get back to Madrid to find our hotel, drop off luggage, and then drop off the car. If we end up driving around for a while (as long as I'm not doing the driving), then that's just the way it is. Perhaps we'll get to see more of the city. (Have to put a positive spin on this somehow!)

From the comments here, I am feeling way more comfortable about driving than I was before - so thanks to all of you! We are still trying to figure out which type of car to rent. I agree that the smaller the better when it comes to city driving, but some concerns are: 1.) When we drive around Andalucia (specifically to Ronda and Granada) my S/O feels we will need something with a little more horsepower if it is mountain driving. 2.) My S/O is not a small guy - 6' and 250 lbs - so I doubt he would feel comfortable in something the size of a Ford Fiesta. I was considering the Renault Megane, which is roughly the size of a Ford Escort. It is about the only smaller car that has an actual trunk and not a hatchback. (Thinking about luggage being visible from hatchback window as opposed to a trunk) Has anyone rented this size of vehicle? Did it work well on city and highway driving? And is a trunk a safer feature than a hatchback? And final question: I've been looking at several rental agencies, and it appears that AutoEurope is the least expensive, yet it seems most here have used Hertz. It seems that AutoEurope includes insurance - is that correct? Or will they tack that on and price double? I'm finding it a little hard to believe that we can get this car for 2 weeks for under $600.00, but maybe that's just because I've never rented a car that long.

Sorry for the length, but you all have provided such great information, I can't helpt but take advantage!

We wisely decided to rent a car in Madrid at the airport. We spent our days in the city, then picked up the rental at the airport and then drove south to Granada and throughout Andalusia for a week. When it was time to leave Spain, we returned our car at the airport and flew home. You don't need to have the car while in Madrid. And I presume you will both be comfortable driving a 5-speed, not an automatic.

We had no trouble with any roads, large or small, other than the more local roads which connect adjacent towns and villages. These could be hard to find sometimes, if they were not well-marked with signs. Having a good map is essential. Of course, getting somewhat "lost" can be lots of fun at times, IMHO.

Parking our car in the cities we visited, such as Granada and Seville, was the biggest hassle. Unless your hotel has on-site parking, they will likely send you a few blocks away to a parking deck shared with other businesses. The deck spaces can be very, very small!! Get in the habit of folding your outside mirrors inward, to save them from damage in such tight spaces. This is useful when driving though the narrow streets of small towns, too! In the cities, you will likely leave your vehicle parked without using it at all.

If you have as much time as you describe, then you will indeed have a great time. A good destination after leaving Madrid and driving south are the towns of Ubeda and Baeza, which both have lots of character but not the tourists, and are easily reached by car. Ubeda is famous for pottery.

We had arrived with International Drivers Licenses, but did not find they were of any use.

We almost rent from Nova which is a rental agency in Northern Ireland. Their service has been great, and they usually are cheaper than AutoEurope.

Glu54 ~ Thanks regarding the tip about the mirrors. Not something I would have thought about. We have 17 full days in Spain (this is without the travel days to get back and forth to home), and while we want to see all that we can, our emphasis is not on rushing but on taking our time. This is one of the reasons we ultimately choose a road trip. I'm working on a revised itinerary that *hopefully* will give us plenty of time in the event we do get lost or find interesting "roads less traveled."

We will be spending our time in Madrid at the end of our trip, so we will be returning the car a few days before we actually leave.

Again, thanks!

Julies ~ I'd never heard of Nova before, but will certainly check it out. Thank you!

"As far as driving in Madrid? From what I've read here it is just a big city with all the requisite issues that driving in a big city has to offer."

You are so, so wrong. The worst big American city is probably Boston, and it is a day in ther country compared to Madrid. In big American cities, street signs are not carved faintly on the corners of buildings where they become invisible at dusk. American cities also don't have Spanish drivers or streets that are narrower than the cars. .

I drove in northern Spain last August. I drove from Pamplona to Santiago de Compostela, making stops along the way. The only part I felt ill prepared for were the construction areas--the signing was different than what I'm used to so you might want to brush up on that for safety's sake.

Thanks, marilynh, I appreciate the insight! Since I've started this thread, I did manage to find Micheline's Driving Atlas for Spain and Portugal and there is a wealth of information in there. Not just mileage, but also various signs one might find. As I suspect I shall be navigator for most of the trip (including the cities, unfortunately!), I'll be studying this atlas in detail!

At some point in this thread, you asked about Renault Megane. I've driven that car, the hatchback version, about 6 years ago in France - Alsace and Burgundy to be specific.

It's small enough for ease of driving and parking in small towns, but I found it underpowered on the major highways. It'll probably be sufficient for you, considering the conservative and safe driving that you described your companion's style as - just stay on the right lanes and do not attempt to make too many passes with this car, it may not have enough power and you may end up as a hazzard on the left/passing lanes.

BTW, your 6 ft companion should be fine, too. European car-makers make a it a point to build comfortable driving environment for the drivers (and care less about the passengere, especially the front one).

I wouldn't worry about a Renault Megane being underpowered and forcing you to stay out of the overtaking lane.

Looking on Renault's site shows that even the lowest powered Megane is good for 106mph. It might take a little longer to get up to that speed with only 60bhp but it should still be perfectly adequate.

(If 60bhp isn't enough then you could request the 225hp version which should allow you to get to 147mph and lose your license very quickly )

I'm also not aware of any bias against the front seat passenger in European cars - never been a problem in any of mine. It's true that there may not be a great deal of room in the back seats with the front seats pushed back - but not a problem if only two of you.

Have fun.

(btw. The reason the main Spanish roads are so good is that a lot of EU money has been lavished on them as Spain were previously amongst the poorest members of the EU (no longer). We spotted the difference when the roads deteriorated markedly as soon as we crossed the border into France)