San Sebastian to Lisbon
 

Hi Everyone

My partner and I have 3 weeks set for our trip to Europe to travel through Spain and Portugal.
We begin with 4 days in San Sebastian with friends then have just over 2 weeks before we head back to Australia (We are also travelling in france for 2 weeks and the UK prior to this).

Flights home have not been booked because I am unsure the best place to fly out of if we were to hire a van and drive around.

My boyfriend wants to travel to lisbon by the costal route however I am keen to get some other travel ideas to save time and see the best parts.

Any suggestions regarding;
-driving tips
-preference of van or car
-other travel option (rail)
-must do's
-how long in the major cites
-direction of travel

would be greatly appreciated. Please keep in mind it will be July next year and more interested in summer activities then staying in the hustle and bustle of the cities. We are not travelling on a strict budget.

Rachael

Be aware that dropping off a rental car in a different country has a high drop off fee. We took a taxi across the Spanish/Portugese border and picked up our car on the other side. Must dos are Santaigo de Compostela, Porto, PT, Guimares, PT Coimbra,PT and Lisbon( side trips to Sintra, Obidos, Evora)Portugal is very special and less expensive. We spent 9 days in Lisbon but you should stay at least four to see the city without day trips. Santiago needs two days.

I would add Leon on the Spanish side. I did the trip (on to Lisbon) by rail. See http://wilhelmswords.com/rtw2004/ for details.

Much of the coastal drive is very beautiful and certainly worth seeing, but the coast gets so increasingly crenellated as you move west, that it makes for very time consuming driving, and it can get somewhat fatiguing. That's especially true if you are traveling with fixed hotel reservations, which I think you would need to have since you are traveling in July. You'd also need to be prepared for some very thick tourist crowds along the more beachy parts of the route in July.

But if you are asking "What else is there except the coast?" there is so much, you really need a guidebook, or else you are only going to get very partial answers here. Try the Cadogan guide for Northern Spain. Were it me, I would want to see something of the Picos di Europa mountain range, and the Ribera Sacra wine country. I would weave back and forth between the coast and the inland.

You say you don't want the hustle and bustle of cities in July, and that makes sense, but you might find some of the regions smaller Spanish cities (or larger Spanish towns) really marvelous for their lively tapas scene at night. Pontevedra (in Galicia) is absolutely terrific, and it is easy to reach from the coast. Guimaraes in Portugal is a lovely town to visit. Coimbra was to me a mixed bag: Some great sightseeing, but overall not as delightful as other Portugese destinations.

I just returned from a trip to Galicia and Portugal, I did not go to Santiago de Compostela. I'll go some other time. I spent an extended amount of time in Lisbon and did not go to Sintra or any of its nearby beaches. I did spend several days in Porto, and was fascinated (so long as I was out of the most touristy areas), but you will want to pick carefully where you stay if you have a car. If you can afford the Yeatman, go for it.

Might be an excellent idea to drop of the Spanish car in Tui, just on the Spanish border. It has a marvelous town center and truly worthwhile cathedral to see. Have lunch. Take a taxi to Portugal to pick up a different car.

But I think you'll be cheating yourself if you rely on social media to plan your itinerary because the area is so rich with unique attractions, scenic and small town, most of us have only seen a tiny fraction of it.

Here's a website I found useful for Galicia (but I still recommend a good guidebook).

http://www.galiciaguide.com/Beaches-index.html

PS: I wanted to add that I personally found the drive between Finisterre and A Grove filled with stunning beauty, but if you look at a map, you can see how jaggedy the road is. It takes all day to do with a stop for a lunch. So maybe you don't want to burn out on too much coastal driving early in the trip so you aren't sick of it by the end. I would spend a night or more in Pontevedra, just for the incredible late night outdoor cafe scene in the town's many pretty plazas, and do my beach nights other places.

I didn't find A Coruna a fun place to drive, so I would by pass it on a future trip. I would think its beaches are incredibly crowded in July.

Baiona, Spain is also a beautiful place to stay on the coast near Portugal.A Grove was lovely too.