Tour Of Spain/portugal

We did similar about 30 years ago when followin Dunlop and Rutter (senior) during the F2 rounds at Villa Real and Barcelona. From what I recall the roads across Northern spain were pretty dull, but from Villa Real to Porto are pretty interesting, as is the scenery and the coast down to Lisbon. Algarve is largely touristy. Gibraltar is facinating on a bike. Get out of the town and up on the rock. The road up the Sierra nevada is worth doing for the twisties and the views. Granada is great for Tapas. East coast road used to have one of the worst safety records in Europe and was largely forgettable. Of course it could all have changed now....

 

I've been doing Spain every year for the past 20. Make sure you are prepared for the weather and time of year. Most of the roads are really good. Rule of thumb is Santander to Seville on main roads off the ferry is one and a half days on mostly trunk roads. A lot longer on twisties.

I would say avoid some of the coastal roads (especially East Coast of Spain) and head inland to make it more interesting and cheaper. Perhaps through the Picos and Sena de Luna to start with. Inland Portugal is a bit challenging to make any distance but is nice, especially the Douro valley.

Some good roads from Arcos de la Frontera to Gibraltar inland if you want it. There is a good road back from Ronda to Santander via Iznahar, Baeza and Cuenca (worth a stop overnight) to position yourself for the Sierra de Cuenca and on to Sierra Demanda, where there are some of the best roads in Spain, leading to La Rioja for last overnight before back to Santander or Bilbao.

If you like cities, Salamanca and Bilbao are great, especially the bars in the latter. Seville needs a couple of days to take it in. I love Jerez, but mainly because I'm a sherry fan. If doing Granada, book the Alhambra in advance. I'm not a fan of Barcelona but everybody else in my family likes it.

If you are doing the East, think about doing the road from Vic via Ripoll, Puigcerda and on to Seu D'Urgell, although this does depend on what bike you're on.

Happy to help with specific route advice, if you need it and are more specific about your requirements. Never been to Algarve on the bike

 

Last year I rode from the UK to France via Dover Calais, through Spain and into Portimao, Portugal to meet the wife and daughter who flew down. I took 6 days to get down with the first day and a half using motorways and the rest on A roads. Went through Agen in France, Tarbes, over the Col du tourmalet (tour de France pass), Jaca area, north of Madrid, through Extremadora region which is amazing, across the south eastern tip of Portugal and into Portimao region. It was utterly awesome with the exception of the northern Spanish day north of Madrid which was a bit dull. 3 days to ride back via Bilbao ferry to Portsmouth (pretty horrendous with swell in bay of biscay and poor facilities on ferry. Santander ferry much better I believe). Came back up the central spine of Portugal which was great especially in the northern region where at times I wanted a straight for a few minutes as the roads twisted for hour after hour. Explored Picos for a day before catching the ferry. The trip was amazing but I can't speak for some of your plans as I've not done those routes.

 

One more thing; I'm sure you realise this, but, going round the Iberian peninsula, just as a route, is about 2,300 miles and would take around 5 days solid riding as a "mission" taking in Santiago, Portugal, Gibraltar & Barcelona. This would be using motorways and no fun at all. As an example, I would do a week to Seville and Granada and back, with two days off the bike for sightseeing and mostly on trunk roads with a few scenic diversions. Next scheduled trip (6 days) is to Braganca in Northern Portugal (from Santander) and back to Bilbao via Segovia (worth a visit), all on back roads. You might want to moderate your ambition if time is short. Makes more sense to go more often.

Also, I don't really do main roads in Portugal, but the best way of making distance is via motorways, as minor roads are very twisty & slow. I think you have to pay on some and, last time I checked, it required a transponder on some routes, but they may have killed that for cost reasons. Certainly need to pay along the Algarve. You need to check Spanish motorways for charges too. As a rule of thumb, you probably need to pay where there is tourist trade. This means, around Malaga, Barcelona and Bilbao. Charges are fairly small, but best to know, as a right pain on a bike.

 

When are you going? Seville is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe but avoid like the plague until after October. It's not called the oven of Europe for nothing! Agree with the above for places to visit. With decent planning, you can't go wrong.
Best of luck

 

I have a picture somewhere of me standing outside the Sandeman vineyard in May in the snow. It warmed up but that was a bloody cold day on the Targus. Make sure you have appropriate clothing.

Regards Steve

 

Hi,


If you are interested in making some twisties, I suggest to avoid the coast.

From Porto follow the N222 towards Foz Coa. It follows the River Douro and the view to the river and vineyards is fabulous.

To go south you can follow the N2. It is also a fabulous road and a big touring bike route in Portugal as it is the road that goes from north to south through the country side.

The landscape has some dramatic changes trought the route as the road itself as it changes from very twisty to fast and flowing and then again to very bendy as you reach Faro.

In case you are in a hurry, then there just follow the A1 and A2 motorways from Porto to Lisbon and then to the "Allgarve" but it will be boring and set you back 60€ in tolls. From Setubal to Algarve there is no real need to pay as you can go on the IC1 that has is very flowing and has very light traffic

Enjoy!

 

Back in the day, the old N2 road from Lamego down to Regua and back up to Vila Real was one of my favourites. Then getting to see the likes of Joey Dunlop and Tony Rutter racing at Vila Real.

 

That is a great strech of the N2. lots of driving.

Will go there this year to drive my mutley on those fine curves ;-)

 

That is a great strech of the N2. lots of driving.

Will go there this year to drive my mutley on those fine curves ;-)