✅ check out our SELF-GUIDED travel guides here ➡ travelguidesspainandportugal.com Our list of road trips: ➡️ the best road trips in SPAIN 🇪🇸: th-cam.com/video/6XUEIFcgE9Q/w-d-xo.html ➡️ the best road trips in PORTUGAL 🇵🇹: th-cam.com/video/A7AONxut3CM/w-d-xo.html
We drove all over Spain in 2019 and it was fairly easy. It sure helped that we speak Spanish and my husband knows the metric system. Barcelona was pretty crazy in the center and Valencia was crazier. Parking is a hot mess but the outskirts of all large cities is pretty easy.
Thank you for the video. One tip I'd add, for Americans specifically, is to use the left lane on autopistas/autovias for passing only. This etiquette is not common in the USA where many drivers will just stay in the left lane (or center lanes when there are 3+lanes), causing other drivers to pass/overtake them on the right. Another tip is about zipper/late merging when one lane is reduced on autopistas/autovias. Some drivers may come from regions where most drivers abandon the lane that's closing as soon as they know is closed ahead, well before the merge, causing frustration at the merge point.
Thank you, Scott, I wasn't aware driving along the center or left lane was common in the States. As you rightly point out, if you are a slow driver and take any lane other than the right one you will not be very popular. As for the merging, we are taught to take the right lane as soon as we become aware of the merger ahead.
Thanks for these video's which I am scrutinising. I am planning to travel from santander ferry port to Galicia on dec 28th and am soo nervous about the right hand lane driving. I imagine everything is basically a mirror image to what I am used to. If anyone knows of any info in more depth especially about junctions, turn offs, merging lanes and common motorway (AV/AP) tricky bits I would love to know. I wish I could take a driving course here on European driving. So far this is the best informative video on Spanish roads. 🙏
Hi Tony, I watched this video last year, before visiting Mallorca, and found it very helpful. I drove for two weeks without a problem. Just had one fright, turning from a roundabout onto the MA 13, started to speed up down the slip lane to the Motorway, to find that I had to give way to traffic on the left lane of the sliplane. This would never happen in the UK, and you may wish to mention this hazard, if you update this video. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, we should do a special video on roundabouts, but the problem is that, although there are specific rules on how to negotiate them, you will always find some smart alec who thinks they can do as they please, hence your fright, no fault of your own. I'm always 100% alert when I enter a roundabout and avoid having a car driving next to me.
Once again, Tony, you are the king of helpful videos about visiting Spain. All the positive comments that could possibly be said about you, the information, and the way you present it...I will triple! AAA to you! with muchas gracias!
Thank you for this information. I am from the US and am coming to Spain next week on a photo and video safari where I will be driving almost every day to a new location or area.
Thank you for the very informative video. I m going through all of your Spain videos one by one to prep for a trip in 2weeks. They are the most helpful ones I can find on internet. Thank you 🙏
Hi Tony, I love your explaining voice, its calm and controlled. We are rebooking our failed COVID trip from June 2020 and I am super excited and nervous at the same time but you are definitely making the process easier and calmer. KUDOS!!!
Great video :). But one thing: dont forget snow chains if you visit Central Spain (Segovia, Ávila, Valladolid, Salamanca, Soria, Vitoria, Cuenca, Madrid, León or Burgos). Yes, there are some cold and snow waves every year. Enjoy this country! You are so welcome here and also in our brother country Portugal 🙂
Thank you, Arturo, you make a very important point! We would advice against driving through snowy Spain with a rented car, as rental companies rarely provide snow chains or winter tyres. If the tourist is bringing its own car and is familiar with winter conditions, that would be a different matter. For those unfamiliar, always check the forecast before embarking on a trip. We hope to begin publishing content on Portugal before the end of the year. ¡Un saludo cordial!
❤❤❤❤Hi sir thank you for crossing my way this morning...love to listen your calm clear way of speaking... I think I will learnmore from you about driving here in Spain.. I have difficulty of the language here but I'm sure watching your videos will teach me a lot❤❤❤❤❤
I drove from bilbao to los alcazares last week . My first time to drive in spain , it was a bit of stress tbh but have to say the roads were very good and everything was well sign posted .
Many thanks for your kind words, Thrinath. I understand that for someone coming from Holland cyclists on the main roads in Spain will come as a shock. In actual fact, they cannot ride along motorways, but you will find them in all the remaining roads. The narrower the road, the higher the attention you have to pay. And yes, we are not serious people but don't like to introduce nonsense in our videos, we don't want to waste neither your time nor ours! And whenever we recommend a service, we always try to be as transparent as possible about that recommendation. 100% of the trips we do are paid from our own pocket! All the best!
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal good luck with your work. I stumbled upon your channel while I am planning for a trip with toddlers for this August. I recommend your channel whoever wants to plan a informed n relaxed holiday to Spain n Portugal. If I am not asking too much, i don’t see specific videos for travellers with kids. That would be helpful 🙏 for many parents
@@thrinathjalamadugu516 hello again, we don't have anything on the topic. We don't have kids and feel that, to be able to give advice on how to travel with kids, we are not in the best position to do so. We don't like to talk about things we are not familiar with.
Thanks for sharing. Many roundabouts in Spain have two lanes. Spain should have more designated cycle paths specifically for cyclists. Many drivers in Spain do NOT indicate when they are going to turn or overtake.
very helpful thank you. i go to lanzarote twice a year. some of the traffic light systems there we dont have in 🇬🇧 but i learned something new from this video. thanks again 👍
Thanks a lot for the video! I will be in the Canary Islands in Tenerife starting Friday! You have answered more than the questions I had. God bless you!
Great video. Very informative. I love the idea of road trips but I hate renting a car. I don't want to search for parking and I don't want to be afraid to have a glass of wine or a beer. The last time I was in Spain I spent a lot of money on taxis. But it was worth it.
Good video. Going to Spain I. September and hiring a car. Will be near enough my first time driving in Spain. I did have a tiny experience of it last year going on a quad bike for 3 hours some of that time on roads following someone. I noticed a few times I nearly went to left when there were oncoming cars as I’m used to driving in the uk where you do drive on the left. So this is going to be the main thing I have to remember in Spain. Sounds easy but I’m sure there will be times I do have to be reminded. Can’t go through red lights ever in uk so that will be easy to remember.
I left JAEN in the morning and drove to Burgos without having to stop for a light thanks to the Ring roads in Madrid. I was astonished and thankful to the Madrid Transport Ministry.❤
Just got back to uk after 2 weeks in Spain where I drove a hired car. The biggest thing I had to get used to which I had expected to be easy enough was driving on the left of the car instead of the right of the car. I went to the left for gears a lot in first days. I clipped the passenger side wing mirror on first day co I was used to driving on passenger side in uk luckily no damage and was enough to make me give more room on right. Back in uk now and no problems with driving here as I’ve been used to it for 16 years
Perhaps include a piece on road signs. The arrows indicating who has the right of way are not intuitive for foreign drivers. Also the fact most gas stations require you to prepay and to enter the amount you are willing to reach. Some people don't realize you won't be charged the amount you enter if you don't fill up to that level, only that it's the maximum you would be charged. Very helpful!
This was one of our first videos, we thought of including traffic signs but it is a complex issue, as we would like to cover what is not intuitive not only for Americans but for Asians and Africans, and there is a lot of research involved. Still thinking on how to do it.
Hi Tony, firstly, many thanks for setting up this channel in English and focusing on what Spain has to offer the road trip tourist. I found it very informative. I am booked on a ferry to Bilbao from Ireland for a motorcycle road trip but keeping a weather eye on the Covid situation. I have a few questions as I don't recall from my previous trip to the Picos de Europa in Oct 2018 how a few things work in Spain! Some petrol stations have pump attendants, so if a use these stations and wishing to pay for fuel by Mastercard, do I pay at pump, pay attendant or can I pay inside the kiosk as he/she is filling the tank? How do I say in Spanish "please fill the tank"? Finally, the intention is to travel to Nerja September 12th, then to Granada, across to Cadiz September 19th and from there travel via Salamanca to Bilbao Sept 30th, what kind of temperatures am I likely to encouter inthe Andaluscia region mid to end September? Many thanks
Thanks for your comment, Nordkapp. I don't know whether you've watched the video, but we deal with petrol stations in it. Basically you can find all the alternatives you mention on your comment: a) stations where there is an attendant. b) stations where you fill your tank and then go to pay inside the kiosk. c) stations where you need to prepay before you begin filling the tank. The big brand names (BP, Cepsa, Repsol) offer mainly a) and b). Low-cost stations tend to use c). To fill the tank, ask "lleno, por favor". Mid-September should be quite warm in Andaluzia, but not as scorching hot as July or August. The montly average for Seville is 25 C, but this is just an average. All the best!
Thanks for the clear, concise and helpful video! I had two questions: 1. For left turns, are there separate signals? Or a single green light for all? 2. On rented cars, do we pay tolls by cash? Or there's an electronic toll collection system?
Hello: 1. There are usually separate signals, as left turns are not common along main avenues (traffic circles are preferred). 2. You can pay by cash or credit card or an electronic reader locals use.
Thanks again for a fantastic video. If you don't mind the comment, here in United Stated yellow color lines are used to let know drivers that they are driving in a two way traffic. Thanks so much, greetings from California.
In theory, you can attach it but you cannot operate it while driving (that would be akin to using your mobile while driving). So you attach it before you start your trip, set your destination, activate the GPS and, after that, just consult it.
Hello, I have a suggestion. You videos are very helpful but even more helpful would be real world explanations. Example, on this video if you stop the video at 1:06 and 2:14 which show real road side signs and then if you could explain exactly what they are saying line by line or even word by word, that would be fantastic. I'm also now watching your types of roads video and the same suggestion would apply there. Keep up the great work you do in any case, very helpful.
Hi Darrell, thanks for your suggestion. When writing the scripts for our video the issue of length becomes paramount. If we enter into much detail, we might end up with extremely long videos, which is not something we are against per se, for as long as there is a powerful reason for it. If and when we do a video on traffic signals in Spain, you can be certain those details will be plentiful. All the best.
I recently drove in Galicia for a week. The driving was good, but I recommend against hitting A Coruna at the rush hour relying only on a GPS. It was hell. Anyway, my biggest observation about driving in Spain is that the speed limits not only change often (a lot too often) they don't even make sense half the time. They are not necessarily correlated to the population density you are driving through. It's totally inconsistent. The drivers are good though. The roads are in great condition, and the scenery is mind blowing.
Thanks Roddy. Those ever-changing speed limits are a real pain. There are very clear rules but then, each town introduces variations that drive us crazy.
I noticed amber flashing lights on the congested section of the motorway/freeway MA-20 between the airport and Malaga (not at a crosswalk) not sure what the mean, can't seem to find information online. I assume it means caution?
We are just guessing here, as we would have to see the lights with our very own eyes, but we suspect they are warning lights informing of slow traffic ahead in a stretch of motorway notorious for holdups.
Excellent video.. THANK YOU. I am travelling from the UK to Malaga via Salamanca then to Cartagen then to Valencia, then home via Zaragoza..... I have bought a clean air zone sticker for France but am struggling to see if I need one in Spain....my campervan is new and Euro 6 ,please can you advise..... thanks again Howard.
Hello there. As far as we are aware, only Madrid, and specially Barcelona, have traffic restrictions in place that demand a sticker. In the cities you mention you should be fine. All the best.
Great video, we are planning to come to Madrid on September this year. This is our first in Spain too. We will be renting a car to drive to Boltana for our hotel.
Thanks, Robert, I don’t know whether you’ve seen we have a road trip through the area you will be visiting: th-cam.com/video/mg6SoR_E6tk/w-d-xo.html All the best!
We will be renting a car at Madrid Airport. Any advice? Do I have to get special license to drive in Spain? Can I just use my USA license? Also do I have to get special car insurance too?
@@MrRcolon1985 you should check with your car rental company about the type of license they request from their costumers. Your US license should be fine from a police point of view, but check with the car rental company too. Car insurance is a very personal issue. We always go for a full cover, even if that means paying more for the rental.
We rented a car in Spain and toured Portugal and France with it, too. I remember in Paris I was driving on fumes and couldn't find a gas station - I had to enlist a taxi driver to take me there - most stations were closed due to a holiday. I was so happy I had a Mercedes mini-diesel. and fuel lasted a very long time.
Hi Tony, really enjoyed your video and your very pleasant presentation manner. One question please, I understand the need for a HI-VIS jacket, if say I breakdown on a main road. But let's say I pull into a open patch of ground next to a country road. Do I still need to wear a HI-VIS jacket, if say I leave the car to take a picture?
Hello there, if you park safely somewhere to take a picture there is no need for you to wear the jacket, it's just for emergencies when your car cannot be parked safely.
I wish I had been driving a four wheel drive in Arcos de la Frontera. The rental car I was driving had a clutch that slipped. I almost didn't make it up the hill to the plaza.
I was 60+ with a life time or driving on the left when I had the bright idea in Cadiz to purchase a 400 cc scooter to tour central and northern Spain. Two things, never drove on the right and the scooter was a death trap, good manufacturer undone by 15 years of hard use and poor maintenance. Got on my way with a trial trip Cadiz-Granada-Cadiz and a few hundred K's on inner city roads. Autopista was fantastic to drive countered by 2 lane blacktops with variable centre line or not. At night reverting to the lefthand lane on a low illumination country road was very easy and sometimes not obvious for kilometers. 4,000 km over 10 days on the scooter before it haemorrhaged all fluids and discharged sundry metallic bits, another 1,000 km in 10 hours driving a Golf. Enough about my experience, what did I learn that Tony hasn't mentioned. STOPPING DISTANCES, especially on the scooter but also albeit to a lesser extent in cars. Whether due to a build up of oil or fine dust my STOPPING DISTANCES were substantially LONGER than I experienced in NZ when the road is dry. DRY ROAD SURACES WERE SLIPPERY!
Excellent information. Now it's time to update with additional information about Low Emission Zones. And will rental cars meet the requirements of the LEZs?
Hi Michael, that is not going to happen any time soon. There is so much uncertainty right now about how those zones are going to be implemented. And with local elections coming soon, today's rules might be completely different in six-months time. Best to check each city you are planning to visit individually.
Hello Tony, just subscribed to your channel. Once again thank you very much for this informative video! this is just my 2nd video! I'll go through all your videos about driving in Spain. We will be in Madrid end of November and planning on renting car to see the surroundings of Madrid - Toledo, Avila, Segovia & Salamanca would be the furthest west we will go. Should I be concern of snow in November? We are 1stimers here. Thank you very much.
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal Thank you Tony. Good to know that snow is not a common occurrence. We’ll just be ready and be careful when driving in Spain. All the best to you too! Thank you again for all you do.
We are headed to Spain in November. We have never been to Spain. The plan is to fly into Bilbao, stay for a day or two. After that we will head to wine country Haro .Lagrano for a week and then the eastern side of Rioja region for a few days. Not sure where we fly out from. Any thoughts. The trip is for food, wine and meeting the people.
Thank you for sharing so many of your videos. We arrived in Madrid yesterday and I have been following your instructions from the airport and have had no issues from buying metro tickets to places to stay and eat. Question: what is the fastest and inexpensive way to get an eSIM for my iPhone for our 9 day stay as we travel around Spain. Thanks.
Hello Shuja, ideally, you would have obtained the SIM card at the airport. Go to an Orange or Vodafone store and get a SIM for those brands. We don’t have recommendations for eSIMs.
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal AS always, thank you again for the Vodafone SIM worked out pretty inexpensive and perfect for our 9 day stay in Spain. Was 1/2 the price of getting the US T-mobile international plan. Plus, it help having a local number to order food deliveries etc. FOr those of you reading my comment --- Spain was a great experience for my teen kids, my wife and me. Lodging and eating out was comparatively cheap, I felt safe travelling through all the Andalusia province , be it by rental car or by train. People are kind and immensely helpful, the landscape and beaches are amazing. Plus the instructions by @tony galvez regarding the DOs and Don'ts greatly helped us.
Thank you for this awesome video. We are planning to rent a car while in Spain. How do you know when you have received a traffic violation from a roadside camera and how do you "pay it immediately"?
Hi Joe, first of all try not to get fined! You rental car company will probably be notified if you are fined, but it greatly depends on the authority fining you (whether it's local, regional or national).
Planning a trip to Spain in November. I am a US citizen with a US passport and drivers license, but I am a permanent resident of Ecuador also with an Ecuadorian drivers license. So I do NOT have to get an international drivers license (now required for US drivers in Spain) since I have an Ecuadorian residency Visa and drivers license ... Correct? Thanks for the tip on buying train tickets early.
Hi, great video thank you. We are driving from Madrid Airprot to Nerja July 2nd. A family of 7. Any advice please on best route? We’d hope to stop a couple of times to eat and stretch our legs. Thank you. Donal
Thanks Donal. Unfortunately we haven't driven that route so there isn't much we can share from personal experience. The most logical route is through Jaén and Granada. You could take a small detour to Consuegra to see the windmills and stretch your legs. All the best.
A great video, gracias. Can you offer any similar advice for the dos-and-donts-of-driving in Portugal too? I know the Portugal road rules are broadly similar to Spain and Italy and France but there must be important differences still, no? Thank you.
First, thanks for your advice and the video is very useful. I have a question ? Drinking water or coffee is allowed while driving? Hanging a mobile phone next to the steering wheel for the sake of maps, does it count as a traffic violation?
Hola, I am planning on renting a regular bicycle in the Gothic area. I am traveling solo next month and spending 10 days there. Will it be challenging riding a bicycle all over the place including Sagrada Familia? Thank you.
We are travelling from Madrid to Porto. 7 of us. Should we drive and make a stop at Douro wine valley , or it is better for us to just fly to Porto, or overnight bus to Porto? If direct to Porto, we’ll do a wine tour from there
Thank you, helpful. I am planning to drive from Seville train station to cordoba, then to granada, torrox/malaga, and white villages , then from malaga to ronda to seville. Include a drive from seville to cadiz... any tips to select good routes... it will be in 1st week ofOctober, mainly.
Thank you very much for your video which is very helpful for me as i plan to drive from Lagos to Sevilla, then onward to Barcelona, exploring the quaint and charming smaller cities and towns in Southern Spain。 May I know how i drive from Portugal to Spain in a rental car? welcome advice for alternative modes of transportation. Thank you and best regards! 😀
Hello Fong, we don't have anything specific on that topic yet, but have a video on how to travel from Spain to Portugal th-cam.com/video/NS9AocaBuxQ/w-d-xo.html You will need to find a rental company that allows you to take the car in one country and return it on another. There will be expensive charges involved.
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal Appreciate it greatly! Thank you for all your video uploads. I'm sure they have been very a great help to many travellers. Blessings 🙏👍
Do you have any advise for roadside assistance insurance? What should we know in case of any emergency while driving? Thank you again for being an invaluable resource. Regards.
On the topic of roadside assistance, you car rental company will probably include some sort of package, you will have to check with them. If you have a mechanical failure, you will have to dial the number of the insurance company. In an emergency, you dial 112. All the best!
Thank you for all you travel video. Please kindly let me know if I Can rent car in Portugal and travel to Spain with the rental car? Also I would like to know, I am travelling to Algarve and would like to visit Seville and Granada Alhambra in Spain and back to Porto from Granada Alhambra. Please advice the best way to do and what transportations options do I have?
You have to ask your car rental company when you book but in generally it is OK to rent in Spain and drive in Portugal and vice versa. We rented in Spain for 4 weeks in 2019 and we drove from Spain to Porto for 5 days and our rental (Hertz in Barcelona airport) said it was OK to do.
As Yuri told you, you have to check with the rental company, it's usually ok to bring the car to Spain for as long as you let them know in advance. You can reach Seville and Granada by car but be aware you cannot drive through the centre of Granada unless you are staying at a hotel downtown.
Thank you for this and all your other helpful videos! We have a question about the type of driving licence required. Our hire car company (we will collect the car from Dollar in Zaragoza ) says we need an international driving permit. We have UK licences and have hired cars in Lanzarote with no problems just with our UK licence so wonder if you know whether we really do need the international licence? Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.
Hello, if the car rental company asks for an International Driving License, there isn't much to argue. Do remember the UK is no longer in the EU, in the past, UK driving licenses were accepted in Spain with the same status as the national ones. But that situation might have changed as a result of Brexit.
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal Thank you very much! Yes, Brexit has changed a few things! We’ll get them organised then just in case as they are cheap enough and look forward to our trip which starts next weekend! 😊
Hello. I am going to go to Sevilla in August. This is my third time in Spain and I've been going back to Europe (from the U.S.) in the last 6 years. We've always just taken the public transportation since we really don't leave the city center (unless tours). This time, we'd like to try renting a car and drive from Sevilla to Algarve/Lagos region in Portugal. And also - consider the possibility of driving to different Andalucian cities instead of taking the train. Thank you for this video - it's really helpful with the basic info. I have a few questions and I'd really appreciate if you can give tips: - Do I need to have some kind of temporary license? Or will my passport and original license (where I'm from) do? - Once we enter Portugal border - do we need to stop and show documents (passport, etc)? - The idea of taking the country roads sounds really nice - I'd like to do that... but will there be available ones to drive in Portugal (coming from Sevilla)? - Can the maps/gps tell what country rides to take if we don't like the "autovias"? - Is it easy to move from country road to "autovias" or vice versa as we drive? - With the Covid situation now - can we just drive to Portugal (from Sevilla) or do we need some kind of health document to show when we enter the border (like vaccine proof, negative test results, etc)? Our trip is coming soon and I'm really excited! :) Thank you again for your time and info!
Hello Ian. We always attemp to disuade people from visiting Seville in August, it's low season in the city due to the extreme temperatures, that make tourism very uncomfortable. Not even the locals can bear it. But we take there's isn't much you can do about it now. Your questions: - driving licence. You don't mention your nationality, so it's impossible to give an informed reply to this question. Have a look at the info provided at Spain's official tourism website: www.spain.info/en/travel-tips/driving-regulations/ - there are no border checks between Spain and Portugal (but they were reinstated during the pandemic). - country roads are everywhere! - it's tricky, Google Maps, for instance, let's you avoid toll roads, but since autovías are not toll roads, there is no way to automatically exclude them. You will have to do your homework before travelling and study each leg you are going to drive. - super easy to join or leave autovías. No problems there. - COVID situation. Rules are changing the whole time. What we tell you know might not be in force in August. Good place to source up to date info on the topic: travelsafe.spain.info/ All the best!
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal thank you for all the info! Ha ha! No choice anymore but to go in August. Also, it’s always August that I travel to Europe. But 2 years ago, I was in Lisbon and saw the news about Seville being too hot! 😂. I’ll check with the rental cars if I would still need an international driver’s license.
Thank you so much for the great tips. Very well done! Do you have tips for driving from Lisbon to Seville in a rented car? Two day trip. Will drop the car in Seville upon arrival. We will stop in Algarve area to spend the night. Mid September 2023. I was especially wondering about border crossing and I read that we should have an international drivers license. Is this true?
We drove from Spain to Portugal and back to Spain 5 days later in our Hertz rental car in Sep/Oct 2019. No problems, but you do need to have your passports and internatioal driving permits available if you are stopped by police or any border officers. We were not stopped but you should not rely on that. If you have European (EU) passports then you just need your identity cards and you do not need international driving permits. I am not sure about the UK citizens since post-Brexit.
@@noyb-yb just to be clear, permanent border controls between Spain and Portugal (and many other countries within Europe) were completely dismantled many many years ago. There are NO permanent border controls.
Hi, thanks for sharing. Una pregunta por favor. I am from Tunisia and have been in Barcelona for 2 months, I am getting my TIE card in one month and buying a car next week. My question is can I drive with my tunisian driving licence untill I change it to spanish one ? some people say says some say no, I am confused 😕 Thanks in advance 🙏
Thanks Bouthouri. Our field of expertise are tourist travel to Spain. We don't have the knowledge to answer your question. You should check first with your travel insurance company, they might not cover you if you make the wrong move.
Thank you so much for this very informative video! I'm planning to stay in Spain and Portugal for a month and am planning on potentially renting a car so your tips came in handy (paying after pumping gas for example!). Do you have any recommendations in terms of what map service to use? Is google maps enough? You made a point about not using the autovias when doing road trips, is there a way to disable this on any mapping service (turn off highway)? Again, thank you so much for the video!
Dear Brenton, we are delighted to hear you found the video useful. This channel just got started and we are currently working on our first full-blown route, it should see the light some time in July. As for your questions. Google Maps will now and then drive you crazy (pun intended), but overall is just fine, it’s the maps service we always use. As “autovías” are not toll roads, there is no way you can tell Maps to exclude them. We’ve got nothing against autovías, they are great, but from a road trip point of view, they are dull and boring.Feel free to ask as many questions as you want. All the best!
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal Thank you for the response! Would you recommend a rental car as a good way to get around Spain/Portugal? I've read that the public transportations are good and I've also looked into BlaBlaCar (which sounds very interesting!). I'm guessing there might be places within Spain that are easier to traverse with your own car or are ubers typically readily available? Thank you again and wish you all the best with your channel!
Hi again, Brenton. A road trip is a different way of travelling through a country. If you intend to visit the main cities of both countries then hiring a car, in our opinion, would be a huge mistake. It would be much wiser to use public transportation, excellent in both countries. We only advice hiring a car if you intend on focusing on destinations outside the main cities. In Spain, make the most of the high-speed train network. In Portugal, trains and buses are the way to go. All the best. P.S.: Uber and Cabify are only available in a selected number of cities, but you won't need them, within the cities, the public transportation network tends to be excellent. All the best.
I have a question. In my recent trip to Catalonia I rented a car to drive to Costa Brava. Somehow I got a speeding ticket for driving at 90 km/h in an area of 80 km/h. The rental company set me the ticket after I left Spain. I did all I could to pay from abroad (I live in Aruba) to no avail. I even sent the money to my daughter who lives in Barcelona but she cannot pay online either. What should I do?
✅ check out our SELF-GUIDED travel guides here ➡ travelguidesspainandportugal.com
Our list of road trips:
➡️ the best road trips in SPAIN 🇪🇸: th-cam.com/video/6XUEIFcgE9Q/w-d-xo.html
➡️ the best road trips in PORTUGAL 🇵🇹: th-cam.com/video/A7AONxut3CM/w-d-xo.html
We drove all over Spain in 2019 and it was fairly easy. It sure helped that we speak Spanish and my husband knows the metric system.
Barcelona was pretty crazy in the center and Valencia was crazier. Parking is a hot mess but the outskirts of all large cities is pretty easy.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Mery!
Driving in Valencia this week, bonkers!!! Stressful roundabouts lol
Thank you for the video. One tip I'd add, for Americans specifically, is to use the left lane on autopistas/autovias for passing only. This etiquette is not common in the USA where many drivers will just stay in the left lane (or center lanes when there are 3+lanes), causing other drivers to pass/overtake them on the right. Another tip is about zipper/late merging when one lane is reduced on autopistas/autovias. Some drivers may come from regions where most drivers abandon the lane that's closing as soon as they know is closed ahead, well before the merge, causing frustration at the merge point.
Thank you, Scott, I wasn't aware driving along the center or left lane was common in the States. As you rightly point out, if you are a slow driver and take any lane other than the right one you will not be very popular. As for the merging, we are taught to take the right lane as soon as we become aware of the merger ahead.
It's not just the usa, it's also in the uk, middle lane drivers are so common here it's annoying!
I love this comment because it’s true, AND so many Americans would argue the opposite to the end. It’s crazy how selfish American drivers are.
Thanks for these video's which I am scrutinising. I am planning to travel from santander ferry port to Galicia on dec 28th and am soo nervous about the right hand lane driving. I imagine everything is basically a mirror image to what I am used to. If anyone knows of any info in more depth especially about junctions, turn offs, merging lanes and common motorway (AV/AP) tricky bits I would love to know. I wish I could take a driving course here on European driving. So far this is the best informative video on Spanish roads. 🙏
Driving around Bilbao is scary, gradients are very steep
Hi Tony, I watched this video last year, before visiting Mallorca, and found it very helpful. I drove for two weeks without a problem. Just had one fright, turning from a roundabout onto the
MA 13, started to speed up down the slip lane to the Motorway, to find that I had to give way to traffic on the left lane of the sliplane. This would never happen in the UK, and you may wish to mention this hazard, if you update this video. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, we should do a special video on roundabouts, but the problem is that, although there are specific rules on how to negotiate them, you will always find some smart alec who thinks they can do as they please, hence your fright, no fault of your own.
I'm always 100% alert when I enter a roundabout and avoid having a car driving next to me.
Once again, Tony, you are the king of helpful videos about visiting Spain. All the positive comments that could possibly be said about you, the information, and the way you present it...I will triple! AAA to you! with muchas gracias!
It is us thanking you again, Kay, ¡muchas gracias a ti!
About to spend 20 days driving around Spain and Portugal so this is possibly the best video I've watched! Gracias.
Great to hear that, Steven, have a superb trip!
This is as useful as it gets! Thank you so much. I'm feeling more confident now about our trip in January to Andalucia.
Delighted to hear that, Mike, let us know if we can be of any help.
Thank you for this information. I am from the US and am coming to Spain next week on a photo and video safari where I will be driving almost every day to a new location or area.
Have a great trip, Ray!
Thank you for the very informative video. I m going through all of your Spain videos one by one to prep for a trip in 2weeks. They are the most helpful ones I can find on internet. Thank you 🙏
Delighted to hear that, Wendy.
Just wanted to say that I can tell you worked hard on this video and I appreciate the effort!
Thanks for your words, Mark!
Wow what a fabulous video. Thankyou so much. Incredibly helpful.
Delighted to hear that, have a great trip - if you're coming to Spain!
Thanks!
Very kind of you, Alan.
Hi Tony, I love your explaining voice, its calm and controlled. We are rebooking our failed COVID trip from June 2020 and I am super excited and nervous at the same time but you are definitely making the process easier and calmer. KUDOS!!!
Delighted to hear that!
Love your videos. Clear and concise. Very helpful indeed. Well done 👍🏻🇪🇸
Many thanks for your kind comments, Maria, if we can be of any help, let us know! Kind regards!
Great video :). But one thing: dont forget snow chains if you visit Central Spain (Segovia, Ávila, Valladolid, Salamanca, Soria, Vitoria, Cuenca, Madrid, León or Burgos). Yes, there are some cold and snow waves every year.
Enjoy this country! You are so welcome here and also in our brother country Portugal 🙂
Thank you, Arturo, you make a very important point! We would advice against driving through snowy Spain with a rented car, as rental companies rarely provide snow chains or winter tyres. If the tourist is bringing its own car and is familiar with winter conditions, that would be a different matter. For those unfamiliar, always check the forecast before embarking on a trip.
We hope to begin publishing content on Portugal before the end of the year.
¡Un saludo cordial!
Me encanto! Una explicación facilísima de entender y bastante concisa! Súper buen trabajo!
¡Muchas gracias, Liliana!
❤❤❤❤Hi sir thank you for crossing my way this morning...love to listen your calm clear way of speaking... I think I will learnmore from you about driving here in Spain.. I have difficulty of the language here but I'm sure watching your videos will teach me a lot❤❤❤❤❤
Be very welcome to the channel.
Great video, answered all my questions prior to driving in Spain.
Delighted to hear that!
I drove from bilbao to los alcazares last week . My first time to drive in spain , it was a bit of stress tbh but have to say the roads were very good and everything was well sign posted .
Thanks for sharing your experience!
perfect quality content with no nonsene humor or stuff or promotions. Appreciate the information👍
Many thanks for your kind words, Thrinath. I understand that for someone coming from Holland cyclists on the main roads in Spain will come as a shock. In actual fact, they cannot ride along motorways, but you will find them in all the remaining roads. The narrower the road, the higher the attention you have to pay.
And yes, we are not serious people but don't like to introduce nonsense in our videos, we don't want to waste neither your time nor ours! And whenever we recommend a service, we always try to be as transparent as possible about that recommendation. 100% of the trips we do are paid from our own pocket! All the best!
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal good luck with your work. I stumbled upon your channel while I am planning for a trip with toddlers for this August. I recommend your channel whoever wants to plan a informed n relaxed holiday to Spain n Portugal.
If I am not asking too much, i don’t see specific videos for travellers with kids. That would be helpful 🙏 for many parents
@@thrinathjalamadugu516 hello again, we don't have anything on the topic. We don't have kids and feel that, to be able to give advice on how to travel with kids, we are not in the best position to do so. We don't like to talk about things we are not familiar with.
Thanks for sharing. Many roundabouts in Spain have two lanes. Spain should have more designated cycle paths specifically for cyclists. Many drivers in Spain do NOT indicate when they are going to turn or overtake.
Our pleasure! Yes, two lanes are common and three and even four, too.
@@kimballentyne3482 nobody respects cyclists and it serves them right.. in every country they are ignorant and self entitled gits
very helpful thank you. i go to lanzarote twice a year. some of the traffic light systems there we dont have in 🇬🇧 but i learned something new from this video. thanks again 👍
Great to hear that, James, and lucky you being able to visit Lanzarote so often!
Such a very useful vedio. I will hire a car in Ganada and drive to Sevilla next month. Thank you for your sharing.
👍👍👍
Excellent video. Very useful and well-made. Hello from Ireland, and thank you.
Thank you, James! If we can be of any help, let us know! Greetings from Zaragoza, Spain!
Thanks a lot for the video! I will be in the Canary Islands in Tenerife starting Friday! You have answered more than the questions I had. God bless you!
Happy to hear that, Aaron. Have a great trip to Tenerife!
Great video. Very informative. I love the idea of road trips but I hate renting a car. I don't want to search for parking and I don't want to be afraid to have a glass of wine or a beer. The last time I was in Spain I spent a lot of money on taxis. But it was worth it.
You shouldn't feel forced to do something you are not keen on - at least you have found a way around it.
Good video. Going to Spain I. September and hiring a car. Will be near enough my first time driving in Spain. I did have a tiny experience of it last year going on a quad bike for 3 hours some of that time on roads following someone. I noticed a few times I nearly went to left when there were oncoming cars as I’m used to driving in the uk where you do drive on the left. So this is going to be the main thing I have to remember in Spain. Sounds easy but I’m sure there will be times I do have to be reminded. Can’t go through red lights ever in uk so that will be easy to remember.
Have a wonderful and safe trip!
Very useful video. Thanks for sharing the info.
👏👏👏
I left JAEN in the morning and drove to Burgos without having to stop for a light thanks to the Ring roads in Madrid. I was astonished and thankful to the Madrid Transport Ministry.❤
👏👏👏
Tony please do a video on car rental in Spain. Your videos are SOOOOO useful
Thx a bunch!
We're planning such video, but the field work is taking forever. Probably at the beginning of next year!
Just got back to uk after 2 weeks in Spain where I drove a hired car. The biggest thing I had to get used to which I had expected to be easy enough was driving on the left of the car instead of the right of the car. I went to the left for gears a lot in first days. I clipped the passenger side wing mirror on first day co I was used to driving on passenger side in uk luckily no damage and was enough to make me give more room on right. Back in uk now and no problems with driving here as I’ve been used to it for 16 years
Perhaps include a piece on road signs. The arrows indicating who has the right of way are not intuitive for foreign drivers. Also the fact most gas stations require you to prepay and to enter the amount you are willing to reach. Some people don't realize you won't be charged the amount you enter if you don't fill up to that level, only that it's the maximum you would be charged. Very helpful!
This was one of our first videos, we thought of including traffic signs but it is a complex issue, as we would like to cover what is not intuitive not only for Americans but for Asians and Africans, and there is a lot of research involved. Still thinking on how to do it.
Thank you for doing this. The rules are very similar to here in Canada. We are travelling soon and English videos help a lot.
Great to hear that. Have a great trip!
Hi Tony, firstly, many thanks for setting up this channel in English and focusing on what Spain has to offer the road trip tourist. I found it very informative.
I am booked on a ferry to Bilbao from Ireland for a motorcycle road trip but keeping a weather eye on the Covid situation.
I have a few questions as I don't recall from my previous trip to the Picos de Europa in Oct 2018 how a few things work in Spain!
Some petrol stations have pump attendants, so if a use these stations and wishing to pay for fuel by Mastercard, do I pay at pump, pay attendant or can I pay inside the kiosk as he/she is filling the tank?
How do I say in Spanish "please fill the tank"?
Finally, the intention is to travel to Nerja September 12th, then to Granada, across to Cadiz September 19th and from there travel via Salamanca to Bilbao Sept 30th, what kind of temperatures am I likely to encouter inthe Andaluscia region mid to end September? Many thanks
Thanks for your comment, Nordkapp. I don't know whether you've watched the video, but we deal with petrol stations in it. Basically you can find all the alternatives you mention on your comment:
a) stations where there is an attendant.
b) stations where you fill your tank and then go to pay inside the kiosk.
c) stations where you need to prepay before you begin filling the tank.
The big brand names (BP, Cepsa, Repsol) offer mainly a) and b). Low-cost stations tend to use c).
To fill the tank, ask "lleno, por favor".
Mid-September should be quite warm in Andaluzia, but not as scorching hot as July or August. The montly average for Seville is 25 C, but this is just an average.
All the best!
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal thanks for that Tony
Thank you very much for your kind explanations!
Thank YOU, Astrid. If we can be of any help, let us know!
Thanks for the clear, concise and helpful video! I had two questions:
1. For left turns, are there separate signals? Or a single green light for all?
2. On rented cars, do we pay tolls by cash? Or there's an electronic toll collection system?
Hello:
1. There are usually separate signals, as left turns are not common along main avenues (traffic circles are preferred).
2. You can pay by cash or credit card or an electronic reader locals use.
Very helpful and well delivered, thank you!
Grat to hear that!
Muchas gracias 🙏
¡A ti!
Muy agradecido Tony! Saludos desde Puerto Rico! Subscrito al canal!
Muchas gracias a ti, Gio, y sé muy bienvenido al canal.
Excellent advice!
Our pleasure!
Wonder video! Thanks for sharing ;). Looking forward to visit Spain soon.
Thank you, Jimmy, if we can be of any help, let us know!
Such a detailed explanation ! Just so helpful. I am planning to visit Spain soon from Mumbai, India. Thank you so much.
Thank you for your words, Loknath! All the best!
Hi friend. If you come here in winter, dont forget snow chains if you visit
Central Spain. Enjoy your trip :)
@@ArturoRodriguez-kx2us Thanks for this valuable piece of information, Brother.
Very informative and useful video, thank you!
Thank you, Rohit!
Thanks again for a fantastic video. If you don't mind the comment, here in United Stated yellow color lines are used to let know drivers that they are driving in a two way traffic. Thanks so much, greetings from California.
Thanks Otto, lines on motorways here in Spain tend to be white. Thanks for the information!
Are there special rules about attaching a mobile phone holder to the windscreen to use as a GPS while driving?
In theory, you can attach it but you cannot operate it while driving (that would be akin to using your mobile while driving). So you attach it before you start your trip, set your destination, activate the GPS and, after that, just consult it.
Hello, I have a suggestion. You videos are very helpful but even more helpful would be real world explanations. Example, on this video if you stop the video at 1:06 and 2:14 which show real road side signs and then if you could explain exactly what they are saying line by line or even word by word, that would be fantastic. I'm also now watching your types of roads video and the same suggestion would apply there. Keep up the great work you do in any case, very helpful.
Hi Darrell, thanks for your suggestion. When writing the scripts for our video the issue of length becomes paramount. If we enter into much detail, we might end up with extremely long videos, which is not something we are against per se, for as long as there is a powerful reason for it. If and when we do a video on traffic signals in Spain, you can be certain those details will be plentiful. All the best.
Greetings, my friend.🔔🔔🔔 This is an excellent upload. Thank you for sharing it. Wishing you a wonderful day.
A wonderful day to you too!
Vídeo MUY informatívo. ¡GRACIAS! ☺
¡Gracias a ti!
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal ☺
I recently drove in Galicia for a week. The driving was good, but I recommend against hitting A Coruna at the rush hour relying only on a GPS. It was hell. Anyway, my biggest observation about driving in Spain is that the speed limits not only change often (a lot too often) they don't even make sense half the time. They are not necessarily correlated to the population density you are driving through. It's totally inconsistent. The drivers are good though. The roads are in great condition, and the scenery is mind blowing.
Thanks Roddy. Those ever-changing speed limits are a real pain. There are very clear rules but then, each town introduces variations that drive us crazy.
I noticed amber flashing lights on the congested section of the motorway/freeway MA-20 between the airport and Malaga (not at a crosswalk) not sure what the mean, can't seem to find information online. I assume it means caution?
We are just guessing here, as we would have to see the lights with our very own eyes, but we suspect they are warning lights informing of slow traffic ahead in a stretch of motorway notorious for holdups.
Hola Tony, gracias por la information, bastante util.👍
Gracias a ti, David.
Excellent video.. THANK YOU. I am travelling from the UK to Malaga via Salamanca then to Cartagen then to Valencia, then home via Zaragoza..... I have bought a clean air zone sticker for France but am struggling to see if I need one in Spain....my campervan is new and Euro 6 ,please can you advise..... thanks again Howard.
Hello there. As far as we are aware, only Madrid, and specially Barcelona, have traffic restrictions in place that demand a sticker. In the cities you mention you should be fine. All the best.
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal
Excellent, thank you so much for the reply.
Howard.
Great video, we are planning to come to Madrid on September this year. This is our first in Spain too. We will be renting a car to drive to Boltana for our hotel.
Thanks, Robert, I don’t know whether you’ve seen we have a road trip through the area you will be visiting: th-cam.com/video/mg6SoR_E6tk/w-d-xo.html All the best!
Yes I did , I appreciate the effort you put in the videos you did. This gives me confidence while I am driving in Spain 🇪🇸. Thanks again!
@@MrRcolon1985 have a super trip!
We will be renting a car at Madrid Airport. Any advice? Do I have to get special license to drive in Spain? Can I just use my USA license? Also do I have to get special car insurance too?
@@MrRcolon1985 you should check with your car rental company about the type of license they request from their costumers. Your US license should be fine from a police point of view, but check with the car rental company too. Car insurance is a very personal issue. We always go for a full cover, even if that means paying more for the rental.
¡Muchas gracias por la información!
¡Gracias a ti!
Thanks for this Tony, I'm looking forward to driving from Lloret de Mar to Barcelona tomorrow!
Have a safe trip!
Thank you for all the good advice 🙏
You're welcome!
this is super helpful! Thank you so much for this great information.
Thank YOU, Daya, if we can be of any help, let us know!
Many thanks for your time & useful info 🙏🙏🙏
You're welcome, Jazzon 👍👍👍!
❤ Great video - very easy to understand
Great to hear that, Sarah!
thanks for this video! i’m from london and will be driving in fuerteventura. do you have any tips as i just got my license
Hello there. No specific tips other than we hope you have already booked your car, there is a serious shortage of rental cars in the islands.
Hells bells.. good luck !! 😅
We rented a car in Spain and toured Portugal and France with it, too. I remember in Paris I was driving on fumes and couldn't find a gas station - I had to enlist a taxi driver to take me there - most stations were closed due to a holiday. I was so happy I had a Mercedes mini-diesel. and fuel lasted a very long time.
Great video.. very informative
Thank you, David.
Hi Tony, really enjoyed your video and your very pleasant presentation manner. One question please, I understand the need for a HI-VIS jacket, if say I breakdown on a main road. But let's say I pull into a open patch of ground next to a country road. Do I still need to wear a HI-VIS jacket, if say I leave the car to take a picture?
Hello there, if you park safely somewhere to take a picture there is no need for you to wear the jacket, it's just for emergencies when your car cannot be parked safely.
I wish I had been driving a four wheel drive in Arcos de la Frontera. The rental car I was driving had a clutch that slipped. I almost didn't make it up the hill to the plaza.
We prefer to park at the entrance of Arcos and then walk uphill. But if you are staying at the Parador, you’ll want to get to the top.
Thanks Tony, very helpful.
Glad to hear that!
Thank you for the tips. I would like to make a road trip from Netherlands to spain with my 2014 FIAT panda.
👏👏👏
I was 60+ with a life time or driving on the left when I had the bright idea in Cadiz to purchase a 400 cc scooter to tour central and northern Spain. Two things, never drove on the right and the scooter was a death trap, good manufacturer undone by 15 years of hard use and poor maintenance. Got on my way with a trial trip Cadiz-Granada-Cadiz and a few hundred K's on inner city roads. Autopista was fantastic to drive countered by 2 lane blacktops with variable centre line or not. At night reverting to the lefthand lane on a low illumination country road was very easy and sometimes not obvious for kilometers.
4,000 km over 10 days on the scooter before it haemorrhaged all fluids and discharged sundry metallic bits, another 1,000 km in 10 hours driving a Golf.
Enough about my experience, what did I learn that Tony hasn't mentioned.
STOPPING DISTANCES,
especially on the scooter but also albeit to a lesser extent in cars. Whether due to a build up of oil or fine dust my
STOPPING DISTANCES were substantially LONGER
than I experienced in NZ when the road is dry.
DRY ROAD SURACES WERE SLIPPERY!
Brilliant thank you so much. 😊
Thank YOU!
This is extremely useful! Thank you!
Great to hear that, Selaksa!
Excellent information. Now it's time to update with additional information about Low Emission Zones. And will rental cars meet the requirements of the LEZs?
Hi Michael, that is not going to happen any time soon. There is so much uncertainty right now about how those zones are going to be implemented. And with local elections coming soon, today's rules might be completely different in six-months time. Best to check each city you are planning to visit individually.
Why dont YOU look it up???
What is the lane discipline for turning right on a rotundas? Do you stay in the outside lane or got to the middle?
If you are leaving the roundabout, you need to stay on the outside lane.
Hello Tony, just subscribed to your channel. Once again thank you very much for this informative video! this is just my 2nd video! I'll go through all your videos about driving in Spain. We will be in Madrid end of November and planning on renting car to see the surroundings of Madrid - Toledo, Avila, Segovia & Salamanca would be the furthest west we will go. Should I be concern of snow in November? We are 1stimers here. Thank you very much.
Hi Edna, be very welcome to the channel. Snow in November cannot be discarded but is not a common occurrence. All the best!
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal Thank you Tony. Good to know that snow is not a common occurrence. We’ll just be ready and be careful when driving in Spain. All the best to you too! Thank you again for all you do.
We are headed to Spain in November. We have never been to Spain. The plan is to fly into Bilbao, stay for a day or two. After that we will head to wine country Haro .Lagrano for a week and then the eastern side of Rioja region for a few days. Not sure where we fly out from.
Any thoughts. The trip is for food, wine and meeting the people.
See our road trip through La Rioja th-cam.com/video/uQZ5fKjwqSQ/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for sharing so many of your videos. We arrived in Madrid yesterday and I have been following your instructions from the airport and have had no issues from buying metro tickets to places to stay and eat.
Question: what is the fastest and inexpensive way to get an eSIM for my iPhone for our 9 day stay as we travel around Spain. Thanks.
Hello Shuja, ideally, you would have obtained the SIM card at the airport. Go to an Orange or Vodafone store and get a SIM for those brands. We don’t have recommendations for eSIMs.
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal AS always, thank you again for the Vodafone SIM worked out pretty inexpensive and perfect for our 9 day stay in Spain. Was 1/2 the price of getting the US T-mobile international plan. Plus, it help having a local number to order food deliveries etc.
FOr those of you reading my comment --- Spain was a great experience for my teen kids, my wife and me. Lodging and eating out was comparatively cheap, I felt safe travelling through all the Andalusia province , be it by rental car or by train. People are kind and immensely helpful, the landscape and beaches are amazing. Plus the instructions by @tony galvez regarding the DOs and Don'ts greatly helped us.
@@ShujaKidwaiMasauliwala thank you so much for sharing your experience, delighted to hear you had a wonderful stay in Spain!
Thank you for this awesome video. We are planning to rent a car while in Spain. How do you know when you have received a traffic violation from a roadside camera and how do you "pay it immediately"?
Hi Joe, first of all try not to get fined! You rental car company will probably be notified if you are fined, but it greatly depends on the authority fining you (whether it's local, regional or national).
Planning a trip to Spain in November. I am a US citizen with a US passport and drivers license, but I am a permanent resident of Ecuador also with an Ecuadorian drivers license. So I do NOT have to get an international drivers license (now required for US drivers in Spain) since I have an Ecuadorian residency Visa and drivers license ... Correct?
Thanks for the tip on buying train tickets early.
Hi Tom, just in case, I would check with the car rental company.
Thank you!
Our pleasure!
Hi, great video thank you. We are driving from Madrid Airprot to Nerja July 2nd. A family of 7. Any advice please on best route? We’d hope to stop a couple of times to eat and stretch our legs. Thank you. Donal
Thanks Donal. Unfortunately we haven't driven that route so there isn't much we can share from personal experience. The most logical route is through Jaén and Granada. You could take a small detour to Consuegra to see the windmills and stretch your legs. All the best.
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal thanks for getting back any way. Take care.
Super helpful video!
Thank you, Danny!
Perfect video.. Thank you :)
Thank you, Paul, if we can be of any help, let us know!
A great video, gracias. Can you offer any similar advice for the dos-and-donts-of-driving in Portugal too? I know the Portugal road rules are broadly similar to Spain and Italy and France but there must be important differences still, no? Thank you.
Hi Yuri, that's a video we intend to do in the future, but we haven't done the necessary research for it yet.
First, thanks for your advice and the video is very useful.
I have a question ?
Drinking water or coffee is allowed while driving?
Hanging a mobile phone next to the steering wheel for the sake of maps, does it count as a traffic violation?
Thank you. Any distraction while you are driving might render you a fine. Looking at your mobile while driving is not allowed.
Hola, I am planning on renting a regular bicycle in the Gothic area. I am traveling solo next month and spending 10 days there. Will it be challenging riding a bicycle all over the place including Sagrada Familia? Thank you.
We are travelling from Madrid to Porto. 7 of us. Should we drive and make a stop at Douro wine valley , or it is better for us to just fly to Porto, or overnight bus to Porto? If direct to Porto, we’ll do a wine tour from there
To visit the Douro valley you would need between 3 and 5 days. Fly to Porto.
Very useful. Seems the rules are slow down and be careful.
Yes, always act wisely.
Thank you, helpful. I am planning to drive from Seville train station to cordoba, then to granada, torrox/malaga, and white villages , then from malaga to ronda to seville. Include a drive from seville to cadiz... any tips to select good routes... it will be in 1st week ofOctober, mainly.
Hi Irfan, we don't have any material yet on the routes you are going to travel.
thank you so much!
Our pleasure!
Thank you very much for your video which is very helpful for me as i plan to drive from Lagos to Sevilla, then onward to Barcelona, exploring the quaint and charming smaller cities and towns in Southern Spain。 May I know how i drive from Portugal to Spain in a rental car? welcome advice for alternative modes of transportation. Thank you and best regards! 😀
Hello Fong, we don't have anything specific on that topic yet, but have a video on how to travel from Spain to Portugal th-cam.com/video/NS9AocaBuxQ/w-d-xo.html You will need to find a rental company that allows you to take the car in one country and return it on another. There will be expensive charges involved.
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal Appreciate it greatly! Thank you for all your video uploads. I'm sure they have been very a great help to many travellers. Blessings 🙏👍
👏👏👏
Hi are there service stations, that SELL LPG.
in spain and Portugal.
Any answers would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Hi Mike, here's the list gasnam.es/terrestre/mapa-de-estaciones-de-gas-natural/
Do you have any advise for roadside assistance insurance? What should we know in case of any emergency while driving? Thank you again for being an invaluable resource. Regards.
On the topic of roadside assistance, you car rental company will probably include some sort of package, you will have to check with them. If you have a mechanical failure, you will have to dial the number of the insurance company. In an emergency, you dial 112. All the best!
If navigation systems are not allowed how do we know how to get from point a to point b without using a navigation system ?
Navigation systems are allowed. The driver cannot operate it while he's driving.
Thank you for all you travel video. Please kindly let me know if I Can rent car in Portugal and travel to Spain with the rental car? Also I would like to know, I am travelling to Algarve and would like to visit Seville and Granada Alhambra in Spain and back to Porto from Granada Alhambra. Please advice the best way to do and what transportations options do I have?
You have to ask your car rental company when you book but in generally it is OK to rent in Spain and drive in Portugal and vice versa. We rented in Spain for 4 weeks in 2019 and we drove from Spain to Porto for 5 days and our rental (Hertz in Barcelona airport) said it was OK to do.
As Yuri told you, you have to check with the rental company, it's usually ok to bring the car to Spain for as long as you let them know in advance. You can reach Seville and Granada by car but be aware you cannot drive through the centre of Granada unless you are staying at a hotel downtown.
Thank you for this and all your other helpful videos! We have a question about the type of driving licence required. Our hire car company (we will collect the car from Dollar in Zaragoza ) says we need an international driving permit. We have UK licences and have hired cars in Lanzarote with no problems just with our UK licence so wonder if you know whether we really do need the international licence? Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.
Hello, if the car rental company asks for an International Driving License, there isn't much to argue. Do remember the UK is no longer in the EU, in the past, UK driving licenses were accepted in Spain with the same status as the national ones. But that situation might have changed as a result of Brexit.
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal Thank you very much! Yes, Brexit has changed a few things! We’ll get them organised then just in case as they are cheap enough and look forward to our trip which starts next weekend! 😊
Hello. I am going to go to Sevilla in August. This is my third time in Spain and I've been going back to Europe (from the U.S.) in the last 6 years. We've always just taken the public transportation since we really don't leave the city center (unless tours). This time, we'd like to try renting a car and drive from Sevilla to Algarve/Lagos region in Portugal. And also - consider the possibility of driving to different Andalucian cities instead of taking the train. Thank you for this video - it's really helpful with the basic info. I have a few questions and I'd really appreciate if you can give tips:
- Do I need to have some kind of temporary license? Or will my passport and original license (where I'm from) do?
- Once we enter Portugal border - do we need to stop and show documents (passport, etc)?
- The idea of taking the country roads sounds really nice - I'd like to do that... but will there be available ones to drive in Portugal (coming from Sevilla)?
- Can the maps/gps tell what country rides to take if we don't like the "autovias"?
- Is it easy to move from country road to "autovias" or vice versa as we drive?
- With the Covid situation now - can we just drive to Portugal (from Sevilla) or do we need some kind of health document to show when we enter the border (like vaccine proof, negative test results, etc)?
Our trip is coming soon and I'm really excited! :)
Thank you again for your time and info!
Hello Ian. We always attemp to disuade people from visiting Seville in August, it's low season in the city due to the extreme temperatures, that make tourism very uncomfortable. Not even the locals can bear it. But we take there's isn't much you can do about it now. Your questions:
- driving licence. You don't mention your nationality, so it's impossible to give an informed reply to this question. Have a look at the info provided at Spain's official tourism website: www.spain.info/en/travel-tips/driving-regulations/
- there are no border checks between Spain and Portugal (but they were reinstated during the pandemic).
- country roads are everywhere!
- it's tricky, Google Maps, for instance, let's you avoid toll roads, but since autovías are not toll roads, there is no way to automatically exclude them. You will have to do your homework before travelling and study each leg you are going to drive.
- super easy to join or leave autovías. No problems there.
- COVID situation. Rules are changing the whole time. What we tell you know might not be in force in August. Good place to source up to date info on the topic: travelsafe.spain.info/
All the best!
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal thank you for all the info! Ha ha! No choice anymore but to go in August. Also, it’s always August that I travel to Europe. But 2 years ago, I was in Lisbon and saw the news about Seville being too hot! 😂. I’ll check with the rental cars if I would still need an international driver’s license.
Let's root for one of those weeks when temperatures don't reach 40 in Seville 🔥You never know. All the best!
Thank you so much for the great tips. Very well done! Do you have tips for driving from Lisbon to Seville in a rented car? Two day trip. Will drop the car in Seville upon arrival. We will stop in Algarve area to spend the night. Mid September 2023. I was especially wondering about border crossing and I read that we should have an international drivers license. Is this true?
Hi Esther, we don't have anything yet on that topic.
We drove from Spain to Portugal and back to Spain 5 days later in our Hertz rental car in Sep/Oct 2019. No problems, but you do need to have your passports and internatioal driving permits available if you are stopped by police or any border officers. We were not stopped but you should not rely on that. If you have European (EU) passports then you just need your identity cards and you do not need international driving permits. I am not sure about the UK citizens since post-Brexit.
@@noyb-yb just to be clear, permanent border controls between Spain and Portugal (and many other countries within Europe) were completely dismantled many many years ago. There are NO permanent border controls.
Great video as always. Thanks 🙏
Our pleasure!
Hi, thanks for sharing. Una pregunta por favor. I am from Tunisia and have been in Barcelona for 2 months, I am getting my TIE card in one month and buying a car next week. My question is can I drive with my tunisian driving licence untill I change it to spanish one ? some people say says some say no, I am confused 😕 Thanks in advance 🙏
Thanks Bouthouri. Our field of expertise are tourist travel to Spain. We don't have the knowledge to answer your question. You should check first with your travel insurance company, they might not cover you if you make the wrong move.
Excellent advice on 20 km below posted limit when passing a cyclist !
We like to slow down as much as possible, the safety of a cyclist is paramount.
Thank you so much for this very informative video! I'm planning to stay in Spain and Portugal for a month and am planning on potentially renting a car so your tips came in handy (paying after pumping gas for example!).
Do you have any recommendations in terms of what map service to use? Is google maps enough? You made a point about not using the autovias when doing road trips, is there a way to disable this on any mapping service (turn off highway)?
Again, thank you so much for the video!
Dear Brenton, we are delighted to hear you found the video useful. This channel just got started and we are currently working on our first full-blown route, it should see the light some time in July. As for your questions. Google Maps will now and then drive you crazy (pun intended), but overall is just fine, it’s the maps service we always use. As “autovías” are not toll roads, there is no way you can tell Maps to exclude them. We’ve got nothing against autovías, they are great, but from a road trip point of view, they are dull and boring.Feel free to ask as many questions as you want. All the best!
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal Thank you for the response! Would you recommend a rental car as a good way to get around Spain/Portugal? I've read that the public transportations are good and I've also looked into BlaBlaCar (which sounds very interesting!). I'm guessing there might be places within Spain that are easier to traverse with your own car or are ubers typically readily available?
Thank you again and wish you all the best with your channel!
Brenton, we are currently on the road. I will give you a proper reply back home on Sunday. Cheers!
@@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal have a safe trip!
Hi again, Brenton. A road trip is a different way of travelling through a country. If you intend to visit the main cities of both countries then hiring a car, in our opinion, would be a huge mistake. It would be much wiser to use public transportation, excellent in both countries. We only advice hiring a car if you intend on focusing on destinations outside the main cities. In Spain, make the most of the high-speed train network. In Portugal, trains and buses are the way to go. All the best.
P.S.: Uber and Cabify are only available in a selected number of cities, but you won't need them, within the cities, the public transportation network tends to be excellent. All the best.
I have a question. In my recent trip to Catalonia I rented a car to drive to Costa Brava. Somehow I got a speeding ticket for driving at 90 km/h in an area of 80 km/h. The rental company set me the ticket after I left Spain. I did all I could to pay from abroad (I live in Aruba) to no avail. I even sent the money to my daughter who lives in Barcelona but she cannot pay online either. What should I do?
It's hard to tell because it depends on the authority that fined you. The ticket should contain instructions.