Considering this road trip what are your thoughts?

[Steve Q]

Hello all, I'm thinking of doing a road trip this year, covid rules permitting. This is my itinerary, what do you think? 

Portsmouth-santander-madrid-mercia-marbella-gibraltar-Faro Portugal-lisbon via Lagos/ Alcacer do sal-porto-santiago de compestela-santander-portsmouth. 

I've mapped it out into manageable junks and the longest stint between these destinations is 4 hours 39mins. 

I'm giving myself 14 days to complete it and there will be over night stops at each place (excluding Portsmouth and Santander as I'll be on the ferry). Considering 2 night stops in Gibraltar and one other location but haven't decided which one. 

I've chosen Mercia as a friend should have bought a apartment by the time I intend to go. I've chosen Marbella as I know there's an English garage there so I can get the Audi fixed if there's any problems. 

[Shytot]

Looks like a nice trip - how many miles /km? 

If you are going via Murcia then Cartagena is a nice stop off. 

Normally there are a few cruise ships in (pre Covid) 

Either way it's better than working! 😁 

[Steve Q]

7 hours ago, Shytot said:

Looks like a nice trip - how many miles /km? 

If you are going via Murcia then Cartagena is a nice stop off. 

Normally there are a few cruise ships in (pre Covid) 

Either way it's better than working! 😁 

I've worked it out at 2,218 miles which should be doable as the a6 has done that kind of road trip miles before. 

Thank you for that ☺️ if my mate has bought the apartment then I'm contemplating dropping Mercia abd maybe adding in a trip to Tangier (because I'm either brave or stupid) as then the Audi had officially been in another continent. But I Know it'll make the trip more complicated abd slightly more stressful as the border crossing is a nightmare. 

[Trevor]

Worth noting that the Spanish have changed over to International Driving Licences where there are two different ones required to travel through the country.
Although not a lot of money to buy (cost more to get the photos taken) and they will recognise the photo licence as valid (for how long though?) it is worthwhile carrying as much legal documentation when traveling in Spain.

[Steve Q]

7 hours ago, Trevor said:

Worth noting that the Spanish have changed over to International Driving Licences where there are two different ones required to travel through the country.
Although not a lot of money to buy (cost more to get the photos taken) and they will recognise the photo licence as valid (for how long though?) it is worthwhile carrying as much legal documentation when traveling in Spain.

Thanks Trevor. Do you know how I go about sorting the licences? The trips looking like it'll be in September ☺️ 

 

[Trevor]

I popped into the Post Office and had a long chat with them about the different types of licences available depending on where you are looking to travel....its all a bit complicated but each licence is very cheap so worth getting all three of them.....lots of passport photos required though

[Steve Q]

5 hours ago, Trevor said:

I popped into the Post Office and had a long chat with them about the different types of licences available depending on where you are looking to travel....its all a bit complicated but each licence is very cheap so worth getting all three of them.....lots of passport photos required though

Thank you for that Trevor, will look into this with the local post office as they're very good 🙂 looking to go in September. Getting quite excited already 🙂

[Steve Q]

Just a quick update on this. Here are the two potential itineraries: 

Itinerary 1: 
16th over night ferry. 
17th arrive Santander 8am am and 4 hour 34 min drive to Madrid. 
18th madrid-Murcia. 4h
19th murcia-marbella 4h 51m 
20th Marbella-Gibraltar 1h 11m 
22nd- Gibraltar-faro (Portugal) 4h 9m
23rd- faro-lisbon 4h 30m via coast road. 
24th lisbon-porto 3h 
25th- Porto- Santiago de compestela 2h 30m 
26th - Santiago de compestela-santander 4h 35m 

That leaves 2.5 free days.

Itinerary 2: 
16th over night ferry. 
17th arrive Santander 8am am and 4 hour 34 min drive to Madrid. 
18th madrid-Marbella. 5h 53m
19th -Marbella-Gibraltar 1h 11m 
21st- Gibraltar-algeciras 30m. Catch ferry to Tangier med (Morocco) spend day in Morocco late ferry back. And stay in algeciras. 
22nd algeciras-faro 3 49m
23- faro-lisbon 4h 30m via coast road. 
24th lisbon-porto 3h 
25th- Porto- Santiago de compestela 2h 30m 
26th - Santiago de compestela-santander 4h 35m 

That leaves 2.5 free days.