Portugal ...?

[Peter V]

Hello Folks
Planning my first "big" holiday with my new T6 cali
to portugal...Want to visit beginning of august...
Never been there , but's its a fair bit from where I live , 1800km one way...
Any body been there and have some good places to see?
Are the locals friendley?
Got any pictures of nice campsites..etc...
cheers
Peter

 

[IanFK]

Yes I'm going this year too for my first time in the van. I have been on a walking holiday a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the country and the people. We travelled by train along the Duoro river from Porto to the Spanish border. At the time we we went all drinks were one euro (small beer, coffee). The north of Portugal is quite different from the more popular Algarve and the south. We ate at local restaurants and the food was excellent, particularly the fish.

 

[BerndRos]

I live there mostly, and my Cali is out there for a year. South East on River Guadiana with Spain on the opposite river bank.

80 cents for a Beer or Coffee and eating out very cheap.

More costly on the tourist Algarve.

People very very friendly and a laid back attitude.

Was very hot when I left last week to fly to UK...35c plus, so am finding our cool summer a nice respite.

Ensure you arrive with a full tank as UK prices in Portugal but far cheaper in Spain.

 

[AlanC]

Porto, Coimbra and Obidos are all good places to visit as well as Lisbon of course. A great coastline friendly people and wine to die for.

Alan

 

[Loz]

We had a great trip down through Portugal a couple of years ago, don't be afraid of going inland, there are some lovely place like the Dura river and mountain top villages to visit.

If you want to see our trip report its here http://www.mytreg.com/index.php?/topic/15337-portugal-overland/
(You might just need to register to see the pictures)

 

[Peter V]

Ok Guys.
I'm taking notes.....
cheers
Peter

 

[Robowagen]

We board the ferry this Sunday (15th July) for 2 weeks, we have a basic plan to drive across Spain from Bilbao to Northern Portugal and follow the coast down until we hit Alvor / get too hot / run out of money / run out of time...

 

[ChrisandPenney52]

Love inland Portugal in the North. Coimbra has a municipal campsite on a bus route into town. Was fine out of season but not sure how much/how crowded at this time of year. Used the rural ACSI sites mainly. Would be interested in what you find in damage after the tragic fires of last summer. A couple of the sites we stayed in were in the middle of affected Eucalyptus forests.

I'd recommend going in on one of the main motorway routes that have an EasyToll pay station a few KMs inside the border where you drive up to a numberplate recognition system and swipe your credit card. The automatic camera motor way tolls will then log you and bill your card automatically. Where there are toll ports go through the manual payment - the automatic payment channel is only for vehicles with transponders, and it's not worth the faff to get one of these.

Locations are (from North to South, clockwise around the border):
· A28 - Viana do Castelo Service Area;
· A24 – at 3,5km from Chaves/Veribn border;
· A25 – Alto de Leomil Service Area;
· A22 – next to Castro Marim/Ayamonte border

which I've cut and pasted from here:

http://www.portugaltolls.com/en/web/portal-de-portagens/home

We've used the A25 one.

It's a pity this restricts you to a few crossings but the simplicity once you're in Portugal, and the lack of need for advance planning, make it worthwhile for a typical holiday trip.

 

[Romke]

We board the ferry this Sunday (15th July) for 2 weeks, we have a basic plan to drive across Spain from Bilbao to Northern Portugal and follow the coast down until we hit Alvor / get too hot / run out of money / run out of time...

We were there in Jan/Feb this year. I'd recommend you to get a toll tag that is valid both in Spain and Portugal, like this one: http://www.aprr.fr/fr/telepeagelibert/particuliers/offre-topeurop. It also works in France.

 

[Robowagen]

We were there in Jan/Feb this year. I'd recommend you to get a toll tag that is valid both in Spain and Portugal, like this one: http://www.aprr.fr/fr/telepeagelibert/particuliers/offre-topeurop. It also works in France.

This isn't going to be a regular road trip so not fussed about having a toll tag nor do we have time to get one considering we leave in 4 days lol, but will deffo go with the other option as stated by ChrisandPenney52 of registering a credit card and going through the manual gates.

 

[AlanC]

We were there in Jan/Feb this year. I'd recommend you to get a toll tag that is valid both in Spain and Portugal, like this one: http://www.aprr.fr/fr/telepeagelibert/particuliers/offre-topeurop. It also works in France.

You will get bounced to the UK Sanef site if you try to get a tag direct from LiberT

Sanef do two separate tags, one for France (Bip and Go) and a new one for Spain and Portugal (Bip and Drive) now. I like them as I don't have to risk hitting the toll booth so my wife can reach the operator or the card machine.

If I travel on my own, which is rare, I don't need to get out of the vehicle to pay.

Alan

 

[hirsty]

We’ve flown to Faro the last two years for May half-term holidays instead of going to France as it’s both warmer and now significantly cheaper for food & drink.

The stretch along the very bottom of the Atlantic coast & along the Mediterranean coast seems very camper-van friendly & almost deserted other than for a few surf-dude types in T4s. The locals are extremely welcoming & accommodating of tourists to say they must get so many visitors.

I’m very keen to get down there in the van myself for an extended explore, we’re really taken with it.