Touring Portugal - help and advice

[Mick Sturbs]

Greetings Happy Campers and Funsters. I (or should I say we being myself and She Who Must Be Obayed Without Question) need your help. Oh no I hear you groan. Not more questions from newbies about the bleedin’ obvious? Well, kind of.

Having purchased our first motorhome and taken delivery in mid June, we have been touring Blighty and have covered over 2000 miles touring such delights as the New Forest, the Highlands of Bonny Scotland, the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, and more besides. We are currently touring Shropshire and Herefordshire and next stop will be the Forest of Dean. Get to the point I hear you say? OK.

We consider ourselves no longer motorhome virgins but we are still newbies. Having survived touring and discovering the delights of inner city roads and diversions as well as manouvering around tight corners, even tighter gates, and narrow bridges, we believe we have earned our spurs and want to explore the Continent.

This is where you come in dear reader. Although we are still a bit nervous (pale but determined) we plan on spending 3-4 weeks touring Portugal departing either Portsmouth or Plymouth for Santander. Head south through Spain then touring primarily the north of Portugal before heading south along the coast to the Algarve. Two questions:

First, what kit do we need to be legal? I am aware of the problem with gas containers not being compatible but we will go with 2 full bottles which should keep us going as we don’t use much for cooking. I know we can buy a European Kit from Halfords or reputable motorhome dealers but would be interested to know of any other requirements or quirks needed to satisfy the local bobbies and officials, as well as local campsites.

Second, any advice on touring? We have no fixed ideas or itinerary so again we would welcome any input from you lovely people on routes that are motorhome friendly. We do want to explore a little of the interior as we love the mountains and so don’t simply want to head south along the coast. Anyone done that?

Thanks for getting this far and I/we look forward to any help you can offer.

 

[Richard n Ann]

A few nice Aires we stayed on if you're interested. You can look them up on Google maps.

This is an old football ground in Albufera, really cheap and friendly.

Enjoy

 

[Chockswahay]

@Ken Dunbar here you go Have a butchers through our blog. We like the road less travelled

https://wolfydoesportugal.blogspot.com/2014/01/blog-post.html?m=0

 

[Southdowners]

We use park4night and campercontact to find aires, stellplatz and wild places to stay as well as sites. Personally we don't use sites unless we really, really have to.

You'll find motorhoming on the continent a wonderful experience, especially when compared to the UK. You'll find service points allowing you to fill and discharge, fantastic places to stay the night, or longer, sometimes free sometimes not but always very cheap. There really is no comparison between the UK and the continent when it comes to motorhoming... well, I suppose there is but the UK comes off badly in the comparison I'm afraid.

Happy travels!

 

[DBK]

Off the top of my head the legal requirements for Spain include two warning triangles, spares pair of glasses if you use them and hi-viz waistcoats kept somewhere easy to get at - we put ours in the door pockets.
Portuguese roads in the mountains can be very narrow in places. If you read post #209 on this page you will find a description of the only road I've come across in the last 5 years which I strongly advise you don't try in a MH. We have a PVC but had to breathe in at times. But on the same page is a great private aire which I thoroughly recommend.

https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/two-go-back-to-spain.173803/page-11

Be prepared for "British" weather in northern Spain and Portugal.

Don't forget Galicia - it has some stunning spots.

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[JJ]

You could enter "Portugal" in the Forum's search facility (the little magnifying glass top right)... tick the box that says "titles only" and you will have lots of stuff re Portugal to check out...

Enjoy.


JJ

 

[Solwaybuggier]

It’s well worth getting the Portugal campsite guide Guia Roteiro - either from a site in Portugal or in advance from Vicarious Books. Mostly symbol based, although text is Portuguese only, but it is pretty comprehensive of sites, doesn’t cost much (around €7 in Portugal) and gives worthwhile discounts on a fair proportion of sites. Doesn’t list aires - and there are some amazing ones.

Northern Portugal is beautiful, mostly quiet and can be amazingly cheap - lots of sites, particularly municipal ones, can be below ACSI minimum price! The standard is variable, though. The Algarve is significantly dearer, but warmer. Quite an interesting article in the current MMM on routes.

The roads can be bumpy, and motorways are confusing with a range of charging regimes - we’ve just got a Sanef toll tag so we can go through the automatic gates for Portugal and Spain. If you’re going by the tunnel you can get a reduced charge for the tag.

 

[Theonlysue]

I would suggest getting refillable gas bottles. It will be a lot cheaper and easier to fill than swapping bottles.
If you get the paid version of camper contact, it wilk download all the info to your phone/tablet, so you wont need wifi to access it.
Lots of places to stop. All very motorhome friendly. Enjoy!

 

[busby]

Sent you a message,,BUSBY,,,

 

[Lot lover]

but would be interested to know of any other requirements or quirks needed to satisfy the local bobbies and officials

Not sure if always required but recommend that you switch on headlights when driving through a tunnel.

As regards gas, somewhere I have details of 2 places in Portugal that refill normal gas bottles, but where have i put the details? If needed I will search.

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[Mick Sturbs]

Many thanks. We will put our headlights on just in case! As regards the gas, it would be useful to know where we might refill normal (in our case Calor) gas bottles. Please don't go to a lot of bother but if you can find the details it will help us.
Kind regards, Ken

 

[Lot lover]

1. Small service station for GPL that is located just north east of Olhao in Quelfes on the N398 on the Moncaraphacho side of the village.

N37.06421 W7.81236

There is a metal sign on the side of the road that simply states ‘GPL’ and you turn onto the track and the station is about 50 mtres further along. There is a garage forecourt and a single GPL pump on it. The old lady who runs it can fill any bottles you have (we have French Butagas) and she trundles yours away to the rear of the workshops and returns it full. It cost us 28euros (cash only) and gave us a lot longer before we needed to be back in France to get refills.

2. Chamazul Autogas (not sure where)

N 39 deg 25.580
W 9 deg 07.550

Details of the former were provided by a fellow Funster, the latter by a site in W Portugal so I imagine it is somewhere N of Lisbon.

Happy Motorhoming

 

[Lot lover]

OP - gas usage.

We set out for sunnier climes early January carrying 2 brand new 13 kg "normal" propane bottles. Other than a couple of nights of France Passion we stayed on sites so gas usage was cooking only nearly all the time, occasional hot water for shower/washing up when inclement weather precluded these on-site activities no electric cooking as our microwave died early in the trip leaving just our gas hob. Heating provided by small elec fan heater.

the first bottle lasted about 7 weeks.

The second was used for a further 4 weeks in Portugal/Spain and another 4 weeks in May/June.

I appreciate that 1 man's meat is another man's poison but this may give you some idea how long gas bottles may last.

 

[BreweryDave]

Just a quickie re the gas.
No no no! Get proper refillable bottles if you intend to be away long term. Don't risk blowing up your van!

That said, 3-4 weeks in summer then what you have will last. Please don't refill a calor bottle!
If you do, then don't come anywhere near me

 

[Lot lover]

Someone, somewhere refills the propane bottles that I return to Leclerc so there must be a way of doing it safely.

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[dabhand]

Obviously, weather cold, wildcamping = more gas, weather hot on sites = less gas. I reckon warm weather, no heating with fridge on coldest, showering and hob use 1 - 1.5 litres per day, and 1.5 - 4 litres per day if using heating.

 

[dabhand]

Btw Obidos (along with a thousand other places) is a nice place to visit if your passing, there are some great threads on here that will give you many of the the must see places, @Busman and @PhilandMena have done a fairly recent tour listing many good stops along with many others, don’t forget the Baragems (reservoirs and the like) more often free with a little bar and restaurant mainly inland in lovely surroundings, have fun and just chill.

 

[PhilandMena]

Some advice on routes.
Firstly, routes and route maps for France and Spain. This first link is an award winning database about France. It has a host of information on best routes to many locations. I have selected the famous N10 route from Calais to Irun which is used by many motorhomes when travelling to Spain. It’s almost Toll free (more on that a little later) and almost all duel carriageway from start to finish with the exception of about 100 K. This route is great for motorhomes small, medium and large. Note: (HGV’s are not allowed on French roads, Sunday’s, so plan your journey over a weekend if possible).

https://about-france.com/tourism/no-tolls-routes.htm

Tolls: Avoid the toll road from Calais to Abbeville and save 12.50 Euros. The non-toll route is quite scenic and fairly straight forward, between Boulogne-sur-Mer and Abbeville.

At Abbeville, join the A28 and cross the river Sein at Rouen. We take the second exit immediately after crossing the bridge (about 50 m past the first exit at the end of the bridge), swing down and under the bridge you have just crossed and continue on this road and join the A13 motorway until the N154 which takes you down to Evreux. (Note: there are a number of different options for getting through Rouen and no doubt other members will have their own preferences. We find this very straight forward on both outward and return legs). Approaching Tours on the D910 join the A10 toll road at Jct. 19 and exit at Jct. 23. This will take you through the city via the toll road, (€1.80). At Jct. 23 take the exit lane for Montbazon which returns you to the D910. (Reverse for the return leg). That’s the last toll to pay until you hit the bottom of the A63 after Bordeaux.

To save toll fares on the A63 south of Bordeaux please read the route recommendations in the above link. Do not come off the A63 near the bottom as all roads will be heavily congested and it’s worth paying the last few tolls. (From Jct 6 €8.90 in total) (Fuel costs approx. €147.84 (Based on 1056 K @10K per Ltr. @€1.40 per ltr. 3.5T motorhome)). This route is also recommended during winter, due to its proximity to the Atlantic ocean, which means little to no problems with ice and or snow, unlike using the A75 to cross the Massif Central. Although the A75 is quickly cleared, it is advisable to have winter tyres fitted and there may be some small delays due to snow ploughs clearing this route.

If heading to the Mediterranean side of Spain, it’s worth taking the N121-A to Pamplona after crossing the Spanish boarder on the A63 at Irun. It’s clearly sign posted (Large white sign) about 300 m after passing through the last toll booth and crossing the river. Also here are Repsol fuel stations and shopping opportunities. You will find more details in this link for the N121-A and how to navigate Spain toll free.

https://about-spain.net/travel/no-tolls.htm

If you decide to pay Tolls in order to save time getting to Spain, your best route options are in this link.

https://about-france.com/tourism/routes-to-spain.htm

Should you choose to plan your own routes anywhere in Europe and also establish Toll costs, (or toll free costs) use this link. Under route options, select caravan then select toll roads. Toll costs for a class 2 motorhome will be calculated for the whole journey. You can also choose Non toll routes and other options. This is currently one of the best online free route planers.

https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/

As for stop overs on routes, you can’t go wrong using the App below which is free but I would recommend getting the paid version for about £6.00 which you can then use off line. You will find numerous places to stop along the above route and I have deliberately not made any recommendations so drivers can make their own choices. This app is also brilliant for finding other places too and highly rated by many users.

https://www.campercontact.com/en/content/app

There is another popular app/website that is used which you may also find useful if you’re doing a lot of wilding and looking for free overnight stops. It too is used by many motor homers in Europe. Get the paid version to use off line for around £9.00

https://www.park4night.com/

Finally, probably the best off line maps ‘App’ and used by many. It also includes a sat-nav function which is quite good and can also be used off line. Again many motor homers use this, especially in Morocco.

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[peterc10]

When in northern Portugal you must visit the Douro valley where all the Port grapes are grown. But beware, many roads are narrow. We stayed at Pera de Regua at a lovely Aire overlooking the river. 3 Euros a night including water waste and electricity on each pitch. Nice town with some nice restaurants.

Then take the train up the river and back. It follows the river most of the way and you get some fantastic views. Or you can take a boat up and down.

 

[Riverbankannie]

Instead of heading straight through Spain, do take a trip into the Picos de Europa. Beautiful.

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