Hi,
I'm planning to fly from the U.S. to Lisbon, to rent a bike in Portugal in October 2022 to ride around Portugal and possibly into Spain and back. The duration of the trip depends on whether we go to Spain.

Though this seems as though it should be utterly simple, I'm having some difficulty getting good and current information on whether there is any difficulty for a non-EU citizen riding across the Portugal-Spain border and back.

Is my difficulty finding information because there's nothing to it, like riding between N. Ireland and the Republic or between states in the U.S.?

Also, any other tips or suggestions for traveling in those two countries would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance.


- Brad

I am not an expert on custom transit, I am just a Spanish guy who has travel a lot between Spain and Portugal, and you have to know that there is no border control in Spain or Portugal, because we are in the European Union.

Thanks very much! This is just what I needed to know.

Brad:

Once you (as a US citizen) enter the Schengen visa area, you can travel freely between all of the Schengen countries.

Occasionally, you might encounter a "pop-up" border control, but those kind of things are primarily for customs (not immigration) control of European citizens, for example, to catch folks bringing marijuana into Germany from Netherlands, or meat/milk into Switzerland from Germany. There's not much motivation to smuggle anything between Spain & Portugal, so it is very unlikely you will encounter a pop-up customs control on that border.

I'm a Canadian citizen & ride extensively through Europe several times a year. I've never encountered an immigration control from one Schengen country into another, but maybe once every 2 or 3 years I might encounter a customs control.

Unless you pay attention to signs at the side of the road, you won't even know that you have crossed from Portugal into Spain or vice-versa.

* * * * * *

As for "tips on where to go", if you are in the north of Portugal there is some great riding in the Galicia area, which is the part of Spain that is directly north of Portugal. Superb mountains, great roads.

There is really nothing worth seeing in Spain if you are south of about halfway between Porto and Lisbon. South of that point, western Spain is very lightly populated, towns are few and far between, and the area is mostly near-desert - think of what it is like riding in rural Nevada, USA.

But in the north - in fact, anywhere in Spain that is north of Portugal, or anywhere in Spain that is both west and north of Porto - the riding is superb.

I've done a lot of riding in Portugal over the past 20 years, and if this is your first trip, my suggestion to you is don't go south of Lisbon. All the great scenery, all the history, all the twisty roads & good riding are north of Lisbon, the farther north, the better. It won't be too cool in October to ride in the north, but do bring layered clothing, because there are some great mountain areas in Galicia and it can get cool at the higher altitudes.

Michael

Michael gives good advice, as always. I do need to quibble with "There is really nothing worth seeing in Spain if you are south of about halfway between Porto and Lisbon." There is some wonderful riding (as well as sightseeing) around Ronda, and the Alhambra is worth a journey unto itself. There's more, but that's what stands out for me.

Mark

Indeed, it is about as complicated as it would be for an EU citizen to ride across the border between California and Nevada.

Portugal is on the Atlantic coast. You can still ride in the winter (I rented a scooter in Lisbon in February to go to Cabo la Roca), but late into the season, it can be cold, windy and wet. Especially in the mountains.

Otherwise, Spain and Portugal are wonderful, you will have a great trip.

Muchas gracias to all!
Great info, both as relief for my border concerns and for planning routes!
Now to learn a little survival Portuguese to go with my pitiful Spanish...


- B

Hi Mark:

You are 100% correct.

I should have been more geographically specific when I wrote that sentence. I wasn't thinking of areas significantly inland in Spain such as Ronda, Seville, etc., which I agree are superb places to ride and visit.

I was more thinking of southern Spain within 50 to 100 km of the border with Portugal, which, with the possible exception of the city of Badajoz, are mostly deserted areas, hot, and flat. Badajoz is interesting, but I would not make a long detour to go see it.

Michael

Well, we have different views.
I live in Algarve. And there are so many nice roads around here.
E.g
N2 ends if Faro.
ACT ends in Tavira
The mountain area around Monchique.
The west coast.
Along the border with Spain. Following the river

+++


And if you like to ride dirt/gravel. This is as good as it can be.


https://algarveseniorbikers.com

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This proposal is from the book
"Great Motorcycle tours of Europe"

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@Erik_G: Interesting... our cave house is NNE from Baza (left side of map) so it looks like the route goes right by us.

I have a keen interest in history, so this was one of my explorations looking at the route of a canal project from the 16th century that was never completed

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Thanks again to everyone for the super helpful replies.
We're finally getting serious about our Portugal / Spain trip, now five days away.
I'll post something, I hope something useful to others, about it when we're back!

I'm betting, having never been to this region of Europe before, that we'll find great riding and interesting scenery almost wherever we go!


The hard part will be striking a balance between wanting to ride - to "get my money's worth" out of the expensive rental motorcycle - and stopping long enough to get a feel for the culture, people, history, etc.


But here's another query to help me and possibly others plan and not over-plan given a limited amount of time there.


When I check the time / distance between locations on googly maps, usually it comes up with "A" roads as primary. I know, though, that we'll enjoy smaller "N" roads more, and that the "N" roads will have the best riding.


So are "A" roads in Portugal and Spain all four lane freeway / tollway type roads, i.e., boring with heavy truck traffic?
And should I plan, in general, about twice as much time to ride "N" roads?


Also, do most or all of the toll roads have manned booths to pay tolls in person so the rental company doesn't later get a notice to pay tolls + fines?


I asked this of the rental company (IMT) and got kind of a weird response involving the possibility of paying tolls at a post office. Say what?

https://administracion.gob.es/pag_Ho...s%20in%20Spain.

Only some specific sections of A-roads have tolls. There are toll booths at entries and exits, and you can pay by cash or card.

Highways are fast, safe, sometimes boring, but in general the toll sections are there to bypass local roads with heavy traffic in dense areas. So to avoid the tolls would not be a pleasant experience (and you would probably pay more in gas). Seek out the nice roads where they do exist, of course, but don't be a zealot about the highways.

Great info, thanks!


And that's an excellent link, too. Looks like in Spain, the only place where I'll run across tolls is roughy between Marbella and Malaga.