Driving to CVO from the UK

djprescott · Post by **djprescott** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 7:30 am

We are considering driving from the UK to Carvoeiro for an extended break sometime in the future. I would be interested to hear any views, experiences, tips, recomendations on routes, how long to allow etc etc, if anyone has any experiences on this subject. Dave.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 8:33 am

Hi Dave

We did the trip back in June 2003 when we delivered furniture to our newly aquired house in the Algarve.
We drove along wheel base sprinter van from Calais in France.

We drove to Southern France (Bayon) the first day and it took about 13 hours.

After staying the night in a hotel we then made our way into Spain at Bilbao and headed for Salamanca and crossed into Portugal heading for Evora.

We stayed here for our second night and then trundeled down the motorway in the morning.

We could have, if we hadnt been moving the furniture in, made the trip in two solid days driving.

I think it was approx 1500 miles in all and we thouroughly enjoyed the experience.

Good hotel selections are to be found just off the motorways near major towns.

Great scenery and good roads all in all and we are doing it all again next month.

Enjoy your drive and try to look upon it as part of your holiday.

kteee · Post by **kteee** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 9:14 am

We did a slightly different route because I wanted to visit a part of France I used to go to.

We got an evening crossing on the tunnel on a Thursday and spent our first night in Arras just south of Calais, the next day we drove to Montauban north of Toulouse and spent the night there. We then took a detour through the pyrenees and down into Barcelona and on to Valencia for our next stop. From Valencia we went inland, down to Seville and into Portugal arriving in Carvoeiro Sunday afternoon.

We had our two dogs with us so we took it a bit slower than we would otherwise have done, but the journey was great - no problems and some fantastic scenery. We pre-booked Ibis hotels as we knew they would accept the dogs and they were very good value, most had restaurants and the hotels were easy to find from the maps on their website.

Good luck, hope you enjoy the trip!

k

Gerry Cullen · Post by **Gerry Cullen** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:25 am

Ktee,how do ibis handle the dog thing,? do they have kennels,i,m not trying to be funny.

kteee · Post by **kteee** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:38 am

No, they stay in the bedroom with you!

They were very accommodating and we ate in the room so as not to leave the dogs, they even let us take the dogs into the bar area.

k

Gerry Cullen · Post by **Gerry Cullen** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 11:38 am

Many thanks kteee,oh and congrats on the moderator job,fair play to you,
gerry

digger · Post by **digger** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 12:53 pm

Hi dj
my wife and I did it in the summer of 1990. I took 10 weeks off in between jobs, bought a camper van and off we went. We didn’t hang around in France or Spain – one night in each - but when we entered Portugal the pace became very leisurely. First stop Guarda – my wife’s home town – then a stop for one night or more at the following: Viseu, Aveiro, Porto, Coimbra, Lisboa, Evora, Beja then Portimao where we were based for about a week staying with friends. One tip I can give (if you’ve not already thought of it) is to make sure you have some kind of breakdown cover. Our engine blew up on the motorway by Bordeaux on the way home; luckily we had extended AA cover, and so were given a Hertz car to drive home and the van was transported back later.
I would recommend you take the opportunity to visit some of the places I mention. If you decide to enter the country further south, see a bit of Altentejo; Elvas is worth a visit.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 12:56 pm

Dave --we've done trip a few times.
Very first time we took ferry from Plymouth to Santander.Stopped at Burgos (the old Castilian capital & very interesting)--then like Guest--on to Salamanca --lovely university city-and well worth a look at! Then crossed border at Badajos across Alentejo region and then road down from Grandola(We stopped overnight here-as we were loadedup! So had to take our time).
But on overland trip--we went channel tunnel --road to Abbeville--then Le Mans(stayed at motel)---Poitiers--down to Bayonne/Biaritz--through Pyrenees (advise doing this in daylight--one trip we did it at night--was a bit hairy/and seem to take forever.!)
Stopped at nice motel( The Piconde del Conde) near Burgos. Then crossed into Portugal at Vila Formosa(Stopped for lunch and started off again about 2ish)--but made big mistake by taking route down east side to Faro--ended up on mountainous road--an arduous helter skelter drive--and didnt reach Lagoa till midnight!
The ferry journey was horrible and wouldnt do that again----Thinkthe best route was crossing at Badajos --or now--going to Algarve via Seville.
But if youre taking your time Dave--itll be great--as Kteee says--you take in some marvellous scenery--I love France--but enjoyed the driving much better in Spain.
Wish you a great and safe trip

Ellie

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 3:33 pm

Before moving here permanently we made about a dozen trips here via the Channel Tunnel. It is not a difficult drive with two overnight stops. We brought our dog on several occasions and based our stops around the Accord chain of hotels (Ibis, Novotel, Mercure etc) which allow dogs in the rooms. There plenty to choose from in France and we used to spend the second night at the Ibis in Madrid for a comfortable run down to the Algarve with the benefit of gaining one hour when you cross into Portugal.

Gerry Cullen · Post by **Gerry Cullen** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 8:12 pm

Sorry to be pedantic,but is there any restrictions on size or breed,proof of shots?if any of you have a minute,just basic advice would be great .I have two fullgrown wolfhounds .

kteee · Post by **kteee** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 9:06 pm

We have a retriever and a black lab cross, so not as big as yours but not small either - they didn't say there was any restriction. We had all their jabs, microchips done but no-one asked to see any of it from our home in Berkshire until we arrived in Carvoeiro!

Gerry Cullen · Post by **Gerry Cullen** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 10:08 pm

Many thanks ,happy trails.

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 10:12 pm

The first time we brought our dog we did things properly and obtained MAAf export certificates for Spain and Portugal which are tricky because you have to time their issue carefully because they are only valid for about 10 days. You don't need one for France because this is covered by the Pet passport documentation. What a waste of time and money because we saw no one at any of the borders. Do the French, Dutch and Germans get a lot of paperwork or simply load the dog in the car and drive down? What do you think.

We never bothered again and never had any problem. The whole thing is a bit of a nonsense because when we drive from CVO to Spain for a day's shopping and take the dog we strictly need an export certificate to cover the journey.

If you are taking a dog back to the UK the important thing is to have complied properly with the Pet Passport procedure including getting the animal treated by a vet for ticks and fleas more than 24 hours but not later than 48 hours before re-entry into the UK. If you cannot produce the correct paperwork you will not get the animal back in legally.

djprescott · Post by **djprescott** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 7:36 am

Thanks for all the tips, experiences etc. I was interested to hear you didn't enjoy the ferry crossing, Ellie, we had considered that at one time, but you don't get the opportunity of seeing the lovely countryside through France & Spain.
Incidently, there used to be a ferry service from Southampton to Lisbon years ago, anyone know if that is still available?

Thanks. Dave.

kteee · Post by **kteee** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 9:14 am

I don't think there is a ferry to Lisbon now, anyone know different?

We did the Portsmouth-Bilbao a few years ago and really enjoyed it. An added bonus is that you will probably see whales and dolphins on the crossing which was lovely.

The ship has lots of facilities, bars, restaurants, cinema etc and the time went really quickly for us.