Advice please on driving to Portugal from Santander?

[tompuss]

Hi there, has anyone driven from Santander to Portugal? DH and I have a villa for a week in the Algarve to join our family and want to take a few days driving down and back again.

We arrive in Santander in the afternoon and then have 3 days to drive down and 4 days to drive back again. I’m really not sure what the best route to take is. I think that the time scale maybe allows for a fairly leisurely journey? Does anyone have any suggestions/experience of the best way to do it and also any suggestions about where to stop/stay en route? We will have no children with us and would like to stay in ‘boutiquey’ places rather than large chain hotels. I know that we would love to visit Porto, either on the way down or on the way back. Other than that we have no fixed ideas.

Is it best to say on motorways or to take a scenic route (which we would prefer)?

If anyone has any experience and/or suggestions then I’d be really grateful! TIA

Don’t go on the motorway! I don’t know so much about Portugal, but the back roads in Spain are fantastic and there are some wonderful towns to stop in. Drive down through Burgos and Salamanca, and maybe back through Porto. Or go along the Galician coast for a bit before heading South.
And look at Santillana del Mar for your first night in Spain.
You will love this trip, have an amazing time!

Thank you so much Notanotherrottenotter. I'm google mapping those suggestions right now!

I thought of somewhere else - if you are cutting down through Extremadura, a little town called Merida is wonderful. Very sleepy, but rammed full of Roman remains,
And also, it isn’t unrealistic to go via Seville, or even the Sherry Triangle towns of Sanlucar, Jerez and Puerto de Santa Maria.
But then, if you don’t go along the North Coast, you would miss out Vigo, and all that amazing food....
You can tell I am a fan of Spain!

Notanotherottenotter That's also really helpful, thank you! I think that we will cut down through the Extramadura and Merida looks just our sort of place, as does Santillano del Mar. I've already looked at this hotel there: La Casona de Revolgo which seems fab?

We visited Galicia several years ago and just loved it but would like to try something really new so your suggestions are wonderful and exciting! We have also loved Adalucia (they have the most fabulous riding there!) and may go back for the Lusitano horses next year.

I'm now thinking that we may be able cut directly to Porto from Merida; our daughter and son in law are staying in an Air Bnb there at that time so we could perhaps join them for a night and day there and then work our way south from there.

Your suggestions are really helpful and I'm having a wonderful time Googling and TripAdvisoring so thank you for making my day!