Driving from La Rochelle to Lisbon - advice please

[AliRyder]

In the summer, we are driving from La Rochelle (France) to Lisbon (Portugal) (long story). Our DDs are 13 and 11. It's around a 13 hour drive so we're going to split it up into two days. Is anyone familiar with the part of northern Spain that we'll be driving through? Do you have any suggestions of where to stay en route or particular highlights of places to visit to break the journey? TIA.

Really interesting question! I'd love to know the answer also. Plus if there is any mountainous driving.

We drove from Santander to the top of France last year, so covered a little of your route. We stayed in Bilbao and San Sebastian while in northern Spain. San Sebastian would probably be best for the ages of your kids, due to the beaches.

I don't know what you enjoy as a family, and I suspect it wouldn't take much to have you spend far longer driving than you anticipate. However if all went smoothly and you had time to stop and enjoy things along the way then my suggestions would be .... about 3 hours south of La Rochelle near Bordeaux you could detour slightly to see the Pilat sand dune. Crossing into Spain you will pass San Sebastian, which I loved, not sure on parking options there though, but nice place to spend some time/overnight eat some good food and appreciate the views. Otherwise you could push on to Burgos, where you could visit the cathedral which is a UNESCO world heritage site. You are also likely to pass Salamanca, another UNESCO site. Once in Portugal you could stop at Tomar and visit Convento de Cristo, which is also a world heritage site. There is a theme to my suggestions! I would probably drag it out into 3 or 4 days rather than just 2.

We were going to do just that- detour to see the Dune du Pilat and meet up with friends holidaying in Arcachon at the same time. In the end we didn't because I wasn't feeling up to the detour, and my friend told me I'd made the right decision because all the roads round Arcachon were rammed (it's a very popular holiday destination in August).

Bilbao is a great city, but driving round it is an experience I'm not keen to repeat!! Going cross country through rural Spain will definitely be a quieter experience!

I don't think there's much mountainous driving if you take the coastal route. However, there seems to be a more direct route across the Pyrenees to Zaragoza (and then skirting Madrid 😬). The Pyrenees are stunning though. We spent some time in the Spanish Pyrenees last year (near Bielsa- we crossed from France through the Aragnouet- Bielsa tunnel, not a major route!). Should you choose that route however, it takes you through the heart of the mountains.

Thank you all for your advice. It's really helpful to give me a starting point to make our plans.