How to Road Trip Through Portugal in a Week
2025-04-02 · 7 min read
Portugal is built for road trips. The country is compact enough to drive end to end in about six hours, but varied enough that a week barely scratches the surface. From Lisbon's tiled streets to the Douro Valley's terraced vineyards to the wild beaches of the Algarve, a well-planned loop covers an absurd amount of beauty.
Start in Lisbon and spend two days getting oriented. Park the car and explore on foot — the Alfama district, the Time Out Market for lunch, and Belém for pastéis de nata at the original Pastéis de Belém bakery. Rent from a central location like Europcar or Sixt at Santa Apolónia station and head north on day three.
The drive to Porto takes about three hours on the A1 motorway, but detour through Óbidos for an hour. This medieval walled town is tiny enough to walk in 30 minutes and famous for ginjinha, a sour cherry liqueur served in chocolate cups at bars along the main street. Grab one, walk the walls, and keep moving.
Porto deserves two full days. The Ribeira waterfront is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the port wine lodges across the river in Vila Nova de Gaia — Taylor's, Graham's, and Sandeman among them — offer tastings that range from free to premium flights of vintage tawny. Livraria Lello, the bookshop that allegedly inspired J.K. Rowling, is worth the entry fee for its neo-Gothic staircase alone.
Drive east from Porto into the Douro Valley, one of Europe's most dramatic wine regions. The N222 road follows the river through terraced hillsides and is regularly cited as one of the world's most scenic drives. Stop at Quinta do Crasto or Quinta da Pacheca for tastings and lunch with valley views that justify every winding kilometer.
Head south along the coast toward the Algarve, breaking the drive with a stop in the Alentejo region. Évora, another UNESCO site, has a Roman temple, a medieval cathedral, and the unsettling Chapel of Bones. The drive from Évora to Lagos in the Algarve takes about three hours and delivers you to some of Europe's most photogenic coastline — sandstone cliffs, sea caves, and empty beaches.
