Routes by car in Spain. Around Spain by car: route along the coast. Northern coast of Spain, Bay of Biscay

All routes described in this section are aimed primarily at independent travelers and include recommendations on various organizational issues. However, before moving on to planning trips to Spain, it is worth paying attention to a number of other important issues.

Where to start your trip to Spain

To begin with, it makes sense to decide how to get to Spain, and only then develop travel routes around Spanish cities and villages. The most obvious option is to use the services of one of the many airlines operating flights to Spain (by the way, you can search for air tickets at competitive prices). However, there are other options that may well be preferable for some. Details are provided in the following materials:

If you do not have much experience in organizing independent travel, you should first read the article “

/ Rent a car in Spain

Rent a car in Spain

Renting a car in Spain and going on an exciting journey through this sunny country is a wonderful opportunity to discover the diversity of Spanish places and cities. The roads in Spain are excellent, everyone knows the rules of the road, and the drivers drive quite well. Renting a car in Spanish, by the way, is “alquiler de automóviles.”

There are a lot of car rental offices throughout Spain, so renting a car will not be difficult. Renting a car on weekends is cheaper, and pre-booking on the Internet also allows you to save money, plus it guarantees that the car you choose will be in stock. Renting a car at the airport is traditionally more expensive. You can drive a car rented in Spain to a neighboring country in the Schengen area, but in this case you will have to pay extra for “foreign” insurance (cross-border). At the same time, it is prohibited to leave the territory of the European Union in a rented car.

When renting a car in Spain, many companies practice blocking funds on your card as a deposit (approximately 500 €). The rental price usually includes limited insurance with a deductible (from 300 to 500 €). For extended or reduced deductible insurance, you will have to pay extra.

When renting a car in Spain, you should pay special attention to insurance; there are several types of insurance in Spain. Types of insurance in Spain:

1. TPL (Third Party Liability) – limits the driver’s liability when causing material damage to third parties.

2. CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) – limits the driver’s liability for damage to the rental car.

3. TP (Theft Protection) – limits the driver’s liability in the event of theft of a rented car.

4. PAI (Personal Accident Insurance) – sets the amount of compensation in case of physical damage to the driver and/or passengers.

5. EP (Extended Protection) – limits the driver’s liability for legal claims against him by third parties in the event of significant damage (material and/or health and life).

The phrase “limit liability” means that your financial responsibility in these cases is relieved partially (insurance with a deductible) or completely (insurance without a deductible).

Be sure to check that your car has two (!) warning triangles (both should be installed in case of emergency), a spare tire and a reflective vest (use when exiting the car onto the roadway or side of the road). It will be useful to have a set of light bulbs for headlights, a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit.

Driving license in Spain

Some rental companies in Spain accept Russian driving licenses as long as they are filled out in the Latin alphabet and issued at least a year ago (exceptions are possible). However, recently, increasingly, Spain requires the provision of an International Driving Permit for holders of driving licenses issued outside the EU. Please note that an international driving license is valid only in combination with an original Russian license. The driver must be at least 21 years old (in some companies at least 23 years old) and have at least a year of driving experience (in some companies at least 2 years).

Features of driving in Spain

Driving on the roads in Spain is very pleasant, but not always safe. The Spanish temperament leaves its mark on the behavior of drivers on the road: they are not always distinguished by discipline and tolerance towards other road users. Don't be surprised when impatient car horns start coming at you from all sides if you don't immediately start driving when the traffic light turns green. Yes, and Spanish drivers “blink” their headlights for any reason or without reason: this can be a warning about the traffic police ahead, or a demand to give way, or an expression of dissatisfaction.

You should never trust the driver in front, especially if his car has local license plates. If he turned on the left turn signal, this does not mean at all that he is going to turn left, and if the traffic light ahead switches to red, this does not mean at all that the cars moving in front (and most importantly, behind) will stop.

On the roads, many Spaniards are real reckless drivers. For example, Spanish drivers who can drive at a speed of 160 km/h with a limit of 120 km/h. Tourists are not recommended to do this, since most highways in Spain are equipped with speed cameras. Moreover, some of them warn the nearest police station about violation of the speed limit by the driver of a foreign vehicle. In this case, the employee has the right to stop the vehicle and issue a fine. And fines for traffic violations in the country are very high!

On local roads there is such a thing as a minimum speed. It depends on the type of route; in order to calculate the minimum permissible speed, it is enough to divide the maximum by 2. Driving at a speed lower than the obtained speed will be regarded as a violation of the rules (!!!).

Many signs on the roads indicating that the route is monitored by radar are not true. There is a sign, but there are no posts around where these cameras could be screwed. The cameras themselves come in two types. On carriageways - country roads - this is the column on the right. It is white and quite large in size, if you recognize it once, you will continue to recognize it. The car is photographed from behind. It doesn’t matter who is driving at this time, the fine will be sent to the place where the car is registered. The second option is that cameras are hung on large highways in special places, quite high. You can’t just see them anymore; you need to know their exact location.

Outside city highways, regardless of the number of lanes, in Spain it is mandatory to drive exclusively in the right lane. That is, even if the road is clear, you must drive on the right. And if there is no space, the driver can overtake the car in front and immediately change lanes to the right. And even if the road is three-lane, all the same, you are forced to drive in the rightmost lane, the left two are intended only for overtaking. In addition, overtaking on the right is prohibited. If someone is driving in the middle row, you can only pass him on the left.

A car stopped at the end of a traffic jam or congestion on a country highway must turn on the “blinker” - an emergency stop signal! So that from afar it can be seen that the flow is standing still, and so that no one drives into it at high speed. When the next one approaches from behind, you can turn off the blinker, this is his responsibility.

Traffic lights in Spain behave quite insidiously for an unprepared person. Colors can change at lightning speed. And, in particular, another of the dirty tricks is the so-called flashing yellow: it means that, in principle, you can drive, but you must give way to everyone - pedestrians, cars driving perpendicularly and everyone else. Many small towns have radar-controlled traffic lights - if you slightly exceed the speed limit, a red light will turn on in your path.

In all cities of Spain there are specially designated lanes on the roads for public transport and taxis. Ordinary motorists cannot occupy them.

Many roads passing through rural areas are completely unmarked. Here, the main danger for drivers is livestock, as well as representatives of the local fauna - hares, hedgehogs and other animals that can suddenly run out onto the road.

Cyclists are the real kings of the road. If those who like to pedal are riding in a gang, and the first one has jumped through the green light, then the rest of the crowd has the right of way, even if the light turns red. And the driver must let everyone else through too. But they are not obligated to let you through and will not. And this is written in the rules. On many routes, special lanes with appropriate markings are allocated for cyclists. Often, in addition to markings, they are separated from the main road by special rubber pads; motorists are not allowed to drive onto such sections of roads. Cyclists may not yield in a controversial situation, and often do not know the rules of the road. So you just need to behave carefully with them.

Those who prefer to travel by motorcycle should always ride with their headlights on. The use of low-beam headlights on a car during the daytime is only mandatory when driving through tunnels. Radar detectors are allowed in Spain, but anti-radar detectors are prohibited (fine up to 6,000 €). Fog lights are only allowed to be used in poor visibility conditions (less than 50 meters). If you use them under other circumstances, you may receive a fine.

In Spain, the use of seat belts is mandatory for all passengers. Children under 12 years of age can only be transported in the back seat of a car and only in a special seat. And one of the most serious violations on the road is chatting on the phone. All hands-free devices are prohibited, except for those equipped with the machine.

Those who are accustomed to smoking while driving should ensure that there is an ashtray in the car. It is prohibited to throw any burning objects, including cigarettes, out of the car; a fine may be imposed even if, at the time of the violation, the vehicle was not moving.

If the highway patrol stops your car for no apparent reason, don't worry. Most likely, this is a routine document check; the driver may also be asked to undergo a breath test to monitor blood alcohol content. You should not refuse testing; there is a large fine for this.

Car theft remains one of the biggest problems in Spain. When leaving your car in the parking lot, you should not leave any valuables in it. It's important to remember that even having an empty bag in the front seat can attract burglars. Robbers on motorcycles are also a real problem. They are so dexterous that they can snatch a handbag on the move not only from pedestrians on the sidewalk, but also from a moving car through an open window.

Gasoline in Spain

In Spain there are the following brands of unleaded (!) gasoline: AI-95, AI-98 (gasoline sin plomo), as well as diesel fuel (gasoleo A or gas-oil). Renting a diesel engine is usually more expensive, but if you plan to travel hundreds of kilometers, it will still be more profitable. When refueling the car, the mobile phone must be turned off.

Alcohol and driving in Spain

The permissible blood alcohol content of a driver in Spain is 0.5 ‰. For drivers with less than 2 years of experience: 0.3 ‰. For exceeding the permissible limit, the driver will face a large fine or deprivation of his license for a certain period.

Fines in Spain

Spanish police are sometimes on duty on the roads. Mainly at roundabouts, which are very popular here. Usually police are on duty on holidays or during football matches. There are raids to catch drunk drivers - then they stop everyone and check the amount of alcohol they have drunk. However, on ordinary days no one will ever stop you, unless, of course, you break the rules. According to statistics, a driver in Spain communicates with an inspector once every three to four years.

In general, the police in Spain are very friendly towards tourists. But this does not mean that you can violate the roads here, and in general, do whatever you want. For serious violations, in addition to a fine, drivers may be awarded a certain number of penalty points. When a critical level of points is reached, the driver is temporarily deprived of his license.

Small fines issued by police officers can be paid immediately, upon receipt of an official receipt (for foreigners this is a mandatory requirement, otherwise the car may be detained). But there is also a pleasant moment: for payment on the spot you get a 50% discount. Attention: do not even think about offering a bribe to the Spanish police - it will not work here, but will only aggravate the consequences!

If you received a notice of a fine for speeding in Spain by mail, you can pay it on time via the Internet. Payment is made using VISA, Master Card and Maestro credit or debit cards. If you pay the fine within 20 calendar days, its amount is reduced by 50%. Payment of the fine with a 50% discount entails the waiver of claims or administrative appeal for the offense committed.

Fines can be paid on the website of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior – www.dgt.es. After filling out all the necessary details on the website and making payment, you will receive a link to the receipt (in the Receipt field). It is recommended that you print or save this receipt on your computer. If you want the receipt to be sent to you by mail, enter your mailing address and click the “Send email” button.

Everything would be fine if not for one thing... There is Catalonia in Spain. And what do they think? – This is not Spain at all. Therefore, fines received in Catalonia are paid on another website, namely on the website of the Catalan government – gencat.cat. Here you will need to fill out all the details (your own and from the fine receipt) and pay the fine by card. If the payment was made successfully, then when you try to enter the data again into the original form, you will be told that the fine has already been paid – "Payment made – Yes."

Speed ​​limit in Spain

Cars:

Vehicles with trailer:

In a populated area – 50 km/h

Outside the populated area – 80 km/h

On the motorway – 90 km/h

Motorcycles:

In a populated area – 50 km/h

Outside the populated area – 90 km/h

On the motorway – 120 km/h

Attention: the minimum (!) speed on the autobahn is 60 km/h.

Toll roads in Spain

A developed network of toll and free roads stretches across Spain for more than 17,000 km, which is 10% of the total length of roads throughout the country. Thus, Spain became third in the world after USA And China by the number of kilometers of road surface.

Map of toll roads in Spain

All Spanish roads can be divided into two types: autopistas, which are almost always toll roads, and autovías, which are free. Both of them meet strict European standards and guarantee high quality road surfaces and clear markings. In fact, there are no special differences between toll and free roads. However, in the first case, the travel time may be shorter due to the higher speed limit and fewer sharp turns. You will have to fork out a lot of money to use toll roads in Spain. However, there is good news for budget tourists: there is not a single settlement in Spain that cannot be reached via free roads. But it is worth noting that in the immediate vicinity of free roads there are usually no signs indicating them; all indications are directed towards toll roads.

In terms of the number of toll roads, Catalonia remains the constant leader, with 633 km of highways. In second and third place are the autonomous communities of Valencia and Galicia, with 367 and 327 km, respectively. But in northern Asturias, only 22 km of roads are tolled.

Sections with special charges in the province of Barcelona: Cadi Tunnel (5 km) and Vallvidrera Tunnel (2.5 km).

The fastest Spanish roads include:

M-50, which connects the northern highway A-1 with Madrid R-2;

A-45, toll-free highway between Cordoba and Malaga;

AP-41, toll highway between Madrid and Toledo.

The total amount you will have to pay for a particular section of the road depends on many factors: the type of vehicle, the season (tariffs may differ in summer and winter) and the time of day. In addition, when choosing this or that route, it is worth familiarizing yourself with all the possible options for how to get from point A to point B. It may turn out that the toll and free roads are located practically parallel, and you can save on travel by choosing autovía .

There are 119 toll collection points on more than 1,500 km of toll highways, which can process approximately 700,000 transactions daily. In order for such a gigantic system to function conveniently and quickly, several forms of payment were developed.

As a rule, you are informed that you are entering a toll section of the road by a road sign or electronic display, which also indicates how many kilometers or minutes later on the road a toll point with a barrier awaits you. You can pay in cash (coins and banknotes), credit cards, or purchase telepeaje. Telepeaje is a modern payment system that allows you to pay for travel on a toll road without stopping at the barrier, thus without wasting a minute of your time. A special antenna reads data from a mobile device installed on the car’s dashboard and automatically debits funds from a bank card or account attached to the account of a specific device. The bands allocated for telepeaje are indicated by a blue circle with white stripes inscribed in a black square.

Parking in Spain

Parking regulations vary depending on the time of day, day of the week, or even the week of the month. In some places you must have a permit to park during working hours (Horas laborables).

In the centers of large cities in Spain, the number of parking spaces is limited, and finding a free space is problematic. The blue zone (Área Azul) means that parking must be paid for by taking a ticket from the machine. A coupon with the date and time of payment is left on the dashboard. It is important to remember that the maximum parking time in the blue zone is from 1 to 4 hours, depending on the area. Most often, parking is payable on weekdays from 09.00 to 14.00 and from 16.00 to 21.00, and on Saturdays from 09.00 to 14.00. But, these rules may change.

In the white zone, parking is free, but it is quite rare and the number of spaces is limited.

In addition to white and blue, there are orange and green zones, which provide special benefits to residents of this area. To have discounted or free parking, you must have official registration. Be careful, as some areas are strictly reserved for parking for local residents.

Underground parking lots are called aparcamiento subterráneo, at the entrance the number of free spaces or their absence (completo) is indicated. The cash desk for payment is located at the exit of such a parking lot.

The Ora Zona system, which operates in some cities, means that you can purchase a parking ticket from a tobacconist or small shop, which allows you to park your car for 30, 60 or 90 minutes.

In many Spanish parking lots, you can pay using telepeaje technology using your mobile device.

It is prohibited to park on the sidewalk if there is a yellow stripe or a Vado sign next to it. In some areas there is a tow truck sign, which means that an illegally parked car may be towed (retiada grúa). There should be a sticker at the location of the towed vehicle indicating where the vehicle was towed or a number to call. If the sticker is missing, contact your local municipal police department.

Tours to Spain – special offers of the day

This review will focus on our second trip to Spain this year. The first one took place in February, and we traveled around the island of Tenerife. Now, thanks to the availability of an open six-month Schengen visa, we decided to travel completely independently by car.

Route selection

We easily decided on the starting point of our journey. Barcelona is probably the most interesting city in Spain. There are always a lot of tourists there. Many of our friends have been here and shared their impressions with us. So Barcelona is a must-visit destination, and not just for a single day. But where to go next?

There are many famous and interesting cities in Spain. For example, Madrid, Valencia, Seville. But what attracts me in my travels is not so much cities as nature. Where is the most beautiful nature in Spain, and what is within reach by car from Barcelona? After clicking photos on Google Earth, I realized that I really wanted to visit the north of Spain - the coast of the Bay of Biscay. After all, the three components of beautiful nature are the sea, mountains and fewer people. These conditions existed there. So we also decided on the final destination of the route - it was the city of Bilbao, the capital of the Basque Country.

The province of Aragon with its capital, the city of Zaragoza, is located very well between Barcelona and Bilbao. These three points became the mainstay of our route. Well, when the time came to compile the route in more detail, we supplemented it with the cities of Lleida and Huesca. In addition, our return journey was quite close to the French border, and we passed several beautiful reservoirs.

If we plot the reference points of our route on the map, we will get the following diagram:

Hotel reservations

We booked hotels in three cities: Barcelona, ​​Zaragoza and Bilbao. To do this, we used the booking.com service and a Visa Classic card. In Barcelona we had the hotel Catalonia Park Güell, located near the Vallcarca metro station. In Zaragoza we had a modest but well located two-bedroom Hotel Hispania. In Bilbao we stayed in a four-star hotel with parking Silken Indautxu.

A little later, we will issue detailed reviews for each of these hotels and post them here.

Flight Moscow-Barcelona

For the flight, we booked tickets on the Vueling airline website. Two round-trip tickets for the May holidays cost us about 50 thousand rubles. I assume that in normal periods, the flight will cost you half as much. Please note that Vueling is a discount airline, so meals on board are paid, and the minimum ticket does not include the cost of baggage transportation.

We rent a car

We rented a car by pre-booking through the website of the Hertz company. Here, of course, some subtleties surfaced. After comparing the websites of several well-known car rental companies, such as AVIS and Europcar, I saw that Hertz had the lowest price for a B-class car for the specified dates. Only upon receiving the car did I find out that this price includes only minimal insurance, and if there is any damage to the car, including scratches, you will have to pay up to 900 euros for them. Full insurance costs twice as much. So, I advise you to immediately pay attention to this if you book a car online.

Otherwise, we were satisfied with the rental car. We were given a practically new Peugeot 208, in perfect condition. It was equipped with some small and not very powerful engine, but it steered well on mountain roads and consumed an average of only 5.2 l/100 km of 95 gasoline. I really liked the car.

Sights of Barcelona

	A fortress on top of the hill of the same name in Barcelona, ​​from where you can see the city from a bird's eye view.
	The Spanish village is an open-air museum. It contains examples of characteristic architecture from all regions of Spain.
	The Gothic Quarter of Barcelona is the place in the city where the oldest buildings have been preserved.
Sagrada Familia Cathedral
	Sagrada Familia, or Church of the Holy Family, is one of the main symbols of Barcelona, ​​and perhaps the most famous long-term construction in the world.
	Parc Güell is perhaps the most famous and visited park in Barcelona. Antonio Gaudi participated in its creation, and the architect’s house-museum is also located there.
	The story is about how we from Barcelona by train, and then by cable car, got to the unique mountain of Montserrat, on which the monastery of the same name is located.

Sights of Zaragoza

	The Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar is one of the largest and most beautiful churches in all of Spain, and certainly the main architectural landmark of Zaragoza.
Aljaferia Palace
	The palace-fortress of Aljaferia was built by the Moorish people in the 11th century. Then it served the Catholic kings, and in our time it is used for meetings of the Parliament of Aragon.
EXPO 2008 exhibition area
	The EXPO 2008 World Fair site is touted as one of Zaragoza's iconic attractions. Pavilions and other objects are designed in an interesting and modern architectural style. However, desolation reigns here in the connector.

Northern coast of Spain, Bay of Biscay

The beauty of the Bay of Biscay - Cape Bilano, lighthouse and island
	A story about a walking tourist route in the area of ​​the municipality of Gorlis - about 25 km from Bilbao. Here you can see the lighthouse located on the cape, the island, and the ruins of an 18th century fortress.
Gaztelugatxe Island, reached by a man-made bridge
	A story about the amazing island of Gaztelugatxe, located off the coast of the Bay of Biscay. It is connected to the mainland by a man-made bridge, and at the top of the island there is a secluded chapel, which can be reached by a winding staircase of 237 steps.
Fishing town of Lekeitio
	The town of Lekeitio is one of the interesting places in the Basque Country. There is a harbor where many private boats and boats, as well as fishing trawlers, moor. In addition, there is a beautiful lighthouse on the cape.
	The city of Bilbao is the capital of the autonomous community of the Basque Country.

Results

Summing up our independent trip around Spain by car, I want to say that anyone who has a driver’s license and the desire to be free to move and see the beauty of this wonderful country can repeat a similar experience.

Spain is an amazing country. Because only here there exists at the same time the magical heritage of the Moors, and Roman aqueducts, and the no less fabulous Art Nouveau of Antonio Gaudi, and stunningly beautiful nature, and museums full of masterpieces from classical painting to cubism (of course, this is the birthplace of Velazquez, Goya and Picasso ), and - if desired - a beach holiday. And all this in one country!

Spain trip plan #1: Catalonia and Castile

We went to Spain twice for 15 days. For the first time we started from Barcelona and ended in Madrid, that is, in half a month we managed to see Catalonia And Castile and Leon. No wonder we didn’t even see half the country in a month: Plaza de España 505 thousand sq. kilometers.

Trip plan:

1. Barcelona
2. Barcelona.
3. Barcelona -Montserrat
4. Barcelona - Girona - Figueres
5. Barcelona.
6. Barcelona.
7. Barcelona. Departure to Burgos 23.00
8. Burgos in 6.30 arrival. At 17.52departure to Salamanca, arrival at 20.06
9. Salamanca
10. Salamanca - Avila - Madrid.
11. Madrid - Cuenca
12. Madrid - Segovia
13. Madrid — Toledo
14. Madrid
15. Madrid — Moscow

Blue lines on the map indicate radial trips from base cities, that is, trips with a return trip, green lines indicate movement only forward.

To search for a flight ticket, we used the “difficult route” function, since we decided that making a circle when returning to Barcelona was not optimal. We flew Moscow-Barcelona, ​​and then Madrid-Moscow. I talked about this in detail in the material. Therefore, we simply go to the search engine and enter the required cities.

Or look at the low price calendar:

Spain trip plan #2: Andalusia

The second trip, also for half a month, was to Andalusia. During this time, we studied the region in some detail to understand that we definitely want to come back here again: to visit our favorite towns and see new ones.

Here is our route around Andalusia on the map, on it the orange line indicates forward movement from Madrid V Granada, Malaga, Ronda, Cadiz, Sanlucar de Barrameda, Jerez, Seville, Cordoba(we stayed in all these cities for 1, 2 or 3 nights) and again we planned to head to Madrid.

Blue lines represent radial trips (i.e. round trips) from base cities. So we visited Jaen, Baezu, El Chorro (Royal Path), Setenil de las Bodegas And Medina Asaaru.

Green - move only forward.

Trip plan:

1. Madrid — Granada
2. Granada - Baeza - Jaen
3. Granada-Malaga
4. Malaga -
5. Malaga-Ronda
6. Ronda Setenil de las Bodegas. Ronda Cadiz
7. Cadiz
8. Cadiz-Sanlúcar de Barrameda
9. Sanlúcar de Barrameda – Jerez
10. Jerez - Seville
11. Seville
12. Seville
13. Seville – Cordoba
14. Cordoba – Medina
15. Cordoba – Madrid (all day) – Moscow

We neglected the flight to Malaga because we wanted to take a walk around Madrid again, and our youngest daughter really wanted to go there (since she didn’t take part in the first trip). Therefore, logistics may seem suboptimal to some. If you are not going to visit Madrid, then you need to look for flights to Malaga. And the trip plan will be a circular route: Malaga - Ronda - Cadiz - Sanlucar de Barrameda - Jerez - Seville - Cordoba -Granada - Malaga.

The site is constantly updated, I post tips and routes, including detailed walks through the cities from these trips. Subscribe to the newsletter to know when new materials become available. Maps and markers for maps.me will be available very soon.