Route description for Portugal in winter 2025

We spend lovely hours in the Eifel and hike the Nativity Trail. It snowed during the night and so we start in "winter".

After a strenuous journey, we arrive at the parking spot quite late. All the spaces are taken and so we are parked with 10 other RVs in the adjacent parking lot. It is snowing heavily again and we are glad that we have good winter tires.

Late in the evening someone from the municipality comes and we pay 4€.

The next morning it's only 2 minutes to the bakery and there are delicious croissants and baguettes 😋

After a five-hour drive on the motorway and national road, and finally a long stretch of country road, we reach this small town.

The Maut1 box works great, even on the "flux libre" route.

A small parking space, provided free of charge by the municipality. Well maintained and beautifully laid out for four RVs.

In the evening all the places are full and there is a heavenly peace.

Fresh croissants and baguettes are just a few steps away 😋

Today almost 400 km through rain and fog. Lots of climbs and headwinds on the route.

Maut1 box still without any interruptions. Tip: the lanes at the toll stations on the far right are usually a bit wider.

Visited a Camping Car Park pitch for the first time.

The pre-booked "Pass'Etapes card" was issued without any problems at the machine and can then be used to drive into all CCP parking spaces.

Basically, a section of the parking lot has been fenced off and provided with supplies, electricity and water.

17 quiet pitches right by the lake, including electricity and good WiFi for 14.36 €.

The amount is simply deducted from the credit previously booked on the card, very convenient.

Two km from the motorway, a good stopover point.

Started out in the morning at 1° and now 15° 🙂

We want to see the sea and stop in Ondres after 230 km.

A fairly large municipal parking space, just a few steps from the beach.

Checking in at the machine is easy. The night costs €16.72 including tourist tax, WiFi and electricity, although the WiFi is weak.

The sky is overcast, but at 16° it is pleasantly warm and we take a nice walk on the beach.

There are only a few RVs here and it will be a quiet night.

We left France and today we experienced the foothills of the Pyrenees. An impressive panoramic drive, unfortunately often with heavy rain.

We will then be welcomed with ☀️ in Santa Maria del Campo.

Here, the small town provides a spacious and very well-maintained space for 8 RVs free of charge. A great offer for self-sufficient campers.

V/E and water available.

Today is a public holiday and the place is deserted. We walk to the church, which is unfortunately closed. Bright blue skies, what more could you want.

We stayed alone at night and it was very quiet.

So after a good night's sleep we set off again after the V/E.

First a wonderful stretch of country road and then onto the motorway.

After about 200 km we reach Salamanca and replenish our supplies at a "Hyper Mercado".

A few minutes later we reach our destination for the day in "Santa Marta de Tormes".

This time a campsite with a direct bus connection to the city of Salamanca.

We are planning to stay for two nights and will pay 42 € for that, including electricity (10 A), WiFi and nice hot showers :).

The site is a bit old, but all the facilities are clean and tidy. Depending on the wind direction, you can hear the motorway quite well.

Tomorrow it's time for sightseeing.

Salamanca:

The bus station is right in front of the campsite and for €1.65 you can get to the city in half an hour. From the last stop it is just a few steps to the Plaza Mayor.

We spend the day in the historic old town, spend a long time in the cathedral and have a delicious lunch.

Salamanca is very impressive and worth a stop. We take a lot of photos, but the pictures cannot convey the impressions.

Today the journey began bumpily. I wanted to fill up with diesel and LPG at Cepsa.

But the fuel nozzle wouldn't connect to the gas adapter. Even the friendly employee had no solution.

Then the adapter could no longer be removed, gas leaked out, pure stress.

A quick pair of pliers and the adapter was out again.

But I didn't want to give up, so I went to Repsol. The gas station attendant offered to help here too and the pump nozzle and adapter fit together, very strange.

So we hit the slopes late.

We reach Portugal and stop in Elvas, checking in at Camping Peidade.

OK, located close to the city and a very friendly welcome with good tips for exploring the city, there is nothing more positive to say.

Where the good reviews come from is a mystery to me.

We pay 40 € for two nights, get the third night free in the low season and forgo the electricity connection for 4.90 € per night 😕.

The next day we quickly head to the historic old town with the 🚲 and stroll through the narrow streets, eat a good and inexpensive lunch and marvel at the aqueduct.

Elvas has a lot to offer, so we stay for three days, explore a fortress and find "spring".

Today we want to reach Porto Covo and recover from the journey south at the "Costa do Vizir" campsite 😉.

We had already chosen the location in advance; there are many videos about it on YouTube, including one from the "Löfflers".

We are given a very friendly welcome, are able to choose one of the many free spots at our leisure and are also thrilled after the first lap.

Apparently a professionally run and very well maintained campsite.

We choose a large pitch with "two flowers" and check in for a week.

There is a 10% discount on the ADAC card. So we pay €26.10 per night including electricity (10 A) and water on site.

At 20° we drink coffee in front of the RV and go on our first short bike ride.

We'll be able to survive well here...

After a week we leave Porto Covo and move on.

We had fantastic weather, hiked and drove 🚲 along the coast and couldn't get enough of the beauty.

Plus friendly people, good food and a great campsite.

A high bar for the next locations.

We have time and would now like to leisurely head south along the coast.

After a short drive we reach our next destination "Vila Nova de Milfontes" and check in at the "Milfontes" campsite.

A large, natural and winding site. There are no numbered plots and you can park wherever you like and where there is space for your vehicle.

A very relaxed and quiet atmosphere, a heavenly peace at night.

Very clean sanitary facilities and decent WiFi.

You register, stay as long as you want and only pay when you leave.

Vila Nova de Milfontes:

Even now in January it is a lively place with nice cafes and restaurants. The "Rio Mira" flows into the Atlantic here, so there are two beautiful, different beach areas. And again, there is an impressive cliff coast.

The weather is quite changeable, but we can do a lot of 🚴 and 🥾🥾.

After one week we pay 89.90€, or 12.84€ per night.

There was also a 10% discount on the ADAC card, well that was cheap 🙂.

We have done without electricity at €4.50 per day. My "electricity concept" with the new "juice box" is proving successful. Even now in winter, there is enough ☀️ energy.

First we drive a scenic route to Odemira .

There is a Repsol petrol station with LPG here.

So we fill up the gas and diesel tanks. Then we head to the big Lidl, very practical: there are special spaces for RVs in the parking lot 👍.

Just a stone's throw away we reach Zambujeira .

The camping here has a similar concept to that in Milfontes: register, choose a spot and stay as long as you want 🙂

You can see that we are moving further south and the square is definitely busier.

Again, very natural, on several levels with lots of trees. It's not easy to find a parking space at our altitude, but we take our time and find another nice spot.

Zambujeira is a pretty little town, right on the cliffs with nice cafes and restaurants.

We explore the beaches, walk a part of the "Fisherman's Trail" and enjoy the peace and quiet at the campsite.

The people here are very friendly and the place is tidy and everything is very clean.

But of course we want to move on, so we check out after a week.

There is again a 10% discount on the ADAC card, so we pay 13.90€ per night without electricity.

Can't complain 🙂.

After a fantastically beautiful route, uphill and downhill, and a stop at Lidl, we reach Camping Orbitur in Sagres .

Here it works the other way round. Choose a place, decide how long you want to stay and pay in advance.

Anyone who leaves earlier is out of luck, but that's not what we plan to do.

This time there is even a 15% discount on the ADAC card, ACSI is not accepted by the way.

So we pay 14.20€ without electricity 👍 and find a great corner spot.

Basically you are standing in the middle of a pine forest, really beautiful.

The sanitary facilities are a bit dated, but very clean.

We have a relaxing week and it is very quiet again at night.

Sagres

The place is a surfer hot spot with lots of young people with their vans. Free parking is apparently tolerated.

There is a lot to explore, the place has comparatively many sights, but unfortunately no old town center.

After a week, we feel like we have seen everything and move on 🚐.

After a short drive and replenishing our supplies at Lidl, we get one of the last spots on the only RV parking space in town.

A nice corner spot with a wide view 🙂.

We are greeted very warmly and check in for 3 nights (17 € per night without electricity).

There is no discount on a Camper Card here.

Later in the town in the café we also notice that the Algarve has a higher price level.

The place is simple, the sanitary container is older but clean.

It didn't promise too much: Burgau is a picturesque place with small streets, a great beach and nice restaurants.

According to the stories of the other campers, it is definitely quieter than other hot spots in the Algarve.

I've just extended my stay for three days. We really like it here and there's still a lot to explore.

It's getting warmer, so we spend a day at the beach, cycle and hike or enjoy "doing nothing" :).

From Burgau we take a scenic 🚴 tour to Luz .

The town has a small promenade with many nice restaurants. The sun is shining, we are sitting overlooking the beach and while we eat, a street musician is playing.

At the end we go to church and light candles for our loved ones.

Luz is definitely worth a visit 👍.

After six nights we leave Burgau and fill up our supplies and the gas tank in Lagos before heading to Silves .

I have chosen a special place here. We are standing on a piece of meadow on a citrus plantation.

Tangerines, lemons and oranges as far as the eye can see.

A Dutch couple has made their dream come true here.

There are a few very individual accommodations to rent and a few parking spaces for RVs.

What a special place: two friendly 🐕, a few 🐈‍⬛ and 🐔 running around, picking and pressing for breakfast 🍊, Han brings a 🥚 from the chicken coop.

Nice and quiet during the day and at night, everyone is very chilled.

Silves : has a beautiful old town with winding streets, a great castle and an impressive cathedral.

It is wonderful to stroll through the town and now in February it is not crowded.

Especially: the many storks that breed here. We are not the only ones who spend the winter in Portugal 🙂.

Silves, a few kilometers from the Casa, is easily accessible by 🚴.

When we see the gravelled and full RV parking spaces in Silves, we are happy to be standing in such beautiful nature.

In the end we stay 8 nights with these great hosts, are given a very friendly farewell and set off for Albufeira .

For this special place we paid 15 € per night without electricity.

Includes citrus fruits and great WiFi. The sanitary facilities are simple but always very clean.

After a short drive we reach Albufeira and check in at the campsite of the same name for three days.

A large area with many accommodation options and very different pitches. A stark contrast to the "orange grove" in Silves.

Here we pay in advance again, 14.76 € per night without electricity (10% discount 🙂).

Then you drive through the campsite and look for a nice spot.

There are no numbered plots, it is well occupied, but in the end we find a nice corner spot.

The campsite is very well maintained with plenty of clean sanitary facilities.

The road can be heard clearly, so find a parking space as far away from it as possible.

Particularly worth mentioning: there is a great 🚴path into town👍.

Albufeira is pure "Algarve tourism". Plenty of restaurants, bars and souvenir shops.

Beach, promenade, marina, there is a lot going on.

We also do the usual "tourist program": take the elevator to the beach and the escalator to the viewing point, sit in the front row and enjoy a sundae.

Away from the hustle and bustle you will find small alleys and peace and quiet.

Here, too, we extended our stay and stayed for a week.

Our next destination in the "Sandy Algarve" was Olhao .

Sunday has now become established as a driving day for us, as has the stop at Lidl.

After quickly filling up with gas, we reach the campsite after about 50 km and first stroll around the grounds to look for a parking space.

There's still plenty of space, but there are also many trees and few sunny spots. We take our time and find another nice spot in the corner.

We check in and because of the Camper Card we can only pay when we leave.

13.10 € without electricity per night 👍.

After a first tour, we're satisfied. There are plenty of clean sanitary facilities, a small supermarket with fresh rolls, and a small restaurant.

Everything makes a good impression.

The next day we move again, I found a place with more ☀️.

With the 🚲 you can get to town quickly.

Olhao has a beautiful old town center with narrow streets and there is something new to discover around every corner.

Large harbor facilities, a long promenade, a colorful selection in the market halls - we can stay here for a while 🙂.

We linger in one of the many street cafés and watch the lively hustle and bustle.

Why did we stay for 14 days? Quite simply: the weather was bad.

Portugal and Spain are experiencing a very wet winter and it rained almost every day.

Storms, thunderstorms, cloudbursts in constant alternation.

We cycle to Olhao during the few dry hours, stroll through the town and enjoy the plentiful gastronomy.

Then quickly back to the campsite, because the next dark clouds are approaching.

The campsite was ideal for waiting out the weather.

Supermarket, fresh rolls, cafeteria, restaurant, book exchange corner...

But now we're moving on and would like to see some more places inland.

Olhao, we'll come back again when the weather is better.

Don't follow the sat nav, the route shown here is incorrect.

From the motorway take the N122, then the M1063, then the M507 to Alcoutim.

We drive along this stunningly beautiful route, finally along the river bank.

Today on Sunday there were hardly any cars on the road and it was comfortable to drive in the RV 👍.

In Alcoutim, the municipality provides a free parking space, even with free electricity.

When we arrive around 2 p.m., about 10 of the 25 spaces are still free.

A nice little town awaits us, and we take a first stroll. Unfortunately, it starts to rain, so we stop for a galao and pastries.

We stayed one more night, but out of 24 hours it didn't rain for only 3 hours.

We use this time to explore the town, visit the castle and museum, and enjoy a delicious meal overlooking the river.

During the night, one cloudburst follows the next, but luckily there are good gutters around the campsite.

Incredibly, the sanitary building is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and a member of staff is on site the entire time to clean the shower after each visitor.

We would like to spend the night in Mina de Sao Domingos .

There is a new parking space (2023) with 30 parking spaces.

Since storms are forecast again, I chose the location carefully.

Flat, solid gravel, no mountains or slopes around.

Wide gutters on the square and all around calm us down.

It may sound exaggerated, but the first videos of flooded campsites are appearing online. The rivers and dams are full, as we later witness firsthand.

In the evening there are 5 RVs here and you pay 7 € per night including electricity (6A) at the machine.

There is water and electricity available, but no sanitary facilities, so you have to be self-sufficient.

It stays dry for another hour and we take a first walk around.

We stay two nights and, in the few dry hours, explore this special place. The abandoned mines, the dilapidated buildings—a truly lost place.

A delicious lunch and the price of 70 cents for a glass 🍷 will be remembered.

During the night, a severe storm hits: a hurricane with winds of force 10, and endless rain. Fortunately, we're safely anchored, with the bow facing the wind.

The next day, there are many pictures of fallen trees online. Also from the campsite in Zambujeira, where we stayed weeks ago.

Just a short stretch along a very bad national road and we reach Serpa .

I looked for the municipal campsite and when we arrived the access road was being sawed clear.

A massive tree fell during the night, scattering other large branches across the campsite. The storm really raged here, but according to reports, no campers were injured.

Since the wind speed has halved, we check in, have a snack in the RV and then explore the place.

Again an impressive old town, small alleys, pretty shops.

As dark clouds gather again, we head back. Not a minute too soon, because the next storm is about to break out.

Gusts of wind and torrential rain lash the campsite and a few plots away, half a tree falls to the ground.

Luckily, there are no campers in that direction, unthinkable...

This is the signal to leave: we are ready to go in 10 minutes and leave the place.

Looking at Maps we find a dead end next to the hospital, with no buildings on either side and, above all, no 🌲🌳.

I'm curious to see how we'll sleep. It's still raining and storming, although not as fiercely.

The night was restless, but we felt safe. Because of the dead-end street, there was no car traffic, just a few dogs being walked.

Since storms are still forecast, we will not return to the campsite in Serpa.

Actually, the trip was supposed to go to the campsite in Beja , but according to the latest report, 🌳🌲 have also fallen over at this site.

We check our roughly planned route and a parking spot that had already been discarded is now interesting.

Luz , the municipality provides a small space, no tree and no bush.

Because it was a bit defiant, a place by the lake was actually planned in this region, but it is under water and not paved.

So we head to Luz and here we immediately feel safe considering the weather conditions.

We get one of the last 8 sites with electricity and everything is there except for a sanitary building.

The pitch is now available free of charge in the pre-season, including electricity.

Here we are "weathering" again.

The place is actually a modern-day lost place. Luz was relocated during the construction of the dam. However, many people have since left the new settlement.

There is a restaurant (where we eat very tasty food), a pub and a shop.

Plus lots of water and nature.

The dam is overflowing and there are constant television broadcasts of special programs about the floods in Portugal.

Finally the weather is nice and we drive to Monsaraz in sunshine.

The municipality provides one of the parking spaces free of charge for RVs, but without service. By the evening, all spaces were occupied.

We have already seen many beautiful places on our trip, but Monsaraz really tops everything.

Perched on top of the mountain, with an incredible view, an ancient town surrounded by a city wall.

You can hardly get enough of it.

Every time you stroll through the small town you discover new beautiful corners and nice little restaurants.

We cycle around Monsaraz, which is strenuous due to the inclines, enjoy a lovely evening ride, visit the church and leave this special place after two peaceful nights.

V/E is available free of charge one place further on.

But we are heading to Evora.

Now it's time for sightseeing again. Évora is a World Heritage Site, and the weather forecast is sunny.

We check in at Orbitur Camping, pay around €17 per night without electricity, and find a nice spot.

Once again I'm happy about the new "juice box", the electricity would have cost 5.40€ per night ☹️.

Nice, large pitches, a cafeteria, fresh rolls, clean sanitary facilities - we are satisfied.