# Road trips in Spain

> 39 road trips and 137 hand-picked places in Spain, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping.

Source: https://camping-spirit.com/roadtrips/spain/

39 road trips and 137 hand-picked places in Spain, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping.

## Road trips through Spain

- [Andalusia: white villages and the Alhambra](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/andalusia/): Houses under rock overhangs, a bridge over a gorge and Moorish palaces.
- [Green Spain: Basque Country to Asturias](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/green-spain/): Pintxos in San Sebastián, the Guggenheim, medieval Santillana, Gaudí in Comillas and the Picos de Europa.
- [Galicia: Santiago to the Rías Baixas](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/galicia-rias/): The end of the Camino at Finisterre, stone granaries at Combarro and seafood towns on the rías.
- [Andalusia’s white villages](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/pueblos-blancos/): Hilltop villages of the Sierra de Grazalema, cliff-top Arcos and sherry in Jerez.
- [Costa Brava and Dalí’s coast](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/costa-brava/): Walled Tossa, the coves of Palafrugell, Cadaqués and Cap de Creus, then Figueres and Girona.
- [Sierra Nevada and the Alpujarra](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/alpujarra/): From the Alhambra to flat-roofed villages high on the Sierra Nevada, then down to Frigiliana.
- [Old Castile: aqueducts and city walls](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/castile-walls/): Segovia’s Roman aqueduct, the complete medieval walls of Ávila and golden Salamanca.
- [Aragon Pyrenees and Ordesa](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/aragon-pyrenees/): Loarre Castle, the medieval town of Aínsa and one of Europe’s great canyons.
- [Almería: Tabernas desert and Cabo de Gata](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-cabo-de-gata/): A Moorish fortress, the badlands where spaghetti westerns were filmed and the volcanic coves of Europe’s driest coast.
- [Costa de la Luz: Cádiz to Tarifa](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-costa-de-la-luz/): Long Atlantic beaches, a white hill town, the cape of Trafalgar and Roman ruins beside a giant dune, ending where Europe looks at Africa.
- [Huelva: Aracena, Riotinto and Doñana](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-huelva-donana/): Ham country and a show cave in the sierra, a red river at Riotinto, Columbus’s monastery and the wetlands of Doñana.
- [Úbeda, Baeza and the Sierra de Cazorla](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-sierra-cazorla/): Renaissance squares in a sea of olive trees, then the pine forests, gorges and reservoirs of Spain’s largest protected area.
- [Extremadura: vultures, conquistadors and Roman Mérida](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-extremadura/): Monfragüe’s cliffs, the towns of the conquistadors, a monastery in the hills and the best Roman theatre in Spain.
- [Navarre and La Rioja: the wine road of the Camino](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-rioja-navarre/): A royal palace in Olite, pilgrim bridges and a wine fountain, tapas in Logroño and the walled wine towns of the Rioja.
- [Inland Catalonia: Montserrat to the Garrotxa volcanoes](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-catalonia-volcanoes/): Montserrat’s monastery, a mountain of salt, the market square of Vic and a landscape of extinct volcanoes and basalt cliffs.
- [Tarragona, Priorat wine and the Ebro Delta](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-priorat-delta/): Roman Tarraco, a royal Cistercian monastery, cliff villages among slate vineyards and the rice fields of the Ebro Delta.
- [Southern Aragon: waterfalls, cranes and Mudéjar Teruel](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-teruel-albarracin/): The waterfalls of the Monasterio de Piedra, a lake full of cranes, pink-walled Albarracín and the tiled towers of Teruel.
- [La Mancha: windmills and the hanging houses of Cuenca](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-la-mancha/): From Toledo across Don Quixote’s plains to windmill ridges and a star-shaped castle, ending at Cuenca’s houses above a gorge.
- [Asturias to León: Somiedo, Las Médulas and the Camino](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-somiedo-leon/): From Oviedo’s pre-Romanesque halls over the bear country of Somiedo to Roman gold mines, Gaudí in Astorga and León’s glass cathedral.
- [Inland Galicia: Lugo, the Sil canyon and hot springs](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-ribeira-sacra/): Walk the Roman walls of Lugo, look into the terraced canyons of the Ribeira Sacra and soak in open-air hot springs in Ourense.
- [Western Asturias: capes, fishing villages and the Cathedrals beach](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-asturias-west/): Wild headlands, the colourful harbours of Cudillero and Luarca, and the rock arches of the Praia das Catedrais in Galicia.
- [Valencia to Cartagena: Costa Blanca and Murcia](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-costa-blanca-murcia/): The rice fields of the Albufera, cliff capes and castle villages of the Costa Blanca, Elche’s palm grove and the wild beaches of Calblanque.
- [Mallorca: the Serra de Tramuntana road](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b3-mallorca-tramuntana/): Palma’s cathedral, mountain villages of stone and olive terraces, the hairpins down to Sa Calobra and the cliffs of Formentor.
- [Basque coast: Gaztelugatxe, fishing ports and the Zumaia flysch](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-basque-coast/): From Bilbao’s transporter bridge along the Bizkaia cliffs to Gaztelugatxe, steep fishing villages and the rock layers of Zumaia.
- [Picos de Europa: the Cares gorge, Liébana and Fuente Dé](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-picos-de-europa/): A loop through the Picos de Europa: the Cares trail, the Hermida gorge, the monastery of Liébana and the cable car at Fuente Dé.
- [Rías Altas: A Coruña to the cliffs of Herbeira and Cabo Ortegal](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-rias-altas/): Galicia’s wild north coast from the Roman lighthouse of A Coruña to the high sea cliffs of the Serra da Capelada and Cabo Ortegal.
- [Costa da Morte: Galicia’s coast of shipwrecks](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-costa-da-morte/): From Santiago to Galicia’s wildest coast: granaries, a waterfall into the sea, Cape Finisterre, Muxía and the lighthouse of Cabo Vilán.
- [Seville to Córdoba along the Guadalquivir](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-guadalquivir/): Seville’s Alcázar and Plaza de España, a riverside castle, the caliphs’ city of Medina Azahara, the Mezquita of Córdoba and the towers of Écija.
- [Málaga’s hinterland: El Torcal and the Caminito del Rey](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-malaga-torcal/): From Málaga to the limestone towers of El Torcal, the dolmens of Antequera, the flamingos of Fuente de Piedra and the Caminito del Rey.
- [Madrid to Toledo: Alcalá, Chinchón and Aranjuez](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-madrid-toledo/): A loop south of Madrid through Cervantes’ Alcalá, the porticoed square of Chinchón, the royal gardens of Aranjuez and the old city of Toledo.
- [Sierra de Guadarrama: El Escorial, La Granja and Segovia’s villages](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-guadarrama-segovia/): Over the mountains north of Madrid to El Escorial, the fountains of La Granja, the Alcázar of Segovia, medieval Pedraza and the Duratón gorge.
- [Burgos and the Ribera del Duero](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-burgos-duero/): From Burgos cathedral to the Romanesque cloister of Silos, the ducal town of Lerma and the wine castle of Peñafiel, ending in Valladolid.
- [Navarre Pyrenees: gorges, the Irati forest and Roncesvalles](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-navarre-pyrenees/): From Pamplona through two vulture gorges to the beech forest of Irati, Roncesvalles on the Camino and the witch caves of Zugarramurdi.
- [Catalan Pyrenees: Mont-rebei, the Vall de Boí and Aigüestortes](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-catalan-pyrenees/): From Lleida into the Pyrenees: the Mont-rebei gorge, Romanesque churches of the Vall de Boí, the lakes of Aigüestortes and the Val d’Aran.
- [Valencia to the Maestrat: Sagunto, Peñíscola and Morella](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-valencia-maestrat/): North from Valencia to Sagunto’s fortress, the sea castle of Peñíscola, the walled hill town of Morella and Valderrobres in Aragon.
- [Mallorca’s south and east: coves, caves and castles](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-mallorca-east/): From Palma to the dunes of Es Trenc, the coves of Santanyí, the underground lake of the Drach caves and the castles of Capdepera and Alcúdia.
- [Menorca: Talayotic sites, lighthouses and turquoise coves](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-menorca/): Across Menorca from Maó to Ciutadella: prehistoric sanctuaries, the slate cape of Favàritx, Monte Toro, Fornells and the coves of the south coast.
- [Sierra de Francia, Las Hurdes and the Jerte valley](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-sierra-francia-jerte/): From Salamanca to the stone village of La Alberca, the Peña de Francia, the river loop of Las Hurdes, abandoned Granadilla and the cherry valley of Jerte.
- [Minho coast: Porto to Baiona across the border](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b13-minho-coast/): North from Porto along the Minho coast: Viana do Castelo and Santa Luzia, the star fortress of Valença, Tui and the Celtic hillfort of Santa Trega.

## Places worth the detour in Spain

- [Alhambra](https://camping-spirit.com/places/alhambra/): Moorish palaces and gardens above Granada. Tickets sell out weeks ahead, especially for the Nasrid Palaces.
- [Lagos de Covadonga](https://camping-spirit.com/places/covadonga/): Two glacial lakes in the Picos de Europa. Private cars are restricted in peak season, so take the bus.
- [Puente Nuevo](https://camping-spirit.com/places/ronda/): An 18th-century bridge spanning a gorge nearly 100 m deep in the middle of town.
- [Bardenas Reales](https://camping-spirit.com/places/bardenas/): A semi-desert of eroded clay towers in Navarre. Dirt tracks, open in daylight only; part of it is a military range.
- [Cape Finisterre](https://camping-spirit.com/places/finisterre/): The Romans’ end of the world and the last stop for many Camino pilgrims. Watch the sun set over the Atlantic.
- [Dalí Theatre-Museum](https://camping-spirit.com/places/dali-museum/): A museum Salvador Dalí designed as his own work of art, topped with giant eggs.
- [Segovia aqueduct](https://camping-spirit.com/places/segovia-aqueduct/): A Roman aqueduct of granite blocks held without mortar, 28 m high where it crosses the old town.
- [Ordesa valley](https://camping-spirit.com/places/ordesa/): A glacial canyon with beech woods and waterfalls. The walk to the Cola de Caballo falls takes a full day.
- [Tabernas Desert](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-tabernas-desert/): Eroded badlands north of Almería, often called Europe’s only desert, where Sergio Leone and many others shot their westerns. Several old film sets are open to visitors; the roadside viewpoints along the N-340a show the gullies best.
- [Cabo de Gata lighthouse](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-faro-cabo-de-gata/): The lighthouse at the tip of the cape looks down on the Arrecife de las Sirenas, jagged volcanic rocks in turquoise water. The road beyond it towards San José is closed to cars, so come back the way you arrived.
- [Baelo Claudia](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-baelo-claudia/): The ruins of a Roman fishing town right on the beach at Bolonia, with a theatre, temples and the tanks where fish sauce was made. Next to it rises the huge Bolonia dune, worth the barefoot climb.
- [Riotinto Mining Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-riotinto/): Five thousand years of mining have left a blood-red river, open pits and a Martian landscape. The museum in the village runs visits to the Corta Atalaya pit and trips on the old mine railway.
- [Doñana: El Acebuche](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-donana-acebuche/): The main visitor centre of Doñana National Park, with boardwalks through pine and scrub to bird hides over a lagoon. Access to the heart of the park is only on guided 4x4 or boat tours, which are worth booking ahead.
- [Plaza Vázquez de Molina](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-ubeda-vazquez-molina/): One of the finest Renaissance squares in Spain, lined with palaces and the Sacred Chapel of El Salvador. Úbeda and neighbouring Baeza are a joint World Heritage Site; leave the car outside the old walls.
- [Río Borosa trail](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-rio-borosa/): The classic walk of the Sierra de Cazorla follows a trout river through the narrow Cerrada de Elías gorge on wooden walkways. Go as far as you like; the full route to the upper lakes and tunnels is a long day out.
- [Salto del Gitano, Monfragüe](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-monfrague-salto-gitano/): A quartzite cliff above the Tagus where griffon vultures nest and black storks and imperial eagles are often seen. The viewpoint is right by the EX-208 through Monfragüe National Park, so bring binoculars.
- [Royal Monastery of Guadalupe](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-guadalupe-monastery/): A fortress-like monastery in the Villuercas hills, long one of Spain’s great pilgrimage sites, with a Mudéjar cloister and paintings by Zurbarán. The drive in from Trujillo crosses empty oak pasture and quiet sierra.
- [Roman theatre of Mérida](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-merida-roman-theatre/): The best-preserved monument of Augusta Emerita, a Roman capital, with its two-storey stage front still standing next to the amphitheatre. In summer it hosts a classical theatre festival.
- [Royal Palace of Olite](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-olite-palace/): The fairy-tale palace of the kings of Navarre, a maze of towers, stairways and battlements you can climb. Olite is also a good place to taste Navarre wines.
- [Montserrat](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-montserrat/): A saw-toothed mountain of pink conglomerate with a Benedictine monastery and its Black Madonna. Arrive early, or leave the car below and take the rack railway or cable car; paths lead higher to the hermitages.
- [Castellfollit de la Roca](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-castellfollit-de-la-roca/): A village strung along the top of a basalt cliff about 50 metres high, formed by two lava flows. The classic photo is from the old road bridge and riverside below.
- [Poblet Monastery](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-poblet-monastery/): A walled Cistercian monastery, still home to monks, with the royal tombs of the Crown of Aragon. The surrounding Poblet forest has shaded walks for a hot afternoon.
- [Ebro Delta](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-ebro-delta/): Flat rice fields, lagoons and sand spits where the Ebro meets the sea, with flamingos and herons all year. Cycling is the best way around; bring insect repellent in summer.
- [Monasterio de Piedra](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-monasterio-de-piedra/): A former monastery whose gardens hide a string of waterfalls, including the Cola de Caballo and a grotto behind it. The paid walking circuit takes a couple of hours; weekends are busy.
- [Consuegra windmills](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-consuegra-windmills/): A row of white windmills and a castle on a ridge above the plains of La Mancha, the image of Don Quixote country. Drive up for sunset; one mill is open as a small museum.
- [Hanging Houses of Cuenca](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-cuenca-hanging-houses/): Houses with wooden balconies built out over the Huécar gorge, one of which holds a museum of abstract art. Cross the iron San Pablo bridge for the best view; park in the lower town.
- [Valle de Lago, Somiedo](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-somiedo-valle-lago/): A hamlet at the end of a mountain road in Somiedo Natural Park, starting point for the walk to a glacial lake past thatched herders’ huts. Brown bears live in these mountains; ask locally about viewpoints.
- [Las Médulas](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-las-medulas/): Red peaks among chestnut trees, left by Roman gold mining that washed away whole mountains; a World Heritage Site. Walk from the village, then drive to the Mirador de Orellán for the view from above.
- [León Cathedral](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-leon-cathedral/): A Gothic cathedral famous for its stained glass, so extensive that the walls seem made of light. Visit on a sunny morning, then eat tapas in the Barrio Húmedo nearby.
- [Roman walls of Lugo](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-lugo-roman-walls/): The only Roman town walls to survive complete, a circuit of about two kilometres that you can walk on top of. Free and open at all hours.
- [Balcóns de Madrid, Sil canyon](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-sil-canyon-balcons/): A viewpoint over the deep canyon of the Sil in the Ribeira Sacra, with terraced vineyards clinging to the walls. The roads down to the river are steep and narrow; catamaran trips run from the jetties below.
- [Praia das Catedrais](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-playa-catedrales/): Rock arches and caves like the buttresses of a cathedral, walkable only at low tide. In summer and at Easter you need a free permit booked online; check the tide times first.
- [Guadalest](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-guadalest/): A castle village on a rock pinnacle, entered through a tunnel in the rock, above a turquoise reservoir. Busy at midday with coach tours, so come early or late.
- [Calblanque](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-calblanque/): A regional park of wild beaches, fossil dunes and golden sandstone, rare on this built-up coast. The access road is unpaved and in summer is closed to cars when a shuttle bus runs.
- [La Seu, Palma Cathedral](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-palma-cathedral/): A huge Gothic cathedral on the seafront, with a rose window of coloured glass and later touches by Gaudí and Miquel Barceló. The view from the sea wall below is the best.
- [Sa Calobra](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-sa-calobra/): A cove at the mouth of the Torrent de Pareis gorge, reached by a famous road of hairpins that loops under itself. Large motorhomes should not try it; buses have priority on the tightest bends.
- [Cap de Formentor](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b3-cap-formentor/): A lighthouse at the end of a spectacular ridge road above sheer cliffs, with the Mirador des Colomer on the way. In summer private cars are banned for much of the day and a shuttle bus runs; check the current rules.
- [San Juan de Gaztelugatxe](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b13-gaztelugatxe/): A hermitage on a rocky islet joined to the coast by a stone causeway of about 240 steps. On busy summer days you must book a free timed slot online; allow an hour for the walk down and back up.
- [Zumaia flysch at Itzurun beach](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b13-zumaia-flysch/): Tilted layers of rock covering some 60 million years stand like book pages on Itzurun beach and the cliffs by San Telmo hermitage. Visit at low tide to walk the wave-cut platforms; park in town and walk.
- [Cares Gorge trail (Poncebos)](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b13-cares-trail/): A path carved into the cliffs of the Cares gorge, 12 km one way from Poncebos to Caín and mostly level after the first climb. Arrive early for parking at Poncebos; the Bulnes funicular leaves from the same spot.

## FAQs

**What are the best road trips in Spain?**
Popular routes include Andalusia: white villages and the Alhambra, Green Spain: Basque Country to Asturias, Galicia: Santiago to the Rías Baixas and Andalusia’s white villages. CampingSpirit has 39 trip guides that pass through Spain, each with a stop-by-stop itinerary and a route map.

**Which places in Spain are worth a detour?**
Our editors recommend Alhambra, Lagos de Covadonga, Puente Nuevo, Bardenas Reales, Cape Finisterre and Dalí Theatre-Museum.

**Do you need a vignette or pay tolls in Spain?**
Tolls on some roads, bridges or tunnels. Many former toll motorways are now free; some AP roads still charge. Rules and prices change. Check official sources before you travel.

**What is the motorway speed limit in Spain?**
120 km/h on motorways for cars, unless signs show otherwise.

**Are there low-emission zones in Spain?**
Low-emission zones in some cities.