If you’re thinking about driving from the UK to Spain and Portugal, it can feel like a big trip to plan.

Where do you stop?
How long should you allow?
And is it actually doable as a family?

We recently did this exact route over 13 days, combining an overnight ferry with a mix of coastal and mountain destinations.

We’re a family of four, and on this trip, our daughter was 13 (almost 14), and our son had recently turned 11.

Most of the trip worked out well, but there are definitely things we’d do differently next time.

Here’s the full itinerary, plus what to expect along the way.

Overview of the route

This trip follows a simple loop:

• Ferry from Plymouth to Santander
• Drive across northern Spain into Portugal
• Travel south through the Algarve
• Head back into southern Spain
• Drive north to Segovia
• Return via Santander ferry

The places we visited:

• Costa Nova, Portugal
• Mosteirinho, Portugal
• Salema, Portugal
• Sedella, Spain
• Segovia, Spain

It gives you a mix of:

• Coastline
• Mountains
• Small, authentic villages
• One historic city

And keeps everything fairly logical without too much backtracking.

Full 13-day road trip itinerary UK to Spain and Portugal with Overnight Ferry

Here’s exactly how we planned it. If you prefer, check out our Spain and Portugal road trip diary for more detail on what we got up to each day.

Day 1

Ferry from Plymouth to Santander
Overnight crossing

Day 2

Arrive Santander
Drive to Costa Nova (Portugal)
Stay 2 nights

Day 3

Costa Nova
Explore striped houses and coastline

Day 4

Costa Nova to Salema
Stop in Mosteirinho in Viseu to visit family on the way
Stay 4 nights in Salema

Day 5

Salema
Beach, dinosaur footprints, coastal walks

Day 6

Explore Algarve coast
Praia das Furnas and Praia do Amado

Day 7

Salema
Wildflower walks and relaxed beach day

Day 8

Salema to Sedella (Spain)
Stay 3 nights

Day 9

Sedella
Village walks and surrounding countryside
Visit family

Day 10

Mountains near Canillas de Aceituno
Walking and exploring
Visit family

Day 11

Sedella to Segovia
Evening exploring historic city
Stay 1 night

Day 12

Segovia to Santander
Ferry back to UK

Day 13

Arrive Plymouth
Drive home

Driving distances and travel time

This trip involves a fair amount of driving.

In total, we covered:

• Around 1982 miles
• Roughly 48 hours of driving

Some days are long, especially:

• Santander to Costa Nova
• Costa Nova to Salema
• Sedella to Segovia

These are manageable, but you do need to be comfortable with longer drives.

The benefit is that once you arrive, you can stay put for a few days and properly relax.

Ferry route explained

We travelled via the Plymouth to Santander ferry.

It’s a long crossing, taking 20 to 22 hours each way, and requires an overnight cabin.

The main advantage is:

• You avoid driving through France
• You arrive straight into northern Spain

But it does come with trade-offs:

• It’s expensive
• It takes a lot of time
• The movement isn’t as smooth as you might expect and can cause motion nausea or sickness

If you’re unsure, it’s worth comparing this with flying and hiring a car instead. Or, the Eurotunnel if you don’t mind driving through France.

Where we stayed

We based our trip around a few key locations:

• Costa Nova, for the coastline and striped houses (and to visit family one hour away)
• Salema, for a relaxed Algarve stay
• Sedella, for mountain scenery and quiet surroundings (and to visit family nearby)
• Segovia, for a short city stop

We chose self-catering accommodation throughout, which made things easier for a family trip and allowed us to cook most meals.

Budget overview

For a 13-day trip like this, costs can vary a lot depending on how you travel.

Our total came to just over £4,500 for a family of four.

The biggest costs were:

• Ferry
• Accommodation

We chose the best cabins on the ferry, priority disembarkation in Santander, and nice self-catering apartments.

Fuel, tolls, and food were more manageable than expected, especially when cooking most meals ourselves.

I do a full breakdown of the costs here: Spain and Portugal Family Road Trip Breakdown of Costs for 13 Days

Is this itinerary realistic?

Yes, but it depends on your travel style.

This route works well if:

• You’re happy with a few long driving days
• You prefer staying a few nights in each place rather than moving daily
• You like a mix of locations rather than one base

It might feel a bit rushed if you prefer slow travel with minimal driving.

Who this trip is best for

This kind of itinerary suits:

• Families who enjoy road trips
• People who like variety in one trip
• Travellers who don’t mind longer journeys
• Anyone wanting to combine Spain and Portugal in one go

It’s less suited to:

• Short trips
• People who dislike long drives
• Anyone wanting a fully relaxed, stay-in-one-place holiday

What we’d do differently

Looking back, the main thing we’d change is the ferry.

While it made sense on paper, in reality it added a lot of time and wasn’t the most enjoyable part of the trip.

Next time, we’d likely:

• Fly and hire a car if we’re staying in one place or one country
  or
• Consider driving through France instead and getting the Eurotunnel

Everything else in the itinerary worked really well, aside from needing more time insome locations, but at the moment we are limited by school holidays, allowing only one or two weeks at a time. 

Final thoughts

This 13-day route gave us a great mix of places in a relatively short time.

From quiet coastal villages to mountain scenery and a historic city, it felt varied without being overly complicated.

It’s not the most relaxed trip, but it’s a really good way to see a lot in one go.

And if you’re happy to balance travel days with slower stays, it works.

This 13-day UK to Spain and Portugal road trip offers a mix of coastal and mountain destinations, combining ferry travel with scenic driving routes and flexible stopovers.