Estrada Nacional 2: Chaves to Faro

Trás-os-Montes to the Algarve · Portugal

Easy7 daysEurope~£850 est.

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Overview

Portugal's N2 is the country's Route 66: 739 km of old national road running unbroken from Chaves on the Spanish border to Faro on the Algarve, kilometre stone by kilometre stone through the interior the motorways forgot. Drivers collect stamps in an official N2 'passport' at cafés and town halls along the way, which tells you everything about the spirit of the thing. From Chaves' Roman bridge the road crosses the Douro at Peso da Régua between staircases of port vineyards — the moment of the trip at harvest time — then climbs through pine and schist to the Serra da Lousã's slate villages. Vila de Rei marks the geodesic centre of Portugal; further south comes the plane-tree tunnel at Montargil and the endless cork-oak dehesa of the Alentejo, before the final twist over the Serra do Caldeirão drops you into Faro for a seafood rice by the lagoon. The variables: it is deliberately slow — a week is right, and sat-navs will keep trying to bump you onto the parallel motorways; August cooks the Alentejo above 40°C; and rural fuel stations shut on Sundays. Around £850 per person for seven days of family-run pensões, long lunches and vinho verde.