Portugal
 

Hi ya,

Just wondering if there is much good off roading in Portugal? I will be coming up from Morocco next month and thought it might be worthwhile going north through portugal. Anybody out there got any good info etc etc etc

Cheers,
Darrin

Its supposed to be brilliant (that goes for Northern Spain too). One of the mags was foaming at the mouth about it last year sometime. Hoever it didnt give any specifics, like where exactly the trails are. I guess, though, you could pick up local guides in towns.
There's also a very active Portuguese Land Riover club who seem to be fervent (and quite extreme!) off-roaders....
A quick search reveals two.... Land Rover Club of Portugal in Lisbon, phone +351 213427717, and Landmania in Coronado, email landmaniaco@yahoo.com
Do me a favour? Post what you find back on here.... Im going out that way in the summer and wouldnt mind a heads-up! http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif

I believe that in almost any medium city or town, there are auto clubs that in one way or in another are connected to off-roading, if i were you i would pick a few phone numbers from auto-clubs covering particular areas in wich you would want to visit and when you get there, i think you won´t be on your own. If i where you i would concentrate on off-roading Trás-os-Montes, Alentejo, Algarve and the Serra da Estrela.
If you want the contact for Espinho Auto Club, wich has a few off-roaders and organize a nice anual event with trails of this area, let me now or post here, since i don´t have it with me.
Best of luck.

Cheers,

What |I would like to do is travel vaguely south to north and film a travel documentary on Portugal, but travelling as much as possible offroad through the country etc

Not so much a 'mud, guts and glory' 4x4 vid as just a different way to see the country that happens to have some good off roading in beautiful places etc

If I don't recieve much info I guess the best I can do is arrive and try and find detailed maps - I will be there 2nd week of April for as long as it takes - maybe 3-4 weeks...

Any info on Northern Spain would be good also then!

Im away from the UK at the mo so can only vaguely remember what I found about this (its all at home) - but Explorer Guides and also Lonely Planet (I think) do guides specifically for North Spain. Explorer do one with a pretty good separate map.

Im going on the Plymouth-Santander ferry, which is a good service and drops you right in front of the Picos de Europa mountains.

God.... cant remember! Sorry. Do a websearch - there is loads of stuff out there. Toby Savage did a run out that way a few years ago and hs writeup is on his website www.tobysavage.co.uk