Lisbon-Paris

OK

1) Renting in country A and dehiring in country B attracts penalties, although these will be built into the quote online.

2) Legit car companies to consider include AVIS, Europcar, Hertz, Sixt and to a lesser extent Alamo.
3) http://www.viamichelin.com will give you a route planner, including any tolls and costs of fuel burn.

4) Laws vary from country to country (e.g. France requires you to have a breathalyser in your car to prevent drink driving). Find out what your obligations are at http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/index.html
5) You should be aware that fuel in Europe is expensive. Latest prices can be found here: http://www.theaa.com/resources/Documents/pdf/motoring-advice/fuel-reports/january2013.pdf . For example, Unleaded fuel in France is 1.60 EUR a litre at present, which is 10.87 Argentinian Peso equivalent.
6) Your suggestion is not dangerous, but it's a hella long way to go given European traffic densities. European motorways are often quite boring (as well as tolled); avoid them and take the smaller roads for some scenery. Michelin again can help - they have maps showing scenic drives that could be worth building into any itinerary.

Consider investigating the train option - although Bilbao would probably have to be accessed via Madrid if you're leaving from Lisbon. Reasons: booked as soon as possible it could be cheaper than the final hire car costs, you let the train take the strain, and you won't be as tired. You can always hire a car for the day for anything not easily served by trains. Refer to http://www.seat61.com for general info and http://www.bahn.co.uk for a europe wide train timetable.

Hola!

You are going to love Portugal! Most people speak some English, or you can get by with Spanish, too since they also speak "Portanol." If you can drive in Argentina, then driving in Portugal will be very familiar to you - especially if you have a GPS in the car. Just be sure to not drive in the left lane unless you are passing another car! While in Lisboa, be sure to stop at Pasteis de Belem - a bakery near San Geronimo Cathederal. The Belem Cakes are uniquely deicious. I recommend going from Losboa to Cascais to the west. It is only about a 45- minute drive, and the ocean-front town is truly laid back and breathtaking. The sights are amazing. Then, you could continue up the coast to Sintra to see the ancient Moorish castle with a great hike to the top. Once you're at the top, you can see all of Sintra below. Next, keep going up the coast to Peniche - the westernmost point of Europe. Some of the best surfinf in the world is in Peniche, and there are more beautiful sights to see there. From Peniche, keep going north to Porto where they make the beloved Port wines. The city is well preserved and is beautifully set along the banks of the river. In town, there are many art museums and the third most famous bookstore in the world - Lello & Irmao. Definitely worth a visit.
On the way to Bilbao, you could stop in Santander. After Bilbao, there is Pamplona before going to France. I highly recommend going north from there to Bordeaux and on to Omaha Beach to see where thousands of men from many countries died to end World War II. Paris is about a two hour drive from Normandy. Once you get to Paris, you're on your own - you will love the city and all its wealth of history and art.
Skip the train, and take the roads. There is just too much to see when you're in a car.

Buena suerte y Buen Viaje!

According to your schedule you fly back from Lisboa?? Consider open jaw ticket, from Paris.

If budget is an issue, no doubt: train. #1 Fwoggie sums it up adquately, there's also the parking problem (and costs) in towns.
Though avoiding toll roads is less boring, you don't save money with it due to longer and more hilly roads. But scnery is the pro.
Example: Bilbao to San Sebastiaan/Biarritz, national roads take much time, that's why - altogether - imo toll road are cheaper. And of course you'll have to weigh time since you'll like to visit architectural venues.

As to that I assume you know about Oscar Niemeyer and Avilés?!

as regards architecture, I recommend the site [www.mimoa.eu] in order to track down interesting buildings either by location or architect (or any other keyword).

you may search for other worthwhile projects by e.g.:

Churtichaga/Quadra-Salcedo (Spanish)
Cruz y Ortiz (Spanish)
Mansilla+Tuñon (Spanish)

drop a line for further ideas on this topic.

Consider investigating the train option - although Bilbao would probably have to be accessed via Madrid if you're leaving from Lisbon.

There's no need to go to Madrid in order to go from Lisbon to Bilbao by train. If you want to make it all by train, take the overnight train from Lisbon to Miranda de Ebro and another train from Miranda de Ebro to Bilbao. If you don't bother to make a leg by bus, you can take the overnight train from Lisbon to Vitoria and a bus from Vitoria to Bilbao. Although it's possible to take a bus to Bilbao at other places along the train route form Lisbon to Vitoria, Vitoria has the most frequencies to Bilbao.

P.S.: If you plan to visit San Sebastián, there's a direct overnight train from Lisbon to San Sebastián that you could consider.

Hey!

Thank you all very much for the great replies! I really appreciate your time and help.
I have a clearer picture of what to do and have lots of excellent links to explore.
I think the best choice (cost and energy-wise) will be to rent a car to travel around Portugal (center and north) and then head to Paris by train/bus or plane. I´ll keep you posted with any advances in our planning!
;)

For all other portuguese architecture enthusiasts: [http://guiasdearquitectura.com]

Nice to hear back that our ideas thankfully landed;-)
IMO this way of travelling is also a good mix.

hi totinha,

thanks for the feedback - and another big thank for that link, even after just a quick glance that looks very much worthwhile already!

regards + safe trip

p.s. a lot of rental companies offer domestic one-way rentals free of charge when you do a minimal lease of 3days, look around. be aware that Portugal has a rather bewildering system of collecting motorway tolls - make sure to get yourself familiar with it and/or try to avoid motorways...

Taking a road trip through Europe is one of the great trips. I have driven from Finland to Portugal several times and its always been a great trip. But if you only have a week between Lisbon and Paris, it just doesn't make a lot of sense. You can spend a week driving around sights quite close to Lisbon (Tomar, Obidos, Alcobaca, Batalha, Evora, Monsaraz, Elvas, Estremoz, Marvao, also its quite convenient to drive to Cabo da Roca by car), or near Paris (Chartres, Chambord, Chenonceaux, Blois, Angers, Rouen, Etretat, Epernay are just a tiny selection).

That said, if you are keen on driving Lisbon-Paris, it takes about 16 hours on the highway. If you have 2 drivers, this is not exactly a big deal even in one day, BUT if you split those 16 hours across 7 days - its not that bad of an idea at all!!

It really depends if you like sleeping in overnight trains. I love overnight trains and have taken a good dozen of them, but the next day after an overnight train I feel like I am walking around like a boiled sausage.

If you have to stop on the way, like Bilbao and maybe someplace else, it really becomes faster with a car. Remember that with trains you have to go to the train station, wait for train, the train also isn't a Speedy Gonzales, and then go from train to hotel, etc. On public transport every place you visit turns into a big deal, but with a car you can come and go whenever you want to.

Your only problem is, is not packing in too much. Where do you stop and what do you leave out? Those are some difficult questions to answer.

What would I do if I were you?

Lisbon - Estremoz - Castelo de Vide - Marvao - Caceres - Trujillo - the pass at Cuevas de Valle - Avila - Segovia - San IldeFonso o La Granja - Penaranda del Duero - Burgos - Bilbao. I don't really like Acquitaine, so I would mostly just drive straight through that part of France up to Loire valley where Chenonceaux, Blois, and Chambord are all fantastic on pretty much on the way, and then on to Paris.

I think that's plenty for 1 week. You will average about 300 kms per day. On the highway 300km can be covered faster than you can say "We're already here?" I would spend the night in Caceres, Segovia, you'll probably want 2 nights in Bilbao, then one in Bordeaux or if you choose to skip Acquitaine then near Tours, spend a day around the Loire valley, on to Paris. If you want something different, you could drive up to Mont Saint Michel via Angers and Fougeres. Its more like either the Loire valley or that, because its not really on the way, but what a spectacular sight.