Douro Valley Pearl

4y ago
4.3K
- This sunday I decided to finally check out if the N222 is overated or the real deal. Got the Up! with Europcar, put the camera in the backpack and everything was set.
- The journey was actually an afterparty of a crazy saturday night. Went alone so I could push the little Up a little bit more than usual...
- It was 5:30 a.m, it was raining and I didn't have a GPS, since my cellphone was charging back home.
- No matter, as long as I saw the river Douro which cuts the Douro valley, I would know where to go.
- The region (which is also my home nowadays) is well know for its wine! Before the famous Peso da Regua - Pinhão, there are many ways to go. I've chosed the Rota do Romântico (The route of the romantic) which goes along the N222 all the way from Gaia.
- Up showed me once more its economy, even though driving hard and at high revs, the car managed to do more than 14km/l.
- The fog was heavy and visibility was poor, for me the perfect weather to go driving.
- There were many river crossings with sumblime scenary.
- During the way, many turns garantee fun! Over here a powerfull car won't be the fastest if the driver doesn't know how to apply it
- SEATs here are often driven by petrolheads, so watch out for small mountain pass challenges!
- Arriving in Peso da Régua
- This is where the magic begins!
- The road has some straight segments where you can really push the car.
- It was an amazing experience, in total, more than 500km travelled! For me, the N222 stands up to its title. Full of corners, great flow in the traffic and if you get lost, people will be kind and help you find your way!

From Peso Da Régua to Pinhão, there are 93 bends in 27km of amazing scenary on the best road in the world!

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Comments (3)

  • I live near that road (by near I mean 40 or so miles away). It`s a really good road to drive on in the summer in the early hours of the morning. Any other time it`s either full of cars (since the announcement as "best driving road in Europe" it has been that way) or there is bad weather

      4 years ago
  • I was there summer 2016 and it was just stunning! The best road trip, especially because I drop on some of WRC Rally of Portugal stage roads. Ahhh just lovely I want to live there! However I didn't take the right car though my Range Rover was too big for fun bends.

      4 years ago
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