While it is doable, our experience helping thousands of happy American travelers as verified by our reviews and surveys suggests that driving a rental car from Madrid to Seville and then to Lisbon may not be the most comfortable nor the most time efficient nor the most eco-friendly choice.
The thing is the drive from Madrid to Seville with a stop and/or any traffic issues is 6+ hours. You’ll burn a lot of fossil fuel and have the AC on max level in the summer heat also. Then after that long drive, you’ll be faced with the labyrinthine old town of Seville which even locals try to avoid driving in as so many roads are now pedestrian-only. Not only that parking is very limited and most parking spaces are made for small vehicles, not SUVs
Therefore we’d always suggest the modern comfort and convenience of taking the AVE fast train at up to 300 KM per hour down to Seville. The time can be only 2 hours 55min depending on the train and you save energy to enjoy the unique culture of southern Spain’s capital.
Then from Seville, we’d suggest letting our drivers take you in a comfortable, clean Mercedes van from hotel doorstep to hotel doorstep in Lisbon. I’d note that while Spanish drivers can be a bit fast (this is southern Europe) the drivers of Portugal rival the Greeks in the minds of many in that many of them will take risk when passing that are not normal elsewhere.
In closing, our Spain & Portugal travel agency expert advice is to avoid driving a rental car from Madrid to Seville as it is long somewhat boring drive.
On top of that driving in Spain, in general is not most comfortable nor the most time efficient nor the most eco-freindly choice if you have pre-booked your travels using the high speed Spanish train network.
That is our free advice from the “front lines” as Iberia residents here. But we are not your boss and if you really want to drive that’s up to you. 🙂
Please advise, your thoughts and questions by contacting us here about planning your luxury, private tour of Spain or Portugal .