If you love road trips, you’ve probably heard of Route 66 in the US or the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland. But did you know Portugal has its own legendary backbone highway? It’s called the National Highway 2 (N2), stretching 738 kilometers from north to south.

Of course, because we like to do things a little differently (Happy Detours), it worked out that we would drive it completely backwards—from South to North.

Navigating the N2 in our 2004 Hymer motorhome (affectionately named Holly) has been an absolute dream, but full-time travel isn’t always just scenic mountain passes and ancient castles. Sometimes, you have to take a detour for the realities of life on the road.

Here is what happened on our journey up the spine of Portugal, from unexpected morning wake-up calls to a classic van life chore day that didn’t go quite as planned!

The “Mother Road” and Missing Bark

Driving the N2 backwards means watching the classic white mile markers count down instead of up. Along the way, we picked up an official N2 Passport (think of it like the US National Parks passport book where you collect stamps at local stops) and downloaded the route app to keep track of points of interest.

As we wound our way out of the towns and into the gorgeous rural mountain roads, we started noticing something strange about the trees. The bottom half of the bark was cleanly stripped away on hundreds of them, and many had numbers painted right on the bare trunk.

The Mystery Solved: After a quick Google search, we discovered they are cork oak trees! Portugal is a massive exporter of cork, and this is exactly how they harvest it for wine bottles.

The sensory experience didn’t stop there. While southern Spain smelled entirely like sweet jasmine, central Portugal filled our open cab windows with the incredible, fresh scent of massive eucalyptus forests.

GPS Misadventures & Historic Castles

If you’ve ever traveled in a motorhome, you know that GPS apps love to play tricks on you. We planned a lunch stop at a rustic, Don Quixote-style windmill high on a hill, only to find the final stretch of road completely blocked by a dumpster.

Later that day, our map tried to convince us to park at a municipal site via a dotted line that was clearly meant for walking, not driving. After circling the block a few times, we ended up parking on a hill right above the actual site. We never did figure out how to get down to the official parking area, but our accidental spot gave us a four-star panoramic view, a perfect playground for our dog, Salsa, and a stunning evening rainbow.

We also made sure to stretch our legs at an incredible, beautifully preserved fortress castle. Salsa turns out to be a massive fan of high views—she loved putting her paws up on the ancient stone walls to look out over the valley below!

The Porto Detour: Salsa Gets a Makeover

By the time we started getting closer to the north, our sweet Goldendoodle, Salsa, was looking seriously shaggy. When you’re on the road full-time, scheduling a major grooming appointment takes a lot of coordination. You have to find a town with a reputable groomer, make sure there’s enough physical space to park a motorhome nearby, and line up the timing perfectly.

We took a temporary break from the N2 and headed to the southern suburbs of Porto. To pass the time during her appointment, we managed to squeeze Holly into an Aldi parking lot to get some grocery shopping done.

European grocery stores always have a way of surprising us. In Italy, it was the hanging smoked meats and massive jugs of wine. Here in Portugal? They have open, slide-top freezer cabinets where you take a giant scoop and bag your own loose frozen shrimp, clams, and seafood by the kilo!

The Language Barrier Twist

When we went back to pick up Salsa, we got a bit of a shock. Because of a slight language barrier, the groomer didn’t quite catch the “Goldendoodle” look. Instead, he shaved her completely down like a classic poodle!

While it wasn’t exactly our usual style, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Her short coat kept her beautifully cool in the afternoon heat, and it made digging pesky burrs out of her paws a thousand times easier.

Recreating Memories Across the Atlantic

Before heading back out to finish the highway, we spent a quiet, gorgeous night parked right on Ovar Beach. Watching the sun drop below the horizon was a unique moment for us—living in the US, you don’t exactly get to watch the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean!

It also brought us entirely full circle. A few years ago, we took a two-week trial run to Acadia National Park in Maine to see if we would even survive long-term travel in a camper. On that trip, Salsa and I sat out on the coastal rocks and watched the waves.

Finding ourselves on a rocky beach on the exact opposite side of the Atlantic, we couldn’t resist recreating the photo.

Then (Maine, USA)	Now (Ovar Beach, Portugal)
A 2.5-week trial run	18 months of full-time travel
Looking East over the ocean	Looking West over the ocean

Rolling Into Chaves

After getting back on track and collecting a few more stamps, we officially ran out of asphalt. We made it all the way north to our final stop at the Guest House campsite in Chaves (pronounced “Shaves” by the locals).

Between the long driving days and a brief bout of under-the-weather exhaustion, we took a much-needed rest day to just relax, watch the French and Dutch rigs roll into the campground, and fuel up on a quick fast-food run.

Next up, we are officially exploring the historic old town of Chaves, collecting our final Kilometer 0 passport stamp, and preparing Holly for the border crossing into northern Spain.

Thanks for following along on this leg of the journey! Have you ever driven the N2? Let us know your favorite stops in the comments below!

Catch the full visual story, the sunset footage, and see Salsa’s brand-new haircut in action on our latest video over at Empty Nest Adventures TV!