Scenic drives · Douro Valley N222

Is the N222 in the Douro Valley really the best road in the world, and what do I pay to get there?

Checked 2 October 2026 in Portuguese law and on ANSR's and IMT's official pages · skynomad

Where "the best road in the world" comes from

In April 2015 Avis, the car rental company, published what it called the Avis Driving Ratio (ADR). A team led by quantum physicist Dr Mark Hadley, with an F1 track designer and a roller-coaster designer, timed 25 well-known roads in three of Avis's Prestige cars: a Porsche 911 Carrera, a Jaguar XKR-S and a Mercedes E350. The formula scored four phases of a drive (bends, acceleration, cruising and braking) and set the ideal at 10:1, ten seconds on a straight for every second in a bend.

The N222 came closest, at 11:1. Big Sur in California came second at 8.5:1, according to Diário de Notícias, and the A535 in England third at 8.4:1.

So the claim is real, but it is narrow: a marketing study by a rental company, measuring rhythm, not views, surface or safety, among 25 roads that Avis picked itself. I'd treat it as a good line for a postcard and nothing more. What makes the N222 worth the drive is what Avis also wrote: it cuts through terraced vineyards along the river. What makes it hard work is that the same 93 bends carry tour vans, tractors and cyclists.

Getting there from Porto: which motorways still charge

This is where most foreign guides are out of date. Law 37/2024 abolished the tolls from 1 January 2025 on the A4 Transmontana and Túnel do Marão and on the A24 Interior Norte, among others. The A24 is the motorway that passes Peso da Régua. Both are now free.

What is not free is the A4 from Porto to Amarante, run by Brisa under its own concession. The transport authority IMT publishes the section prices; the first section, Ermesinde to Valongo, is €0.40 for a class 1 car. I could not find the full Porto to Amarante total on an official page, so I won't add it up for you.

I'd take the A4 east, stay on it through the Marão, then the A24 south to Régua. That puts the paid part of the trip at the Porto end only.

Hire cars and Portugal's tolls

On the motorways that still have electronic tolls elsewhere in Portugal, an unregistered foreign or hire car gets a debt per passage, and a fine of 7.5 times the toll, never less than €25, if it is not paid in time. Our Portugal tolls page has the three ways to pay. For this route the question is narrower: ask the desk how the car pays at the Brisa A4, and whether you are being charged a flat rental fee for a toll device. More on hire-car add-ons in hire cars.

Wine tastings and the 0.5 limit

The N222 runs past port and Douro wine estates that offer tastings, and the national road safety authority, ANSR, is clear about the limits. The general limit is 0.5 g/l. For a driver in the probationary period, and for professional drivers, it is 0.2 g/l. Between 0.5 and 0.8 g/l is a serious offence with a driving ban of one month to a year; from 0.8 to 1.2 g/l it is very serious, with a ban of two months to two years; from 1.2 g/l it is a crime.

ANSR's page does not show the fine amounts in euros. According to the Caetano group's guide to the Road Code, the fine is €250 to €1,250 for the serious band and €500 to €2,500 for the very serious one. My advice is simple: one person drives and spits, or you book a tasting at the end of the day near where you sleep.

Narrow, slow and busiest at harvest

I found no published length or weight limit on the N222 between Régua and Pinhão, and no official advice on motorhomes. That is a finding, not a green light: 93 bends on a road built along a river cliff are not a place to meet a coach in a large motorhome. I'd drive it in a car and leave anything over 7 m at a campsite. The general rules for heavy motorhomes are on the motorhomes page.

The harvest (vindima) falls around September. I found no official traffic count or advice for harvest season, so I can only say this: plan for slow tractors on blind bends, and drive early.

The drive, end to end

• Porto: the start; the A4 east of the city is the only tolled part of the trip.
• Peso da Régua: the western end of the N222's famous stretch, reached by the toll-free A24.
• São Leonardo de Galafura: a viewpoint at 640 m on the north bank, a detour across the river; a tile panel carries Miguel Torga's line calling it "an excess of nature".
• The N222: 27 km and 93 bends along the south bank, as measured by Avis.
• Pinhão: the eastern end; the railway station has 24 azulejo panels from 1937.

Charging an EV in the valley

I could not confirm a public charger in Pinhão or Régua on an official source. Portugal's public network is MOBI.E, and its map is the place to check before you set off. Plan to arrive with enough charge to get back to the A24 at Régua. Range on the N222 itself is not the problem; the climb back out of the valley is. More in the EV section.

For parking at the Porto end, see Porto.