Madrid to Lisbon with Duque: everything you need to know before you leave

Before getting into the route, let's talk about paperwork — it's the first thing people ask about, and having it sorted is what sets your mind at rest. The good news: Portugal is a member of the European Union, which simplifies things considerably.

To take Duque from Spain to Portugal you need three things: a microchip (mandatory in Spain for years now, so this is usually already done), the European pet passport — that small blue booklet issued by a vet — and a valid rabies vaccination recorded in the passport and not expired. No quarantine, no special permits, no additional certificates for the destination. EU regulations cover everything.

What is worth checking before the trip: the expiry date on the rabies vaccine. If Duque's is tight or already lapsed, a booster a few weeks before you leave sorts the problem without any last-minute stress. The European pet passport is issued by any authorised vet; if you don't have one yet, now's the time to get it.

In practice, since Spain and Portugal both belong to the Schengen Area, systematic border checks for road travellers are uncommon. Even so, keep Duque's passport in the glove box — not buried at the bottom of the boot — in case you're asked for documents at a spot check. It usually doesn't happen, but it can.

From Madrid to Lisbon there are essentially two main options. The most direct and most-travelled route goes through Extremadura: you head south-west on the A-5, pass through Mérida and Badajoz, and cross the border at Caia, near Elvas — the busiest crossing between the two countries. It's roughly 640 kilometres and, with no stops, just under six hours. With the car loaded up and Duque in the boot, stops are necessary rather than optional, so budget more time than that.

The alternative is to head north-west on the A-6 through Cáceres and cross at Vilar Formoso, on the Salamanca–Beira frontier. This adds some distance and time, but it has its advocates: the city of Cáceres has extraordinary monumental beauty if you want to stop overnight or take a long break en route, and the landscape of the Sierra de Gata and the Portuguese Beira has a very different character to the Alentejo.

My preference is the Extremadura route, for several reasons. The drive is shorter, the area around Badajoz and the border has good dog-friendly stopping points, and once you cross into Portugal the Alentejo landscape — flat plains of cork oaks, fields of sunflowers in summer, whitewashed villages — is some of the most beautiful and peaceful scenery I know for opening the windows and letting Duque stick his nose out into the breeze. If it's your first time and you have no particular reason to go north, go through Extremadura.

A greyhound of normal size needs a stop roughly every two hours on a long drive — not so much for physiological reasons as for general wellbeing. Duque in the car is a model passenger — he lies down, sleeps, doesn't complain — but he arrives in much better shape if he's had his breaks and been able to move about at each one.

Along the A-5 there are service stations with green areas at various points between Madrid and Badajoz. They vary in quality, but for what you need — ten minutes of walking, some water, and back in the car — any one that has a strip of grass beside the car park does the job perfectly. One thing I would always recommend: keep Duque on the lead at service stations, however much space there seems to be. The constant movement of lorries and cars is relentless, and a greyhound with racing instincts doesn't forgive lapses of attention.

If you have a comfortable amount of time, Mérida is worth a longer stop. The city has one of the most important collections of Roman ruins in Europe, but what matters to me for a stop with Duque is something else: the riverside walk along the Guadiana. The river curves around the city with a good stretch of accessible riverbank — there's shade, there's grass, and Duque can move freely before we get back on the road. A Mérida stop usually takes me between an hour and a half and two hours including a coffee, and I arrive in Lisbon noticeably fresher than if I'd done it in one go.

If you're short of time or the journey has already stretched longer than planned, don't feel obliged to stop in a city: the green areas at the service stations around Mérida and Badajoz do the job just fine.

Crossing from Spain into Portugal by road is, in practical terms, simply carrying on driving. Since both countries are part of the Schengen Area of free movement, systematic border controls for road travellers are a thing of the past. At the Caia crossing — the most common one on the Extremadura route — the vast majority of vehicles pass straight through without being stopped. The same applies at Vilar Formoso if you go via the north.

That said, the Portuguese Fiscal Guard and customs services on both sides can set up random checks at any time, and there are periods — public holidays, summer — when they are somewhat more frequent. If you are stopped, the process is straightforward: travel documents for the passengers and, for Duque, the European pet passport with a valid, recorded microchip and rabies vaccination. Nothing more. In none of my crossings have I ever been asked for anything additional, but the difference between having Duque's passport in the glove box and having it buried in the boot luggage shows up in your stress levels.

One more thing: don't confuse customs controls — which in the Schengen Area are exceptional — with traffic checks or Portuguese tolls. Portugal has tolls on several motorways, including some sections between the border and Lisbon. The electronic toll roads without physical toll booths are the ones that catch first-time visitors off guard: if your car doesn't have a Via Verde device, plan to pay online through the EasyToll service (easytoll.pt) within 24 hours of passing through, or set it up before you leave Spain.

Mérida deserves its own section, even though it's technically just a stop en route. The Extremaduran city has the most complete Roman archaeological complex in Spain — theatre, amphitheatre, circus, aqueduct, temple — and while seeing it properly takes more time than most people have when they're passing through on the way to Lisbon, there's a great deal to see and walk around even in a two-hour stop.

For anyone travelling with Duque, the main point of interest is the River Guadiana and the Roman bridge that spans it. The riverside walk is long, accessible, and has good grassy areas where Duque can have a proper run on a long lead. The setting around the Roman bridge — one of the oldest and best-preserved in Europe, with twenty-six arches reflected in the green water of the Guadiana — has a calm and a scale that feel restorative after hours on the motorway.

If the stop falls at midday and it's hot — and in summer in Mérida the heat can be serious — it's better to stay in the shaded riverbank area and avoid heading into the centre until the sun drops. Duque, like all greyhounds, doesn't cope well with intense heat: he stops, finds shade, and looks at you with that expression of his that conveys wounded dignity. Listen to him. Half an hour by the river with cool water is better than forty minutes traipsing through an overheated town centre.

Lisbon is more dog-friendly than its reputation as a tourist city might suggest, but you need to know where to go. The historic centre — Alfama, Bairro Alto, the Baixa Pombalina — is attractive but awkward: cobbled streets on steep gradients, crowds in high season, the famous Tram 28 that doesn't allow dogs, and very few green spaces where Duque can stretch without someone walking into him. You can visit, but it's not where you'll feel most comfortable with a greyhound.

The neighbourhoods where Lisbon becomes a pleasure with him are quite different. Belém is the first: broad gardens facing the Tagus, access to the riverside promenade, and plenty of space to walk at a leisurely pace. The Torre de Belém and the Jerónimos Monastery are within walking distance, and in the gardens between the two monuments you'll regularly see dogs of all sizes. At sunset, the light over the Tagus from the Belém promenade is some of the most beautiful I've seen anywhere on the peninsula.

Parque das Nações, at the eastern edge of the city, is another excellent option: it was the site of Expo 98 and is now a modern district with wide pedestrianised areas, accessible riverside, and plenty of room to move. Duque can walk on a long lead along the riverside paths without anyone batting an eyelid, and there are terraces where they'll serve you without any fuss about the greyhound stretched out under the chair.

The LX Factory in the Alcântara neighbourhood has a Sunday market that is one of the most pleasant outings in Lisbon for anyone travelling with a dog: dogs are welcome, the atmosphere is relaxed, and among the stalls of clothing, books and food there is enough space to move around without feeling hemmed in. The miradouros — the viewpoints looking out over the city — are another classic, but it's worth going early, before the tour groups and the mid-morning crowds arrive. At dawn or in the late afternoon, the city as seen from Miradouro da Graça or Miradouro de Santa Catarina has a silence and a quality of light that make the early start worthwhile.

Dog-friendly accommodation in Lisbon exists, but it requires more searching than in rural destinations. Hotels that accept dogs are a fraction of the total offer, and many have weight limits that rule out anyone travelling with a large or extra-large dog. Duque is big and elegant — not a pocket-sized dog — and even some boutique hotels in the centre that describe themselves as flexible can surprise you with the supplement for a pet.

My clear recommendation is to go for apartments or apartment-style accommodation, which in Lisbon has a broad offering and is structurally more permissive with animals. Having your own kitchen also helps: if Duque eats a specific food or your schedule doesn't always line up with restaurant hours, cooking for yourself removes one source of stress. Apartments in Belém and in the Mouraria neighbourhood — the latter has a lot of character and is well placed for reaching the centre on foot — work particularly well for this combination.

One thing always worth doing, regardless of the type of accommodation: confirm before booking that they accept the actual size of your dog, not just that the listing says 'pets welcome'. In Portugal as in Spain, that phrase sometimes means 'dogs up to ten kilos', and Duque weighs twice that. A direct question before you confirm the booking saves a great deal of frustration on arrival. tuPetate's pet-friendly accommodation filter has quite a lot of detail for Lisbon, which has saved us more than one phone call.

Lisbon in July and August is a city you need to approach with your eyes open. Tourism in high season is intense — it's one of the European capitals that has seen the sharpest growth in visitor numbers over recent years — and the heat can be substantial: temperatures above 35 degrees in the city centre are normal at the peak of summer. For Duque, who is a greyhound and not a Siberian husky, extreme heat is no joke: greyhounds have thin coats, little body fat, and a large surface area that heats up quickly. In the middle of August, the middle of the day in Lisbon is time to be indoors with the air conditioning on, not out doing the viewpoints.

Spring and autumn are, without question, the best times to make this trip with a dog. In April and May Lisbon is in bloom — the jacaranda trees filling the avenues with purple is something worth making the journey for — the temperature is comfortable for walking, and the city moves at a different pace. September and October are equally good: summer is over, the tourist numbers drop, and the days still have a warm golden light that makes everything in Lisbon look better.

If summer is the only time you can go, the trip is still absolutely worth it. But plan it with awareness: leave early in the morning, make the most of the first hours for the long walks with Duque, find shade and open spaces at midday, and save the afternoons for the cool of the riverside or the LX Factory market. Lisbon in the heat is perfectly liveable; Lisbon in the heat without planning Duque's outings becomes an obstacle course.