🇪🇸 Same-country drive · Spain
Driving from Zaragoza to Sevilla
Drive from the heart of Aragon to the capital of Andalusia. A guide to the best route from Zaragoza to Seville across the heart of Spain.
- Drive time
- 9h 13m
- Distance
- 848 km
- Same day?
- Long day
- under 12 h
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €102
- petrol · diesel ≈ €91
- Tolls
- ≈ €76
- per-km
- EV charging
- Unknown
- not yet surveyed
On this page
Route map
Route options
Other paths OSRM found between the two cities — handy when traffic, tolls, or scenery matter more than raw speed.
Alternative
+1h 19m- Distance:
- 922 km (+74 km)
- Duration:
- 10h 32m
Via: A-66 · A-2 · R-2 · N-110
Avoids motorways
+3h 38m- Distance:
- 818 km (−29 km)
- Duration:
- 12h 51m
Via: CM-310 · N-420 · CM-210 · A-431
How else can you make this trip?
Driving is the focus of this guide; here's how cycling, coach, and (soon) train and plane stack up for the same pair.
9h 13m
848 km · €102 fuel
See details ↓
Not realistic
848 km is far beyond a typical multi-day cycle tour. Try a shorter pair like a day or weekend stage.
No direct service
Our coach data (FlixBus + BlaBlaCar) doesn't list a direct service for this pair. National operators (e.g., National Express in the UK, Eurolines feeders) may still cover it — check their site directly.
2h 15m
from €40
See details ↓
5h 24m
RENFE OPERADORA
See details ↓
What the drive is like
Drafted from the route's computed data on April 25, 2026 and reviewed against the route summary card. Read our methodology.
You slip out of Zaragoza via the Z-40 bypass, quickly trading the industrial outskirts of Aragon for the expansive, sun-bleached plains of the A-2 headed southwest. This route is a study in the vastness of the Spanish interior, where the road stretches straight toward the horizon, punctuated only by the occasional silhouette of a distant ridge. As you arc around Madrid using the M-40 orbital, traffic density spikes; maintain a vigilant eye on the lane markings and the erratic pace of commuter flows before you finally break free onto the A-5 toward Extremadura. The landscape becomes more rugged and rolling here, signaling the transition into the southern tier of the peninsula.
The shift to the A-66 near Mérida marks the final push, dropping you from the high central plateau down toward the Guadalquivir valley. This leg of the journey demands caution during the heat of the afternoon; the glare off the dry scrubland can be fatiguing, and local drivers are prone to high-speed maneuvers. While Spanish motorways are toll-free for the vast majority of this stretch, ensure your vehicle is fueled before leaving the major hubs, as service areas can be sparse in the more desolate stretches of the A-5.
Arriving in Seville requires a change in mindset, as you trade the wide-open motorways for the dense, historic fabric of the Andalusian capital. The transition into the city is abrupt, moving from high-speed transit to narrow, navigation-heavy streets where motorbikes dart between lanes. Be aware that Seville enforces strict low-emission rules in certain historic zones, so check your hotel location and parking arrangements well in advance to avoid unnecessary fines. The sheer scale of this transit—nearly nine hours of pure driving—means it is best approached as a marathon, with the cooling evening air of the south providing a welcome relief once you finally cross the city limits.
Route highlights
- The massive M-40 orbital transition around Madrid
- The transition into the Guadalquivir valley on the A-66
- The abrupt change from rural highway to the dense urban center of Seville
- The high, arid plains of the Aragon-Castile border
Trip plan
How to think about the drive: one day, split, or overnight.
Overnight recommended
Too long for a single-driver day. Plan on 1 overnight stop(s) to do this trip right.
A natural overnight stop near the halfway point: Navalcarnero (es).
- Distance:
- 848 km
- Duration:
- 9h 13m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Calatayud 🇪🇸 es
≈121 km≈ 41.1 km detour from the main route
-
Guadalajara 🇪🇸 es
≈242 km≈ 17.7 km detour from the main route
-
El Álamo 🇪🇸 es
≈363 km≈ 13.9 km detour from the main route
-
Navalmoral de la Mata 🇪🇸 es
≈484 km≈ 21.7 km detour from the main route
-
Miajadas 🇪🇸 es
≈605 km≈ 2 km detour from the main route
-
Los Santos de Maimona 🇪🇸 es
≈727 km≈ 15.3 km detour from the main route
Key moves
Things to know before you set off — borders, sides of the road, tolls.
Cross-border drive · ES → ES
You'll leave one country and enter another on this trip. Keep your ID close, even inside Schengen, and check current border-control status before you go.
Tolls on motorways in ES / PT
Budget for motorway tolls — France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal charge per-km, Croatia and Greece by section. Contactless cards work almost everywhere; have one loaded.
Must-know before you go
The things a driver from another country wouldn't think to ask about — fines, stickers, payment cards, opening hours.
City access & emission zones
Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla now run ZBE low-emission zones
Must knowSpain's Zonas de Bajas Emisiones (ZBE) cover central Madrid (24/7), Barcelona inside the Rondes (weekdays 7:00–20:00), Sevilla, Valencia and a growing list. Foreign plates need to register at the city portal in advance — your Euro emission class determines whether you get in. Without registration, cameras log entry and the fine reaches your home address.
Sevilla ZBE — old town one-way labyrinth + camera enforcement
Must knowSevilla
Sevilla's ZBE Casco Antiguo (since 2024) covers the medieval centre between the river and the Alcázar. Hours 07:00–22:00 every day. Combined with the existing one-way traffic system, GPS routes change daily — many old streets are pedestrianised this year that weren't last year. Park outside (Avenida de Roma, Plaza de Armas underground) and walk in.
Tolls, vignettes & road payment
A22 Algarve and ex-SCUT roads — electronic only
Must knowPortugal has two toll systems. Most autoestradas use a normal ticket-and-pay barrier. But the A22 (Algarve), A23, A24, A25 and A28 are "ex-SCUT" routes with no booths — only overhead gantries that read your plate. Without a Via Verde transponder or pre-registration, you have 5 days to pay at a CTT post office, or the fine reaches your home address. Easiest fix: rent a Via Verde Visitors transponder (€6/week) at the airport or border.
Most Spanish tolls were abolished in 2024
TipThe AP-1, AP-7 (Bilbao stretch) and most of the Mediterranean coast highways are now toll-free. A handful remain: AP-9 (Galicia), AP-66 (León–Asturias), Catalonia's C-32/C-16 tunnel approach. Spain is no longer a high-toll country for cars — your fuel + a few specific bridge fees is the realistic budget.
Driving rules & habits
Plan your stops, not just your finish time
UsefulOSRM gives you free-flow drive time. Realistic add: 10% on motorway-heavy routes, 25% if you're crossing two cities. Eat at off-peak hours (11:30 lunch, 18:00 dinner) — service-area queues at noon kill 20 minutes. EU fatigue research is consistent: 15-minute break every 2 hours, full 45-minute break before 6 hours. The drive between hours 7 and 9 is where avoidable accidents cluster.
Fuel stations
Off-motorway stations close late evening
TipSpanish provincial fuel stations often close 22:00–07:00, especially in the south. Motorway services (Cepsa, Repsol on the autovía) run 24/7. If you're routing through an Andalusian backroad, fuel before sunset and don't bank on a small-town pump.
Contactless cards work at virtually every motorway pump
TipMajor brand stations (Shell, Total, BP, Repsol, Cepsa, OMV, Eni, Esso) take Visa and Mastercard contactless without an issue. American Express and Diners are spotty south of the Alps. A €100 pre-authorisation hold is normal — it releases within 5 days. Carry €50 cash for the rare independent station.
Money & connectivity
EU roaming covers calls, texts and data at no extra cost
TipYour home EU SIM works at home rates across every EU member, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The "fair use" cap on data only applies if you're abroad more than four months. For a 2-week road trip, just use your phone normally — but switch off "data roaming" if you're leaving the EU into UK / CH for any segment.
Emergency & breakdown
112 works everywhere in the EU and continental neighbours
TipSingle number for police, ambulance, fire — works from any phone, any network, any country. On motorways, the orange SOS pillars every 2km connect direct to the regional traffic control centre and pinpoint your location. Use them over your phone if you can — it speeds the response.
Rules, fees, and thresholds change. Always verify against the official source the day before you drive — this page is a checklist, not a legal reference.
Main roads
The highways this route spends the most kilometres on.
-
A-2 Autovía del Nordeste289 km
-
A-5R Autovía del Suroeste236 km
-
A-66 Autovía Ruta de la Plata181 km
-
A-5 Autovía del Suroeste95 km
-
M-40 —21 km
-
Z-40; A-2 Autovía del Nordeste9 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Motorway drive — fast, predictable, uneventful.
- Motorway
- 97%
- Secondary
- 0%
- Other / rural
- 3%
Drive difficulty
At-a-glance feel: how demanding is this drive for one driver?
Overall
Challenging
Long day with at least one complicating factor. Split into two days or share the driving.
- Long drive: 9h 13m behind the wheel at free-flow speeds.
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €102
63.6 L × €1.61 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €91
50.9 L × €1.79 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €90
148 kWh × €0.60 / kWh · 17.5 kWh/100 km
Public DC fast charging — slower AC charging at home or hotels typically costs about half.
Motorway tolls & vignettes
≈ €76
- ES — €0.09/km on the motorway network (≈ 694 km in-country ≈ €62) Toll-free on the A-network; charged only on AP roads.
- PT — €0.09/km on the motorway network (≈ 154 km in-country ≈ €14)
Prices last refreshed 2026-05-04.
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇪🇸 Zaragoza
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12°
4°
|
14°
5°
|
18°
8°
|
22°
10°
|
26°
13°
|
32°
18°
|
34°
20°
|
35°
21°
|
27°
16°
|
23°
14°
|
17°
9°
|
12°
5°
|
| 31mm | 34mm | 58mm | 28mm | 44mm | 48mm | 9mm | 15mm | 57mm | 76mm | 24mm | 25mm |
hot mild cold
🇪🇸 Sevilla
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
16°
8°
|
18°
8°
|
20°
10°
|
25°
13°
|
28°
16°
|
33°
20°
|
37°
22°
|
38°
23°
|
31°
19°
|
27°
17°
|
20°
11°
|
16°
7°
|
| 76mm | 46mm | 152mm | 31mm | 23mm | 23mm | 0mm | 0mm | 23mm | 159mm | 70mm | 54mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Sevilla
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Tue 12
☀️
16° / 15°
—
-
Wed 13
☀️
24° / 12°
—
-
Thu 14
☀️
25° / 13°
—
-
Fri 15
☀️
22° / 13°
—
-
Sat 16
☀️
24° / 13°
—
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 23 manoeuvres
- Paseo de Echegaray y Caballero 0.4 km
- — 2 km
- — 0.4 km
- Autovía del Nordeste (Z-40; A-2) 2 km
- Autovía del Nordeste (Z-40; A-2) 7 km
- Autovía del Nordeste (A-2) 262 km
- Autovía de Castilla-La Mancha (A-2) 27 km
- — 0.3 km
- Plaza de Eisenhower 0.9 km
- (M-14) 0.5 km
- (M-14)
- (M-14) 1 km
- (M-40) 21 km
- Autovía del Suroeste (A-5R) 236 km
- Autovía del Suroeste (A-5) 95 km
- Autovía Ruta de la Plata (A-66) 181 km
- Circunvalación de Sevilla (SE-30) 2 km
- Avenida Carlos III
- —
- Calle Resolana 0.5 km
- Avenida de Kansas City
- Glorieta Edward Johnston
- Glorieta Edward Johnston
By plane from Zaragoza to Sevilla
Indicative travel time on a non-stop flight, based on great-circle distance, average commercial cruise speed (850 km/h), and a 90-minute allowance for taxi, security, and boarding.
- Total time
- 2h 15m
- Door-to-door from :from airport.
- In the air
- 46 min
- At ~850 km/h cruise speed.
- On the ground
- 90 min
- Taxi + security + boarding (typical short-haul).
- Route
- ZAZ → SVQ
- 645 km great-circle.
Indicative fare: from €40 — fares vary by season, day of week, and how far ahead you book. Always check the airline or a meta-search before planning around this number.
Show flight path on map
Estimate-only. We don't pull live schedules or fares for flights — see the methodology page for how this number is computed.
Air travel emits roughly 5–10× the CO₂ per passenger-km of rail for the same distance.
By train from Zaragoza to Sevilla
Fastest cross-border rail itinerary from the public Transitous planner. Times reflect a typical Monday-morning departure on the next available service-day.
- Fastest journey
- 5h 24m
- 4 changes
- Lead operator
- RENFE OPERADORA
- Alternatives
- 5
- Itineraries returned by the planner.
Trains on the fastest itinerary
- AVE INT 09730
- AVE 02360
Includes a high-speed rail leg (TGV, ICE, AVE, Frecciarossa-class).
Show route on map
Routing via the public Transitous OTP planner (community-run MOTIS instance). Cached 24 hours; verify on the operator's site before booking.
Frequently asked
Are there tolls on the route from Zaragoza to Seville?
Most of the A-2, A-5, and A-66 motorways are toll-free, making this a cost-effective drive across the interior of Spain.
What is the best way to handle the traffic around Madrid?
The M-40 orbital is the primary way to bypass the city. Try to avoid the morning and late afternoon rush hours, as congestion can add significant time to your total travel duration.
Is it easy to find fuel in the rural sections of the A-5?
While stations are frequent near towns, some stretches through the remote plains of Extremadura can have longer gaps between services; it is wise to keep your tank at least a quarter full at all times.
How this page is built
Compiled by COD Solutions Oy from open European data — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for the route geometry, Open-Meteo for monthly climate normals, and Google Gemini drafts the narrative and FAQ from the computed route data. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.