Spending this Winter in Spain - ideas?

[Barrackslass]

Well having spent the past few months in the UK preparing to move house, it now looks like our house sale over here has fallen through and so we have decided that it's time to head off to Spain for the winter.

So now the planning begins, well basic planning anyway as we like to be quite flexible once we are on the road.

We are thinking of sailing directly to either Santander or Bilbao rather than drive through France, as our objective is to spend as much time as we can cycling in warmer climes, so we want to get to Southern Spain sooner rather than later. As it will be our first time in the RV in Spain, any suggestions as to what route we might take as well as aires/sites en route between the north and south would really be appreciated.

We intend to predominantly use aires on the route south, but would be happy to do a long stay on a site in the south if we find one we are really happy with. We won't have a car so ideally it would help to be close to shops or at least public transport to get to the shops. Somewhere near Alicante or Malaga would be good as we will have to fly up to France sometime in January to sign the papers for the house we are buying there - do people think it would be Ok to leave the RV unattended on a site there for a few days?

I've seen the recent post with advice about sites in Spain, so I'll pick up what I can from there, but if anyone has any suggestions or advice about crossings, routes or other sites that you think might be of interest then I'd love to hear from you!!

Thanks in anticipation!

Irene

 

[Merv-IOM]

A couple of sites near to Malaga are;

Camping Cabopino - http://www.campingcabopino.com/en.html

Camping La Buganvilla - http://www.campingbuganvilla.es/

Both are beside the busy N340, which has may buses passing by (in both directions), and are within about 1km of the beaches. Both are about half way between Malaga & Marbella and have plenty of shops nearby (La Buganvilla has the closest). We've stayed at both and prefer La Buganvilla as it is quieter.

On the downside, due to their location, cycling in the area would be hard. Both are on the main road (dual carriageway which can be very busy at times), the roads toward the beaches are downhill and in the other direction (in land) is steeply up hills.

Leaving the RV unattended at La Buganvilla would be fine but I can't comment about Cabopino as we've only ever stayed for a few days. There is, however, and 'aires' cum caravan parking place quite near to Malaga airport, but the name escapes me at the mo'

Good luck on your travels

 

[Barrackslass]

Many thanks for this Merv, I'll have a look at the Aires book and do some searching online, but it's always helpful to have others' recommendations!!

In terms of driving through Spain, are there any particular roads to avoid for any reason?

 

[Mick and Pat]

Roads from either Santander or Bilbao are dual carriageway to Alicante with only a short and cheap section of toll road around Madrid.

 

[Barrackslass]

Roads from either Santander or Bilbao are dual carriageway to Alicante with only a short and cheap section of toll road around Madrid.

That's really helpful thanks as we are to looking to head south as quickly as possible on this occasion - we'll have more time to explore the north properly next year!

 

[Mick and Pat]

That's really helpful thanks as we are to looking to head south as quickly as possible on this occasion - we'll have more time to explore the north properly next year!

Just visit Google map type in either Santander or Bilbao and Alicante and the route will take you via Burgos and east side of Madrid we've used this route many times.

 

[LARRY99]

Hi Irene, we are on the santander ferry on the dec 20th , heading south so may bump in to you both

 

[Merv-IOM]

Many thanks for this Merv, I'll have a look at the Aires book and do some searching online, but it's always helpful to have others' recommendations!!

In terms of driving through Spain, are there any particular roads to avoid for any reason?

We've driven all over Spain and we've yet to find a bad road. We occasionally use the Autovia but mostly we tend to use the national routes and they are generally splendid (but we're never in a rush ).

The national roads take you through some lovely villages and the ones with aires are generally quiet and perfectly safe - we've stayed on loads of them.

The 'All the Aires' book, Spain & Portugal is invaluable to find some lovely spots (they even show where the LPG stations are).

Speaking of which, have you got an assortment of LPG filling adapters? The ones in Spain are like this;

You can get a set from here;

http://www.lpgshop.co.uk/acme-to-all-europe-refill-adapters-set/

or;

http://www.autogasshop.co.uk/lpgautogas-filling-adapters-1-c.asp

We carry a set similar to the first one to which covers us for all the countries we've visited so far.

One tip, don't stop overnight on any motorway services anywhere - there are reports of some being liable to robberies. We've never had any problems anywhere, mainly because we're wise about where we stop - generally if it doesn't feel right, move on!

Hope you have a great time and safe travels

Merv & Sandra

 

[Barrackslass]

Hi Irene, we are on the santander ferry on the dec 20th , heading south so may bump in to you both

Fab - it would be great to meet up with you and Angie if we get the chance. Are you going to your usual place?

 

[Barrackslass]

We've driven all over Spain and we've yet to find a bad road. We occasionally use the Autovia but mostly we tend to use the national routes and they are generally splendid (but we're never in a rush ).

The national roads take you through some lovely villages and the ones with aires are generally quiet and perfectly safe - we've stayed on loads of them.

The 'All the Aires' book, Spain & Portugal is invaluable to find some lovely spots (they even show where the LPG stations are).

Speaking of which, have you got an assortment of LPG filling adapters?

Thanks for all the info Merv. We have the Aires book and have already been looking at how we can plan a route with suitable stopping off points using Aires. We used them in France in the summer and found them to be great. We've also got our LPG adapters too but thanks for the reminder!

I'm starting to get excited now that planning is in full flow - just got to get the ferry booked now!

 

[Steve Martin]

There is a nice municipal campsite in south of Zargoza we used as a stop off on the way back last year

 

[Barrackslass]

There is a nice municipal campsite in south of Zargoza we used as a stop off on the way back last year

Thanks Steve, I'll have a look for that one.

 

[armyoftoffees]

Just visit Google map type in either Santander or Bilbao and Alicante and the route will take you via Burgos and east side of Madrid we've used this route many times.

Burghos is a nice town to have a good wander around. There are some great places to eat around the town square. There is a campsite at the bottom of the hill but I doubt it would take a large rv. I struggled at the entrance with my 24 ft long rv, simply because people had parked their cars badly. I would imagine you could wild camp there though.

 

[swgjw02]

I stopped overnight at Burgos and then Aranjuez which is just South of Madrid. Coordinates were in the ACSI Book but the individual websites may show the coordinates. Burgos was do-able but tight in my 33footer mainly due to trees and inconsiderate French parking. Aranjuez was fairly straightforward. Stopped for short stays at Quinta Bella (nice British owners) and Los Gallardos, before working my way back North via La Manga and Al Mafra sites. In all I took 9 weeks for the total trip.
Did NOT miss the UK weather one bit!! Only 2 heavy showers were encountered.
Oh and be careful at the Tollbooths if you use the pay motorways, negotiate slowly as they are a bit tight!

 

[Mick and Pat]

Oh and be careful at the Tollbooths if you use the pay motorways, negotiate slowly as they are a bit tight!

Yea see photo.

 

[Barrackslass]

Thanks for all your help and advice folks, have now booked the ferry to Santander leaving Portsmouth on 20th November so it's all systems go! Just looking at route and Aire options for our journey south now!

 

[Merv-IOM]

Thanks for all your help and advice folks, have now booked the ferry to Santander leaving Portsmouth on 20th November so it's all systems go! Just looking at route and Aire options for our journey south now!

Have a look at Cabarceno aires, not far south from Santander, it's lovely. The aires marked in the book (photo) looks tiny and sloping, but ignore that and park opposite & around the corner (overlooking the lake). You can stop there as long as you wish, nice little village, safe and quiet. It happens to have an enormous wildlife park in the village and the extremely large Elephant enclosure is at the rear of the car park (fully viewable without paying to go in). We've been there loads of times. If you're heading the other way (west), the beach front aires at Foz are well worth a visit too.

Happy travels

Merv & Sandra