A Surfiet of fun and sun- Over wintering in Spain

Why Spain? Well France (even the south coast) is too cold and Italy's campsites all appear closed for the winter. Spain is open for winter with a wealth of campsites to choose from.

Our grand plan. To get as far south on the Spanish mainland as possible for Jan & Feb and then make our way back up the Spanish coast during March when it's getting hot! Would we go again? You bet!

Getting through France. Some skip this bit and take the ferry directly to Spain (It works out dearer by my calculations) but we love driving through France. You might be tempted to say that "Ah but what about the possible snow & ice in France?" but our experience suggests that snow can be bad in Northern Spain at that time also, so skipping France to dodge the weather can be a gamble!

We chose this year to use the Fabulous 'Aires de Camping Cars' in France. In previous years we have booked or searched for proper campsites all with very mixed results. Aires are very convenient, there are lots of them but there are two issues here, one possible and one real. The first is security. We (or at least I - Tina my wife has no such fears!) get a little nervous if there is no other units on site to give us the feel good factor. So far this has always been the case even if the other units did not arrive until late. The second issue is real - WATER!!! Most of the Aire taps are turned off during the winter so carry a good supply and top-up at every opportunity. We got so desperate at one point we actually bought water - something unheard of in the House household! The Aires book second to none, complete with the essential co-ordinates (most Aires are hard to find and often poorly signposted) was 'All the Aires France' by Vicarious Books. I will fall short of recommending actual Aires going down since there are so many, all different but read the notes in the book and never use motorway Aires.

Regarding roads through France (not all motorways are toll roads in France) you have two basic choices. One to use Motorways - expensive in places. Two, use 'other' roads. We used a bit of both. The key thing for us was to make the journey through France as part of the holiday and ENJOY it. Last year we made a mistake, booked proper camp sites, had a tight timetable and as such had little choice but to pay tolls! This year we did the opposite, slow-paced on 'Other' roads took our time and stayed on Aires wherever we found ourselves at some convenient time. We are 'morning' travellers, preferring to travel 9ish and look for a place for the night early to mid afternoon with time to explore the surrounding area on foot.

Travelling in Spain to the south. Last year we travelled via Zaragoza and regretted it! It was freezing, dull and grey. This year was a doddle and for us a no-brainer. We took the route west from Bayonne and to the north of Madrid. The result - very few and small tolls at first, then for the last 2 days, no tolls no traffic and no hassle, brilliant! We (I mean 'I') was a little nervous about using Spanish Aires (using the Vicarious Books 'All the Spanish Aires) but the ones we did use were fine, if a little crowded. We used Palencia & Caceres, both good.

Southern Spain at last. We decided to miss Portugal (a bit out out of the way this particular trip) and head straight south to: El Puerto de Santa Maria near Cadiz.The site is lovely, not booked & lots of room. Right next to beach and interesting town with a still-used Bullring! The day trip by boat to Cadiz from town is highly recommended. The weather was warm but cloudy some days and on our last day - high winds! We then drove towards Gibraltar and stayed at: Torre de la Pena - west of Tarifa (the most southerly point of mainland Spain). It was still blowing a gale, at least all the other campers were happy, they appeared to be windsurfers. We loved this site. it was quirky, friendly with a restaurant right on the beach, handy since it was Tina's ...th birthday. At night we could see the lights of the Moroccan coast!

We drove past Gibraltar (one huge rock!) and ever eastward past 'little England' (Malaga) to: Camping Cabopina. Here we met up Pam & David Lloyd in their IH Tio. It was good to see them as they toured around southern Spain & on to Portugal. Personally, we did not find this particular campsite to our liking, being crowded, a good walk to the beach and not good for biking. Many people go there every year and love it - just goes to show that you should never take anyone's assessment - turn-up and judge it for yourselves. 3 days later found us further east at: Camping Pino - Torrox Costa - Friendly & good site (Supermarket & Restaurant on site) but long way to nice town & beach and then on to: Camping Don Cactus near Motril. Lovely site in itself but surrounded by polythene greenhouses. You need a car here to get off-site efficiently. The next day, east, just up the road, saw us at our main destination of the holiday and the only site we booked: Camping Castello de Banos near Motril. This was, last year, and remains, our personal favourite site in Spain.

We met up with Pam & Stephen Oxley in their IH Tio. They, like us had booked the 'Camping & Caravan Club Rally'. We love it here, for us it has all the ingredients (except decent biking). We had great fun, good food, brilliant coach trips, right on stony/coarse sand private beach and above all, brilliant sunshine (no clouds on one occasion for 2 weeks). The environs are very Spanish (which we love) and good for relaxing in the copious sunshine. One visit worthy of note is Cordoba. We took a rally-organised coach trip and adored the town, the horse-drawn ride and particularly the Mosque.

It was spectacular with over 800 double arches and a Christian Cathedral in the middle! Back at camp, It's amazing how, after a month, your whole world 'shrinks' into a total relaxation mode, interrupted only by the need to banquet and drink (life's tough but one does need to survive!).

We continued east then north east following the coast. Our next site: Cabo de Gata. This was in the middle of a nature reserve but in no way met our expectations, we booked for 2-nights but only stayed for one! Moving on, we liked Mojacar town and the wonderful hilly spectacular coast road. We stopped at a coastal site near Palomares and on towards Cartahena (still north coast) to: Camping Playa de Mazarron. As the name indicates it's next to a lovely beach but the site was crowded particularly with mainly Finns and Norwegians. We biked into Puerto de Mazarron, with its harbour, islands and sandy beaches. Next day took us to the nearby town of Cartahena with its Roman amphitheatre and sturdy town walls. We stumbled upon a treat - some sort of period military parade with marching bands and amazingly coloured costumes - pity it was raining!  We spent the night at, not our favourite but convenient:

Camping La Manga. We had a small 'scrape' with the van (polished out on our return home!). There is a flagship Caravan & Camping Club Rally here but being late in the season was much depleted. We had another IH van almost opposite, so 'had a chat'. Onward, the coast north-east of La Manga is flat and boring but we stopped at a lovely beach site. As you have guessed, we love camping near beaches, inland in our opinion does not boast the large variety of views & vistas that water attracts. The site was one of our favourite locations in A'lbir just south of the touristy but attractive Altea which itself is near Benidorm. The site was called: Camping Cap Blanc. It was convenient for the bustling town of A'lbir. A bit of a tourist trap, but it is fun to join the crowds occasionally. 2-days later, our next campsite was a perfect example of seeing a site and judging for yourselves, not slavishly following another's opinion:

Camping Bontera park in Benicassim. Last year we canvassed our fellow campers opinion of their personal favourite and the above site came out on top. Well, we didn't care for it much. It was too crowded and hopelessly dog unfriendly, too far to our beloved beach and town. Others, as I said love it, you may too, it has a Camping & Caravan Club Rally. Camping Playa Tropicana in Alcossebre, our next site was altogether to our liking. Right from the start, the receptionist acted as if he 'wanted' us to camp there. I know you may smile, but that is important to us. We had a lovely spot 30seconds from the beach with an impressive array of statues, features and facilities. The crowning glory came when ih stalwarts Lyn & Neville Pither, who were travelling in the opposite direction, agreed to rendezvous there. They certainly got a good measure of sunshine they were seeking in our 2-days together. We were tempted to stay longer at this first-rate site but wanted to seek some more sights on our way home, so we drove north to: Villanova Park near Barcelona. Another iconic Caravan & Camping Rally site. Very large and well run (a bit too much of both for our liking) but a good spot to visit the famous city of Barcelona and it's un-missable Basilica Sagrada Familia.

We have not travelled much but this was the most exciting building we have seen in our lives! The outside was unfinished and modern quirky but the inside was WOW - simply stunning. Towering pillars branching out like trees into the sky took our breath away. Don't miss it when you're visiting this part of Spain - that's an instruction!

A weird thing happened just after visiting the inside of this impressive structure. There we were, admiring this towering edifice, when we felt and heard, what we immediately took to be a massive bird emptying its bowel contents across our backs. Our coats, rucksacks and my trusty companion camcorder were heavily splattered in a thick brown deposit! A Spaniard appeared like a flash and with wild gesticulations pointing skywards, pushed and dragged us to the washroom of a nearby KFC. In a confused state, I removed my coat, back-pack & camcorder (thankfully in its case), with our Spaniard pushing me to get it under the tap and using toilet paper in a vain cleaning attempt. I freaked out, not just at the mess, but at the unrequested 'help', and shouted at him to stop, whereby he retired seripticiciously to watch me nearby and finally walked off. It was not until we were on the bus back to camp that my wife (I was still in a state of much-miftness) put the events all together and realised it was a scam to try to rob me of my non-existent wallet (like the Queen, I don't carry cash). I thought it was odd that there was a faint smell of chocolate (from ice cream?) to the stains. Needless to say his scam didn't work but be warned! Journeying on, we were back in 'Aire de Camping Car' country - Just inside France the next day at an Aire:

Port Vendres . Good spot with nice coast walk but a bit removed from the town. We continued north through France and stopped off on the way home to view the:

Millau viaduct which is the longest in the world, (designed by an British guy of course!). We stayed in the Aire in Millau town (which itself was interesting), so logistically we did not cross the viaduct but viewed it from below. It was amazing but next trip we plan to cross it. We were surprised how cold it was through central France and couldn't make out if it was the altitude or the Frenchies getting us accustomed to the English weather! We do recommend the Aires on the northern coast, particularly Fort-Mahon. The Aire is large, in the middle of the town in a sheltered spot. It is next to the large sandy beach & dunes with lovely walks and only 1 hour from:

Calais. We love the Aire right on the plague and always stay there coming & going. It overlooks the ferry terminal, beach & harbour breakwater. It is 2-mins to baguettes and seconds away from good take-away cabins, where the guy always gives you a free doughnut cooked in front of you, whatever you order - yummy. Is it noisy at night? - no, except for the occasional deep rumble of the ferries (or is it my stomach?).

Conclusion. For us it was the best trip yet. But such is life, we aim to improve next year. We plan to cut out the bits north & east of Banos (The only site we loved so much that we would love to return-to was Playa Tropicana) and concentrate on the deep south and bottom end of Portugal and possibly return the same 'quick' way we journeyed down this year. If in doubt - try it, life's too short - Carp Diem and all that!

Martyn & Tina House - March 2013