Spain/Portugal

[chippieshaun]

We're getting the ferry to Santander on 22nd Nov and got a month before the return back to Plymouth......yipee!
Heading to Malaga to see Uncle Fred (everyone's got one , right?) and then thinking about heading west along the coast to hang out in the Algarve where it is , aparently , the warmest place in south west europe.
Has anybody got any recomendations for nice campsites along the way in Spain and in the Algarve , bearing in mind we've got a 7month old baby with us too?
Thinking we will travel north back to Santander up through portugal so any recomendations for the return leg would also be a big help.........

We were supposed to be going in September but , due to a pretty horrible accident at work with a saw (I'll spare you the details!) we had to post pone until now , so hopefully the weather will be kind to us!

Thanks in advance for any advice/recomendations!
Cheers
Shaun

[T+T]

Hi Shaun,

weve just returned from a 4 month trip driving from france to morocco so we spent a fair few weeks in spain and portugal. To be honest we free camped most of the time which we found no trouble with at all. We spent most of our time in beach car parks or on cliff tops. But if u are looking for campsites ( especially with a baby lol) we did find a couple of nice ones. We especially like south Portugal (from Sines to Sagres on the West coast) and found a lovely campsite in Sagres: really shaded and quiet. We also stayed in El Palmar (Spain, North of Tarifa, near Barbate). Thi one had a pool and the facilities had been done up in the past couple of years so theyre really modern. Its down a little dirt track from the beach.

The coastline is gorgeous in both of those places. Hope that of some use, have a fantastic time!!
Teresa

[chippieshaun]

Thanks Teresa....I've read about Sagres so is definately on the list! Don't suppose you can remember the name of that campsite?
We're open to some free camping aswell and have heard that it is especially common in South Portugal. Probably do a bit but , yes , need facilities aswell with our boy! I have heard that some of the popular free camping areas are car parks full of motorhomes , which isn't so appealing!
When he's a little bit older , would love to take him to Morocco! How was it? Must have been a great trip.
Thanks again
Shaun

[andisnewsyncro]

We had 7 months in Europe the winter before last - mainly in Spain. There are some great sites but you do have to be a bit picky. Some are absolutely full of long term Brits, but if you travel beyond the well known areas you find a bit of the real Spain.

All the sites we used offer a massive discount from the advertised price if you stay more than a week - price list at 14 Euro per night but stay a month and they charged about 180 Euro. Tarifa is a very nice place, lots of beach and a great site just outside - camping rio jara on the website it looks a bit... but in reality it's a great place to idle away a week or two in winter, it's quiet then apart form a few hardy kite surfers from around Europe who stay for a few months. We had 3 pitches to ourselves and a view over the sea to Morocco.

Further round the coast to El Puerto de Santa Maria, there's a good municipal site and again it's a really nice old town. The site there has a regemented look to it, but away at the top there is an area which is less formal and a good place to stay. Great for visiting Jerez & Cadiz from too.

Also have a look at El Rocio, totally crazy place with no tarmac roads, everyone rides horses and all the houses have hitching posts outside. It's like a frontier town from an old movie. Very big place for religious pilgrimages every weekend from all over Spain, but lots of fun too (especially in a Syncro )

Further East, have a look round the Cabo de Gata national park if you can. Good camping at Las Negras with its own small beach, crystal clear waters perfect for snorkelling and lots of fish to watch. An easy walk into the little village which has everything you need (except a cash machine)

Up in the mountains near Granada, try Camping Orgiva or Balcon de Pitres

You'll have a great time and I've just given a couple of our personal favourites here, each to their own I know, but I'd happily recommend them all. The Spanish are very family orientated and I'm sure your youngster will pick up on the friendliness of the place.

We didn't spend much time in Portugal. On the advice of someone we met on a site we tried an Orbiter campsite and I have never been anywhere so horrible - you have been warned - but again the smaller municipal run town sites are good, but more basic facilities. Fuzeta was an interesting little place with an amazing market. Loads of free camping on the Algarve, but personally we found it a bit too full of the sort of folk we'd rather aoid, if you know what I mean, so we headed back to Spain quite quickly.

Hope this is some help and sorry for going on a bit
Have a great time
Andi

(not at all jealous)

[T+T]

Hi, unfortunatly I cant remember the name of the campsite in sagres but it was signposted from the roundabout near the fort in town (hope that helps lol). It was a little way out of town on the coast road but we followed the signs so they cant be that difficult lol.

As for the rest of South Portugal, that was our favourite area. Amado beach which is in Carrapateira had a fantastic free camp scene with loads of VWs but the car parl was big enough so we didnt feel hemmed in and the views are amazing!! There was a block of toilets but no other facilities and we were there in high season so I cant guarentee theyd be open now.

Morocco was amazing. A bit more difficult to free camp but as long as you pick the campsites carefully (believe me there's some you would want to avoid!) then its cheap and cheerful. We found the south much more beautiful and more relaxed but we did find it difficult to experience the cities in the van and opted to stay in hotel carparks etc which most are happy to do. It usually costs about £2 to park in their carparks and its worth it for the security. It was a real experience and we loved seeing the different cultures and way of life.

Hope that helps!! Have a brill trip, I'm sure you will.
p.s do u mind me asking how much you paid for your ferry ticket to Santander, we were thinking of taking that route in the future

[jed the spread]

We're getting the ferry to Santander on 22nd Nov and got a month before the return back to Plymouth......yipee!
Heading to Malaga to see Uncle Fred (everyone's got one , right?) and then thinking about heading west along the coast to hang out in the Algarve where it is , aparently , the warmest place in south west europe.
Has anybody got any recomendations for nice campsites along the way in Spain and in the Algarve , bearing in mind we've got a 7month old baby with us too?
Thinking we will travel north back to Santander up through portugal so any recomendations for the return leg would also be a big help.........

We were supposed to be going in September but , due to a pretty horrible accident at work with a saw (I'll spare you the details!) we had to post pone until now , so hopefully the weather will be kind to us!

Thanks in advance for any advice/recomendations!
Cheers
Shaun

Zoom in were you want to go on this link, find were you like and tap the co-ordinates into your GPS. http://www.furgovw.org/mapa_furgoperfecto.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

jed

[andisnewsyncro]

That's a really handy link, cheers Jed. Fingers crossed we're off again around May next year, quite a few of my favourites on there already

[chippieshaun]

THanks Andi......that's fantastic! you can't beat first hand experience. Will have a proper read with a map in hand when i got a minute. Think we will be checking out camping rio jara!
Really appreciate it.....Have you ever thought about writing a travel guide!

Teresa....am sure we can find that campsite! Morroco sounds great!
Ferry to Santander is well expensive....almost can't write it down! We were going to get a single but decided that we didnt want to trek back across France with the boy in December.....maybe too cold.
Return ferry trip cost £550. Still , all things considered we think it will be a fairly cheap month. We just wont be able to spend any money in Spain! Mind you , we are vegetarians' so eating out isn't an option anyway!!

[chippieshaun]

Bloody brilliant Jed!
Gonna spend some time with that map!!
Cheers

[jed the spread]

Its a good un alright, i have spent an hour or two on it researching our xmas trip. Its a spanish vw forum and i was thinking of suggesting something similar on here maybe.

jed

[andisnewsyncro]

There's a few pic of our time at Rio Jara here, we loved it. Called in for an overnight stay quite late and stayed for 5 weeks !! Met some lovely people there too.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 013763c73a

But you don't get that good kite surfing conditions with no pay off - it can be quite windy there

[jed the spread]

Was it in winter when you went?

jed

[chippieshaun]

Nice looking beach.......definately worth checking out.

[andisnewsyncro]

Was it in winter when you went?

jed

Those pics are all in January 2008, then moved on a bit to El Puerto for Carnaval; there's a big poster on my kitchen wall, just next to me, that tells me that was from Feb 4th onwards

Missing it now especially since it's got so cold, dark & wet.

Nice looking beach.......definately worth checking out.

Beach goes on for miles, but beware the lagoon in the middle that makes it hard to walk to Tarifa town. You have to go land side on a footpath for the first bit.

[chippieshaun]

Andi... How was the weather in Tarifa in Jan 08? Realise it won't be scorchio but hoping for blue skies!