Europe In Our Motorhome : Portugal & Spain November 2015

Friday 6^th November 2015 – Northern France

We spent last night at the Black Horse Farm Caravan Club Site and set off early to catch the 7.20am Eurotunnel. Access to the A20 to the Folkestone terminal is closed until 30^th November so we followed the diversion signs to the M0 junction 11a and arrived in plenty of time to catch our train.

We are heading for Portugal again this winter, we were planning on spending our first night in France at the Aire in Berck just a couple of hours drive from Calais but it’s windy and raining so we decided to drive as far south as we can today.

We usually stay off the French toll roads but have decided this year to use them. We plan drive for longer each day and hopefully hit some better weather as we get further south.

We joined the A16 peage at J31, this section cost us 12.20€. Not sure what happened but we drove through the centre of Rouen which was interesting, on previous trips our sat nav has always taken us around the city.

On the French toll roads we are paying about 1.25€ per litre for diesel, this is working out at less that £1 as the exchange rate has been between 1.35€ and 1.40€ to the pound.

We spent our first night in France parked up with the trucks at a rest stop on the A28. We set our alarm and made sure everything was locked and had no problems.

Saturday 7^th November 2015 – Roullet St Estephe Aire - N45°34.785’ E0°02.704’

When we left the A28 peage at Tours we paid 55.10€, we travelled on the A10 peage to Poitiers this cost 18.50€. We are heading for the Aire at Roullet St Estephe which is just a few minutes off the N10. The Aire has a motorhome service point and is free.

The weather is much better today, sunshine and 24°c, it was dark by 6pm.

Roullet St Estephe Aire

Sunday 8^th November 2015 – El Encinar, Spain - N40°52.810’ W5°34.954’

Today we paid about 22€ in tolls on the N10 & A63, we always travel on this peage into Spain as it’s a much easier drive than the non toll roads that take you up and down the mountains and through lots of small Spanish villages.

When we set off today we were planning on stopping at the Zumaia Aire in Northern Spain just along the coast from San Sebastian but we made such good time that we ended up driving over 800km and stopping at the El Encinar Aire 13km south of Salamanca. The Aire is free and has a motorhome drain and somewhere to empty your chemical toilet but no water.

We continued to use the toll roads once we had crossed into Spain, we paid 2.27€ on the AP1 and another 11.94€ at the end of the AP1. The toll roads in Spain are less expensive than the French peage, there are lots of tunnels through the mountains on this road and the tolls are good value for money. We are paying about 1.10€ per litre for diesel on the Spanish motorways. Fuel stops are few and far between on the motorway (we try not to use the ones off the motorway if we can’t see them from the road) so fill up when you can.

El Encinar Aire

Monday 9^th November 2015 – Motorhome Parking Falesia – N37°11’13” W8°27’05”

When we set off today we were hoping to get into Portugal, it was another long drive, we put the co-ordinates for the motorhome parking at Vila Real just over the border from Spain into the sat nav to ensure that we didn’t drive on the A22 which is a Portuguese electronic toll road that runs the length of the Algarve. The Portuguese toll roads are very expensive and we never use them.

We didn’t stop at Vila Real but headed to one of our favourite places the Algarve Motorhome Park at Praia Da Falesia.

We are stopping here for 3 nights it costs 8.50€ per night with EHU and free wi-fi.

Unfortunately the Algarve experienced a torrential rain storm just before we arrived, Albufeira was particularly badly hit with flooding and damage to shops and homes. The steps down to the beach behind the Aire are now closed as the foundations have been washed away by the storm.

Motorhome Parking Falesia

Thursday 12 November 2015 – Motorhome Parking in Development at The Olive Branch Restaurant, Sitico Beicas, Messines – N37°14’15” W8°14’50”

We have been invited to stay at an ‘aire in progress’ near to Messines. The motorhome parking is being developed by the Portuguese land owners Nelson and his father Lucas and is situated on the N270 behind the Olive Branch Restaurant that they also own.

The aire is in a pleasant rural location, they have already built the motorhome service point and are in the process of building showers, toilets and hard standing pitches with EHU.

Nelson and Lucas are lovely people, they both speak English and are very friendly and helpful, we hope to return here later in our stay and will post an update.

The restaurant is run by an English couple and serves home cooked English food, Sunday lunch and all day breakfast.

We are not sure when the aire will open but you can call the restaurant on 00351 910 82 885 if you would like to stay.

When driving to this aire approach on the IC1 heading north to Messines, then onto the N270.

New Aire Messines

Monday 16^th November 2015 – Motorhome Parking Falesia,

We are back at Falesia for a week, the weather is still good but it is cold at night.

Motorhome Parking Falesia

Monday 23^rd November 2015 – Praia do Rocha, Portimao

N37°07.144’ - W8°31.830’

The weather is still really good. When we arrived as the motorhome parking area at Praia do Rocha we were surprised that there were not more vans there, usually you can’t get parked on the tarmac but this time there was plenty of space.

We have been told that this aire has changed management a couple of times this year, the bar/cafe tent has gone, the internet is no longer free and the price for a motorhome over 3.5t is now 4€ per night, you pay extra for EHU and it’s 2€ for 120L of water.

We stayed for 2 nights and paid 8€.

Praia do Rocha, Portimao

Wednesday 25^th November 2015 – Mikki’s Place, Lugar para ficar

N37°07.692’ – W8°19.382’

We were a little worried that we may miss the turning off the N125 to Mikki’s Place but it was easy to find. Once you have turned off the N125 part of the road is unsurfaced and it’s a bit narrow but nothing too extreme, look out for the signs to the Aire and you can’t go wrong.

We came into the aire by the front gate but there is an entrance at the back of the aire that has a shorter drive on an unsurface road.

The aire has a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere, lot’s of Dutch and German vans and a few British.

We are parked on an XL pitch which is costing us 9€ a night with EHU and free wi-fi. At the moment the EHU is unmetered but they are in the process of fitting metres to the hook ups.

Reception is in a communal building with a cafe and bar and an art shop. There is plenty going on here and everyone is made to feel welcome.

There are toilets and showers here, an area to wash dishes and a washing machine and laundry area. The wi-fi is free but is not very good, think we may have to invest in a Portuguese sim card.

Mikki's Place Turn Off Point 125

Mikki's Entrance

Mikki's Back Entrance

Mikki's Entrance

Mikki's Back Entrance

Mikki’s Place

Monday 30^th November 2015 – Quateria Aire

N37°04.397’ – W8°04.629’

We are stopping here for one night before we head to the Paint Workshop near Olhao to get some work done on the motorhome.

One night cost 3€, the motorhome parking is in the market place, on a Wednesday when the market is on the motorhomes move to a parking place next to the market.

Quateria Aire

Tuesday 1^st December 2015 – Carlos Rita Body Shop Repair , Quelfes (Near Olhao)

N37°03’51.77” - W7°48’48.32” Next to the LPG filling station

We called in here a couple of weeks ago for a quote to get some of the paint work on the motorhome touched up and we are now back here to get the work done.

We arrived at 9am as arranged but they weren’t ready to start work on the motorhome as they had a large lorry in the workshop.

At about 3pm they called us into the workshop and immediately started the prep work for the repairs.

The work took 3 days to complete, we were able to stay in the motorhome in the workshop which while the work was being done.

We are very happy with the end result and the price, much cheaper than it would have ben in the UK.

Carlos Rita Body Shop Repair

Before

After

Before

After

Friday 4^th December 2015 – Mikki’s Place

We didn’t until after lunch, we did a bit of shopping and headed back to Mikki’s Place where we had paid for our pitch while we were away.

It’s starting to fill up here, lots of vans coming in for Christmas, there is lots going on in the bar.

The wi-fi is almost unusable now, we have bought a Portuguese Vodafone sim card for our mi-fi.

The majority of the vans here are from the Netherlands and they have celebrated St Nicholas’ day on 5^th December complete with Black Peter, which we understand is no longer permitted in the Netherlands! (Black Peter not St Nicholas’ day).

Mikki’s Place

Mikki’s Place

We spent Christmas and the New Year at Mikki’s, had some fun with the group we met up with here. The weather has not been so good after Christmas.

Tuesday 5^th January 2016– Heading for Spain

We have been at Mikki’s for more than a month now and have decided that it’s time to move on. The forecast for the Algarve is not looking great so we are heading into Spain.

We left Mikki’s Place mid morning after saying goodbye to everyone and crossed into Spain at about 11am.

Just before it got dark we found a service area on the A92 just before Granada with loads of parking and spent an uneventful night there with a couple of other motorhomes.

Galp Service Station A92 west of Granada – N37°10.789’ W4°03.554’

Diesel 0.79€ per litre.

Route To Benidorm

Route To Benidorm

Benidorm

Repsol Service Station with LPG not far from the AP7 – N38°33.578’ W0°08.074’

GPL Benidorm

Wednesday 6^th January 2016– Villasol Camping, Benidorm

N38°32’41.41” W0°06’24.33”

We set off early this morning and drove for a while in the dark, just after Granada it started to snow but once we got to a lower altitude the weather cleared.

We arrived in Benidorm early afternoon and filled up with LPG before heading for the campsite:

The road we should have used to approach the campsite was closed due to the street market so we ended up driving through Benidorm which was interesting, (people were pointing at us!) but we got there eventually.

We have spent about 140€ on diesel driving from the middle of the Algarve to Benidorm and have spend less than 4€ on toll roads.

Villasol Camping is just a short walk from the town, if you stay for a month it costs 18€ a night and you get 4% discount if you pay in advance in cash (17.28€ per night). The electricity is metered so we will be running our heating on gas and using the site facilities.

The shower blocks are spotless and there is plenty of hot water.

The washing machine costs 3.50€.

Dogs are not permitted on the campsite.

Villasol Campsite Benidorm Spain

Thursday 7^th January 2016 – Villasol Camping, Benidorm

We have met up with some people from the Motorhome Fun forum and today we walked into Benidorm Old Town with them to a tapas bar, 5€ for a bottle of wine and 5 tapas then onto a music bar on the sea front.

Tapas Bar

Music Bar

Friday 8^th January 2016

Today we had an English breakfast at the Yorkshire Bar just across from the campsite 5.50€ and very nice. We spent the morning wandering around the town,

Paul is having a lovely time looking around the trashy shops and has even found a couple of Chinese shops. He keeps saying “I love it here but you’re not so keen on it are you pet?”

Benidorm

View From Campsite Benidorm

Motorhomes Wildcamping Benidorm

Motorhomes Wildcamping Benidorm

Benidorm

Old Town Benidorm

Benidorm

View From Campsite Benidorm

Sunday 10^th January 2016 – Villasol Camping Benidorm

Today we went for lunch with a group from Motorhome Fun to a Japanese Restaurant in Albir. We got on the number 10 bus to Altea, 1.50€ each wherever you are going.

Before lunch we wandered around the Sunday Market in Albir, it’s a proper market not full of knock off designer stuff. There is a section that sells local Spanish produce.

The restaurant is called Sapporo and is not far from Lidl, 14€ for food and drink. You can order as much as you want from the menu, some of the dishes are cooked in front of you, they just keep bringing it to you. The food was very good.

We had a lovely afternoon eating and drinking and watching the Japanese chief do his stuff.

The weather is still good, plenty of sunshine and we haven’t needed to put our heating on a night.

Sunday Market in Albir

Japanese Restaurant

View From Campsite Benidorm

Tuesday 12^th January 2016 - Villasol Camping Benidorm

This afternoon we walked along the sea front to Benidorms Old Town and wandered around the shops. We walked up to the lookout point at Placa del Castell and watched the sun setting over the sea.

Benidorm

Benidorm Old Town

Benidorm

Benidorm Old Town

Wednesday 13^th January 2016 - Villasol Camping Benidorm

It’s sunny again today, we went to the Benedorm Market whih is just along the road from the campsite then out for some lunch.

We spent the afternoon sitting in the sunshine.

Benidorm Market

Saturday 16^th January 2016 - Villasol Camping Benidorm

We have had a bit of rain but the sun is back today, walked along the sea front to the Old Town for lunch. We have found Tapas Alley which was very busy on Saturday lunchtime. Think we will come back during the week when it’s a bit quieter.

Tapas Alley

Saturday 16^th January 2016 - Villasol Camping Benidorm

It was very cold last night but the temperature picks up once the sun comes up. Had a very nice lunch at Levi’s Show Boat, 4 courses for 9.95€. Very surprised how good the food was, can definitely recommend the Sunday lunch. We’ve eaten so much we need a siesta.

Levi’s Show Boat

Wednesday 27^th January 2016 – Benidorm

Today we caught the number 10 bus into Albir. We walked wandered around the town for a while then walked down to the beach.

Cap Blanch Campsite is towards the end of the esplanade, it’s an ACSI Camping Card Site 19€ per night but is you stay for 90 days it goes down to 12€. The site is right next to the beach and looked completely full. Nice site but some of the pitches were very close together.

Albir Beach

Albir Cap Blanch Campsite

Sunday 14^th February 2016 – Benidorm

Today is our last day in Benidorm we will start heading towards Calais tomorrow. The motorhome is ready for moving tomorrow, we’ve paid for our metered electricity, 93€ for 40 days, the only thing we were running off electric was the fridge freezer.

Including the electricity we have paid about 19.50€ per night to stay on the Villasol Campsite.

View From Pitch Benidorm

Monday 15^th February 2016 – Zaragoza, Spain

Valcarce Truck Stop A68 – N41°44.211’ W001°03.923’

We left the campsite at 8am we headed for Zaragoza, we set off in sunshine but once we got out of Benidorm the wind started to pick up.

We have decided to use the toll roads on the way back up to Callais, we started our journey on the AP7 to Valencia then the non toll A23 to Zaragoza.
We drove is some of the worst wind we have ever experienced. The wind was so strong that it moved our wing mirrors.

We filled up with diesel 0.94€ per litre.

We spend the night at a truck stop the other side of Zaragoza, we parked between two large lorries which gave us a bit of shelter from the wind.

On Route To Zaragoza

On Route To Zaragoza

Truck Stop Zaragoza

Tuesday 16^th February 2016 – Into France

It was very cold this morning, we woke early and were ready to leave as it was starting to get light when we discovered that one of our headlights was out. Changing a headlight bulb on an A Class Motorhome is never easy and the task was made even more difficult for Paul as it was so cold his fingers seemed to have turned into frozen sausages.

We finally set off with both headlights working, we are heading for France today via Pamplona using the toll roads again. It was still windy but not as bad as yesterday.

Once we were back on the A28 we spotted a couple of picnic areas that would have been ok for an overnight stop if it hadn’t been so windy.

We stopped at a Repsol Service station on the AP68, this would also be ok for an overnight stop.

N42°00.775’ W001°36.088’ – Repsol Services with LPG.

As we drove through the mountains in Northern Spain there was lots of snow on the hill and the side of the road but the roads were clear and the gritting lorries were out in force.

We filled up with diesel and LPG on the AP15, diesel 1.03€ per litre, LPG 0.56€ per litre.

N42°51.708’ W001°44.637’ - Repsol Services 500m before last toll on AP15.

There are lots of mountains and tunnels on this part of our route, very cold but driving through beautiful snowy scenery in the bright sunshine.

As we approached the last toll station in Spain just before the border with France there were hundreds of trucks queuing to go through, we drove up the outside of them and didn’t get caught up in the holdup.

We crossed into France at about 12.30, there were still road works A63.

We spent the night parked with the trucks at Bidart Motorway Aire – N43°25.367’ W1°35.761’ the parking got busy by late evening but it wasn’t too noisy and we got a good night’s sleep.

Nice Parking Area On Route To French Border

GPL On Route To French Border

Nice Parking Area On Route To French Border

GPL On Route To French Border

On Route To French Border

Parking Area France

Wednesday 17^th February 2016 – Roulett St Estephe Aire, France

Today we are heading for the aire at Roulett St Estephe just off the N10, we have been to this aire many times, it’s a really good stop over if you’re on the N10. It’s free, has motorhome services and although it’s popular there is always room here.

Thursday 18^th February 2016 – Picnic Area on A28 just north of Rouen

We drove for a long time today, we were planning to stop somewhere before Rouen but we were making good time and hadn’t found anywhere suitable as we stopped in a noisy picnic area on A28.

On our way down we managed to drive through the centre of Rouen, this time we followed the road signs not the Sat Nav and stayed out of the city, follow the signs for Callais and you should be ok.

The following morning we came across a better place for an overnight stop not far from where we spent the night.

Total Service Station A28 North of Rouen – N49°40.593’ E1°20.239’

Friday 19^th February 2016 – Camping Jeugdstation, Ieper, Belgium - N50°50’48” E2°53’53”

Our return Tunnel booking is for Monday 22^nd February, the weather is not very good and we are both a bit tired after the long days travelling so we have decided to spend the three nights before we return to the UK at the motorhome parking as Camping Jeugdstation. It’s 15€ per night with EHU and free wi-fi.

From the campsite it’s just a short walk into the lovely town and the Menin Gate where they perform the last post at 8pm every evening.

Camping Jeugdstation

Camping Jeugdstation Site Map

Camping Jeugdstation Auto Checkin

Camping Jeugdstation

Monday 22^nd February 2016 -Euro Tunnel Terminal, Calais – N50.936315 E1.814964

We left the campsite just before 8am heading for the tunnel. When we came into Belgium we used the A18 onto N8 to get to Ieper, the road surface was dreadful after we left the A18, but this morning we drove on the N38 towards Poperinge and onto the A25, a much better drive.

We got onto the A16 in France at J57 and stopped at the BP Service Station just after J 57 heading towards Calais to fill up with diesel and LPG.

BP Services A16 between J57 & J56 – N51°00.210’ E2°18.240’

We are now back in the UK having a night at Black Horse Farm Caravan Club Site.

GPL A16 Calais