travelling to Spain
I am sure there are many old sea dogs out there who have done this many times. I will be doing it for the first time April 2018 thru June 2018. Never toured abroad so I need some help. have booked the ferry, as i have a dog and sailings are some what restricted, so I arrive in Santander at 1730 hours, not what i wanted to do as it does not give a lot of time to find an overnight stop over, any ideas folks, was thinking Zaragoza, is this too far. Also would like some ideas on best route to Costa Blanca, Torrevieja as a central point, not yet booked a site but was looking at maybe Lo Monte, but am open to suggestions or any other helpful information you folks may have, would like to be near the coast/dog friendly. My rig is Kia Sorento/2008 Coachman Amara 550/5 so I dont think this should be a problem. thanks in advance for any info tony.procter@btinternet.com, hope I have put this in the right place and dont get told off
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Welcome to CT Rufs. Afraid I cannot help you with a night halt in Santander but I think you would be wise to find one nearby rather than push on to Zaragoza. You could go via Zaragoza the next day, stop the night at the Municiple campsite in Zaragoza and then push on to the Costa Blanc.Its a good 300 miles or so from Zaragoza but the roads are very good via Valencia and Alicante. You can also go via Burgos - Madrid and then via Albacete equally as good but with more chance of finding campsites which are few between Zaragoza and Valencia.
I am sure others will be along with their views IDC and recommendations for a campsite near Santander.
peedee
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I agree with Peedee. After what might be an arduous 24 hours across the Bay of Biscay in April I would not want to be driving far on arrival at 1730. I think you should scour your site guides and the internet for campsites nearby - and if that draws a blank then I might follow the motorhomes to the overnight parking area which many of them use at the Cabarceno zoo, ten or twelve miles from the port.
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Last week our ferry was 3 hours late, arriving in Santander at 9.45pm (local). We were glad that we had planned to stay at Cabo Mayor in Santander as we did not get much sleep on the crossing
. Reception stayed open for the late arrival. Not the best or cheapest site but fine for a night. Only 10 - 15 minutes from the port. The other night it dropped to 3 degrees in Salamanca, not what we expected in Mid Sep!0 -
We too are going to Spain for the first time In October and I have found John's blog really helpful for sites and general information
https://jondogoescaravanning.com/2015/10/06/welcome-to-my-blog/
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Camping Cabo Mayor is ideally placed for those coming off the ferry in the evening. its about 20 minutes drive out of Santander towards the lighthouse. As Comeyras said, the reception stays open till late, around 10:30 pm. It is then a fair distance from Santander to Zaragoza but doable as it is motorway all the way and the run from Zaragoza to Valencia is toll free motorway all the way and can easily be done in a day.
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two ACSI sites open near Laredo which might suit, or push in a little to Navarrete, nr Longronho (ive used this one before).
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Hi Rufs
We live about 8 miles inland from Torrevieja and do the drive North about five times a year.The drive from Santander too Zaragoza is an easy one and you should get there before they close 9pm usually but give them a bell (they all speak good English) they wiil sometimes stay open longer if they know you're coming, IMHO Camping Zaragoza is a dump but it is the only site in that area so a good night halt ready for the drive south along the A23 one of the best Motorways in Spain with hardly any traffic and will do Torrevieja in about five/six hour drive. I have done all the other routes but his one is our favorite.
Lo Monte is a brand new site on the edge of Torre del horadada with excellent facilities if still a a little barren but there is a site nearer Torrevieja at San Miguel called Camping Florantilles and about ten minute drive into Torrevieja never stayed here to close to home but it looks a good site and is always full in winter.
April/June is an excellent time to visit this part of Spain with temperatures mid 20 to early 30 by the beginning of June.
Enjoy
Phil
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Phil, Santander to Zaragoza is 254 miles, even if the ship arrives on time, to get there by 9 you would have to do that in 3.5 hours. That is and averge speed of 73 m.p.h towing a caravan
Isn't the legal towing speed limit 50m.p.h ?peedee
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Thanks for all the info folks, loved John's blog. Not in any great rush to get anywhere so think i will plug to stay at Cabo Mayor once off the ferry then trek down to Zaragoza during the day for overnight stay, then maybe do Costa Blanca area in a oneer. Been caravaning for 15 years or more but this will first time abroad, except for Scotland, lived there for 13 years so did most of our caravaning in Scotland, so used to some difficult driving etc, live in Stubbington now, just a stones throw from the ferry terminal at Portsmouth. Haven't booked anything as yet and will probably take David's advice and just turn up as should be fairly quiet. One question, i use 6kg propane gas cylinders x 2 in front locker with bayonnet type fitting that you push in and tighten the nut, can you buy these cylinders in Spain or do you need some type of adaptor ? Thanks
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No you cannot buy or refill the 6Kg cylinders in Spain. If you are going to use EHU most of the time you will find two full 6Kg cylinders will last you a very long time. The alternative is to get hold of a Spanish bottle. Not sure what is involved in doing that these days as I have been using Gaslow refillables for about the last 8 years which you can fill at any garage which sells LPG.
peedee
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me agen
following the link to the michelin route planner from the club site and putting in routes to Zaragoza and then on to Costa Blanca, I see this route uses a lot of toll roads at great expense, is this necessary, I have sat nav (Snooper, not the best but it is functional) and i am afraid this may take me via toll roads which might not be necessary, am i right in assuming that roads such as the A23 are toll free, thanks again0 -
If you Google motorways in Spain you can see a map of which motorways are free and which have tolls. But doesn't your road atlas show that too ?
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Thanks Eurotraveller, i was trying to be all grown up and use the CC web site (we pay for it) and google etc, lots of great info on the CC site but having used computers all my life I find the site a nightmare to navigate, but after 2 days of asking questions and trawling the site I have managed to put together a comprehensive folder of relevant information, but this site is so slllllooooowwwww
Thanks to all0 -
if youre staying on sites (with EHU) you wont be using much gas, however if you need some, Repsol and Cepsa supply cylinders to most sites and you will need a 'Jumbo' adaptor....BUT these only fit onto a Std 'butane' hose, not the Propane one that you will probably have....
So....you either need to convert the end of your hose with a 'propane to butane adaptor'.....google it.....and then add the Jumbo fitting....
Or.....you need to change your propane hose for a butane one....and then fit the Jumbo adaptor...
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we are currently in Benicassim and on our return, will go non toll all the way to Irun in a day....the A23 is great, no traffic, dual carriageway, decent surface...
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Sorry Peedee your right didn't see arrival time, the last time we arrived at Santander it was mid-afternoon and did Zaragoza easily but they do have some one who usually waits for the people from the Bilbao ferry and have got there myself after 10 but did phone before.
Rufs the tolls in Spain are quite cheap and the roads are a lot better then some N roads which are usually full of LGV.
Gas here in Spain is very cheap, 13k three weeks ago cost 13euros and can be brought from any garage/Ferreteria and they will supply you with pigtails and regulators.
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You can get propane cylinders in Spain of various flavours. It might be worth considering a refillable system and you can then top up virtually anywhere. I'm not sure I'd recommend Torrevieja as a base. It's a bit of a sprawl these days. A bit further north is Santa Pola, a far more pleasant spot with the beaches at Gran Alacant between Santa Pola and Alicante airport to die for. Mind you I'm biased. i had an apartment there for 14 years. There is a caravan site on the edge of Santa Pola on the Elche road although I've never used it. Stone's throw from Stubbington to the ferry? It may be but it'll take you hours getting up Newgate Lane.
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Yes Newgate lane can be something of a nightmare but not as bad as the new roundabout at Peel Common, catch the lights wrong with the van on the back and you block off half the roundabout. Thanks for info, another one for my port-folio, am staying with my daughter in Villa Martin in December so intend to check some of these sites out before booking, the site at Santa Pola looks very crowded but apparently a lot of sites in Spain suffer from over crowding so am prepared to pay a little bit more for something a little less crowded, and I have a dog that needs some outside space.
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