Swap British winter for Spanish sun
New for 2019, the Club is introducing great value long stay packages to those who want to escape to the sun to Southern Spain during the winter months, where temperatures average up to 20°C.
Long Stay Winter Sun with the Club includes your pitch, ferry crossing and on-site hosts. There are also tours and excursions available for you to enjoy during your stay including whale watching and trips to Gibraltar which are payable locally.
There are two fabulous sites for you to choose from, Valdevaqueros or Bonterra Park.
Valdevaqueros is set in beautiful Tarifa, a town in the province of Cádiz, Andalucia, on the southernmost coast of mainland Spain. Site facilities include on-site bar, restaurant and swimming pool with activities on site including Spanish lessons, yoga classes and cooking lessons. It’s an ideal base to enjoy whale and dolphin watching boat trips and bird watching and to take trips to Gibraltar, tours to the Rock of Gibraltar plus there’s easy access to Morocco.
Bonterra Park sits on the outskirts of Benicássim but still well within walking distance of the town and the beach. It’s an ideal base for motorhomers with shops, public transport and supermarkets all within walking distance. Facilities on site include a bar, restaurant and swimming pool, plus a full entertainment programme - including yoga, Spanish cookery and language classes. There are tours available which are organised by the site to Valencia, the Orange Groves, San Mateu and many more places of interest.
To find out mine please see here: www.camc.com/longstaywintersun
Have you stayed in Spain over the winter before and if so do you have any tips and advice for fellow members or pictures to share? If so we would love to hear from you.
Comments
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People who are seasoned travellers like you, David, can still do your own thing but I’m sure there are those, especially first timers, who would welcome having the club organise the package and providing hosts to advise on the unfamiliar aspects of life in a foreign country. I think C&CC do something similar. There’s room for both methods and I feel the club has taken a step forward by doing this. Only time will tell whether it’s successful.
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I agree TW. It would not suit me to spend 90 days in one place though. I don't do that at home without a break
If there were a few more sites on board I suspect some sort of 'mix and match' deal would interest more folk.
The longest that I have ever spent on a single site is two weeks and that is most unusual and was about 11 years ago when I really felt the need to 'chill out'
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It seems to me a rather tedious way to spend a few winter months, but I suppose a long pre-booked stay like that on a caravan site with a lot of other OAPs offers security - it's the known rather than the unknown - especially with a "tour host" on hand to do the trouble shooting. But the Real Marigold Hotel is a far more interesting thing to trip to make.
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Euro, I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. It’s the known and the security that will be its attraction.
The scheme didn’t appeal to me either but I can fully see that it makes sense for some.
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Good scheme, more options to interest members. Well done C&MC, please let me know if I can ever buy shares in this forward thinking company. ‘For the many not the few’(please excuse my paraphrase😨)
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I think the C&CC organise something similar with their Winter Rallies although I think there is an element of coming and going with those as well as the longer stay element. There is clearly a demand from people wanting to spend the winter abroad. If the Club don't organise something like this it could be seen as letting some members down? Like others it's not for me there are clearly enough other people to make it worthwhile.
David
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Probably because those of us who don’t go now have open minds and aren’t set in our ways. That means we are better placed to see the advantages for beginners, if not for old hands. It’s a good forward thinking scheme in my view.
Who says we’re never going to do it? What an odd thing to declare. 🙁
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I agree there are many of us arround who have done our long distance DIY "over there" holidays with LVs ,but as age has crept up now get chauffeured to our destinations if going "over there"
What the club want to do is give those who maybe have not done it or who as stated want the security when there ,although cc centres have been doing similar for years
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In my case it’s support for a company that is modernising & finding new markets, I’m not a backward thinker who believes the old days where best, we’re in the modern era, we need to move on. C&MC are doing that & I applaud them👍🏻😊
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Have to agree with Rocky 2 buckets, 'mix it up' - 90 days plus, provides the 'optional' prevision of different sites?
we've done it many time in the summer for far less days - 3 days here, 4 days there
surely its not beyond the possibility of rocket science - is it?
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What surprised me was the fact that they are using Bonterra Park in Benicassim, a lovely site, but a site that is full most winters with folk that book a year ahead. Trying to get into this site is a job in itself at times.
We have stayed at Bonterra as I said a lovely site but to spend 28 days there or 90 days heaven help me I'd go stark raving mad. I know that some folk like going to Spain for winter (we do) but not to stay in one place.
If the club are looking at this then lets have more sites so we can have more choice, a couple of weeks here and a couple of weeks there makes life more interesting.
Before anyone says but you can do that, I know and we do. This is aimed at those that haven't and don't, so more choice is needed.
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The beauty of an overseas stay in, say Spain, is that you only need to book for as long as you think necessary. You are then perfectly free to move on to another winter holiday rally somewhere further down the coast or even go on to sites in Portugal - again for as long as you wish.
So your winter sun holiday can be as long or as short as you need it to be - no chance of boredom!
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We are going to give it a go this winter after a very soggy and miserable winter in Corwall, you don't have to join in or stay the whole period if you have itchy feet, move on to another site. Nothing is stopping you from being a free spirit and you never know you may even make some friends. Really it's all about what suits each person best so go for what you enjoy but, please until you've tried it, don't knock it!
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I presume the club will attract more non UK members who want to spend winter in Spain? This is an easy way for some to get secure bookings for a long period. Not something I would want to do or have even attempted to do yet. I'd probably book a rally plus some free time for further travel which would be more flexible.
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we've been to Bonterra many times, it's agreat site in a great location, everything to hand, especially the real Spanish nature of the town itself, definitely not a home from from home....
weve stayed for as little as two weeks upto six weeks, depending on the overall length of our 'tour'....as others, we like to do much more other stuff too....
for a new long stayer I'd say it's a great first time location, beach, town, cycling, walking, weather all just what the doctor ordered to forget the UK weather....
we have many friends there who do stay long term (many months at a time) returning each year....but these folk aren't on holiday, they are effectively living in Spain for 5-7 months each yer to do exactly what Ro suggests in the title....escape....
although they book, they don't use a club to arrange anything, sites like this will have a long term rate for anyone wishing to stay like this.
the thing is, a first timer may not like what they find (on any site) as these sites are not CC sites.....things are far more relaxed....and then what do you do if you've booked for ages....
as many posters above have suggested, flexibility is the key and at most sites like these you just need to give an approximate duration, leave when you like and pay when you leave.....
good luck to any first timer but I wouldn't want to be locked into any time/location package that was tricky to alter.....
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Hi all you seasoned winter travellers.
We're considering our first trip to the sunnier climes for January/February 2019. Can anyone explain why the cost of the channel tunnel is so high? It is currently coming out at nearly £1100 for 2 adults towing a caravan for approximately 6 weeks. Whereas our 3 week trip to France will cost just over £300 mid September.
Thanks
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I've just priced up a booking: out January 8th; return 6 weeks later; car & caravan - £307. That is a standard fare. Flexiplus is £492 each way.
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I hope that those intending to go to the site at Valdevaqueros aren't going to be disappointed with the climate down there. We flew down to that part of Spain (Cadiz actually) earlier this year to do a bit of reconnaissance of campsites where we might want to stay over winter. (We've never overwintered anywhere before and I don't want to book ahead not knowing what to expect and it is my understanding that it is vital to make a reservation at that busy time of the year). While we didn't actually view the Valdevaqueros site because it's not directly on the beach (a must for us) we were disappointed by the seemingly constant strong winds along the Atlantic coast. We were told that it's nearly always like that and that put us off. We're now looking for something a little less windy on the Mediterranean.
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I stayed at Valdevaqueros in February this year and would not recommend it as a winter long stay. Two issues - although hardstandings available, these do flood in wet weather I have photos to proove and spoke to others staying there and they dont dry out quickly either. We were put on grass with a 4.25 ton motorhome and we were bogged down and needed to be pushed and pulled off! Also, the shower blocks appeared to not have heating and were open at the front so could be cold.
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