First time wintering in Spain
We have been motorhoming for over 15 years, including several tours of France. Now we are both retired we are going to try a longer trip to Spain to avoid a chunk of the English winter.
We have family commitments until after the new year and are wondering what the best time to travel will be. We intend crossing, Dover to Calais, neither my wife nor I are good sailors so want to avoid the long Bay of Biscay crossing, then driving through France, hopefully stopping at Aires. We shall cross over to Spain at Irun and then see where the wind and rain takes us.
So my question at last is:
When would be the best time to travel? Early, mid or late January or February.
Many thanks
Mike
Comments
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I’m not sure what you are asking - is it about the weather? Campsites opening? Looking for places to stay? How busy places get?
start by putting in your order for the ACSI discount campsite book - it should arrive before Christmas and will help with forward planning.0 -
Sorry I should have been clear.
my question is about the weather….
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You can wait until the New Year before deciding. Get a seven day forecast and set off when the weather looks favourable along your route.
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Difficult question, are you talking about the weather travelling down through Spain or your intended destination? Northern and mid Spain can have very changeable weather and quite cold even wet and snowy at that time of year. It can be a little less inclement in southern Spain mind and relatively warm. To be honest I think you would need to consult the mid range weather forecasts as you travel to be slightly better informed. No promises mind though like forecast here at home.
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Be aware that the weather in France at that time of year is no better (and often worse) than here. Prior to covid we drove down to the Valencia /Alicante area in January/February for several years, and always experienced foul weather, particularly heavy rain, using the west coast route through France. Also it will be very cold (and possibly snowy - but unlike here the main roads are constantly kept clear) over the Pyrenees and Spanish plain from Pamplona until you drop down towards Valencia. Calais is not an ideal starting point, but depends where you live of course. We always used the Portsmouth - Ouistreham crossing then straight down the autoroutes to the border at Henday. For caravans there are very few sites open for overnighters at that time of year - I dont know about the aires 'cos caravans not allowed.
Spanish weather depends on how far south you go, but certainly you need to be as far south as Castellon. Reasonably warm, sunny days but cold nights. Daylight is short at that time of year, so be prepared for long, dark nights. Obviously gets warmer the further south you go. Our last trip (2019) we were just south of Alicante and it was pleasantly warm in daytime.
Enjoy.
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Yes Enjoy, but be careful, Jan 2023 i made a stopover in Burgos on the way to the ferry at Santander, it was minus 10 degs overnight and not much warmer during the day, and although the roads up to Burgos were ok after Burgos the snow had started to fall only slightly but the snow plows were on standby, also make sure you check out site availability, what we have found over the last 3-4 years is that many of the Germans in Particular are not going home until March April time, so the best pitches on sites are taken with German Mh's some of which are very large, and really are sunblockers, something you dont need in Jan thru Apr.
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Are you aware of the “camping car parks “ chain of stop overs in France and other countries? These have hard standings, electric, chemical toilet emptying and fresh water and are open all year. The site is barrier controlled and you log in with credit card - ideal for short stays. See the website and download the app.
Temperatures on the med coast in Jan and Feb are usually about 14 -16 degrees as the days get longer a little warmer. Wintering in Southern Spain has become incredibly popular. The Torreguadiaro car park (next to Sotogrande) had 60 - 70 Motorhomes parked up most days in January and February They are tolerated but have to move off for Easter. I suspect this is the same in a lot of places along the coast.
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"Wintering in Southern Spain has become incredibly popular. The Torreguadiaro car park (next to Sotogrande) had 60 - 70 Motorhomes parked up most days in January and February They are tolerated but have to move off for Easter"
this is a problem now in lots of areas of Spain, we used to over winter in Porto de Mazarrón area, and we never had a problem getting a pitch, but the last couple of times we were there all the sites were fully booked and we noticed that sites were becoming unsafe, i think last year there was a big fire at the Bol Nuevo site which englulfed approx 20 motor homes, this was such a good site next to the beach, but not for us now, and wild camping in the area was out of control.
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Thanks to everyone for all the comments.
At the moment the plan is to leave towards the end of February/beginning of March.
I’ve just about got a route through France planned and an outline for Spain. I normally have destinations in mind with 3 or 4 possible sites at each and see what works out.
i never book anything until a day or so before we move to stay as flexible as possible.
i hope that works this time!
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Hi Mike, late Feb or early March sounds a good time to go - it will be Spring in southern Spain by you get there - better I think than sitting out the winter on a crowded campsite there.
And if you don’t mind flying it even gives you time before you set off to Spain for a visit to the sort of place where we often spent our January’s. Real time over-wintering.
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