Any advice on touring from Bilbao west to Portugal then south and back up to Calais.
Seeking any useful advice and recommendations for a 2 month tour of Spain, Portugal and France.
Starting Bilbao next week and returning to UK from Calais. Nothing booked so far other than ferries.
Tia.
Answers
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I think you will need to spend considerable time on finding French sites open so early in the year.
Colin
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@Stuart42 I see from your profile that you have a motorhome. Coming back through France, whilst campsite open at that time of year will be a bit sparse there are lots of motorhomes aires in most places. I understand that in the winter some of them turn off the water but you might be OK further south.
David
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At this time of year, your itinerary will very much depend on the weather which can be gloriously sunny, wet or freezing cold. If you are going for two months, the chances are you will experience all of those conditions.
NW Spain is the obvious choice starting from Bilbao, especially Galicia. Northern Portugal is also full of fascinating towns and historic locations. It all depends what your interests are - care to enlighten us ?
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Thanks all for prompt replies.
To answer some queries.
Our main reasons for the trip were to get a couple of months of warmer weather than we could expect in Aberdeen and to explore parts of Europe that we have not visited before.
I would have thought a few members would done this kind of trip previously so was hoping that there might be some site recommendations on where and where not to stay along with any other must do type of visits in these regions.
Thanks again,
Stuart
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We would never have booked a channel ferry. You will have to spend several days and a fortune on fuel and motorway charges. We used the Brittany Ferries to Santander although if you want to visit Bilbao they go there as well. I know they cost more but when you balance this against the time saving and the other costs involved in driving across France, to us there is no doubt that straight to Spain is better. Possibly too late for you to look at this though.
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@Stuart42 Coincidentally, I am off to the Algarve in 3 weeks time driving via LeShuttle through France and Spain. We will be away for nearly 3 months including a 4 week stay in an apartment near Portimao.
I am planning to travel north to south through Extremadura on the way and, weather permitting, drive back via Portugal's atlantic coast.
I will be using aires in the Camping-Car Park group in France as there will be very few sites open out of season. In Portugal, I will use the SearchforSites app to locate places to stay as our homeward trip progresses.
Some of the places I hope to visit are Salamanca, Avila, Plasencia, Caceres and Badajoz. On the homeward journey, I want to spend some time exploring northern Portugal around Ponte de Lima (Vino Verde country) and maybe sample some port west of Porto.
In total, I expect to cover about 4,000 miles.
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@Wildwood Fortunately we live just 2 1/2 hours from LeShuttle so, although driving 700 miles each way through France is a bit tedious, no-way will we ever again contemplate a sea voyage across Biscay in the winter months. The risk of the ferry being cancelled at short notice plus being cooped up on board for over 24 hours is not something we enjoy. We also travel with a dog which complicates matters.
I've done the journey through France a number of times and have now worked out a route which is very economical on tolls and is largely dual carriageway. In a MH, it is almost as quick as using the peage all the way.
Using free or low cost MH aires on the way down, there is very little difference in cost between driving and taking the ferry. The aires run by Camping-Car Park even have electric hookup.
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May/June '23 we used these sites as part of a tour from Dieppe
Not sure how many of them are open all year though!
The 1st is ideal for Bilbao or Santander…..
El Molino de Cabuerniga, Sopena, Cabuerniga, Spain E39510
A Gaivota Camping, Barreiros Beach, 27790 Barreiros, Lugo, Spain
Bayona Playa, Baiona, Pontevedra, Spain 36393
Angeiras, Rua de Angeiras, Angeiras, Lavra, Portugal 4455-039
Costa do Vizir, Monte Branco, Porto Covo, Portugal 7520-437
Return Route:
Area de Autocaravans, overnight stop, N – 620a, 51, Cdad. Rodrigo, Salamanca, Spain
Area Servicio Autocaravans E. Leclerc Miranda, Arrabal Sue I/t las California, 263, 09200 Miranda de Ebro, Burgos, Spain overnight stop, (Supermarket + Burger King adjacent)
Beau Rivage, Allez des Marroniers, Navarrenx, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France 64190
La Motte, D270 Lieu de La Motte, Le Fouilloux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France 17270
Chanteloup, Chateau de Chanteloup, Sille le Phillipe, Pays de la Loire, France 72460
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