Tuesday 29 January 2019

Winter Sun 2019 Spain and Portugal. Part 1.

On a cold and miserable winters afternoon in December we had a "light bulb" moment. 
"Why don't we go somewhere warm!" 
Interesting thought.  A bit of discussion later and we had decided to give "Over Wintering" a try. As we were new to this we decided that booking through the Camping & Caravanning Club, may be the best idea as rocking up to a campsite in January and finding " no room at the inn " was not too appealing.

Soon the deed was done. A phone call later we were booked on 4 sites with ( we hoped) winter sun. One site in Portugal and three in Spain. We had allowed two weeks travelling and booked onto the tunnel both ways.

After a couple of false starts and two tunnel postponements due to flu bugs ( very nasty) and a faulty central heating boiler ( equally as nasty ) we were off. We had plotted a route through France down the West coast and then through Spain to Portugal. After some very helpful forum advice on routes and stops we found ourselves safely parked at Euro Cite, following an uneventful though actually quite pleasant journey around the M25 to Folkestone. Tuesday is a good travelling day.

No signs of migrants or anything nasty at Euro Cite it felt very safe. We had a good meal in the restaurant followed by a good nights sleep. Next morning not too early we were off towards Poitiers our first stop for the night Le Futuriste. We hadn't booked but it was a great overnight stop with a hot heated shower block. Altogether a very pleasant stopping place and one we will use again. OK, I'm sure the Aires are cheaper but we prefer proper sites.


On the site at Poitiers.

Next morning off again, using our toll tag we were soon spinning on towards Spain and our next stop Camping Larroute at Urruge nearly on the Spanish border. 


Amongst the spooky trees. Bet it looks completely different when the sun shines.

The drive had been good and the weather mild. We were soon in Spain, here we met a bit of every type of weather. Sun, fog, rain and even a few snow flurries. We ploughed on ( not literally !) We were aiming for Salamanca and Camping Regio. 





Camping Regio was kind of a building site, but tidy and clean. The water in the shower block was scalding, the heating was non existing. In the true spirit of adventure we made for the hotel restaurant and a plate of paella with a few red wines to keep out the cold. Salamanca would be worth an explore on another day. Our final day of travelling took us over the border into Portugal and our first proper destination Camping Rio Formosa.


It had taken 4 days from home. Our extra large double pitch for the next two weeks.