Advice for Jan to March

[Pablo19]

Having retired earlier this year and after losing our elderly dog last week we are free to get away from our miserable winter soon after Christmas. I knew we wouldn't be alone but after seeing on a few threads that campsites get very booked up I am now starting to worry! This will be our first trip ever to mainland Spain and certainly first motorhome trip so we have no idea where to head for or what sites we should maybe try and book in advance. We are also thinking Algarve area and the desire is to try and get a maximum warmth rather than necessarily the need for beaches. Is that area any quieter? We really want to wing it and not book anything so we can adjust our plans on the hoof but if we are going to hit issues then we may need to compromise and at least book a few sites. For info, we generally prefer smaller sites with basic facilities, not the all singing all dancing sites with entertainment laid on etc. any suggestions really welcome.

 

[David and Sally]

We are the opposite and prefer to book ahead. The sites we are staying at in the same period are quite busy but if you are flexible on dates you should be ok to wing it.
The beach sites are the worst but inland is USA,y easier.

Can’t talk about the Algarve as never been there but our advice was, for warmth then the SE of Spain is the place to go.

Good luck.

 

[Run to the Sun]

Sorry to hear about your dog, its not great loosing a friend If you are heading and staying on the coastal roads near the beaches certain sites do get busy and lots are pre-booked out from the previous year (s) of motorhomers going back to the same spots. Inland is a lot less busy, you have the usual Apps, P4N, Searchfore sites etc to search for sites. If you are heading into the Algarve there a number of sites, some are busier than others but you shouldn't have any issues getting a spot. If you are going to head into the Algarve from Seville let me know and I can give you a few options.

https://www.campercontact.com/en

This one is for Portugal, not much in the Algarve but if you are heading up North to get back to the UK there is a lot of choice to choose from.

PORTUGAL EASYCAMP

Pernoite numa quinta por 24h Uma alternativa sustentável às tradicionais áreas de pernoita para autocaravanas Como funciona Viajar numa autocaravana autónoma (água, sanitários, energia) Respeitar o nosso Código de conduta 1Escolha a Quinta Navegue pelo nosso mapa Escolha o local onde pretende...

portugaleasycamp.com

 

[Pablo19]

Sorry to hear about your dog, its not great loosing a friend If you are heading and staying on the coastal roads near the beaches certain sites do get busy and lots are pre-booked out from the previous year (s) of motorhomers going back to the same spots. Inland is a lot less busy, you have the usual Apps, P4N, Searchfore sites etc to search for sites. If you are heading into the Algarve there a number of sites, some are busier than others but you shouldn't have any issues getting a spot. If you are going to head into the Algarve from Seville let me know and I can give you a few options.

https://www.campercontact.com/en

This one is for Portugal, not much in the Algarve but if you are heading up North to get back to the UK there is a lot of choice to choose from.

PORTUGAL EASYCAMP

Pernoite numa quinta por 24h Uma alternativa sustentável às tradicionais áreas de pernoita para autocaravanas Como funciona Viajar numa autocaravana autónoma (água, sanitários, energia) Respeitar o nosso Código de conduta 1Escolha a Quinta Navegue pelo nosso mapa Escolha o local onde pretende...

portugaleasycamp.com

Thanks. Yes, we are gutted and really missing her

Our loose plan is to leave probably mid Jan ish, plan a route according to the forecast to avoid snow and the coldest weather. Our thoughts are to join ACSI and I already use SFS and P4N. We generally spend very little time on the sites as we are big walkers/cyclists. We would prefer to be close enough to walk into towns or close to public transport to visit cities. Our only stipulation really is we will be trying to meet up with our kids on or around 20th Feb as my OH has a big birthday so we will probably book an Airbnb. We are thinking maybe Faro area for that as it has good links with the regional airports that the kids live close to. We will return probably in the first half of March. On the basis of the above we will probably head for Spain first and then head over to Portugal mid Feb. so any advice about that would be really useful!

 

[grasscutter]

If you go inland from the beaches the walking and cycling is amazing. There are a large number of free aires. We amble around and never use sites.

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[Augusta08]

I've been "snowbirding" for the last 22 years, since I retired, we have done both pre-book and winging it. It's a question of how resourceful/tolerant you feel. Weather wise the Mediterranean coast is definitely more reliable than Portugal. Anything South of Pensacola to Gibraltar is good. With only minor temperature advantages further south, but further south is bit overrun with "All Day Breakfast and Double Diamond Served in Pint Glasses" .

Shoreside is better than inland. We have returned to some sites a dozen times and thinking it was brill. Then the last time it had changed hands and definitely gone down-market. This year we are returning to Moncofa, about 50kms north of Valencia. We have stayed there once before , it's a small site but has good cycling (flat) area around it with the old market at Nules. It's been cheap to book 14 euros a night inclusive of electric and well serviced pitches. A big plus is No Pets allowed! I only say that is a big plus after a couple of years with yappy little dogs next door. We also stayed two years ago when the nice German couple next door took to feeding the feral cat community, after 10 days you would think all the cats for 50kms were under their van.

I hope you have as much fun as we have over the last 22 years.

 

[Run to the Sun]

Coming west from Seville crossing into the Algarve is Tavira which is an old roman town, its a nice spot to visit for a few days. Fuseta is further along going west, its one of the old fishing villages with clean beaches and the sea water is clean, no problems going for a swim. There is island just off Fuseta called Ilha da Armona, there is a boat that will take you across, I think its about 10 mins from memory. Olhão is the next along which is a lot bigger, this is close to Faro and you can get the bus into Faro, the trains also run from Tavira and Fuseta to Faro. Olhão is the closet spot you can get to before Faro, it's more a working town all based around fishing, some great cafés and plenty of fish to eat.

Those 3 should start you off, then you can use your APPS on where to stay in or around to suit you. All good for biking, been up and down there a few times over the years on MTB’s with no problems. The Portugues word for dam is barragem. If you use google and type in Tavira as an example and then use 'barragem bike rides' you should always get maps for bike riding inland towards the dams. Lots of the dams are well worth visiting and gets you going more inland, lots villages all around them so plenty places to have a beer or two.

 

[Carpmart]

SW Spain is the warmest climate in Mainland Europe in the months you’re looking to travel.

I’m a relative newbie with Snowbirding, my fourth winter, but I will say, it’s got way busier in the time I’ve been doing it! The popular sites are already booked. It’s a late Easter this year too… won’t help the situation in terms of sites!

 

[Pablo19]

Thank you all for the great advice and tips. Much appreciated

 

[Barti Ddu]

Congratulations on retirement, and commiserations on losing your four legged friend. We lost our 15 and a half year old Border Terrier earlier this year. It's still a wrench.

Funnily enough we're basically following your footsteps next year. We're booked mid January on the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry, and have a return ferry booked from Santander to Portsmouth the second week of March.

It will be our third trip to Spain and Portugal in the last four years. We don't use many sites preferring aires and wild camping where possible but haven't previously found problems getting on campsites in Spain (even on the coast) over the winter. Usually we only want a couple of nights and that probably makes the difference as there will be the odd space as pitch bookings turn over. Turning up on spec and trying to book for a whole fortnight is likely to be more of an issue.

We've previously had to use campsites a lot more in Portugal due to the crackdown by the GNR on wild camping. We've even been moved on during the day from one coastal car park. Portuguese campsites are pretty cheap though - but with a high variability of quality. An ACSI card card can help off season. This year in Northern Portugal we're also intending to try a few places on the Easy Camp scheme already linked to above.

lorger has a thread going at the moment with his retirement trip to Spain and Portugal which you'll find interesting if you haven't already seen it.

Anyway, enjoy your own retirement trip next year. We might bump into you!

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[Kenp]

SW Spain is the warmest climate in Mainland Europe in the months you’re looking to travel.

I’m a relative newbie with Snowbirding, my fourth winter, but I will say, it’s got way busier in the time I’ve been doing it! The popular sites are already booked. It’s a late Easter this year too… won’t help the situation in terms of sites!

Perhaps you meant South East Spain ie the Med coast not the Atlantic?

 

[Carpmart]

Perhaps you meant South East Spain ie the Med coast not the Atlantic?

I did indeed!

 

[jumar]

Your walking and cycling activities could be provided for off the coast.
Look at being in the Sierras, colder for sure, but better routes..
Although we live 20 minutes from the Med coast in Murcia...we spend most of our days inland..
You can quite easily nip to the coast for a bit of a change...or warmer locations...but be aware, most folks idea if Spain is the Med..and why not....it's lovely.

 

[jumartoo]

We live inland from Mazarron. The coast, sites and Wilding, is normally rammed at that time of year, but inland is normally much better, although even inland, the nearer the coast the busier its becoming.

I've got a thread running which is autumn in Spain, but the places we're using would be suitable, mostly, in the spring. We'll be travelling around then also.

I've got some other threads, some of which will cover some inland areas.

Sorry about your loss, but I hope you enjoy your trip.

Haha, I've done it again, posting at the same time as Martin

 

[brynric]

We plan to do something similar. We’ll set off in mid January through the tunnel and stay on Camping Car Parks across France. We’ll cross into N Spain at Irun then head to mid Portugal. After this we’ll slow down and wander south along the border, we don’t anticipate it being too crowded and we’re happy to stay on aires, many of the inland camp sites are closed in the winter months.
When we’ve visited in the past we’ve found the coastal areas to be busy and difficult even if booking, that’s the Algarve as well as SE Spain. More inland we find it quieter but often with good cycling and full of history.
Enjoy.

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[Augusta08]

We are going via Brittany Ferries Portsmouth Caen on December 29th. Returning Early March. We've nothing booked prior to 30 days in Moncofa, so freelancing thru France and northern Spain. We use Camperstop and have done similar routes for 22 years. Word of warning on the way down thru France many aires will have the water switched off !!! Frost protection! So always fill up when you can and we carry a further 20litres emergency backup.

 

[Pablo19]

Congratulations on retirement, and commiserations on losing your four legged friend. We lost our 15 and a half year old Border Terrier earlier this year. It's still a wrench.

Funnily enough we're basically following your footsteps next year. We're booked mid January on the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry, and have a return ferry booked from Santander to Portsmouth the second week of March.

It will be our third trip to Spain and Portugal in the last four years. We don't use many sites preferring aires and wild camping where possible but haven't previously found problems getting on campsites in Spain (even on the coast) over the winter. Usually we only want a couple of nights and that probably makes the difference as there will be the odd space as pitch bookings turn over. Turning up on spec and trying to book for a whole fortnight is likely to be more of an issue.

We've previously had to use campsites a lot more in Portugal due to the crackdown by the GNR on wild camping. We've even been moved on during the day from one coastal car park. Portuguese campsites are pretty cheap though - but with a high variability of quality. An ACSI card card can help off season. This year in Northern Portugal we're also intending to try a few places on the Easy Camp scheme already linked to above.

lorger has a thread going at the moment with his retirement trip to Spain and Portugal which you'll find interesting if you haven't already seen it.

Anyway, enjoy your own retirement trip next year. We might bump into you!

Thank you for your kind words, on both the retirement and the dog loss. the last time we crossed the channel was in June and we did Newhaven - Dieppe then and found it to be very good and also cheap. My OH is not a grood sailor though so is a bit nervous about how rough it might be so the tunnel may end up being our choice for the winter! the last trip was only 2.5 weeks into France though and all of our previous trips have been short ones due to work so this will be a revelation for us!

We don't tend to do too much wild camping, mainly due to security fears in areas that we don't know well but I guess confidence in that will increase. We don't mind aires and small cheap sites with basic/no facilities though. Easycamp looks interesting, seems a bit like Britstops which we haven't used but heard about.

I am looking at the other threads but didn't want to hijack theem with my own questions! You may well be right and we could bump into eachother at some point! Enjoy your trip as well

 

[Pablo19]

We live inland from Mazarron. The coast, sites and Wilding, is normally rammed at that time of year, but inland is normally much better, although even inland, the nearer the coast the busier its becoming.

I've got a thread running which is autumn in Spain, but the places we're using would be suitable, mostly, in the spring. We'll be travelling around then also.

I've got some other threads, some of which will cover some inland areas.

Sorry about your loss, but I hope you enjoy your trip.

Haha, I've done it again, posting at the same time as Martin

Thank you, I will have a look at your other threads and try to get a better grip of the areas to go to/avoid!

 

[DandJ]

Sorry for the loss of your dog.
We were in your position last year....first winter trip to Spain/Portugal and glad we ignored some of the 'If you've not booked now, you'll not find anywhere' posts. We avoid the busier places anyway so had no issue at all finding some great places to stay in SE, S and SW Spain as well as the Algarve. Only the odd night 'wild' but a few nights here and there with a quick email/call the day before we fancied moving. Happy to send you a PM with some details.

 

[Pablo19]

We are going via Brittany Ferries Portsmouth Caen on December 29th. Returning Early March. We've nothing booked prior to 30 days in Moncofa, so freelancing thru France and northern Spain. We use Camperstop and have done similar routes for 22 years. Word of warning on the way down thru France many aires will have the water switched off !!! Frost protection! So always fill up when you can and we carry a further 20litres emergency backup.

Really useful to know about the water, thanks!! Is the northern part of spain generally snow free around those dates? If crossing at Irun can you just head over to Pamplona/ Zaragoza way and are there plenty of places to stop?

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[Pablo19]

Sorry for the loss of your dog.
We were in your position last year....first winter trip to Spain/Portugal and glad we ignored some of the 'If you've not booked now, you'll not find anywhere' posts. We avoid the busier places anyway so had no issue at all finding some great places to stay in SE, S and SW Spain as well as the Algarve. Only the odd night 'wild' but a few nights here and there with a quick email/call the day before we fancied moving. Happy to send you a PM with some details.

Thanks DandJ, you really don't understand how big a part they play in your life until they are gone.

I think we will do the same and wing it! If you could send me some details that would be fantastic. Many thanks for the kind words and help.

 

[Pablo19]

Coming west from Seville crossing into the Algarve is Tavira which is an old roman town, its a nice spot to visit for a few days. Fuseta is further along going west, its one of the old fishing villages with clean beaches and the sea water is clean, no problems going for a swim. There is island just off Fuseta called Ilha da Armona, there is a boat that will take you across, I think its about 10 mins from memory. Olhão is the next along which is a lot bigger, this is close to Faro and you can get the bus into Faro, the trains also run from Tavira and Fuseta to Faro. Olhão is the closet spot you can get to before Faro, it's more a working town all based around fishing, some great cafés and plenty of fish to eat.

Those 3 should start you off, then you can use your APPS on where to stay in or around to suit you. All good for biking, been up and down there a few times over the years on MTB’s with no problems. The Portugues word for dam is barragem. If you use google and type in Tavira as an example and then use 'barragem bike rides' you should always get maps for bike riding inland towards the dams. Lots of the dams are well worth visiting and gets you going more inland, lots villages all around them so plenty places to have a beer or two.

Some great advice here, thank you. We generally take our eMTBS on trips so we don't get caught out in the really hilly areas but often don't use the power on them. I will check out the barragems, seems like a similar type of thing to Levadas for walking in Madeira! The other places you have mentioned look right up our street too. Thanks again.

 

[cyberyacht]

Even the Costa Blanca can have cold nights though. We used to visit our apartment in Santa Pola(Alicante) in December or January and found it cool at night. A cafe we used to frequent in the square had a photo with about six inches of snow covering it. Nothing is guaranteed when it comes to weather.

 

[Augusta08]

We got snowed in on the N232 a couple of years back, we were happily following the snowplough from Alcaniz towards Morella it got to Monroyo and stopped the driver got out and came back to us and explained that was it! He was finished for the night.

We were alone up in the mountains with 6ft of snow around us. We carefully turned it round and retraced our tracks to Alcaniz stopped there for the night in aire/carpark in the middle of town.

Not for the fainthearted.

 

[jumar]

On country I driven in with Chains on a motorhome rear wheels...between Granada and Baza...Guardia Civil stood over me whilst I fitted them..either 4 wheel drive or chains else off the motorway..

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[Odd-no-more]

It's our first winter trip, leaving on 2nd January. We are taking our caravan, so sites needed and I had a lot of difficulty finding sites open in France in January. Even when searching for open sites, most that came up closed after New Year. Mrs. Odd has medical problems and cannot do very long journeys so we are planning 4 nights to get to Spain. We have booked a month on a site on Costa Brava @ €246 Inc electric and WiFi, I'm not sure what amperage is included, but even if we need to use gas for heating it's not expensive. After the first month we may go a bit further south, or if a month on a caravan is stressful we may rent a villa. It goes ok

 

[jumar]

It's our first winter trip, leaving on 2nd January. We are taking our caravan, so sites needed and I had a lot of difficulty finding sites open in France in January. Even when searching for open sites, most that came up closed after New Year. Mrs. Odd has medical problems and cannot do very long journeys so we are planning 4 nights to get to Spain. We have booked a month on a site on Costa Brava @ €246 Inc electric and WiFi, I'm not sure what amperage is included, but even if we need to use gas for heating it's not expensive. After the first month we may go a bit further south, or if a month on a caravan is stressful we may rent a villa. It goes ok

I would encourage the use of Bricks and Mortar winter rentals....providing the location has some life.... I'm aware in winter some locations are like ghost towns..but prices for rentals can be very competitive if compared with some campsites....and the need to Tow through France in Winter can be avoided and ferry costs reduced...just a thought...

 

[Odd-no-more]

I would encourage the use of Bricks and Mortar winter rentals....providing the location has some life.... I'm aware in winter some locations are like ghost towns..but prices for rentals can be very competitive if compared with some campsites....and the need to Tow through France in Winter can be avoided and ferry costs reduced...just a thought...

This is the first time, if I was booking it again (hopefully next year) I would go down in December. We did look at renting, we have two dogs so have to drive down. A friend, who lives in Spain, recommended the site and the price is low enough to cover the extra travel costs. My friend sent some pictures of the camp last week and the first row by the beach was full.

 

[jumar]

This is the first time, if I was booking it again (hopefully next year) I would go down in December. We did look at renting, we have two dogs so have to drive down. A friend, who lives in Spain, recommended the site and the price is low enough to cover the extra travel costs. My friend sent some pictures of the camp last week and the first row by the beach was full.

Dogs... different requirements, of course
Please feel free to ask any relevant questions...we are Spanish residents
If we can assist...

 

[Odd-no-more]

Dogs... different requirements, of course
Please feel free to ask any relevant questions...we are Spanish residents
If we can assist...

I may take you up on that, what part of Spain are you?

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