Northern Spain in Mid September ?

[Affinite]

I'm wondering about spending 2-3 weeks in Northern Spain from Mid September (ferry to Santander) and I wondered what weather I might reasonably expect at that time of year.
Also, what is the Northern region (Cantabria, Galicia etc) like as a MotorHome touring destination.
First time driving in/to Spain for several decades hence the numpty questions
Thanks in advance

 

[Badknee]

Judith jumartoo and Martin jumar are the ones to ask.

 

[Bessy765]

We are crossing early November, a wander through Spain and on to Portugal 90 day trip,we are using CaraMaps app it seems to give a good description of places to stay.

 

[Brains]

I'm wondering about spending 2-3 weeks in Northern Spain from Mid September (ferry to Santander) and I wondered what weather I might reasonably expect at that time of year.
Also, what is the Northern region (Cantabria, Galicia etc) like as a MotorHome touring destination.
First time driving in/to Spain for several decades hence the numpty questions
Thanks in advance

Northern Spain is green.
It an Atlantic/maritime climate, so the weather is closer to that of Cornwall than the Costas.

We were there in May this year.
We had rain, mizzel, fog, hail and snow on the higher routes!

We met a group of bikers who were there to drive the routes of the Picos de Europa,
after 3 days they gave up and headed south.

We also did not see the sun until after we left the region, and when we arrived back for the ferry 3 weeks later, it was long trousers back on and digging out the raincoats again!

 

[jumartoo]

We're in Galicia at the moment, after coming across from Asturias and Cantabria. I have a thread. Summer in Spain (again). You can find it in my signature.

September can still be quite warm, or then it may be wet. Who knows. It's a lovely 22° with a breeze today right on the coast. But a couple of days ago we got soaked to the skin riding our bikes .

Have a read of my thread, and my previous ones on northern Spain, and ask questions if you want.

If you get the good weather, it's a fantastic part of Spain to visit.

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[jumar]

Judith jumartoo and Martin jumar are the ones to ask.

September should be OK....the coastline is somewhat cooler than being 25km inland...the main holiday season is over....places to park are plentiful, it's a very relaxed place to visit...quite stunning...no high-rise hotels geared up to tourism...the food types are varied and very different to the Costas..
For ourselves who live 20 minutes from the Med we still do our summer on the northern coast...it just makes sense to do so...

 

[Lee16]

Weather is mixed right now.
We stayed at San Vicente de la Barquera, would recommend.
Campsite was El Rosal, right by beach and nice walk into town over the bridge.

 

[Arnside037]

We arrived last Sunday and spent two nights in Potes in the Picos de Europa before giving up and heading south to Leon where it is dry and sunny 25 degrees.
Great new free aire, quiet, 30plus pitches well laid out, level tarmac, driveover waste, grey and black dumps, 18 min walk to catherdral, 5 mins to lidl. Great for visiting the city. (Autocaravanas Palomera)
We were going to go along the northern coast, round and down to Porto, but given the rain and thunder cloud on the north, we are reversing our route. Isn't that the benefit of the motorhome/campervan or autocaravavas as the seem to say here..
Great roads, hardly any traffic to speak of, (apart from the road up the gorge to Potes which is being rebuilt.) Scintillating drive south down to Riano, parkups over the bridge.
Ps 9. 20 pm and two more vans have arrived here.

 

[jumar]

Having just had 3 months in the North it's time to return to the SE...but we are taking a week to get back....stopped off to ride in the PN Sanabria which is wild in places...we stayed overnight on an official MH location and woke to 9°c, a tad chilly so thought I'd fire the heater up ready for the Autumn and winter ahead...
We know that when we get back to base in Murcia it will be 32°c. But our house is Aircon throughout....get some domestic duties done and off again..

 

[pat100]

Today, Sept 20th, is my first rainy day. Luckily it’s my planning and fettling day! I’ve been hill/mountain-walking for just over a month from Bilbao along the Spanish Pyrenees. (One-day walks, MH based) I’ve never put on my waterproof. The Spanish seem to scramble up 6,000ft peaks in shorts and crop-tops carrying just a bottle of water.
There have been a few overnight showers and the occasional thunderstorm but never a problem.I’ve probably been lucky. Being an ex-redhead I like clouds. And wall to wall blue sky is rather boring, isn’t it?
I am amazed at the lack of wind (the weather, not me!) Only one windy day (Which just happened to be on the col above Nuria - eek!) The same was true on my Spring trip in the North-West.

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[CAB96]

Today, Sept 20th, is my first rainy day. Luckily it’s my planning and fettling day! I’ve been hill/mountain-walking for just over a month from Bilbao along the Spanish Pyrenees. (One-day walks, MH based) I’ve never put on my waterproof. The Spanish seem to scramble up 6,000ft peaks in shorts and crop-tops carrying just a bottle of water.
There have been a few overnight showers and the occasional thunderstorm but never a problem.I’ve probably been lucky. Being an ex-redhead I like clouds. And wall to wall blue sky is rather boring, isn’t it?
I am amazed at the lack of wind (the weather, not me!) Only one windy day (Which just happened to be on the col above Nuria - eek!) The same was true on my Spring trip in the North-West.

Can I ask where do you get /plan your walks on?

 

[jongood]

Weather is mixed right now.
We stayed at San Vicente de la Barquera, would recommend.
Campsite was El Rosal, right by beach and nice walk into town over the bridge.

Just wondering if there is still any overnighting on the beach there, love the place but not the campsite because it goes in the shade too early.

 

[jongood]

Northern Spain is probably our favourite destination, very scenic, some lovely places to stop and more real than the mediterraneann costa's. However we always watch the weather forecasts and have a fall back plan for if it turns. If it happens you can usually head a few hours inland and do some cities and quite likely find sun again but you are going to then have a different holiday. We have been on the beach at St Vicente in bright sunshine but couldnt see the Picos for the clouds.

 

[pat100]

I use GPS on my iPhone to follow walks which I have downloaded as .GPX files from t'internet. Usually I download from Wikiloc. Kmoot and AllTrails also provide them. (The snag with all these sites is that they bombard you with suggestions and attempt to build a “community”) Many paper guidebooks also provide .GPX downloads of their routes. My mapping app of choice which displays the route, and my progress along it, is Cartograph Maps 2. ( It’s blurb looks very technical but it’s actually very simple to use - I don’t understand half of its abilities but the app has lead me faultlessly through the mist on many occasions over the years. Works in towns, parks and mountains. Free maps! I haven’t switched to version 3 yet as I am still trying to see if it an improvement. It doesn’t nag you to buy enhancements!!!
I can also suggest books.

 

[AndyLaika]

Just wondering if there is still any overnighting on the beach there, love the place but not the campsite because it goes in the shade too early.

There were height barriers on the beach car park when we were there in May. Plenty of VW's, small vans staying overnight. Looked like m/homes staying in the car park at the next beach along

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[Barti Ddu]

We were last there in late October 2021. Had beautiful weather. San Sebastian , Bilbao, the Picos, and the Asturian and Galician coast. Sunny and blue skies, and no rain until we got to Santiago de Compostela. Shorts and t-shirts during the day. Colder at night, and much colder at altitude.

But we were lucky. It can be very unsettled. The comparison to Cornwall above is pretty accurate. You might be similarly lucky, or you might get a couple of weeks of rain and cloud.

Beautiful area though.

 

[Brize]

Can I ask where do you get /plan your walks on?

Try Outdooractive. Download the app and you can plan walks and track yourself as you go along. It will also talk instructions to you as you go along. You can also pause it and resume (eg, if you stop for lunch).

Free version works fine, and I use it all over Europe. Shows all tracks, trails and bridle paths, and has contour lines to show any steepness. Works well

 

[Barti Ddu]

Can I ask where do you get /plan your walks on?

The Spain TopoMaps app (Android) is great for plannings hikes and navigating when walking. Large scale mapping with GPS guidance.

Don't know if available on Apple.

Spain Topo Maps - Apps on Google Play

Topographic Maps of Spain. Complete coverage at scale 1:25.000. GPS Navigation.

play.google.com

 

[Lee16]

Just wondering if there is still any overnighting on the beach there, love the place but not the campsite because it goes in the shade too early.

I think the beach one had a height barrier. Maybe ok for a VW or smaller van.

 

[TheMachMan]

We’re in the Picos at moment. Past week been nice, but looking unsettled so moving on south. Have given up the plan of following North coastline.
We’ve been using Mapy for walking and it’s been good. It allowed me to create a circular walk yesterday without any problems.

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[Lee16]

We’re in the Picos at moment. Past week been nice, but looking unsettled so moving on south. Have given up the plan of following North coastline.
We’ve been using Mapy for walking and it’s been good. It allowed me to create a circular walk yesterday without any problems.

Yes we gave up on the North a couple of weeks ago the weather wasn’t good.
It improved when we got down towards Porto.

 

[TheMachMan]

With with wild fires in Portugal we have steered clear, though would have liked to have gone to Porto.

 

[jumar]

With with wild fires in Portugal we have steered clear, though would have liked to have gone to Porto.

Unpredictable wild Fires and sleeping in a Motorhome are not to be taken lightly...
In 2002 we were in Australia....small van we bought and a tent....
We stopped off at an official campsite which was a clearing in the bush, just off the highway, the ocean was the other side of the road....having set up we went into the bar for a beer...TV was on , main news item. Wildfires...I asked the guy how far away was the reported outbreak...60 or so miles...but the spread was travelling faster than I could run..wind direction favourable....after the beer we went back to the tent...turned the van around pointing at the exit and the beach...
If I remember correctly we slept in the van that night....

 

[MartinandBev]

We’re in the Picos at moment. Past week been nice, but looking unsettled so moving on south. Have given up the plan of following North coastline.
We’ve been using Mapy for walking and it’s been good. It allowed me to create a circular walk yesterday without any problems.

We have also just entered the Picos, weather not looking brilliant for the weekend ahead but hey we came up here to escape the heat from home in the south

 

[Tony50]

We arrived last Sunday and spent two nights in Potes in the Picos de Europa before giving up and heading south to Leon where it is dry and sunny 25 degrees.
Great new free aire, quiet, 30plus pitches well laid out, level tarmac, driveover waste, grey and black dumps, 18 min walk to catherdral, 5 mins to lidl. Great for visiting the city. (Autocaravanas Palomera)
We were going to go along the northern coast, round and down to Porto, but given the rain and thunder cloud on the north, we are reversing our route. Isn't that the benefit of the motorhome/campervan or autocaravavas as the seem to say here..
Great roads, hardly any traffic to speak of, (apart from the road up the gorge to Potes which is being rebuilt.) Scintillating drive south down to Riano, parkups over the bridge.
Ps 9. 20 pm and two more vans have arrived here.

Leon we found to be lovely to.

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[jongood]

Cathedral beach is nice if you get a find day and Fisterra is a must

 

[Barti Ddu]

Cathedral beach is nice if you get a find day and Fisterra is a must

Indeed. Cathedral beach is probably our all-time favourite free overnight stop. Lovely setting during the day. Really quiet once the tour coaches have left. Just a handful of motorhomes overnighting. Pitch black. Just the roar of the waves breaking nearby. Went for a midnight look at the sea from the top of the wooden stairs with a torch to find the way. Absolutely exhilarating.

During the evening the local police did a couple of drive-bys and gave a friendly wave. Next morning a bakery van pulls up in the car park and honks his horn. Fresh pastries for breakfast and a baguette for lunch.

 

[sltgapper]

Last October we toured Cantabria and Galicia. We had some lovely days in the Picos but mostly we had storm after storm with endless rain. We still enjoyed it but it was a challenge. This year we are trying the north east coast!

 

[Lee16]

We are in the Algarve now, nice weather and not too hot.
Currently at Praia du Luz. Moving on tomorrow.
See my post re Lisbon.

 

[jumar]

Last October we toured Cantabria and Galicia. We had some lovely days in the Picos but mostly we had storm after storm with endless rain. We still enjoyed it but it was a challenge. This year we are trying the north east coast!

We do our Summer in Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia...but head south as Autumn approaches... generally speaking, although you could be lucky...Galicia gets rather changeable during this time if the year..

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