Our Portuguese Hymer Holiday Tour

[Carol]

Bit late in posting I know, but not had a lot of internet, thank you so much for shareing your travels, really enjoyed the thread.

 

[Stephen & Jeannie]

Yeah Right Steve...

I am terrified...

JJ :Cool:

Took me a while to suss out your new avatar !! Boots on a bike !!! Nice one !!:thumb:

 

[JJ]

Hate to be a pedant Steve... But it is not a motorbike...

JJ

 

[yodeli]

On .....Jetskis to be precise ... Boots were at Portimao... having a nice walk along the port .... watching all the boats docked there ... A nice place!

JJ should post the whole album of the "Wellies on Holidays in Portugal".....after this week end show...hopefully ...???


Frankie:Cool:

 

[JJ]

I thought I might write a "closing" post with some overall thoughts and information about our Portuguese tour.

I really enjoyed the trip and consider it to have been a total success.

We went mostly to places I knew and had visited before but as we went from place to place we came across countless other places where we could, had we so wished, have spent quiet times without resorting to formal camp sites. Conversely I stayed for the first time ever on a "Council" run camp site and was staggered by its facilities, friendliness and affordability. I will check out others now just to build up "local" knowledge...

There were also loads of places where we could get that vital off-site camping resource... water. Many times it is just flowing out of pipes by the side of the road for travellers to use. In many villages they have taps for everyone's use. Our policy was to always have the maximum amount of water possible on board. This way we knew we could always change plans and stop anywhere.

When preparing for, and talking about, our trip Frankie and I had both agreed that we would try to save up enough money so we would be able to dine out should we feel like it. This was a great decision as we had several wonderful nights in quite posh (for me) restaurants and many other times in nice but less pricey ones. If we wanted to stop for an ice cream/coffee/sandwich/salad we just did.

We did not eat a single Fray Bentos pie!

We swam in lakes and pools and paddled in lagoons and the sea. I preferred the lakes.

We did a little "tourist" stuff at Evora and Silves castle and Frankie did a bit of lying in the sun on beaches and lakesides. I watched/listened to a little bit of football.

The bad thing was I had to do some work for one day in Figueira da Foz. I didn't think this would matter much as we were just touring around but it actually meant that we didn't have as much time as we would have liked in the Algarve. Frankie particularly liked Portimao with its beach and restaurants and shops and we would have spent more time there (and at the Chicken Run) had we not had these places at the end of the tour as time was running out. I will know next time.

We overtook one vehicle in 1,800 kms.

We never needed the genny.

All the systems on the 25 year van worked flawlessly, especially the fridge which was really vital... it was very hot and the windscreen wipers were only needed for a few minutes on one day... all the other days were sunny... and hot.

I made one major (low speed) driving error as I pulled right across and in front of a shocked Portuguese driver as I was searching for the entrance to a supermarket car park...

Frankie made no driving errors at all... but then she does not have a suitable licence for the van.

We never ever got lost... Tomtom Live 1000 and national map.

I am posting more pictures bit by bit in the main photo album.



JJ

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