Spain Van trip 2025 summary

 For a trip that was decided n two weeks before this went well.

Drive to Dover:

    Very easy, follow the road, a couple of stop offs to rest the eyes and an overnight at a campsite so ready for the early ferry *note - Canterbury C&C site keeps gate shut until 7am

Ferry - Paying for the club deck on P&O is worth it.  Food, quiet and good views

France

I love the french motorways, not the tolls right enough but the roads are great. Getting to the site in Le Mans was simple.  Even when they have roadworks they dont close the roads, at least one lane always open.

Le Mans campsite: yuk, decent sized pitches but the facilities were gross.  Le Mans was fun, went to the circuit and also a Porsche museum. A lot of immigrants here, although absolutely no issues from them and I really wonder why they stay as conditions looked pretty nasty for them (guess thats why they come to UK)

Then to La ROchelle:  I went here as id been with the kids when they were very young.  It’s a nice place.  I also cycled over to Il De Rey island, lots of fun and new to me.  Again, the french campsite was pretty gross.

La Rochelle to Bordeaux : Yay, a good French campsite.  Clean, good flat pitches and a small supermarket to top up provisions.  Bordeaux itself was ok, I had a great burger here.

That was the first 10 or so days.

France to Spain

Again, roads great and no issues.  I had been going to stop off in Andorra fr three days but decided against that as didnt want to risk the roads in snow.

Arrive in Blanes:

Brilliant campsite right on the beach. Great walks and cycling, some amazing places to visit.

Murcia

Campsite between Alicante and Murcia, 5 star with amazing facilities.  Trip to Alicante was fun

My last site was 10 miles west of Cartagena.  Id been away for just over 4 weeks by this point and was starting to feel I wanted to get home (Id started feeling that way in the last site but thought I just needed a change of venue).  Decided on day two it was time to head home.  Booked the ferry from Santander.

Driving across Spain at night was fun, I think I took about 14 hours to do it but that included a couple of sleeps.

Thing I liked:

The weather, so nice waking up to sun every day

The roads - Both France and Spain have excellent roads and seem so much better managed than UK.

Food - Food in the supermarkets is generally cheaper, but also much better quality and fresher.  They have so much choice on fresh food such as fish and vegetables.

Fuel - Cheaper

Not so good

French campsites ar a bit gross.  to very clean, no toilet seats and seem rather run down

People - Ive often heard that Scots are very friendly, but never really thought that was the case, until now.  Generally we will chat with anyone, say hi etc.  Both French and Spanish seem to want to avoid eye contact completely and dont say Ola / Bonjour back.  Weird.  

Overall

I learned quite a lot about myself on this trip, some of I knew but it confirmed it.  

Seems I have a 4-5 week limit where I want to live in the van before coming home

 I actually DO like human contact. 

I can drive much longer in new places than places I know well

Europe seems to have it so much better than us with food (and in certain sections weather).  It was a bit depressing when I went for a food shop back in UK thee other day.

My van is great, I am so lucky to have it, I also felt very privileged being able to do that trip.

Bring on Spain/Algarve trip 2026 😊 

The final lap (20/21 Nov)

 After a long drive I got t Santander, apart from the dodgy bit in Madrid all the service stop offs were safe and pretty quiet, plus unlike the UK they dont have a time limit before charging.

A look around Santander, some food then headed back to the van (had already checked in for the ferry). Back at the van and had a couple of hours so fell asleep, then a bang on the van, turned out I was getting onto the ferry a bit early, jumped into the front and over the next 30 mins went through the boarding process. 

Up top my room, id paid a bit extra to get a window which was worth it, great views and they also included a tv.

Id used these ferries before and knew the coffee was rubbish so brought my own stuff, so much better

The ferry trip was good and we arrived on time.  

Some poor blokes car battery had died, he was right in front of me but they seemed used to dealing with this and I got out without an issue.

Got onto the motorway, 9-10 hr drive ahead and then… motorway closed, a huge diversion, that was annoying but hey ho.  Driving overnight is generally so much easier, a lot of HGVs but they aren’t any hassle.  I had a couple of stops (back in UK so less than two hours at any service station) and on my third stop felt I was struggling a bit.  Thankfully it was just after 6am and the costa had opened, got a huge coffee and that gave me a good boost. From there I didnt have another stop, although did low down a bit on the road from bigger - Howgate - Home, no need to rush.

Home, food, sleep.

Overall it wwas a brilliant trip, with a tiring but uneventful drive home.

I found that ought 4-5 weeks is my limit on these things, but I think ill do a summary to gi into that

Cartagena, then drive… (18/11)

 After my decision to head home I also decided that Cartagena, one of the stop offs id highlighted before leaving for this trip, was only 20 mins away, so head there before my drive to Santander for the ferry.

What a top decision that was, i loved the place.  Amazing buildings dating back 1000s of years, the old town was quite incredible.

I went to the Castle first.  After a pretty cool walk up steep paving and various, mainly hidden, steps I got to the top, that in itself offered amazing views.  Went to pay and bonus, it’s free entry.

On my way up, the tower id take a few photos of and over the city

Did the usual and walked about a bit, thankfully the info boards were also in English so could have a read.  Then I followed a very narrow and steep staircase up to the top.  Quite amazing views.

The fort with mountains in the background

After a bit more reading about the history of the castle I decided to head to the old town, 

Giz a kiss

The old town was everything you would expect in this region, a mix of Middle Eastern, Roman and Greek architecture.  However I wwas on a tight schedule and wanted to visit the fort…

A normal every day occurrence….

I drove over to the fort, this was a bit of an experience.  Very tight roads/streets and it seemed to be a little bit more “dodgy” than some of the other places Id been.  I had to drive very slowly due to how tight the roads were and lots of vehicles parked up.  While doing this I could at least take in some of the grandeur of the outer fort walls. 

As I searched, twice in the space of a few minutes I wa approached by “friendly ladies’ who I am sure were just offering to give me a tour, a tour of what though 😳.  I decided it was time to leave, the fort was about to close anyway.

Then the drive

I headed towards Madrid, I decided id at least have a short stop off there, as id never been before.  On the way I watched the sunset over mountains, that was pretty cool. What I also watched was the temperature drop.  When I left Cartagena at roughly 7:30pm it was 17 degrees, after about 5 hour it was hitting -2, brrrrr 🥶 

Id had one stop off, watched the end of the Scotland game, that was fun 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 then off to Madrid.  I was trying to find a parking space that looked safe.  Nope, and with my van having UK plates I kinda stood out so decided to move on, hey ho, maybe next time a longer daytime visit to Madrid would be good.

I was getting sleepy, so decided to find a HGV stop off, as they are generally safer, then crashed out for about an hour.  By this time it was about 3am so a new day….

Burn out (18/11)

 I woke up today and had no energy.  Here I am with the sun shining, beach beside me and surrounded by mountains, should be up and at em but no…. 

I kinda felt this nearer the end of my last site, but just thought that was down to being there for a couple off weeks (longest ive been in one place in a campervan prior to this trip was 5 days.

I went out, had a walk on the beach, then up and got a nice baguette for breakfast, hoping this would reinvigorate me, but no.  I thought about my next stop, Madrid, and had zero excitement so decided that was it, time to head home.

I booked the ferry for the next day and was going to leave the next morning but realised that would be cutting it tight for time (roughly 10 hours drive) so decided stuff it.  Packed up early afternoon and drove over to Cartagena, a great decision.

I will do that on its own page, deserves it

New site 17/11

 Up and at em early read for my move to a new site.  Packed and set off at roughly 11am, took it very easy and the journey still only took 1hr 20mins.  Checked in and setup right beside the beach (Only a couple of euro more but great views and a huge pitch.

I then went for a walk to check out the onsite restaurant and supermarket.  Both looked good so sorted there, although good chance I wont bother with the restaurant .  

View from restuarant 

A walk back down, im glad I went for a bigger pitch as some of the pitches on site are quite tiny, even my wee van would struggle never mind some of the monster camper vans ive seen over here.

Back to the van and a little walk along the beach which is roughly 20 seconds walk from my van.

Its a “naturist” beach (optional) which I dont think ive ever been on one before. I dont really get the thing about it, getting sand in your “bits”, no thanks.  Its most teenage boys dream, all these naked people, well no, no one, even a teenage boys dream could get excited at these sights 😮.  Mainly old saggy men with a few overweight old saggy women.  Quite funny as some try to come into the campsite like that, but the site has security that approach them rather quickly, I did see one old bloke with his bits dangling arguing as I think he wanted to go to the loo - nope, security woman was having none of it, and sent him and his exposed dangly bits back to the beach.

A couple of photos from the beach, thankfully no naked old people

Lots of walks up the hills/mountains from the campsite so thinking I will spend some time doing them over next few days, possibly have a cycle into Cartagena with is only about 8 miles away, that will be n prep for my day of walking about in the ancient city to do some visiting of castles etc.

Its just got dark here (18:20), thats a bit earlier than where I was previously, or possibly ive just not been paying attention.

Sleepy for some reason so some food, watch a movie then sleep for me I think.

Bike ride to Cox and a castle (16/11)

 As today is my last full day before moving to a new site near Cartagena I decided to get out on the bike and visit somewhere new. A place called Cox, with a castle, big church and fancy gardens, off I went.

Cycle there was amazing, passed by / through Olive, Lemon, Pomegranate and I think tomato growing place (El Rancho, again an excellent name.).

So the local church had its bells a ringing 🔔 and all the god people were going in.

  Then it was onto the castle, the walk up that path to the castle in my bike shoes was NOT easy.

That path was so slippy….^

The castle from the outside of the town

After a brief visit (left me bike at bottom of path) then went onto a view point for the mountain and a garden thing that was pretty cool (if you like gardens).  

The climb up to here was pretty hard work, worth it though

Then the cycle back, roughly 18 miles in total inc a bitch of a climb to the viewpoint, and in 25degrees + I definitely was glad to get back to the van. 

Back to the van, showered, food and coffee then watched some Slow Horses in the shade almost finished season 5.

Later I will make a stir fry type thing and then its get ready for tomorrow. Off to a campsite near Cartagena, I will probably just stay there for the next two weeks or so, then head to Madrid for a day or two. The campsite is kind of in between a few places I want to visit including Murcia so hoping its a good one so as mentioned i can stay for a couple of weeks.

Its a new day (15/11)

 Tday I woke up with a horrible headache and thought stuff it, got up and went out to watch the sun rise.  It was pretty awesome the colours that were bouncing off the mountains.  I didnt take my phone so no pics.

Then, shower, coffee (not at the same time), pain killer, and chill.  

Feeling much better now, no headache (yippee) and enjoying sitting in the sun (For anyone that knows me, you know thats kinda a lie - sitting in the shade, in the ☀️).  

Decided today is going to be a doing nothing day, I was exhausted yesterday and a chill day definitely on the cards.  

This park, probably most, is much busier at the weekends.  Lots of families, happy kids playing in the sun. Nicer than during the week when it’s mainly the living dead walking around - which probably includes me 😂.

So, relax, probably a walk around the park, nice food and more relax.

🌞 

Alicante visit (14/11)

 After a pretty rubbish sleep I contemplated not going to ALicante today, thankfully I kicked my own butt and headed off bright and early.  Got to Alicante in plenty of time for my bike tour however….. no parking, and the parking there was for cars, my van wouldn’t fit (low entrances).  Finally I found somewhere, tiny spaces but it did the job.

Walked to the meet up location and got there with a few minutes to spare, I shouldn’t have stressed, I wasnt last to arrive and they took ages to get ready.  I did wonder what id let myself in for when 1 person complained as the brakes made a noise when she engaged them and another didnt want to have to pedal, wanted an e-bike, but one that did all the work, not just part.  I decided to take a step away and leave them all to it.

My bike for the tour

So finally off we went, I was naughty and lot out a laugh at the woman who didn’t want to pedal, she was very amusing.

First stop was the Basilica, some history on it regarding it previously being a Mosque, many hundreds of years ago, seems a good upgrade to me….😈.  The tour didnt include entry, so I did that afterwards, only €6 which overall was pretty good.

Then on we cycled to a nice bit that howled the edge of the castle quite well, more history regarding myths around the “face” in the rocks, all very interesting stuff.

The tour lasted almost three hours, took in various sites including the very impressive beach, town hall, foot of castle and then the pretty incredible market. If you ever go to Alicante make sure and spend some time in the market, ive seen nothing like it in the UK.  The array of foods, wines etc for sale was endless.

A few photos from the tour

These trees were amazing, they have air pockets/lining inside which causes this type of growth

Photo over the port into town

From the port towards the town / castle

Then it was back, drop off the bike and I headed to the Basilica first.  TBH it was more of the same but nowhere near as impressive as the one in Girona.  After that I headed to the castle…

Phew, what a walk, temperatures were going between 24-26 degrees, the castle is pretty high up, lots of steps and climbs, a LOT of taxis went by me 😂.

The people who got taxis to the top missed out on lovely little streets like this

I stopped off at one point for a drink, this was the view

The castle of Santa Barbara was pretty cool, busy, lots of school kids being herded around by stressed teachers.  Some building work going on b it as still a good visit.

A few photos

The entrance to the actual castle, a bit underwhelming

From the ramparts - Alicante and Benidorm in the distance

Alicante that you dont see n the brochures

As I was leaving I took this, quite liked the outline

Then it was a walk back to the van, stopped off for an espresso and just to watch the bustle, was nice to have a seat.

Decided on a stop of to Elche, not much to say on that unfortunately, drove by the castle, some big gardens that I had no interest in and then headed back to campsite, unfortunately I was pretty exhausted.

Campsite - setup for the weekend and looking forward to my next campsite on Monday

One of those days (13/11)

 Up early today to get ready to head to Alicante, nope…nope, my legs were ouchie, this is after my hike up that mountain the other day.  As my various plans included lots of walking up steps etc I decided another rest day was required.

Got up and put on the coffee anyway, made myself some breakfast and then got a visitor…

He was a little cutie, very young and inquisitive.  I gave him a few little bits of ham, he was very pleased but thankfully dint come up into the van (im allergic to cats).  Seemed to work out he was getting nowt else and off he went, probably to the next person with food.

Felt I was going to through the motions a bit and realised this is the first day ive really not been too good since I got to Spain.  I had an assessment appointment for some physiological therapy yesterday, it took a very deep dive into things that impact me.  I thought I was fine after it but probably it just took a while to sink in.

So today has been a drag, i even contemplated coming home but that wouldn’t fix this.  Want to the local shop (on site) and got some nice bread and made a big baguette sandwich, with another coffee, then listened to the rest of my current audible book, was a good ending overall, but unfortunately one id kinda thought was going to happen from about 1/2 way in (I wasnt completely right but not far off), id rather have been completely wrong and been really surprised.

So to try and get myself out of the dead space of oblivion that my head is being I booked myself on a cycling tour of Alicante tomorrow.  Ive never done a cycling tour as I think they look shit but thought WTH, give it a try then you’ve done it.

Thinking an early night, escape this mood and hopefully things have improved by tomorrow.

*I really shouldn’t be complaining, im having a great time and am incredibly lucky.  

…and relax (12/11)

 Today was much more chilled than yesterday.  Cleaned the van inside, been keeping on top of that, make it a nicer living space seen as I am in it for so long.  Went out a short local walk then back to the van to try and sort out a blockage in one of the waste pipes (Just water but for some reason its got blocked).  After a bit if a faff I at least got it to trickle out.  Am trying an overnight fix, hopefully that will sort it all out.

As part of that I decided to walk into the nearest town, I took a more scenic route, also much safer than walking alongside very busy roads (no pavement).  Was made even more pleasant that I had a nice chat with Jason.  Plus some nice views, the close up looked way more impressive than in this pic.

Then on the way back the views were amazing, such a pretty skyline.  What wasn’t quite as good was the little biting bastard mosquitos - ouch.  Apparently they used to disappear in this area by end October but global warming means they are around most of the year.

Anyway, a few pics of my nice walk back to van.

Tomorrow im on a road trip, probably to Alicante for most of it but possible a trip to the cathedral in Elche as well.

What a day (11/11)

 Yesterday was a pretty full on day.

First a drive over for a tour of “Caves of Canelobre”.  Some pretty amazing history behind it and some of the stalagmites were pretty amazing. The tour guide wasnt the best but hey ho, I got the jist of it.  You weren’t meant to take photos (flash for obvious reasons, otherwise so they could sell you their own images after the tour), that was pretty much ignored, no flash though.  

Some photos when the guide wasnt looking…..

This was taken after the tour from the viewing platform

After that tour I walked down to the van and realised I was at the foot off a mountain I had looked at going up, so changed footwear, got some provisions and off I went.  I found a route on OutDoor Active, a local guy, it said difficult but i thought, that looks good (I was to suffer for that decision 😂).

Which way to go - marked route to the left or unmarked to right, I know……

Even from the start of the trail te views were pretty awesome.  I dont take too many photos when out and about anymore but yesterday I took loads, incredible views.

As I headed up the mountain I was questioning my (lack of) wisdom of taking the more difficult route (a route that isn’t even marked out on official sites).  It was very tough going and probably outside my level of ability, scrambling up (and weirdly down) shale on very steep sections, quite overgrown in parts and then I managed to take a wrong turn - oops.  Decided to go up that way anyway and watched some rock climbers for a few minutes while I caught my breath.

Headed back to the trail and made my way up again.  Only saw one other person, an Italian guy, really nice bloke who was quite obviously much fitter than me, very toned and even he was struggling. Then a little further on my body started to give up on me.  It was so hot, im also not the fittest for such things, and I thought Id need to turn back, but even turning back wasnt a great option, given how tough the trail was.  I managed to find partial shade and took a time out.  I checked the app and saw the next peak was it, no false peak so let’s do it.  Took my time and got t the top, just before the top was a superman sign on a rock, it made me smile.

At the top I was so pleased id managed it, the views were incredible.  Had a rest and decided id go back the normal route, a very good decision as while still challenging it was much more straight forward than the route id taken up.

On the way back down I saw a couple of derelict houses, quite incredible that people have lived in the location in the past.  

Even further down, but still pretty inaccessible was a couple of lived in homes, amazing.

The walk back along the way marked paths was significantly easier as mentioned.  It also let me take in the views more as I didnt have to concentrate on the paths quite as much.

A cub easier path to follow for most of the way down

I have to admit I was so happy, and relieved to see the car park.  Into the. Van, some cool water and a snack, changed and that was me, driving back to the campsite.  I was glad id gone into the hike prepared.  Proper boots, clothing, walking poles (that were invaluable), food and water all contributed to making sure I got round the entire thing. 

 A couple of times I really did think Id got myself into trouble but im very against calling help etc, why should someone else be put in danger because ive taken something on I shouldn’t have! So just kept going, and thankfully it all worked out.

A brilliant day, challenging but felt amazing to have done it.  A lesson learned on what trails I should be taking at the moment as well. ☀️