VW Camper Tours of Spain
When Martin and Lynda set off on their first tour of Spain, they had no idea that they’d soon be going back for more…
VW camper owners Martin and Lynda explored Spain twice in their first year with their bespoke Volkswagen Caledonia from Sussex Campervans - covering more than 2500 miles. They collected their sleek, silver, built-to-order VW camper - a Volkswagen Caledonia from Sussex Campervans - in July 2018, and since then they have not wasted a minute. In their first two months they got to know the campervan by using it for day trips and weekends away. Then came the big trip - starting with a ferry from Portsmouth to Santander in Spain.
They visited:
- Haro, La Rioja
- Camping Bosque de Gordon
- Cervera de Pisuerga
Martin and Lynda discovered a cool and shady parkland campsite on the banks of the river Tirón, Camping de Haro, in Haro, La Rioja. When in Haro they visited winery López de Heredia Viña Tondonia and were amused to read the name Lopez on the barrels. (Sadly not a close relative of Sussex Campervans MD Daniel Lopez-Ferreiro - though he likes a glass of fine Rioja on occasion.)
They also stayed at Camping Bosque de Gordon, nestling beneath the mountains, and offering its own swimming pools, which were sadly out of use!
They visited Cervera de Pisuerga, a hilltop town surrounded by mountains and reservoirs, which is near the source of the river Carrión. It’s on an ancient Roman road to the Cantabrian Sea and you can still see some very old houses bearing the emblems of the Counts of Sireula, whose manor house started the settlement. There are 16th-century columns in the town square, and an important 16th-century Gothic church - Santa María del Castillo. This houses the Santa Ana chapel, with its magnificent Hispano-Flemish altarpiece by Juan de Flandes, La Adoración de los Reyes.
It’s also very rural and Martin and Lynda photographed their pristine new VW camper next to a rusty tractor. What a contrast between old and new!
Old & New!
Chantada, Spain
Spring Break in Spain
They had such a wonderful time touring Spain that they decided to go back this Spring.
Lynda says, “The good thing about travelling in April and May is that there are plenty of campsites available at this time of the year with hook-ups and some of the aires have hook-ups too.”
Salsa dancing round Spain
Martin and Lynda love salsa dancing when they are at home - finding good dance events in Essex, London and the south coast. So of course they took their dancing shoes in their VW camper when they went to Spain.
This time they visited:
- Suances
- Santiago de Compostela
- Alcázar de San Juan in La Mancha
- Escucha near Utrillas
- Segovia
- Parc Natural de l'Albufera
- Molinos de Viento - windmill region
- Valencia
- Zaragoza
- Pamplona
- San Sebastian
Lynda says, “We went salsa dancing in Suances on the north coast near Santander. Also Santiago de Compostela, Alcázar de San Juan in La Mancha (Don Quixote country) and Zaragoza. The best was in Suances, in Cantabria.”
As well as getting off the beaten track, Martin and Lynda visited a few famous tourist destinations in Spain, including San Sebastian on the Atlantic coast and Pamplona.
Martin said, “We visited a coal mine in Escucha, near Utrillas and saw the beautiful Segovia Cathedral within the vast 8th-Century city walls. We also visited the Alcázar de San Juan and Valencia. We went to Zaragoza and back through Pamplona to San Sebastian before returning to the ferry port at Santander.”
Lynda says, “One day we took a six-hour walk up a mountain and saw nobody. I had booked all our campsites through pitch-up.com, but they said it probably wouldn’t be busy in May. They were right. We stayed at Campsite Valle do Seo near Trabadelo, León. It’s set in woodland with a stream close by and plenty of local walking. The guy there was really nice and the campsite has its own bar and restaurant.”
We drove on to Alcázar de San Juan and stayed on an Aire outside a bull ring. There are lots of white windmills on the hills around here, and we went to the nearby windmill museum - Molinos de Viento. In this area there are many links to Don Quixote, the famous 400-year-old Cervantes novel about a young knight who goes mad and decides to attack the cruel giants in his country (windmills).
Touring further, Lynda says, “I thought Granada and the famous 9th-century fortified Alhambra Palace would be too busy, so we went to Valencia instead. The campsite we found there was not very exciting; it was almost an Aire. From Valencia we went to Parc Natural de l'Albufera and had a boat ride on the rice lagoon, because we’re not beach people. We had some delicious paella there too.”
We also stayed at Camping Pena Montesana in the foothills of the Pyrennees, which was lovely. But now we’re home, back to dancing Salsa and planning our next campervan tours.”
Martin adds, “We drove 2,500 miles or more in the camper, and we loved it!”
Shady campsite in Northern Spain
Another shady campsite - ideal in the warm Spanish weather
Follow their Spanish Road Trip via Google Maps:
Kate Taylor
Journalist and Writer
