# touring northern spain



## lifestyle (Apr 27, 2008)

Hi,first time on here,so go easy on us.We intend to tour northern spain in July / August, can anyone recommend places to see and camp ie scenic spots good camp sites nice places to eat / drink
We have spent many years touring France will we find it different ?

Thanks Les & Shirley


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## Briarose (Oct 9, 2007)

Hi welcome to the forums, we spent a lovely weekend in northern Spain just below San Sebastion back in Feb (and again on the return journey) the site was lovely and overlooking the bay from the hillside.

Down in the bay were little restuarants and also vineyards. You can read my trip report where this is mentioned on the following link.
http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-42247-0.html

We will definitely be going back there as we loved it.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Hi Shirley and Les and welcome both.

I'll be watching the answers to this post too as we are thinking of northern Spain for late August.

I've got the weather for the towns along the northern coast on my desktop and I have to say that they are usually wet and cold so we might go inland !

G


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

We are there too end of August and interested in replies. 
CHRIS


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

chrisgog said:
 

> We are there too end of August and interested in replies.
> CHRIS


You never know; we might meet again in some supermarket car park.....!

G


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Ha ha,
you never know Grizzly! We are thinking of booking some sites now as doesnt seem to be so easy as going to France without booking. Looking t CCC sites in their book but goes against the grain to pay high prices. Really puzzling what to do as our moto is follow the sun! Hate been tied down to a booking. What do you plan to do? Book or take your chance?

We are coming back from Bilbao 25th August . Could spend 5 weeks in Spain or just one day. Really confused as to what to do this year
Chris


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

chrisgog said:


> Ha ha,
> What do you plan to do? Book or take your chance?
> We are coming back from Bilbao 25th August .
> Chris


We're doing the Portsmouth-St Malo route and intend - weather permitting- to go via Normandy and Brittany. We'll be later than you - going late August.
We're not going to book anything as we might well get diverted off to central France if the Atlantic coast is windy or cool. We're not into hot weather but we're fed up of the present stuff !

At the moment we're hoping to get into northern Spain and possibly Portugal. I'd not looked at campsite prices in that area and hadn't realised they were more expensive. I think we'll just play it by ear -as usual !

G


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## C7KEN (May 27, 2005)

Hi Folks
We are not exactly experts on campsites preferring aires and wild camping and right at the moment are preparing a good guide to where to park in Spain which will be posted on the site when complete. However our friends who come down from the UK to visit us every year suggested Baliera to us. We went there and felt very comfortable the guy in the office drove us in a golf cart around the site showing us various areas to park, it is quite roomy with a small stream and waterfall on the site. Big pools, restaurant etc . We would definately go there again. Have a look at this site near Pont De Suert so easy access coming down from Toulouse 
http://www.baliera.com/?i=english&s=home


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## Don_Madge (May 1, 2005)

This info might be useful for anybody planning to visit Norther Spain 
Here is a selection of free camping places that we found suitable for
overnight stops on our tour of the Iberian Peninsular. We either
night stopped or had lunch/siesta in all of these places. We did the trip in
the first three weeks in June 2005. Sorry info's a bit dated.

We were very surprised by the very few motorhomes that were about at this time of the year. The Spanish were out in force at the weekends but mid week it was very quiet. The one exception was Cape Finisterre where there were several vans and many visitors. Many nights we were camped by ourselves.

CAMPOSANCOS.
Parking at the ferry terminal. There is a very cheap (Euro 5.80) 15 minute
ferry from Caminna (Portugal) to Camposancos (Spain).

ALDAN HARBOUR.
Parking in harbour area.

CAPE CORRUBED.
Parking area around lighthouse.

PUNTA LOURA.
Parking by lighthouse, very remote area.

CAPE FINISTERRE.
Parking by lighthouse. Could be a problem in the wet. There is a large
tarmac car park on the right one kilometre before the lighthouse.

CAPE VILAN.
Parking in lighthouse car park, very remote.

CEDEIRA.
Parking in port car park.

SAN ANDRES DU TEIXIDO.
Parking in view point area over looking village.” Do not drive into village”


PORTO DE ESPASANTE.
Parking on harbour area.

PORTO DE BARES.
Free campsite (except July/August) on harbour area. Many static vans left on
site. Water available.

PORTO DO BARQUEIRO.
Parking on harbour.


GONCHA DE ARTEDO.
Parking area behind beach.

EL PUNTAL.
Car parking bays on estuary road.

TAZONES.
Very picturesque village/harbour. Parking in car park on approach to village


SAN VICENTE DE LA BARQUERA.
Parking on “Playas” at eastern end of town. Can be very crowded/noisy at
weekends and in July/August.

PLAYA OYANBRE.
Parking in beach car park.

SAUNCES.
Punta del Dichoso, parking in car park area.

QUEJO.
Parking in harbour area/car park.

AJO.
Parking in beach and picnic area car park. Water available.

DUESO.
Parking on rough ground behind sand dunes. Beware of patches of soft sand.

All of the above places can be found on Michelin maps 441 & 442.

A8 MOTORWAY.
The Spanish are slowly extending westwards the A8 motorway from the
French/Spanish border to La Coruna. It has presently reached the town of
Gijon. There is a 22 kilometre break just west of San Vicente de la Barquera
It’s “Peage/Toll” from the border to Bilbao then the remainder is toll
free. Service areas are few and far between the further west you travel.

Safe travelling

Don


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## MalanCris (Apr 2, 2007)

We have just returned from La Coruña (wife has family there) so we have done the journey on many occasions, the last three years, in the motorhome.
We usually drive through France using various routes to sightsee on the journey there and back. We have found that once you get away from the coast, the campsites are few and far between and are ususally not of a very good standard. There are plenty of sites along the northern coast however although we have not used many of them. We have stayed on a few occasions at Camping Santillana in Santillana del Mar near Santander, which has quite a bit to see, and we would also recommend Camping Los Manzanos in Santa Cruz de Oleiros just outside La Coruña. I believe that the camp site at Santiago de Compostela is also quite nice, and a good stop off if travelling to Portugal. There are also some very good campsites in the Picos de Europa (head towards Potes - well signposted).
Hope this may have been of some use.
p.s. you do not have to follow the motorways (toll), the national route through Irun is a nice route albeit a bit twisty. Once you get nearer to Bilbao, you pick up the autoroute which is toll-free and takes you to Gijon. The road onwards towards La Coruña is currently being upgraded to autoroute with many stretches completed.


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## javea (Jun 8, 2007)

Briarose said:


> Hi welcome to the forums, we spent a lovely weekend in northern Spain just below San Sebastion back in Feb (and again on the return journey) the site was lovely and overlooking the bay from the hillside.


Hi Briarose,

The campsite you mention sounds great, could you let me have the name please as I will visit later this year when on the way South.

Regards,

Mike


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## lifestyle (Apr 27, 2008)

Thanks for all the replies .Is it really differcult to find campsites without booking ?,i`m not sure i would like that idea . Maybe i`ll just tour France again


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## chalky9 (Oct 27, 2006)

Don't despair, lifestyle; I tried to book with several campsites in Northern Spain and was told that they either don't accept advance bookings or that I didn't need to book. 

I would imagine the only ones that you would need to book are the ones on the beach, or maybe in big cities. If you're prepared to be a little way from the sea you shouldn't have a problem, especially in an area where there are several sites to choose from.


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Chalky will that apply to August trips too.? May book last 2 nights near Bilbao but want to be free for the other dates?
Chris


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Well we have finally decided to book for the 6 nights prior to returning to UK. 2 at Llanes, 2 Santillana del mar and the last 2 at Noja (950 pitches!!! crazy.) £134 through ccc. (ouch) Goes really against the grain but this is our first spanish returning crossing so at least we can relax knowing there is a campsite waiting for us at the end. For the other 4 weeks we WILL not book.......hooray . Next year , if we do this route again, we will at least have put our toes in the water and tested the ability to just pull in.

Off to bed now and travel insurance is next sorting tomorrow. MCC are the cheapest then Primary insurance for single trip over 65 with medical conditions.
See you in Spain guys. Will report back end of August
Chris


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

*Trucking*

Hi,
Having been an International trucker for many years (not any more) and done a lot of Spain, I can assure you that in the Basque country which is beautiful and all along the north atlantic coast, you will have no trouble in finding suitable locations to overnight.
Before we had a m/h about 5 and 6 years ago (2 years running), we also went along this entire coast and there are some fantastic places!!
Don't miss San Cyprian also spelt San Ciprian.
Have a good time


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## chalky9 (Oct 27, 2006)

We're going last 2 weeks of August. I've emailed all the campsites we're planning to stay at and they've either not replied at all or replied saying there's no need to book or they don't accept reservations for pitches.


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

*Dont worry*



chalky9 said:


> We're going last 2 weeks of August. I've emailed all the campsites we're planning to stay at and they've either not replied at all or replied saying there's no need to book or they don't accept reservations for pitches.


Dont worry, just go for it


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## lifestyle (Apr 27, 2008)

Thanks Grath, i`ve taken notes

Les


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