# Spain end of November - help!



## averhamdave (May 21, 2005)

Hi all. We are booked on the ferry to Dover on Novemeber 23rd and will be travelling down through France and Spain to the Spanish south coast - Costa Del Sol, Almeria or wherever you may suggest could be better! We are looking for a relaxing break and hope to find a bit of sun. We will be heading back early January. The times may not be the best but they have to fit in with what my business can tolerate. Another couple in their mh with be travelling with us.

We are OK with France but have never travelled through Spain before in the motorhome. That said we have visited the holiday areas of Spain many times on package holidays.

I have many questions, best route (through Spain), places to stay en route, should we stop off in Madrid, the pitfalls, good sites when we get there, best region, should we move about, is Portugal worth travelling through - weather? - and generally any tips you can offer.

What would be really helpfull would be for someone who has real experience of this, and I know there are dozens of you on here, to volunteer to answer my questions (which seem to be growing by the day!) by e-mail whenever they crop up. Thanks,


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## C7KEN (May 27, 2005)

Hi we live in Spain and are still enjoying sunshine which we expect up to Christmas, today was spent on the beach at Guardamar which I think a lot of members have visited, It depends a bit on what you are looking for but if you like days at the beach then consider Guardamar a lovely clean beach with nice little cafes mainly used by Spanish ,there are ample sites nearby but not aires, if you wanted sites consider Rincon de Luna and Marjal if you want to try wild camping the best places are near reservoirs or Motocross tracks or travel inland a little to Guadalest and park overnight in the car park getting up before the little ticket man comes round in the morning, we use truckers stops and have had no problems but don't park in a dark corner, one last thing consider putting panic alarms on your doors, these can be bought of ebay for a couple of pounds and buy a hand held air horn (horn on a canister type) if you get any problems you can make a lot of noise which may make them clear off, I don't want to make you worry in fact we have never had a problem but forewarned is forearmed, buy yourself a secondhand camping gaz cylinder as a standby you can get exchanged anywhere, two gas bottles should be enough for around a month but if you use gas a lot and run out it can be a pain hence the campinggaz tip


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## 98214 (Mar 19, 2006)

*going to spain....?*

hello

I do suggest not to go to almeria coast....is ugly, full of plastic exploitation of agriculture products, few pretty places on the coast etc....
why not going to madrid and then Lisbon area (portugal off course) then the atlantic coast to sagres, all lagarve, then spain until Gibraltar, them the coast until Malaga, and back home'


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## musicbus (May 1, 2005)

hi,

We travelled down two years ago around the same time and had a ball. Weather was great We used a mix of sites and wild camped. It depends on you but we moved around quite a bit. Went as far as Malaga. Came in through andorra and returned via the east again as we headed to Nice to visit friends. Did not keep a log but the thing that stood out the most was that out of season it was possible to park up and not be disturbed in many places.

favorite wild camp was on San Juan beach 7 miles north of Alicante. There is a dedicated parking space for homers. Met some dutch folk who had been going there every year for hols. light rail across the road to town fantastic beach with long cycle paths and restaurants all around. Most of the condos were empty.

In barcelona there is also a parking area in town south east side near the docks where you can overnight. Near cnr Monjuic and joseph carner. You walk everywhere from there .

You will see especially further south folks parked at beaches wild camping in many places. We used the Caravan Club guide for campsites and stayed in some exc ellent sites. A standout was about 4 miles sth of Granada with bus at the door to town. If you have not been to Granada the Alhambra is a must see.

I could go on for hours about places but I think its great to discover them almost by accident.

We are planning to do madrid then south and back up through portugal next year. My portuguese friends tell me it is fantastic place that is inexpensive and not overdeveloped like much of the Costa lot.

heres a few spots

Benicasim - You can park on the road running by the beach in several places. No problem in winter months. There is drinking water in town in lots of places and paying loos on promenade.
Burriana - There are some large areas where you can stay near to the sea. 
Moraira - We stayed on a car park with no problems but you can be moved on from here by the police. Drinking water is available just inland at Benitachell (signposted on Moraira/Teulada road) 
Calpe - Some good parking in beach area with lovely views of the Ifach. 
Olla - This is just north of Altea. Driving from the north you should turn towards the coast (ie left!) 50 yards before the Renault Garage. There is a good space on the beach for vans. 

Arenals del Sol - This is just south of Alicante. If you drive right through the town you will come to a picnic area on your right. There is a large beach with dunes to the left which we did see some people parked on. It is OK to stay on the picnic site during the week. We like Alicante so much that after staying at san juan on the way down we overnighted here on the return
Puerto de Mazarron - camping on the beach is tolerated and water can be obtained at the nearby fishing port. We went to a great seafood restaurant on the beach. Parked by the beach outside the restaurant and stayed there overnight
Calahonda - This is on the N340 between Motril and Castel de Ferro. . 
Torremolinos - a large area at the eastern end of the resort. After going through malaga and heading south you will see vans parked up right on the point.

This was two years ago when we used these spots that I found online. Not sure who the creator was was but it was great info and I thank them.

Have a great time. 

Go well

barry


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## averhamdave (May 21, 2005)

Big thankyou to *C7Ken, Decarvalho and musicbus *for taking the trouble to reply to my request for info that may be helpful during our visit to Spain.

Some useful thoughts there, we'll pass on Almeria, hadn't thought about Alicante / Barcelona and are now wondering about going down the Portugese coast. Won't it be cold?

Thanks again and if you have any more ideas please let me know.


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## 103175 (Feb 26, 2007)

C7Ken do you know of any mx tracks in and around the alcante area


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## C7KEN (May 27, 2005)

Just been looking thro my own posts and noticed I have not replied to the last posted question "Do I know of any motocross tracks near Alicante" the answer is of course I do know all of the tracks around here so if mxfan can see this post reply and I will point you in the direction of a few. Just for starters there is one right behind the cemetary at Alicante which can be seen travelling north on the AP7 as its at the side of the motorway. Contact me on driving directions to it


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## 102045 (Dec 8, 2006)

just to say the portugese west coast south of lisbon is fab wild camping no prob most of the time and weather similar to alicante/ malaga just remember winter time its dark and cold early
we're leaving in two weeks to spend 3 or 4 months between portugal and spain and france of course


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## Fego (Nov 27, 2006)

*This might help*

We did that very trip last year and are even thinking of doing it again this year.

We were complete novices (had never even driven a van before) so it was our first ever trip out in our new van anywhere. And we had four children with us too.

I decided to document the trip and our preparations and looking back on it now, I'm glad I did because it is just as enjoyable second time around. Having read your post, I thought you may find the blog of our experience (and route) useful.

You can find it >here<, but due to the nature of the blogsite, you will need to navigate to the beginning and eventually follow yourself back to the end using the 'newer post' button (if that doesn't make sense, just click >here< instead

I never did manage to turn the webpages into a readable document. I'll add that to my list of things to do...

Have a great trip


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

Hiya, Fego  

I quoted you just a couple of days ago to someone who was looking to travel down to Spain for Christmas.

BTW, this is an old thread, started last year :wink: 

Gerald


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## 107955 (Oct 28, 2007)

C7KEN said:


> Just been looking thro my own posts and noticed I have not replied to the last posted question "Do I know of any motocross tracks near Alicante" the answer is of course I do know all of the tracks around here so if mxfan can see this post reply and I will point you in the direction of a few. Just for starters there is one right behind the cemetary at Alicante which can be seen travelling north on the AP7 as its at the side of the motorway. Contact me on driving directions to it


Just found your post on this forum and we are looking for motocross tracks in Spain - one's that allow sidecars!

Hoping to drive down January 2008. Please can you let me know.

Thanks


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## C7KEN (May 27, 2005)

I think it will be difficult to find a track that will allow sidecars. I will ask around at the week end as I am off to the MotoGP with a crowd of motocrossers. I have not seen a sidecar over here


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## 107955 (Oct 28, 2007)

Thank you! - It would be good if we can find some tracks.

It is hoped there will be at least 5 or 6 sidecars travelling down for a bit of winter training-maybe more!

Look forward to hearing from you.


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## 129593 (Nov 19, 2009)

Hi Can anyone give me some post codes for moto x tracks around alicante and torrivieja please?
thanks


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## C7KEN (May 27, 2005)

sammy Post codes in Spain are not like the UK. They cover a very wide area here. There is a good track at Alhama and a few more around that area. The father of Joe Gregory has leased a track from Manuel Rivas which is floodlit so can be used late at night and regularly is. My son no longer races but is riding a friends bike this weekend just for fun. The best thing is to look at the Danger UK webpage then under DUK villas you will see photos. Percy the owner of DUK owns a very good bar over here where all the riders usually meet up and go winter training. You will see a video of it all on the website http://www.duk-villa.co.uk/


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## SorC (Oct 3, 2005)

we took 5 months last winter down though france then north coast of Spain & down the west coast of Portugal & the Algarve for December. Portugal can be windy & cold in the evenings. It turned out to be an expensive trip due to getting a solar panel fitted in Portugal but we saved 60% of the cost through free camping at a number of places. In Portugal you need to be careful not to get your registration number recorded by the police because if they catch you a second time there is a very hefty fine. Having said that we moved around often and had a good time. We spent 3 weeks on a car park in Almaeria at Roquetas de Mar with good sunshine till the police moved everybody off at 6:00 one friday night. The North coast of Spain for us is better than the costas where there are too many brits for our liking as we like to sample the real Spain. We found tha Spain was cheaper than both France & Portugal. Wherever you go have a good time and happy Christmas!
SorC


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## 129593 (Nov 19, 2009)

Many thanks for that info C7KEN really helpfull


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## lex46 (Jun 13, 2010)

Ken you seem the orical of track information! we are living in calpe and i am wondering what the closest track is i am after nothing to radical as haven't ridden much and am just getting back into it?

regards
Lex


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## C7KEN (May 27, 2005)

Hi Lex
I am going out for a meal tonight at Hoggies Bar with my son so hopefull will get up to date track info for you. However there is a track just north of Alicante viewable from the AP70 and another at Crevillente where they have an international around April each year and with plenty of top riders like barragan. Crevillente is open all the time and practise is free. alhama is a super track normally open for practise on Saturdays for a few euros. the alicante track belongs to a club so you take your chances . If they feel benevolent they let you ride there if not they say you must pay or join the club. My son favoured the Alhama GP track with the El Poso leap which is not for the faint hearted  I may run into Joe Gregory tonight so will see if his dad still has the Rivas track which maybe too far for you (murcia) but is floodlit so usable until late at night. Crevillente is probably your best bet and not to far away but as usual hard to find. If you fancy going there PM me and I will PM you back with directions


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