We’ve had much debate in the past about taking the tunnel and driving through France or taking the long ferry to Santander. As our aim in winter is to be away enjoying improved weather than we would get at home, our drive through France is often a race to get to brighter skies, so when the chance to book a pet friendly cabin on the Santander ferry was an option we jumped at it. A 2 night period of relaxation was rather forced upon us through a combination of rough seas (announcements being made to not move around the ship unless necessary) and having a nervous dog who doesn’t relish being alone, so with most of our time being spent in our cabin we were truly relaxed upon arrival in Santander. We flew through passport control and had no checks at customs so we were on the road south in record time. With neither ourselves or the dog having stretched our legs fully for the duration of the 33 hr trip we didn’t want a long driving day so found a camperstop just 2 1/2 hours from the port at St Vicente de la Sonsierra.

The small village situated in the heart of the rioja region with it’s imposing Castle and 11th century Church is perched above the parking area, and is worth the climb to enjoy the views over the surrounding grapevines. A short stroll across the medieval bridge adjacent to the aire leads to some good dog walking trails alongside the river and vines beyond. I could feel myself relaxing almost instantly as we relaxed into the Spanish way of life. We often comment how different winter days at home are and relish the opportunity to be outdoors more whilst travelling. We have spent part of our winters in Spain now for the past 6 years and so we feel a certain level of comfort and familiarity with the country even when visiting new places which we still do frequently.

After a huge 11 hours of sleep we were feeling fully refreshed (no surprise there) and ready to continue our journey south. We have learnt not to plan too far ahead as often our plans change when we do and today was no different. Despite identifying a suitable overnight stop near Zaragoza we decided to continue journeying south to get some more miles behind us, our final destination for the night being Teruel. Famed for the cathedral of Santa Maria de Mediavilla, a UNESCO world heritage site, it’s a popular stop off point. For us this time though it was merely used as a convenient overnight spot & we ashamedly didn’t visit the city.

With just an short 1 1/2 hr hop to the coast just north of Valencia the following days drive wasn’t too taxing. Last year we’d found a good wild camping spot on park4night on a huge grassy area just back from the beach at El Puig de Santa Maria. Situated between two small towns it’s perfect for a few days of relaxation and the familiarity of being somewhere we’d stopped previously felt rather comforting. Having arrived on a Friday the area soon got busier with the onset of the weekend (although there were still no more than 10 of us there at any one time) and we soon got back into the Spanish way of life, taking exercise in the morning followed by long walks and a lazy lunch mid afternoon. The weather a pleasant 18 degrees on our 2nd day, not bad for mid November! After 3 nights and with 44mph winds forecast, we decided to get away from the coast to try and escape the worst of it.

We found an aire inland at Bellus which for just 5 Euros a night and also provided electrical hook up, although with 2 lithium batteries & solar we don’t really have to rely heavily on plugging in any more, it was good to give everything a good boost at the start of our trip. Bellus is a tiny village with nothing more than a couple of small shops. The surrounding area suited us perfectly though offering good walking trails alongside the river.

Being within an hour of our friends Dave and Paula’s villa we’d arranged to stop by for a few days (we have already planned a meet up for Christmas), they live in a lovely spot close to the town of Agost and uninterrupted views from their garden offer some of the best sunsets we’ve seen anywhere. Unfortunately it was too cold to swim in their pool at this time of year, but we did lots of walking with the dogs in the surrounding countryside instead. Even though we hadn’t seen each other since last Christmas it was like it was only yesterday and we picked up where we’d left off.

Hankering to see the sea again and with the weather forecast set to improve we did a short sprint back to the coast to an accepted Motorhome parking spot at Urbanova. Motorhomes line the parking which directly overlooks the beach and although it’s right by Alicante airport the planes aren’t intrusive. With both the beach and prom we were able to take long dog walks and also get my SUP board on the water.

Our Sleepyspots

San Vicente de la Sonsierra GPS 42.559329 -2.759827 Free including services

Teruel GPS 40.332858 -1.085364 Free including services (Petrol station with LPG & Supermarket next door)

El Puig De Santa Maria GPS 39.573986 -0.278155 Wild Camping spot, no services just bins

Bellus GPS N38.941441 W 0.480908 Cost 2 Euro parking 3 Euro EHU services Free

Urbanova GPS38.288901 0.521167 Wild camping, no services just bins

Andi X