Motorhome trip south for some winter sunshine Spain 2022 - Part 3

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It was now March 2022, we drove north out of Almeria, up through the Sierra Cabrera on the A7 and through very varied landscapes, we drove through the town of Lorca with it’s massive medieval castle on the hill and headed towards Mazarron. Just outside Mazarron is a small seaside resort called Isla Plana and the campsite Los Madrilles. The reviews of the site said it was popular and usually busy in the winter months due to it’s heated indoor and outdoor pools, but we got a pitch and settled in.

We had a quiet morning then caught the bus from outside the campsite into Cartagena. This is a very historic place too, we visited the Alcazaba, the roman theatre, Colosseum and the castle, all free of charge and well worth a visit to a another very interesting town. We wandered around the old town and found a nice place for drinks and more tapas before finishing our sightseeing around the marina. Back into the old town for more drinks and food and it was back on the bus to Isla Plana.

We spent the next couple of days on this campsite using the swimming pools both in and outdoors as the weather had started to get a bit gloomy (the start of a bad spell) and it was nice to chill out and relax after all the walking and sightseeing we’d done so far.

That bad weather had well and truly set in when we left Isla Plana, we drove north towards Murcia and the skies were black and the rain was lashing down. We drove into the mountains and to a small town called Banos de Fortuna. This place is famous for the Thermal Spa pools which are constantly at 36 degrees and it is usually fully booked in the winter months but we got a place. The cost of the site included access to the pools’, but you can visit even if you’re not staying on the site and it was very busy. The 4 pools are great and with the weather grey and wet it was nice to be in the warm water, that’s why all the oldies visit, it was like a scene from the film Cocoon, we were the youngest by a long way!

We spent 3 chilled days here in the pools and although the skies were grey, I did get out on the bike into the hills. We walked into the small town on our last night and found a small bar run by an English ex-pat, it had a variety of nationalities drinking and putting the world to rights.

Next stop Alicante was back down on the coast, there are no campsites within walking distance of the town centre see we used the App ‘Park4night’ and found a few wild camping spots. The first two spots looked a bit dodgy so we moved on, the 3^rd spot was by the beach at Playa Almadraba and looked good. There were 4 other vans parked up and it turned out that the Germans had been there for 4 days with no bother, so we parked up. On the short bus journey into the centre, we walked down to the trendy marina area and had a drink in the late afternoon sunshine. Walking back into the town there were lots of shops, bars and restaurants, we found a quiet place to share a massive Paella and afterwards had drinks in El Capitano Garden bar where the DJ played some cool tunes.

After a greats nights sleep (even though it was on a street corner) we shrugged off our hangovers and set off up the coast to Benidorm. There are a lot of campsites in Benidorm and for some reason I drove into the wrong one (still hungover) but it turned out fine as it was a nice little site called Armanello and had brand new shower/toilet facilities (Mel was happy). Knackered we just chilled out for the rest of the day.

We did our chores the next morning, washing clothes, cleaning the van etc before we set off on a long walk from one end of the bay to the other. It was quiet with a small number of locals walking the promenades and it was a nice afternoon out. After a siesta we went out for a few drinks. The night was a lot more lively (I’ve been a few times and although not as full as I’ve seen before there were still a lot of people out), we ended up staying out until 3.45am visiting such delights as the Gold Dollar bar, Carnaby street, the Hotel California and many more, it was Mels’ first time sampling the madness of Benidorm.

Not rising until after lunchtime we managed to wander out for some lunch and catch a bit of the football in one of the many sports bars, again we walked along the front and as it was the weekend there were a lot of Brits here celebrating for whatever reason but we had had enough the previous day so it was an early night for us.

The sun had come back out briefly so we sat by the van all day listening to the Spanish radio channel, they don’t censor the English swear words on the radio in Spain, Mary Whitehouse would be shocked!! After an afternoon siesta we walked down into the old town around 7.30pm for some tea. Feeling a lot better we had a few drinks in The Bulldog, then we found an Aussie bar which was packed and ended back on Avenue de Mallorca right back in the party area. As it was Mel’s first time in Benidorm I’d told her it gets a bit crazy and around 2am after watching Sticky Vickys grand-daughter (how many Vicky’s are there these days!!) we were offered the choice of watching live sex shows, dwarf wrestling, strippers and other various shows, it’s a bit seedy but a good night out so after a bit of food and another 4am finish it was back to the van.

Another late start to the day and a couple of sore heads we woke to the sky being completely yellow, it turned out that a sandstorm had blown north from the Sahara and turned Spain’s sky’s yellow, even stopping flights to some places. We had a very steady day, walking out to get a coffee and lunch on the prom and an early night (light weights).

The next couple of days were miserable weather wise, we managed a few walks out and had a lovely lunch in a place called Fresh but we mainly chilled out in the van with a bit of music or reading. What we had noticed was that the forecast for the whole of the east coast of Spain was terrible for the next 3 weeks (not normal in March) so instead of slowly moving north up the coast we had a major change of plan.

We left site and at the local Carrefour supermarket we did a big food shop and filled up with fuel, it was 1.75 a litre and at some forecourts it was selling at 2 euros a litre. The rain was now torrential and it was very windy blowing the van all over the road so it made for a difficult drive north. The change of plan was to now head north to France and east into Italy. As we were heading north as quick as possible, we again used ‘Park4night’ app to find an overnight stop and found a couple of places to wild camp near Tarragona, the first in town didn’t look good but the second place was on a small car park next to the beach at Playa Llarga, along with 6 other vans we spent a very quiet evening.

A major drive north of 400 miles and after rounding Barcelona on the busy motorways we stopped for fuel in Girona (still at 1.75) and headed for the French border. After crossing the border again with no Covid checks we arrived in Perpignan. It just so happened that out timing was perfect to watch Rovers at Catalan Dragons. We pulled up outside the ground around 2.30pm and as I found the ticket office closed a couple wearing Rovers tops were doing the same. We got talking and it turned out they were in a van and had been touring Spain and they were parked around the other side of the stadium. We decided to park next to Donna and Geoff on the side street and like all good motor homers do we got the chairs out and cracked open a few drinks with our new friends. The game wasn’t great or the result but we’d had a great night.

The following morning as Donna and Geoff headed north back to Hull we headed east and towards Italy. We stopped over night at a beach side ADS outside of Sete, we managed a log walk on the beach and collected shells for Dougie and Wade, our grandson and nephew.

Another long drive ahead and again in the torrential rain, we hit the toll motorway which would take us all the way to the Italian border. After a stop for fuel near Antibes (1.90 euros this time) and lunch we crossed the border (again with no checks) at 3.30pm and the sun was coming out for the first time in 7 days, we’d made the right decision. On the Italian Riviera the campsite season doesn’t really start until April so the first 6 camp sites we stopped at were all closed, eventually around 6pm we found a small site just outside of Albenga. It turned out to be a great little spot, lovely people, great facilities a good place to explore from.

A lovely sunny day (that’s what we came for) and I went for a cycle ride along the coast road to Finale Ligure in the morning. The Italian drivers are even worse than the French so it was expect the unexpected on the roads. We had a lazy afternoon in the sun and as evening set in we walked to the medieval town of Albenga, nick named the city of a hundred spires it has a history of being conquered by the Carthaginians, Romans and Visigoths until being part of the unification of Italy in 1863. It has San Michele square at it’s centre of the old town with palaces and churches built all arounds it, alley ways and tunnels link the small streets within the old walls. We ate at a really nice family run restaurant called La Cantina before having a few drinks before walking home.

Heading out for a long walk we set off along the riviera coast, the pathway took us through some lovely small resorts, Ceriale, Borghetto Santo Spirito, Loano and into Pietra Ligure. In Pietra we found a place to eat just off the Piazza San Nicolo di Bari for lunch then visited the San Nicolo church when I received a phone call offering me a job for when we returned home in April, perfect. We had a few beers in the sunny piazza then caught the train back to Loano and walked to Ceriale to find a pizzeria for tea.

We had a relaxing day by the van in sun the next day after doing some washing and cleaning.

Moving on to Imperia, we stopped at the Lidl for a food top up and headed back west on the SS1 coast road. This route is really scenic and takes you though the towns of Alassio, Andora, San Bartolomeo and Diana Marina all are very nice resorts. There are not many sites open as mentioned so we had no choice when it came to Imperia, to say that camping De Wijnstok was basic is an understatement, it really was only 2 stars, it was the worst site of the whole trip and the two Italian redneck families in the bungalow next door didn’t help but the owner was exceptionally nice and it was in a great location for the beach, town, shops and a great cycle route, you can’t have it all.

We both braved the shower block the next morning, Mel even had to use the men’s as the ladies was knackered. We jumped on the bus right outside the campsite gates to San Remo. San Remo is a really nice place, there’s a bit of money here with a great casino, very large villa’s in the hills and very smart designer shops. We had a great wander around the old part of town, we took the long walk up the hill to the Sanctuary della Madonna della Costa on the walk down we stopped at a ‘buy by the slice’ pizza place which was great, more wandering around town then another stop for drinks and tapas in Piazza Carli, then down to the marina and bar Portovecchio for a sit in the late afternoon sun for even more drinks and great tapas. San Remo is a very busy place with lots of tourists but well worth a day visit.

After a long sightseeing day Mel chilled whilst I was up early and out on my bike using the converted railway line that’s now called the Pista Cicliabile del Parco Costiero della Riviera del Fiori a mouth full but basically it’s a great cycle route that currently goes from Imperia to Ospedaldetti, off road traffic free and great views all the way of the Ligurian sea. We had a walk down to the local beach in the afternoon and had a browse in the local shops.

Leaving Imperia we headed back west, again along the scenic SS1 coast road through Bordighera and Ventimiglia and arrived at the border village of Latte. Camping Por la Mer is a small site with very friendly staff, very good facilities, local shops and a 10 minute walk to a pebbled beach. Over the next few days we went down to the beach, had tea in the village, got the shuttle bus over the French border into nearby Menton, which is beautiful French town that was once part of Italy and as this was the last stop in Italy we picked up plenty of local produce in the duty free shop in Latte (it’s much cheaper than in France).

The end of March and the end of a great 2 weeks in Italy we headed west back into France and to the small town of Biot near Antibes where we have a static caravan. It had been 2 years since we were last in our caravan (we got stuck there for 3 months from March 2020 during the first lockdown) so we had a bit of work to do to tidy the place up and do the jobs that needed doing over the next 10 days. Between all the jobs we got out for a night out in Antibes (20 mins away) which is great place, we had a full day out in Nice (45 mins away) and a walk up to the local medieval village of Biot for tea one night.

Mid-April and time to head home to Hull, we both had jobs to go back to and we were starting them in a few days so we set off using the toll motorways (which are expensive but a lot quicker) and using the A8, A7 and A6 we arrived at the municipal campsite in Dijon around 4pm. The time was significant because Liverpool were playing Man City and we needed to find a pub to watch it, luckily 20 mins walk from the site was Flannery’s Irish pub perfect. A few beers and food after the match it was an early night ready for another long drive in the morning. Toll roads again and after the long drive via Auxerre and Chartres we arrived in Dieppe late afternoon. The ferry didn’t leave until 4am the next morning so we parked up on the sea front ADS and after a stroll on the beach we had a siesta until 2.30am, we then drove the short drive to the ferry terminal. Once boarded we took the 4 hours journey time to snooze in the comfy lounge chairs. Arriving in Newhaven at 7am the drive home took around 6 hours with a stop for lunch and we were in the house mid-afternoon. After a winter away we are looking forward to summer at home and planning the next road trip to Europe for later in the year.

Neil and Mel xx

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