As well as beautiful coastlines, Spain is the most mountainous country in Europe (after Switzerland), who knew? Certainly not us and we were ready and willing to explore. What a wonderful place to spend a few months in winter. In December 2022 we followed the motorhome trail to find the winter sun. This blog is a taster of our time exploring Spain.
Jane & Ivan in Spain
Our sausage dog Otto is in charge of driving 😂
After a meander through France crossing the channel by tunnel, we arrived to blue skies and the cosmopolitan city of San Sebastián on the north coast. A change from the quiet streets of rural France as this place was buzzing. So much to see and do with the old town cobbled streets were full of independent shops and eateries.
Carrying on through central Spain we enjoyed small villages and ancient Roman arches.
Ivan helped to make our ride smooth!
It was late December and Spain was getting into the Christmas spirit with buildings lit up and seasons greetings as we travelled through central Spain and via historical villages like Cuenca.
Ancient cave houses and Moorish castles littered the countryside as we slowly headed south. It is really worth taking time to explore. We were blown away by some of the beautiful villages and architecture.
Our motorhome Daphne can be seen from our vantage point. We stayed free of charge, with water and waste facilities in some of the many Aires in rural Spain.
The view from our Aire to the town of Chinchilla
Cycling is a great way to get around the countryside and villages
We encountered a group of “Hardly Dangerous” riders in a mountain village. We were jealous of all the empty twisty roads they were riding.
The electric bikes would have to do, hey ho!
After a week of slow travel we made it to the Mediterranean Sea and visited our friends Trudy, Chris, Jack & Paddy in Torrejeva.
Christmas was spent at a small Finca set up as a motorhome stop near Murcia. We enjoyed the shade in the 26 degree heat and still cooked a full veggie roast dinner with all the trimmings in our tiny oven 😋.
Ivan’s birthday on Boxing Day saw us venture out to the local villages to try the locally made Estrella 🍻.
Moving along the coast we visited Villayosa: the village of joy! We parked up for a few days and enjoyed the thriving village and the beautiful coastline.
Which leads us to Denia and New Year’s Eve on the beach front. A memory we will never forget.
From Denia we decided to head north and follow the west coast zig zagging every now and again into the mountains and national parks. We were lucky and saw Iberian goats on the precarious cliffs. The mountains were cooler than the coast, however we still had good weather for hiking & cycling.
Once inland a visit to the caves at Sant Josep near Valencia are recommended. A boat takes you on the longest navigable underground river (in Europe) to view amazing stalactites. longest navigable underground river in Europe
We don’t know why but we were drawn to this place...🤓
We were so pleased we visited. Not only is Peniscola a stunning city overlooking the sea, it’s 13th century castle sits on a ridge giving great views and the historic old town is well worth a mooch around. Let alone the wonderful beaches.
We found it was best to visit cities by public transport. So we parked Daphne in a secure Aire on the outskirts or in a town nearby and catch metros or trains. They were relatively cheap and easy to navigate. Otto had to stay in a bag on some trains and masks are required. Ivan managed to add to his vinyl collection and we enjoyed visiting cultural metropolis’s for days out.
The Catalonian flag
The region of Catalonia in north east Spain was one of our favourite areas. Not only were the beaches and towns stunning we also found a whole maze of Via Verdes. Via verdes are green tracks that were mostly traffic free and followed disused railway lines so perfect for exploring on a cycle.
Before we left Spain and Catalonia we visited the city of Girona and it became our favourite. We went on the high walkway following the Old Quarter’s medieval wall, which included watchtowers with sweeping views. It felt like we were in the Game of Thrones and it did not surprise us to learn they filmed some of it there.
Heading over the Pyrenees and back into France we encountered lots of snow, despite this the roads were kept beautifully clear.
We hope you enjoyed this snapshot of our travels in Spain. It’s such a beautiful country and so big, we really enjoyed exploring as much as we could in the time we had. We mainly stayed in free Aires or tucked away secluded spots that we found on https://www.searchforsites.co.uk/. We stayed in three campsites in the two months we were abroad and did not book ahead. Services and facilities for motorhome touring both France and Spain are often free and easy. We felt very welcome and would thoroughly recommend a trip to mainland Europe.
Adiòs for now and happy travels 😊
