Spain on a budget (1 Viewer)

neilmac

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Nov 24, 2008
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We've had a 4 week break from our travels and we're itching to get back on the road again. We've decided that we will head across southern Spain with Portugal as our target. We intend to do this trip on a strict budget and plan to spend no more than we would by staying at home. Fortunately, we don't have to budget for any ferry crossings so the only potential extra cost is fuel. By our reckoning, the amounts we save on water, electricity, logs, fuel for the car and 'excess' food shopping will let us break even - we'll see...

So the route will take in Aires where possible, which is our preference anyway, and we will avoid any road tolls - again our normal preference. The basic route plan is as follows:


The Aires en route are:

  • Ibi
  • Cartegena
  • Venta el Peral
  • Alcaudete
  • Cabra
  • Valverde del Camino
  • Tavira

Very happy to hear advice from others who may know of other good stopping places close to this route.

If all seems to be going according to our budget planning we'll then spend a little while exploring southern Portugal as it seems that the weather has improved following the attrocious winter. Inspired by some of the excellent blogs I've been reading we'll stay at some great sounding wildcamp spots. We have little experience of wildcamping and, although we are happy with our leisure battery and solar panel arrangements, it seems water and waste capacities will dictate how long one can stay in such places, again, we'll see....

Our blog will be updated as we travel :thumb:
 

trevosky

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Oct 30, 2009
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Cabra

Hi there hope you have a good trip across, we were at Cabra a couple of weeks ago and the fresh water tap was broken and missing,just something to bear in mind.
All the best Trev and Sue,:Smile:
 
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neilmac

neilmac

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Nov 24, 2008
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Thanks for the heads up :thumb:

We'll make a point of arriving full up, just in case its still like that.

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kenspain

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May 22, 2009
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Neilmac just take care were you park up here its been a funny 2 weeks have been moved on from some places were i and my Spanish friends have parked for the last 4or5 years my friends think the campsites have said something because they have not had a good winter this year. Have safe trip
 
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neilmac

neilmac

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Nov 24, 2008
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Have a good time and look forward to reading your blogs

Thanks :thumb:

Neilmac just take care were you park up here its been a funny 2 weeks have been moved on from some places were i and my Spanish friends have parked for the last 4or5 years my friends think the campsites have said something because they have not had a good winter this year. Have safe trip

Thanks kenspain, will do. Do you mean anywhere in particular? I imagine that you're refering to the Portugal wildcamping rather than the Spanish Aires?

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kenspain

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May 22, 2009
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No some places inland Ibi Sax Murcia round there, were we have been wildcamping lots of times in the past.No problems just been ask to move on thats all but it might have been that there were 5 vans there.In June we are going down to Portugal with 7 other MH so that going to be fun.
 

hogan

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Aug 4, 2007
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They are moving you on from Peniscola and Vineros they did in Jan anyway.Have a look here

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Myfanwy

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Jan 2, 2009
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wild camping in Portugal

We've just returned to Spain after two months in Portugal. The free camping there this winter has been the talk wherever we have stopped. Along the Algarve the police actually had lorries blocking in the campers in some places then fined people 60Euros. We found the barragems the best places to park, no one bothers you there. Castro Marim was heaving. The Aire there is great but difficult to get on as always busy. We parked on the town car park for one night - it was like a motorhome convention. There seems to be so many people with motorhomes now and fewer caravans that they are losing revenue. Keep away from the Algarve and you are okay.:Sad:

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MicknPat

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Dec 16, 2007
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Neil,

Do you tow a car or car trailer? My biggest worry :whatthe: when A frame towing our car behind our 39ft RV is turning into a road, garage, aire with no manoeuvring room and not been able to reverse then having to un-couple.

However with GOOD information from fellow motor homers and Google Earth one can now investigate most planned stopping places before you get into trouble.

When we were in the States touring one BIG problem we discovered much to our surprise once we were off the Interstate roads and there service areas was finding filling stations selling diesel :Eeek: yes, not all garages or filling stations sold diesel only petrol or gas as they call it.

So imagine this, you are trundling down the road trying to maintain a speed to keep vehicles behind happy whilst scanning any approaching filling stations for diesel and if suitable to accommodate your RV, not easy believe me.

Mick
 
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neilmac

neilmac

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Nov 24, 2008
217
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MH
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2nd year
We've just returned to Spain after two months in Portugal. The free camping there this winter has been the talk wherever we have stopped. Along the Algarve the police actually had lorries blocking in the campers in some places then fined people 60Euros. We found the barragems the best places to park, no one bothers you there. Castro Marim was heaving. The Aire there is great but difficult to get on as always busy. We parked on the town car park for one night - it was like a motorhome convention. There seems to be so many people with motorhomes now and fewer caravans that they are losing revenue. Keep away from the Algarve and you are okay.:Sad:

Thanks for that info Myfanwy, much appreciated :Smile:. Sounds like its been a nightmare in some places.

Neil,

Do you tow a car or car trailer? My biggest worry :whatthe: when A frame towing our car behind our 39ft RV is turning into a road, garage, aire with no manoeuvring room and not been able to reverse then having to un-couple.

However with GOOD information from fellow motor homers and Google Earth one can now investigate most planned stopping places before you get into trouble.

When we were in the States touring one BIG problem we discovered much to our surprise once we were off the Interstate roads and there service areas was finding filling stations selling diesel :Eeek: yes, not all garages or filling stations sold diesel only petrol or gas as they call it.

So imagine this, you are trundling down the road trying to maintain a speed to keep vehicles behind happy whilst scanning any approaching filling stations for diesel and if suitable to accommodate your RV, not easy believe me.

Mick

Hi Mick, thanks. We're not towing this trip so at 21 feet our motorhome is fairly nimble for getting in and out of tight places :winky:

I've been using Google Earth and Street View a fair bit lately and, yes, they're really good planning tools :thumb:
 
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neilmac

neilmac

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Nov 24, 2008
217
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Just to update so far, while we have some wifi...

We've certainly no complaints about Spanish aires (except for Cartagena anyway :winky: ).

We wildcamped first night but then have stayed at aires including Ibi, which was fine for a basic facilities aire. We enjoyed the morning entertainment supplied by the local 'old boys'

20100331-_MG_5034.jpg


Then we moved on to the aforementioned Cartegena and gave that a miss, opting for Calnegre near the coast - a nice friendly aire.

20100331-_MG_5037.jpg


And, tonight we're at Venta Del Peral enjoying the distant views of snowcapped mountains

20100401-_MG_5045.jpg


Blog updated with more pics too :thumb:

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stuhaynes

Free Member
Jan 26, 2010
9
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We've had a 4 week break from our travels and we're itching to get back on the road again. We've decided that we will head across southern Spain with Portugal as our target. We intend to do this trip on a strict budget and plan to spend no more than we would by staying at home. Fortunately, we don't have to budget for any ferry crossings so the only potential extra cost is fuel. By our reckoning, the amounts we save on water, electricity, logs, fuel for the car and 'excess' food shopping will let us break even - we'll see...

So the route will take in Aires where possible, which is our preference anyway, and we will avoid any road tolls - again our normal preference. The basic route plan is as follows:


The Aires en route are:

  • Ibi
  • Cartegena
  • Venta el Peral
  • Alcaudete
  • Cabra
  • Valverde del Camino
  • Tavira

Very happy to hear advice from others who may know of other good stopping places close to this route.

If all seems to be going according to our budget planning we'll then spend a little while exploring southern Portugal as it seems that the weather has improved following the attrocious winter. Inspired by some of the excellent blogs I've been reading we'll stay at some great sounding wildcamp spots. We have little experience of wildcamping and, although we are happy with our leisure battery and solar panel arrangements, it seems water and waste capacities will dictate how long one can stay in such places, again, we'll see....

Our blog will be updated as we travel :thumb:
Hope you enjoy your trip.:Smile: We did a similar trip but went via Gibralter down to Cadiz. Have fun
 
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neilmac

neilmac

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Nov 24, 2008
217
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Thank you stuhaynes :thumb:

Our last stopping place in Spain before venturing into Portugal was in the lovely town of Cabra, staying at the superbly located Aire. Being Easter weekend it was great to be based in a town and be able to watch the religious processions that the Spanish are so good at - a couple of photos to illustrate:

20100403-_MG_5100.jpg


20100403-_MG_5095.jpg


20100403-_MG_5104.jpg


Our blog has been updated as we have found some wifi :winky:
 
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neilmac

neilmac

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Nov 24, 2008
217
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Well, our trip is nearing its end as we're nearly back at our home on the Med side of Spain.

We saw some of Portugal staying on the Algarve for this trip, the weather wasn't too great for some of the time but still great and a fantastic country to visit. Look forward to getting into the 'real' interior on our next trip :Smile:

Clifftop parking at Senhora de Rocha, Portugal
20100419-_MG_5186.jpg


Portugese fishing boat (was!)
20100419-_MG_5181.jpg


Portugese gent waiting for his mates to turn up
20100417-_MG_5167.jpg


Stylish townhouse in Silves, Portugal
20100417-_MG_5164.jpg


Parked up at the aire in Altura, Portugal
20100409-_MG_5148.jpg


There are not many chimneys or pylons in southern Spain and Portugal that don't have one of these fellas nested on top!
20100417-_MG_5159.jpg


We set out to make this trip within a very strict budget and in the next couple of days we'll be able to finalise the figures... so far its looking good!

Cheers for now.

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neilmac

neilmac

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Nov 24, 2008
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Mission accomplished!

If you have been following these posts or our blog you will already have gathered that we have had a great little journey, been to some fab places and enjoyed some great company with new friends. Our trip through Spain to Portugal did however have other aims and, in addition to the ubiquitous researching along the way for new sites or aires we were looking to complete the journey within the following guidelines:

- the first to spend no more on housekeeping per day than our 'home' budget
- the second to limit our diesel to our 'home' energy costs which includes electric, wood, gas, and water etc.
- to have fun and experience what the southern areas of Spain and, fingers crossed Portugal, have to offer us.

Typically we ate well and healthily, obviously any slip-ups we had in the way of cheese and biscuit 'dinners' resulted out of meeting some good company on our journey. We say shame on them for leading us astray! :winky: Using aires and free / wild camping meant that our 'stopping fees' were kept to a minimum although that is quite normal for us when travelling.

We were away for 26 days and covered 1348 miles. Totaling all our receipts for diesel, propane, campsite costs (including laundry) and food, drink etc. we spent 528 Euro - had we been at home for the same period we would have spent 550 Euro.

The end result is that we have come in under budget by a princely 22 Euro which is actually not bad at all. Our biggest extravagances along the way were a tank full of premium diesel by mistake and keeping the water fired up with gas when we had electric hook up at a campsite.:Doh:
 
Mar 26, 2009
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Well done, one of the very few projects that has ever come in 'under budjet'. :thumb:

Ever thought of a job in 11 Downing street? :Smile:

Phil

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