Santander strategy for Spanish MH virgins............

[Jake Royd]

Had a MH for a year now and we have booked up to take a Brittany Ferries sailing to Santander in May.
Plan is to take a month to meander back to the channel ports.

We arrive in Santander at about 17:00 , so say off the boat by 18:00

Would some experienced funsters please help with the initial plan for when we arrive?

1) Pondering the fridge situation. Since it can not run for the duration of the voyage (24 hrs odd). What do funsters do? Do you load the fridge and get it cold on the UK side or put the minimum in and stock up on the Spanish side? Are there any sites you would recommend (as apart from Aire's) that might offer proximity to a supermarket, whilst we recover for a night or so ?

2) Where would funsters suggest staying for a couple of nights?
I have the Camper Connect app , Search for sites and might have bought books by then etc. and have done some considerable Googling but I would welcome suggestions from those who have been before.

3) I note , at least from 'street view' that some Carrefore's have large blue entrances that might be a problem in a MH. have not found out what height they are. Any advice?

4) We want to do enough planning to stay a couple of days getting our bearings and stocking up before then taking a brave pill and heading for an Aire or another campsite.

5) What's the situation going to be like in May with respect to how full places generally are ?

Thank you

 

[busby]

Should have no problems getting on sites in May unless it is a Spanish Bank Holiday,,Get yourself ACSI discount book of sites before you go..Enjoy and don't worry.You will arrive in Santander well refreshed after your crossing. never had a problem accessing supermarkets ,,BUSBY..

 

[Riverbankannie]

Should have no problems getting on sites in May unless it is a Spanish Bank Holiday,,Get yourself ACSI discount book of sites before you go..Enjoy and don't worry.You will arrive in Santander well refreshed after your crossing. never had a problem accessing supermarkets ,,BUSBY..

The only supermarket we found with a height barrier was the Carrefour on the outskirts of Santander !

Able to park on street though.

 

[Stewart J]

Caberceno Aire is free, safe has an Elsan dump and fw, its a 25-30 minute leisurely drive from the port, village is 100 metres away tavernas, restaurant and grocery shop. From there you have many options depending where you are headed.
We fill the fridge with essentials never been a problem, plenty of supermarkets prices generally lower than UK.
We stay a night or two at Caberceno then drive down the paege (toll road) to Haro just over a hundred miles, as you leave the motorway there is a Simply supermarket on the edge of town selling cheapest fuel, access is good, just further down the road is a Lidl great access cheap as chips. We use the Camping Haro site it’s ACSI and a short walk into town
Toll roads are not to everyone’s liking in Spain they are reasonably cheap and very quiet allowing stress free long distance driving till you become accustomed. Ordinary roads away from the major cities are also quiet.
A tip as you leave the ferry don’t follow your sat nav if it instructs you to turn right and use the town exit, it’s a pain and very busy, follow the other motorhomes and go straight on leaving via the back exit as it were.

 

[mfw]

I'd sling in search4sites and park4night for stops

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[bigtwin]

Re the fridge, before you leave home freeze a couple of milk cartons (containing milk or water as you please) and use these as ice blocks to keep the fridge contents cool during the ferry crossing.

Ian

 

[Jake Royd]

Thanks all, so far.
@Riverbankannie , thanks for the details on the Carbecino Aire. I was aware of this one but not really how long it takes to get there and what is around it. It also looks large enough not to be full.

 

[Jake Royd]

sorry i meant @Stewart J

 

[Stewart J]

Thanks all, so far.
@Riverbankannie , thanks for the details on the Carbecino Aire. I was aware of this one but not really how long it takes to get there and what is around it. It also looks large enough not to be full.

It is a very large aire Jake, where are thinking of heading in Spain?

 

[Lenny HB]

It also looks large enough not to be full.

Unless its a Spanish bank holiday, we were there on Columbus day, night before vans still trying to find a space at 2 am.
Normal days loads of room a great stop.

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[Riverbankannie]

One tip I picked up for our first time on the Santander ferry last March, was to take a few supplies on board.
I sorted out a cool bag and took on board some milk and tea and coffee, the mugs from the van and the small travel electric kettle from the van and a bottle of water. Added into the bag a few snacks, cheese and biscuits etc and then we were able to relax in our cabin for the afternoon.
We ate dinner in the restaurant and then got up quite late having a nice cuppa in cabin, and soon it was time to disembark, a bit earlier than your quoted time I think though.
Don’t forget to take on board adapters as the sockets are European.

I froze a couple of 2 litre water bottles at home and put these in the fridge for the crossing to keep my few bits, taken from the fridge at home, cold. I also took our first night’s food ready prepared and pre frozen and allowed that to defrost on crossing. Knowing we were going direct to the Carberceno Aire and that on 2 March sunset quite early, didn’t want to go shopping first day. The aire did take us a lot of faffing about to find. (Make sure your satnav fully up to date).

If you prefer a campsite, we loved this one on the coast further west from Santander

http://www.campingelrosal.com/en/index.html

 

[MikeD]

Thanks all, so far.
@Riverbankannie , thanks for the details on the Carbecino Aire. I was aware of this one but not really how long it takes to get there and what is around it. It also looks large enough not to be full.

At the time of year you are going access should not be a problem. We found the town shuts up fairly early so take a meal at least in the fridge. The parking area was quiet in the evening when we visited and we slept well.

We did not go into the park but have read on here it is very good.

Re: the fridge just keep the door shit and put a couple of frozen items in as previously mentioned.

Re: May - generally quiet - we do not book anywhere in May. I will be amazed if you can't get on any site u want.

Recommendations on where to go: Its a couple of comfortable days drive to the Med. If you go south visit Aranquez near Madrid, Lovely town/ACSI site and access to Madrid on the train. Albarracin - Very old town jammed on a mountain. Acsi Site ok.

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[Jake Royd]

Thanks again , all.
Some things for me to consider.
I think we may go for the get the fridge cold and possibly have a couple of 'cold blocks' in it.
Good tips @Riverbankannie for travelling on the boat , thank you.
I don't have too many set plans at the moment apart from spending say up to a week in Northern Spain and then heading into France for the remaining 3 weeks.
Haro , I thought , might be too far South for me but on reflection it could be another way to get to the Western end of the Pyrenees.

 

[MikeD]

If you travel back along the coast stop one night in

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel...utz_Province_of_Guipuzcoa_Basque_Country.html

The site is pretty rubbish, full of teenage surfer dudes and dudesses. Toilets will probably be a bit grim. The cafe in the site entrance car park is typically Spanish and when we were there we were served better food than the on site cafe.

As the site will be full of youths you might have thought it would be noisy but on both the times we have stayed there it was pretty quiet during the night so sleep was assured.

All the kids want to do is surf.

They walk down the hill in the morning and return about 6.00pm. They were as good as gold and no trouble.

Walk out to the adjacent hill side with the deck chairs, a bottle of wine with a couple of glasses and watch the sun set.

It was to die for.