Hi All, I'm trying to hatch a cunning plan to ride down to meet the bride and daughter at a villa in Potimao, Portugal. I'm not decided on Dover Calais or Santander yet but my question is, will getting campsites and or B&B's be easy or difficult in July and August. If it's easy to get campsites in rural locations and small towns I will set a route and play it by ear as I go, travel light and try and have a real get away from it solo adventure. Alternatively if B&B's are pretty easy I can travel lighter. I've done 2 previous month long bike trips around France and Spain camping but they were over 23 years ago. Other than failing to get a camp site in the south of France I did not have any problems. A few more upto date opinions would be very gratefully received. I will be travelling on a 14 plate Multi. Thanks in advance, Steve
B&B/cheap hotels. We normally plan our stops and book in advance but with a smart phone and booking.com probably wing it easy.
Thanks for the info and suggestion. Ive also found some extra threads on the subject so I'll be travelling light and probably combining a planned and winging it approach. Cheers
did six weeks all over spain and portugal in sept/oct 2012, stayed in hotels and b&b's whole way . winged it with a laptop and booking.com often just booked on the morning or the day before july- aug will be busier so if you plan a route and book ahead you will get nicer places to stay prob get the boat to santander, otherwise its a long dull drive on french motorways pyranees is nice tho
I'd go hotel/B&B. Should not be a problem for inland Spain but not so sure about France. I wouldn't go without knowing where my next stop was, but that's me being paranoid. If I was on my own, I would try some of the inns in Spain, which can be fun if you get on with the locals - you don't have to know the language and some of them are really cheap. Can be a bit rough, but I'm normally with the wife. Food likely to be good. Totally agree about the Santander route. Ends up faster and just as cheap as you would probably end up on the dull & expensive motorway in France. Last time I was on the A20 in August, north of Limoges, I left the motorway, fed up of having to pay to filter and all the petrol pumps having enormous queues. Santander boat is nice, but not cheap. You can make Portimao with one overnight stop (aim a bit south of Salamanca, with a 12:00 arrival in Santander), if you want. Or there are more entertaining routes.
Thanks everyone for the really useful info. I shall be booking the Santander ferry and pre booking my accommodation. Just need to have a think about a route now...
If you're coming back the same way, you really must go to Burgos and head north (N-621) and turn off on the old road (on to the N-623) by Ubierna and follow this to Santander. Last 10 miles is pretty but slow. before that, it is a stunner. For some reason, this seems better northwards.
