May half term 2024

Our adventures in Spain

Thursday 23 May

Our alarms were set for 2.50am, and we closed our front door at 3.30am. We were off on our European adventure! After a smooth journey to the Eurotunnel, we rolled onto our train at 07.36 and were in France by 9am French time.

Our destination for this trip was Spain, so today was all about covering some serious distance. We aimed for Chatelaillon Plage, just south of La Rochelle, for an overnight stop on the Aire there. It was well located for an evening wander, some sea air and the obligatory moules and frites and a carafe of vin blanc. It was actually our 9th wedding anniversary and it was the perfect place to celebrate!

We enjoyed our evening wandering down the promenade- seeing blue skies, and the moules and frites were gorgeous.

A brilliant place to aim for from Calais.

Friday 24th May.

We arose early and were in the road for 8am. Our aim was to take the scenic route to Tarragona, just south of Barcelona. We took the scenic route over the Pyrenees which was utterly spectacular.

We made a couple of stops, one for some local cheese and one for some picture stops. I loved driving the winding route over the Pyranees and the scenery was just phenomenal.

For such a pretty route across, the crossing itself into Spain wasn’t very inspiring at all. There was a lot of graffiti and it all looked rather derelict. Perhaps this is a town that comes alive in the winter months.

Our journey into Spain took us north up towards Tarragona on the coast – our first stop for the night. We had booked a Campsite– but on arrival it soon became clear that this wasn’t our cup of tea. It was heaving and felt more like a Butlins than a campsite. We later learnt that it was a National Holiday in Spain as well as UK so this would have explained the business. That and it being located on a beautiful sandy beach etc. Luckily, the campsite agreed to refund us – the pitch they had allocated us was awful, overlooking the bins and in the back of beyond. We were pleased to escape despite having been on the road for a long journey, we hit Search for Sites and went on to find a new place elsewhere. Luckily, just down the road I spotted an old car park which had some campers on. We pulled in and asked if it was ok to sleep there overnight. They all said yes, and so we pulled in and couldn’t believe our luck – the view was amazing and we couldn’t have got closer to the beach if we’d have tried.

We both managed to have a shower on the beach to freshen up and Keith couldn’t wait to get a bbq sparked up before hitting the sack! A great start to our trip- even if it hadn’t quite gone to plan!

https://maps.app.goo.gl/qZoKEssAUxQCnhCU6?g_st=icGoogle map pin for location

Saturday 25 May

The downside of our change in plan for the campsite was that it meant we had to drive into Tarragona for our visit, rather than catching the bus as originally planned. (In hindsight I think this worked in our favour- reasons why to follow).

After a lovely swim in the sea to wake us up, we showered, changed and made our way to Tarragona.

We found parking that we could fit into at Parking Rambla Nova by telepark by Embark. It was nice and central and we were so happy to here. We did a great circuit of the Roman sites, starting at the theatre ruin, then going along the promenade to the spectacular Ampitheatre, which has the most incredible backdrop of the beautiful Blue Sea.

Happily the Ampitheatre was Dog Friendly as long as we carried him, which we were more than happy to do. I was particularly pleased about this because I had expected us to have to take turns visiting whilst the other looked after Jazzy, our pooch.

After the Ampitheatre we made our way to the old chariot race area – the circus – again dog friendly and again, super interesting.

We had a quick lunch before exploring some of the streets within the historic city centre.

Soon we found the most extraordinary Roman Walls that we’ve ever seen. The area around the walls had been landscaped beautifully and we really loved our exploration of the park (Jazz enjoyed being carried once more!)

As we left, we made a stop at the aqueduct on the outskirts of town. This impressive ruin gives Pont du Gard a run for its money – with the added bonus that you can walk along the water channel, and it is nowhere near as busy.

Tarragona had been the most terrific place to kick start our Spanish Roman adventure, despite the mishap with our campsite on arrival. We had loved our time there.

Next stop was a couple of hours south down the coast. Peñíscola, we’re coming for you!

Saturday 26th May 2024

We arrived at Peñíscola and found our way to the Aire just outside of town. It was a privately run Aire and cost us just 7Euros with water and disposal and also a toilet. In fact, it was almost like a cheap campsite than a parking area, and when we arrived the other vans all had their awnings and chairs and tables out. Because of this, we decided to temporarily set up our tailgate awning to have a shower, and use the cadac to cook our paella for tea. We managed a shower but just as we finished our paella the owner of the Aire came round and told us off.

To be fair, we would never have left the tailgate tent up, but she made it very clear we weren’t supposed to have it, so we dissembled it with our tail between our legs and retreated into town for a walk and a couple of drinks. Interestingly we noticed that everyone else had clearly seen her coming as all the chairs and tables outside everyone else’s vans had vanished. They’d either seen her coming or also had a telling off!

Peniscola on a Saturday night was super fun! We had a brilliant evening enjoying the beach bars with the chill out sunset tunes. The beach here runs for miles and is that beautiful picture perfect sand. As if this isn’t enough, the backdrop is the magnificent Peniscola Castle, made famous by the film El Sid, which used the beach area here with the castle as a backdrop for the battle scene. The Castle and its mound reminded us of St Michel’s Mount. We enjoyed our walk along the promenade towards the castle and back during the evening and were surprised when we learnt we’d clocked up 5 miles in doing so!

Motorhome Aire at Peniscola

Sunday 27 May

Before we left Peniscola, we moved the van into the centre of town and explored the mound in a little more detail. The steep and winding streets were charming and full of interesting shops and restaurants, some with a sea view. Game of thrones was filmed in the park directly under the castle grounds, but as it wasnt dog friendly, plus we haven’t actually watched Game of Thrones, we skipped it.

From Peniscola, we made a relatively short journey south to the very small resort of Mon of a, just North of Valencia. We weren’t quite ready to leave the seaside and Keith found a terrific campsite right on the beach. It was a basic place, but with a 10Euro price tag with that including electricity too, it was a complete bargain. The beach was 10 steps away, and the sea the most incredible turquoise blue. After 3 full on travel days – with some serious sight seeing thrown in too, we were ready to have an afternoon chilling on the beach. Which is exactly what we did!