MOTORHOME HOLIDAY

FAMILY EXPERIENCE IN MOTORHOME

From Euskadi to Galicia

(2/15 July 2021)
Christopheren familia, jatorriz Gales berdekoa, Rhuthin herrikoa, aurten oporretan autokarabanan bidaiatzeko lehen esperientzia izateko elkartu da.
John Edward Christopher oso ezaguna da Euskadin ingeleseko irakasle/itzultzaile gisa. Duela urte batzuetatik hona, bidaiari bezala esperientzia bat izateko gogoa zuen, hain zuzen, bere familiarekin autokarabana batean bidaiatzekoa, hamahiru eguneko bidaia turistikoa, gastronomikoa eta kulturala Kantauriko kostaldean zehar. COVID 19 izan da hori lantzeko argudio egokiena.

John eta Carmen bikoteak, Sarah alabak eta Moi lagunak osatutako familia honek Flying-eko autokarabana bat alokatu eta Loiolatik (Azpeitia), Flying Autokarabanen egoitzatik, Galiziara joateko bidaia programatzea erabaki zuen. Aurreratu dezakeguna bidaia perfektua izan zela da, gorabeherarik gabe, meteorologia, ia bikaina, eta ondo pasatzeko gogoa, erabatekoa.

Baina utz ditzagun John eta bereak, azal diezazkiguten Kantauriko itsasertz eder honetan izan duten esperientziaren xehetasun batzuk.

¡Hello John!

DAY 1. Friday 2nd July.
We collected the vehicle from Flying in Azpeitia at midday and had a very warm and friendly reception from the owners Itziar and Iñigo, who explained to us very clearly and in great detail everything related to the functioning of the motorhome.

Our first stop was at the nearby Sanctuary of Loyola. It’s a beautiful church, well worth visiting. .
We had lunch is a restaurant next to the basilica and then drove on to the town of Getaria on the coast. From the first moment Moi (our driver throughout the trip) felt very comfortable with the vehicle. When we arrived in Getaria we quickly found out what would be the only big drawback of motorhome holidays: parking in towns. It’s usually illegal and we were lucky to avoid a large double-fine for parking the motorhome in a private residential car park! Our good luck continued and we managed to find a place in the free motorhome parking area overlooking the port. The girls went to the famous Balenciaga fashion museum while the boys went to a bar to watch a football match.

DAY 2. Saturday 3rd July.
We drove to Cantabria and visited the street market in Santoña. It’s the largest street market in the north of Spain, and is very colourful and entertaining. We had a good restaurant lunch there too before setting off for Noja, a popular holiday resort on the coast with splendid beaches. We stayed in the free motorhome parking area but we kept ourselves to ourselves as we had heard on the news that the covid rate was very high in the town. This of course is another big advantage of this type of holiday: you can socialise as much or as little as you like.

DAY 3. Sunday 4th July.
We drove to the town of Somo, across the bay from Santander and paid for a night in Somo Parque, which was excellent – very good value. We walked down to the port and caught the ferry to Santander, a lovely and very picturesque 20-minute crossing.

Moi and Sarah rented bikes while we went  to Magdalena Palace by bus.

Sandwiches for lunch and then back to Somo on the ferry, where we ate the best burgers of our lives in the campsite restaurant. Highly recommended!

DAY 4. Monday 5th July.
We went to the town of Suances (still in Cantabria) having stopped on the way in the beautiful town of Comillas. Great beach.

Great lunch too in a hotel-restaurant near the beach, before setting off for Llanes in Asturias. We spent the night in the free parking area on the edge of the town.

DAY 5. Tuesday 6th July.
We visited a very curious inland beach known as Gulpiyuri as well as the nearby geysers which were really spectacular (Bufones de Pría). Lunch in Pría – really wonderful desserts!

We spent the night in a free parking area in the port area of Gijón (La Calzada). Definitely not recommended – noisy and dirty.

DAY 6. Wednesday 7th July.
Breakfast in Cudillero, a stunningly beautiful fishing port.

Lunch in Luarca, Hotel Báltico. Excellent menu of the day and then a long drive to La Coruña in Galicia where we booked in to a very posh campsite called Los Manzanos in the village of Oleiros. Swimming pool, washing machines, bar/restaurant etc.

DAY 7. Thursday 8th July.
We visited the Tower of Hercules, the oldest working lighthouse in the world, but unfortunately visits were restricted due to covid

             
This was the day that we were picking up my son Johnny from the train station in Orense, so we stopped for lunch en-route in Santiago de Compostela to visit the famous cathedral and have lunch (excellent as usual – San Garrido, opposite the campervan parking area). We picked up Johnny at the train station and slept in the free parking area near the thermal baths (ok, but too many mosquitos). We had problems setting up the spare bed as there was a board missing, but fortunately Johnny can sleep anywhere, so no problem!

DAY 8. Friday 9th July.
Breakfast and visit to the thermal baths of Outarriz. Wonderful, relaxing experience.

Drove to the Rías Baixas. Stunning scenery. Booked into Camping Muiñeira in O Grove. Not cheap but perfect setting on the beach and good facilities. Dinner in rather expensive but excellent seafood restaurant known as A Lanzada Arrocería. Excellent octopus.

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DAY 9. Saturday 10th July.
Visit to the beautiful fishing port of O Grove.

Excellent lunch in wonderful family-run restaurant in Sanxenxo (Casa Dionisio, 10/10!). We spent the night in the free parking area of the village of Ezaro, very near Finisterre (Land’s End). Spectacular waterfall which falls straight into the sea.

Dinner in Boutique Mar do Ezaro, excellent Spanish omelette.

DAY 10. Sunday 11th July.
We decided to change our route and go back up to the coast to avoid the heatwave inland. This is another huge advantage of this type of holiday – you can go wherever you please. Sarah and Moi wanted to see the famous “Cathedrals Beach” which you have to book online (free) but it’s very easy to do. It was well worth the effort!

                                                             
We ate in a restaurant in the town of Foz (Costumes do Mar, very slow service, not recommended) and spent the night in the wonderful Atalaia Camping, which Itziar had recommended. This was the night that England lost in the Eurocup final on penalties against Italy (sniff!) and we watched the game in the complex’s TV room. The campsite even had a chill-out area!

DAY 11. Monday 12th July.
To Oviedo, as Johnny had to catch his train back to Madrid the following day. We visited the beautiful cathedral

We slept in a free parking area. Ok but you need to take taxis to and from the city centre, where large quantities of local cider and “cachopo” – two gigantic beef steaks sandwiched together with cheese and vegetables and served with mountains of french fries were consumed.

DAY 12/13. Tuesday 13th July and Wednesday 14th July.
Johnny caught his train back to Madrid early in the morning, and the rest of us drove on to León, where we visited the stunningly beautiful cathedral. The stained-glass windows are out of this world !

We drove on to the town of Haro in La Rioja, where we stayed at the excellent camping site (also recommended by Itziar) for our last two nights

Very relaxing. In retrospect we realised that we had been travelling too much – we should have stayed longer in fewer places, sometimes it was all a bit of a blur, but my daughter and her partner from the Canary Islands hadn’t seen much of Spain, and wanted to tick boxes! The complex has a splendid swimming pool.

Tapas and wine for dinner in the “Herradura”.

The next morning a visit to the Ramón Bilbao winery. Great experience with wine-tasting session included.

The best lunch of the whole trip in a restaurant called Los Berones. Ox steak and chips with wonderful desserts!

DAY 14. Thursday 15th July.
Drove back to Azpeitia to deliver the vehicle to Itziar and Iñigo and pick up our car. A wonderful holiday!