Motorhome Adventures in Picos de Europa & Galicia (Northern Spain)

The first thing that strikes you about touring Northern Spain is how unexpectedly green it is. The downside to that of course, is that it must actually rain there... And it did! Luckily, we just had the one full day of rain and a handful of times when it rained overnight during our 17 day trip. The upside to that is the lush scenery and the abundance of local fresh produce, including an array of delicious ciders! 

Having decided to let the ferry do the hard work of the first leg of the trip from our home via Portsmouth to Santander, we arrived fresh-faced one Sunday morning ready to tackle the short hour and a half drive to Potes, nestled in the Picos de Europa mountains. 

Santander-Potes-Camping La Viorna

We hung a left off the A-8 at junction 272 onto the N-621 winding our way through beautiful gorges, whilst also slightly fearing the jutting cliff-sides and navigating the many roadworks (which actually made it feel safer as it became mostly single lanes of traffic) until we reached Potes. A stunning little town with breathtaking mountainous scenery. Camping La Viorna (feature image) was to be our base for a couple of nights. We had a warm welcome, were walked to our tiny (but adequate) pitch and just soaked up the sun and the scenery. The facilities were great and included a decent cafe/restaurant, shop and a swimming pool, ideal for cooling off after a long walk. We didn't unpack too much, knowing that the following day we would be driving (23km) to Fuente Dé to catch the cable car to the summit. This was a real highlight of the whole trip. 

Fuente Dé

Just wow! A must-see-do! Tickets can be purchased here in advance if you want a specific time transfer https://telefericodefuentede.com We bought our tickets on site and waited around 20 minutes for our transfer. From the top we walked 15km back down to the car park through some breathtaking scenery with a warm (but not too hot) sun on our backs. Top tip! Take plenty of water, but there are also a number of refuges where you can top up on food and drinks. The boys enjoyed a plate of croquetas and patatas bravas at https://cantur.com/hotel-aliva/.

Potes-A Guarda (Camping Santa Tecla)-Caminha (Portugal)

We opted for the scenic route out of Potes, over the mountain pass through Castilla y Leon and a lengthy seven hour drive along some of the quietest motorways I've ever seen. We (seemingly very gradually) wended our way over to the west coast of Spain on the banks of the Miño river and the border with Portugal. https://www.campingsantatecla.es/en/ wasn't initially a welcome sight if I'm honest. It looked a little run down and overcrowded with seasonal pitches. But don't judge a book by its cover, as they say! The facilities proved to be excellent and we had a choice of spacious pitches away from the noise of the swimming pool area. It was a great place to relax and explore both Spain and Portugal. The highlight (of the whole trip, actually) being a "ferry" ride (book online with Xacobeotransfer.com) across the river into Caminha, a pretty Portuguese town, surrounded by stunning beaches. We walked around the coast along to Moledo, where - sorry Spain - we ate our favourite, most delicious tapas meal, for an extremely reasonable price. So much so, we are now planning our next big trip to Portugal. Watch this space!

A Guarda (Galicia)-Santiago de Compostela (Lavacolla Camper Park)

It was again just a short drive of an hour and a half from A Guarda to Santiago de Compostela. Some stretches of the motorway were tolled this time, but much less expensive than French tolls. Our destination initially was Lavacolla Camper Park, situated near the airport, on a direct bus route into Santiago (for just €1 per person). Don't expect luxury here, it's definitely just a stopover site, but it met our needs perfectly and the owners were extremely helpful in guiding us into the town.

One of the features that we noticed everywhere on our tour of Northern Spain, was the amount of walkers treading the Caminos (or Pilgrimmage walks), all of which converge at the Basilica in Santiago (St James) de Compostela. It was quite amazing to see the number of Pilgrims arriving jubilantly in their droves at the end of their long walks. The Basilica itself was stunning inside, full of visitors but well worth a look. This was our one day of rain, so it was nice to have a bit of time in the dry. Other than that, we had a wonderful walk around the very pretty old town and then across to the park, to soak up more views of the majestic Basilica and surrounds.

A fabulous way to end our time in gorgeous Galicia. You can find more photos and details on places we stayed and recommend on Facebook and Instagram @pitch_up_and_chill.