Dylan Thomas Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 Hello All, You kindly helped us with our journey down to south east Spain in February 2018. This year our trip takes us down to Albufeira, Portugal in January 2019. We are taking the western route through France via Rouen, Tours, Bordeaux to Zarautz in Spain then down to Salamanca, Caceres, then Merida. We then cut across on the A8 to Portugal then down the A2 to Albufeira. Does anyone see any difficulties other than possible snow on that route? Thanks for your help. Regards Dylan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 We go straight down the A62 and turn right at Seville then along the Algarve, using the motorway when necessary. The A62 is a brilliant road and at junction 225km there is a restaurant/small campsite called Camping Olimpia, near Salamanca. There is also Hotel Leo just about 1 hour north of Seville with plenty of free parking. We found that going through Portugal from the northern parts was quite undulating and slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 Head for Zafra Spain [free aire here ] then on to Valverde de Camino[ free aire here too] nice town to explore all shops etc you need , then a short drive to the bridge into Portugal,for Castro Marin , and coast, or turn right after crossing the Bridge and head for Minos de los Domingos [ mines] , good stopover here and also Pomarro, another good stopover alongside the Guardiano River, good cafe bars here .You can also reach Pomarro direct from Zafra as there is now a newish bridge at Pomarro taking you direct into Portugal, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 I agree with vindiboy, except for me you’re going too early. Whilst the weather on route should be ok, the weather on the Algarve can be very variable, leave it until the end of Feb, if you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellen Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 The last 5 years the weather in January’s been quite good March was the worst last year. We do similar route through France do use the toll roads to save time it’s usually freezing there in January . We head across to SAN Sebastian, Camp site at Burgos, down to Caceras good campsite then head in the direction of Seville across to Heuelva then Algarve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 http://s358.photobucket.com/user/vindiboy1/library/A%20Portugal%20Wander%202015 You can get great weather in december /January in Portugal, luck of the draw I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROND Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 We have done that trip about 10 times in the past 14 years, we have never had any snow going down in January just a few snow showers at Beja. If there is any danger of snow then you will see the snow ploughs ticking over at the side of the road every few miles just on standby. There are plenty of good aires on the way down but you will be hard pushed to find any with water in France but once you cross into Spain then they will have the water on. The only snow we have ever had is on the return trip in March in Northern France between Rouen and Calais but that was just the once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Thomas Posted December 22, 2018 Author Share Posted December 22, 2018 Thank you very much everyone for your comments and advice. we are committed to leave on 7 January and have booked mostly overnight campsites through France and Spain on the way down. Fingers crossed for half decent weather! Have a wonderful Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 Área De Servicio La Rad Sl Camino Lecheros, 1, 37449 Monte La Rad, Salamanca, Spain https://maps.app.goo.gl/P4YAz We've overnighted here a few KMs west of Salamanca. Usual procedure in Spain, just buy some food and they're more than happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFrenchConnection Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 We're in the Algarve (Olhao) at the moment and had a problem of too many options! Currently sunny and 18 daytime, chilly evenings. Starting from our home in Charente Maritime we used part Autoroute past Bordeaux and had our first overnight at San Sebastian. Nice aire, plenty of spaces but a bit short for our 7.4m + bike rack. Longish next day A62/A66 to Aire at Cacares. Nice aire very close to lovely hilltop town plenty of space at 1600 but late arrivals struggled as spaces are narrow. Final day A66 towards Séville and then A49 across to Olhao. Plenty of spaces at Camping Olhao available at the moment (Christmas Eve). No weather problems at all despite 750m+ parts of trip. Have a great trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Dylan Thomas - 2018-12-22 5:39 PM Thank you very much everyone for your comments and advice. we are committed to leave on 7 January and have booked mostly overnight campsites through France and Spain on the way down. Fingers crossed for half decent weather! . I'm surprised no one suggested using a direct to Spain Ferry by the time you pay fuel and campsites it wouldn't be any more expensive and you'd be there in 24 hrs avoiding the weather your likely to get in Jan in France Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevec176 Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Crossing the bay during the summer can be bad enough so I can only guess what its like during the winter ?????????????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 derek500 - 2018-12-23 4:41 PM Área De Servicio La Rad Sl Camino Lecheros, 1, 37449 Monte La Rad, Salamanca, Spain https://maps.app.goo.gl/P4YAz We've overnighted here a few KMs west of Salamanca. Usual procedure in Spain, just buy some food and they're more than happy. General advice is to avoid Motorway stop overs as that is where most break in happens it seems, seems you were lucky ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 stevec176 - 2018-12-24 11:27 PM Crossing the bay during the summer can be bad enough so I can only guess what its like during the winter ?????????????? Just the luck of the draw we've had some nice crossings where we've sat outside whale watching in Dec / Jan. Before we started using the direct ferry we also had some terrible weather in Franc / Spain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarveyHeaven Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 That's a good way to go. We stayed at Ciudad Rodrigo last year and then crossed the border into Portugal early in the day. Good roads, sorting out the motorway credit card payment was no problem and it was a pretty route. Enjoy your travels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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