Portugual

[Guest Sally]

We are going to Portugual after Christmas for 3 months.Crossing from Dover- Calais.We have never been to Portugual before, so any advice on routes,places to stay, ect. would be very helpfull. We prefere smaller sites, and we wild camp a lot. Are you allowed to wild camp in Portugual? Information on gas would be useful as well. When we were in France, we bought a French gas bottle, that you could exchange for a full one when empty. Can you buy a Portuguese one, and do the same? We would appreciate any feedback. Thanks, Sally

[Guest Peter Lawton-Harris]

Hi Sally, Just to cheer you up Portugal can be very cold in the winter time so you will need your heating. it is possible to construct a device that will allow you to fill gas bottles at gas stations no matter what bottle you have. it's a kind of multi-adapter thing. If my memory serves me right I obtained this at last years York show from a firm called Stamford Motor homes. Somebody else may be able to give you more information but I can assure you that mine works fine. I have a Hymer with two German bottles and I have not found anywhere yet where I have not been able to refil at a garage. Peter

[Guest Clive]

Only fill to 80% though! We "did" Portugal some 13 years or so back traveling its full length. There are some beautiful places but its best to steer clear of the Tourist traps like Albufera etc. The Atlantic coast is a tad windy and certainly chilly compared with that around the Med. Unlike France wild camping in Portugal is technically illegal. We and dozens of other wild campers were thrown off an attractive headland by the local constabulary at 3.00 in the morning. Most only disapeared until the Police left, then they all came back. Some never moved their vehicles, just the drivers de-camped to a huddle in the middle of the headland until the police gave in. But I am not sure if this atitude is common throughtout Portugal. Take care.

[Guest Phil]

Be prepared to see vast areas of the country blackened and razed to the ground. POrtugal has lost around 25 per cent of its total surface of forest in the past 5 years.In 2003, 400,000 hectars of forest went up in smoke. In 2005 around 100,000 hectars more were desecrated. The country is sorely underequipped with firefighting material although there are 10 superb stadiums (now hardly used) that were built expressly for the Euro football cup in 2004 which cost 800 million. Corruption, rural exodus and chronic underfunding of the fire fighting forces are to blame for this desecration.

[Guest Petec]

Hi Sally we didnt go last year as our DIY Kitchen over ran. Didd the flower parade in Holland later We usually travel down through Spain on the Mediteranian coast, the along the southern coast into Portugal, By this time it has warmed up Last year - by reports from campeers - Spain had "SNOW" & the Algarve & Atlantic coasts were quite warm Contact - campingcheques.co.uk - they have sites all over Europe Also look for the Orbiture Sites Municipal sites If you are over 60 you can join for FREE and then get 10% discount on site fees - join at your first site We like the Atlantic Coast - Zambjane del Mar on the coast Only a small village good showers discount for 7+ days Also Nr Sagres is a Camping cheque site (£10.50 inc showers & Elect) This is the best area on the Algarve coast away from the sun bathers AND THE MOSQUITOES. They are worse than the Scotish Midges Considering the troubles and lack of winter sites in France I would consider going Portsmouth - Bilbao 2 nights out 1 night back From Bilbao head for Salamanca and then head for Porto & Lisbon If you intend to go straight there You are timed on the Portugese Motorway - Average time too fast & you get fined also if you are tooo slow (say if you sleep overnight) travellogger-mmm@yahoo.co.uk

[Guest Brian Kirby]

Have just returned from Spain/Portugal. We went North to South, more or less down the middle, avoiding motorways / dual carriageways, in September. Wouldn't altogether agree about the visible scale of destruction of the forests. There is much fire damage, but so much of the woodlands are eucalyptus. Ask the Aussies about these - they burn spectacularly, but recover very well. It is a shame, but it shouldn't be terminal for the trees. Don't know what you'll be driving, ours is a 6metre coachbuilt. My main comment is that driving in portugal is unlike anywhere else I've ever driven. Why? Many new roads with new ruondabouts, so new there are no direction signs at many of the roundabouts! Consequently, many of the Portugese also seemed lost. Portugese drivers seem not to indicate at roundabouts, and not much elsewhere. They will overtake you without regard to the road conditions ahead of you, so you must be prepared to slow down for obstructions both of you can't get round. There appeared no agression or recklessness in this, just boundless optimism - or blind faith in St Christopher! Roads in the north are spectacular, narrow and winding. The land here is very mountainous. They are also endlessly obstructed by roadsigns that project into the carriageway, council wheelie bins, parked motorcycles, bits of cars that didn't fit the bay, and oblivious pedestrians. You do need to stay alert. As you go South and come out of the hills things get easier, but watch for culverts, where the road frequently narrows and is then further narrowed by the overhanging warning signs. Pedestrians in towns don't seem to react to the sound of an engine behind them, and remain right at the edge of the road, seldom turning to see what is coming. Our mirrors seemed always at the right height to bang heads. We never did, but watching heads, as well as the antics of the other drivers and looking for the non existant signs did add to the fun! We had intended to visit both Porto and Lisbon, but in the end chickened out in the face of the state of road signs in towns. Had visions of still seeking the campsites at Christmas. Incidentally they, and the Spanish, have "intelligent" traffic lights in built up areas. If you approach these above the speed limit, they turn to red, so you are checked. If you stay below the limit, they stay green. Neat! This probably makes it sound rather awful, which is wrong. The country is beautiful and the people seemed much more friendly that their Spanish neighbours. English is widely spoken or understood and, if you speak French, the more mature Portugese learned that at school so it becomes a useful fall back. Not much in the way of supermarkets, the main chain we found was Intermarche. Cards generally quite good acceptance except in Ecomarches, which didn't accept cards in Portugal (although they seem to in France). Can't comment on wild camping. Sites not cheap and not, in my view, particularly good value. We used Alan Rogers but there is a useful general guide available from some sites. The one Orbitur we visited seemed more expensive that warranted, but the installations were clean and fairly good. We weren't that impressed with the South (Algarve), although many are. Seemed tacky and frequently tatty. Where they haven't been developed, the coasts are spectacular, but the spactacle is repeated, so ultimately there's not huge variety. I think our abiding impression was of a beautiful land with charming, slightly chaotic, people, that was still suffering from its relative isolation and the economic effects of trying, for far to long, to hang onto its colonies. But you need to see all that for yourselves. Remember the driving, though. Enjoy Brian

[Guest Mel E]

Portugal is beautiful and the people generally pro-Brit and very friendly. BUT, from Jan to June the campsites along the south coast will be very full, some are very poor value and we found one quite nice one where the natives (long-stay Brits mostly) were very unfriendly! ('You can't use that pitch - I hang my washing there' sort of thing). And, as already stated, southern Portugal is several degrees cooler than southern Spain in winter.

[Guest bb]

I enjoyed reading the travels of a couple who took a year out to travel in Europe, though they used a caravan. There is quite a lot about Portugal. You can have a look at their website at http://homepages.tesco.net/~kateanddavid/

[Guest Ron Donovan]

Hello, we have been down to Portugal twice in the past 2 years and have just returned now. It is possible to wild camp almost anywhere in Portugal and there are some lovely spots on the west coast and the algarve, if you visit Porto Covo on the west coast there is a book shop that sells a book written by an English chap that lists all the wild spots, cant remenber the name of it but its on show in the window also there was a list available i think it was written by Don Madge listing a load of wild camping spots not sure if it was onMotorhome facts website or Yahoo groups but worth a look. We plan on going back next September as the people are so pleasant and the cost of living is cheap, hope you enjoy it.