Orbitur campsites – turnrightoutofportsmouth

Neither of us had ever visited Portugal before (I have been to Madeira, but it’s not actually Portugal..), so we had no real idea what to expect.

Overall, unfortunately, we were a little disappointed. However, this may have had much to do with the ‘welcome’ we received at our 1st campsite (lukewarm), the weather whilst we were there and the roads (especially the tolls..). There were some highlights and we will probably return for a 2nd view – we think we will probably fly in though and not take the van.

So here is what we learnt in our time in Portugal.

It’s often very windy. I mean very windy…
The sunsets are spectacular

There are numerous boardwalks near the beaches, along which you can cycle and walk. Very useful.
The country is very, and immediately, different to Spain
The language, whilst there are occasional similarities, is also very different.
- I think the Portugese are very used to people saying Gracias instead of Obrigado… (I did my best, but was a bit useless to be fair…)
We struggled to find campsites but eventually found a really good chain, Orbitur – we stayed in 3
Our favourite site (not an Orbitur) was a little one on the outskirts of a lovely little town, Zumbejeira. IF we ever took the van back we would definitely head here.

Continue reading “What we learnt about Portugal in March 2017”

We had considered staying an extra night at the Orbitur Guincho, but decided against it when they wanted 28Euros for the night.

So we used the extra night to just go a few hours up the road to a site near Figuera de Foz, Orbitur Gala in Vila de Sao Pedro. This site wasn’t as nice as the one at Guincho although many aspects were the same.

We set up and then went off for a walk down to the beach, which is just about 1/4 mile from the back gate of the park. When you arrive at the beach there is a steep dune to negotiate to get down to it! It is another beautiful beach though.

It was, as ever on the West Coast, very windy and 1 minute you think you’re paddling in the shallows and the next a wave has rolled in much further than the last and you’re running to keep from getting your shorts wet! Continue reading “Last 2 days in Portugal – then a little gem – Ciudad Rodrigo :)”