Where we stayed on our 2024 Winter Motorhome Road Trip to Spain and Portugal (via France)

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Spain (again) and are looking forward to giving Portugal another chance. This time, at the suggestion of a friend of a friend, we are going to loosely follow the N2, which is apparently a Portugese Route 66 (we’ll let you know!) We had already decided to not hug the coast and stay away from most of the more touristy areas, so this might be interesting…

On this trip so far we rushed through France due to the incessant rain which, quite literally, stopped as soon as we crossed the border into Spain!

Below is the full list of sites that we used, together with links to my reviews (not all completed yet but they’ll all have a link eventually!) and a score out of 5 (in our humble opinion, and considering location, outlook, price, cleanliness and facilities.

Note: I will update this as I write new reviews and blog posts

3.5/5 – Dieppe, France (18E) – our go to usually, but not anymore as the price has been increased dramatically and isn’t justified 😦
3/5 –Marboue, France (free with services (but covered in winter)) – 2nd stop; perfectly adequate but the borne all closed up for winter as were the toilets. You could still empty your black waste though
3.5/5 – AirePark Vivonne, France (free with services including a toilet) – In a nice town, where we managed a decent walk between the rain showers. Market day Saturday and toilet available (bit flooded, but don’t know if that was due to all the rain? Unlikely!)
4/5 – Morcenx-la-Nouvelle, France (CCP – 13.30E including EHU – no toilet)
3.5/5 – Olite, Spain (free – with services; no toilet) – overlooked by the royal palace of Olite Relevant Post:- Escaping for some Winter Sun
4/5 – Teruel, Spain (free with services; no toilet but there is a McDonalds 5 mins away) – decent park up within walking distance of the red gorges and the historic town. Next to a large supermarket, and a McDonalds.. Relevant Post:- Escaping for some Winter Sun
5/5 Alannia Costa Blanca, Spain- (23E pn with ACSI – wonderful site, but don’t get suckered in by the WiFi – it’s absolutely useless!) Relevant Post:- Escaping for some Winter Sun
3.5/5 – La Fuente, Los Banos de Fortuna, Spain (17E pn with ACSI – our 4th visit due to the Spa pools. Most likely our last. Relevant Post:- Escaping for some Winter Sun
4.5/5 – Area La Peza, nr Granada, Spain (free with services; no toilet) – What a delightful find with wonderful views 🙂 Relevant Post:- Heading south in Spain, from the mountains to the coast
4/5 – Embalse Francisco de Abellan, near La Peza 🙂 (free – no services) – Just down the road from La Peza is this little stopover by the reservoir. Relevant Post:- Heading south in Spain, from the mountains to the coast
3/5 – Area Loja (free with services; no toilets) – A decent aire, but a very disappointing town 😦 Relevant Post:- Heading south in Spain, from the mountains to the coast
4/5 – La Cala de Mijas (free with limited services – i.e. CWD only. There are toilets but only open on market days) – we love it here due to the proximity to lovely La Cala and it’s bars (well, Biddy Mulligan’s!) Good atmosphere as well, a lovely beach and a choice of supermarkets in walking distance. Relevant Post:- Heading south in Spain, from the mountains to the coast
2.5/5 – Camping Cabopino (27E pn on ACSI) -vastly overpriced and eminently disappointing on this our 4th, and last, visit. Sadly, if you want a campsite in this area then you don’t have an awful lot of choice. Relevant Post:- Heading south in Spain, from the mountains to the coast
5/5 – Alcaidesa Marina, La Linea de Conception (for Gibraltar) – (15E pn with services – including toilet and launderette but no EHU) – perfect for a visit to Gibraltar. Felt very safe with the police patrolling regularly. Relevant Post:- Heading south in Spain, from the mountains to the coast
4.5/5 – Area Canos de Meca (Aire 12E pn including all services. EHU extra 4E) – Excellent aire across the road from a beautiful beach. Relevant Post:- Heading south in Spain, from the mountains to the coast
4/5 – Area Castilejo de Guzman, for Seville (free parking area, no services except bins and benches). Perfectly placed to catch a cheap bus into Seville. Relevant Post:- Heading south in Spain, from the mountains to the coast
4/5 – The Lemon Tree Villa, Moncarapacho, Portugal (small campsite with all facilities including a pool in the hills above Fuseta & Olhao, between Tavira and Faro)
4/5 – Barragem de Roxo, N2, Portugal (wild camping by the dam – no facilities except bins)
4.5/5 – Bemposta, N2, Portugal (dedicated, fairly new, aire with all facilities (no toilets) at the halfway point of the N2 (Portugal’s answer to Route 66)
4/5 – Vila de Rei, N2, Portugal (dedicated motorhome area with all facilities, including with access to toilets) Near to the very centre of mainland Portugal (we visited the site)
3.5/5 – Serta, N2, Portugal (dedicated motorhome parking with all services; no toilets). Lovely town to visit. Next to an extremely busy Pingo Doce
4/5 – Quinta do Castenheira, N2 (slight deviation). The idea was to hunker down for Easter. Unfortunately it’s a bit isolated and the weather was horrendous – we moved on on Easter Sunday.
2/5 – Camping Coimbra. We needed to do a wash and wanted to visit Coimbra.
4/5 – Area Nelas – A dedicated spot on the way north on the N2 (again a slight deviation just south of Viseu)
5/5 – Peso da Regua riverside – A lovely spot alongside the river. We stayed 2 nights having visited Lamego on the way
- Lamego (for visiting the staircase up to Nossa Senhora dos Remedios)
4/5 – Alvao Village Camping, Vila Pouca de Aguiar – A really lovely campsite high up in the mountains
3.5/5 – Chaves Car Park – We stayed on a Saturday night in this large car park…. I had 4 hours sleep 😦 We also stayed Sunday night and there were no problems. Chaves is lovely and marks the end of the N2
4/5 – O Milladoiro, for visiting Santiago de Compostela. On the route of the Camino de Santiago. Again we stayed 2 nights
5/5 – Area Faro de Punta Larino – wow!! Perfect. Free spot right by the beach and the lighthouse. Marked pitches, each fully serviced!
2.5/5 – Camping a Vouga. Depressing but needed to do some washing and charging. 1 night here then back to the lighthouse 🙂
3.5/5 – Area Vimianzo – not our favourite, but the area, with services, itself was absolutely fine (and free)
- Santuario da Virxe da Barca – couldn’t stay due to the windy conditions sadly
4.5/5 – Area Municipal Betanzos – free area with services and the town is lovely 🙂
4/5 – Area Meira – nice free stopover with services which plugged the gap when the aire at Lugo was taken over by the circus
4/5 – Coto Camping, nr Foz – Needed to do some washing so paid for a couple of nights (14E with electric, 11E without)
4.5/5 – Cabarceno – lovely free stop near the elephants. No services except bins
3.5/5 – Area Elorrio – free stop with services (and electric available) in the mountains. Score might be affected by the cold and rain!!!
4/5 – Camping Car Park, Saint-Paul-Les-Dax – good stopover just north of Bordeaux, close to huge shopping centre and E. LeClerc. Cost 14.64E
4/5 – Camping Area Saint Romain la Virvee – nice area in lovely little village. Cost of 5E; wouldn’t take any of our cards though (or our German neighbours)
4.5/5 – Verteuil-sur-Charente, Camperstop 3 Vallees – Another wonderful find! Free with services. There are toilets on the other side of the bridge through the park (maybe 2-3 mins) – free (5E for electric)
4/5 – La Celle Saint Avant – Dedicated area with individual pitches overlooking a fishing lake – 5E + 4E for water/electric
4/5 – Bonneval – Lovely town with a good park up 🙂 – free
4.5/5 – Nonancourt – lovely park up in a small town – free