Warmish Locations In October

[Pete C]

It looks like we will have some time free for a longer campervan trip in early October. We want to go to Scotland, but I suspect it could be a bit fresh up there doing something like the NC500.

We have friends in the South of France, so could drop down there, then move on to Spain and Portugal, or perhaps go over the Alps and into Italy?

Anyone got any good ideas, where we can get some reasonably warm weather, and find campsites still open ?

We have at least 2 weeks free.

Cheers,

Pete

 

[DXX]

Plenty of aires and campsites in France, Spain and Portugal all year, definitely plenty still open in October. Last year we did a 6 week, 4200 mile trip all over France, through central and northern Spain and and all over Portugal.
Algarve is still warm enough to be in the sea for an hour at a time without a wetsuit during October. Very little traffic unless you are around Lisbon, Porto and a few other tourist traps.
France is expensive for fuel and food but plenty of free aires in scenic locations.
I’d recommend getting ASCI membership to get discounted campsite fees, guide app and books, this takes a while to process, if you’re interested you need to apply now.
Traffic in Lisbon is crazy, I’ve driven in India but I think Lisbon is far more dangerous with 40T articulated trucks a meter off your tailgate.
From what I’ve seen a bottle of wine for lunch before driving back to work is normal.

This year we’re doing Swiss Alps, Northern Italy (Dolomites), South of France (coast), Andorra, Pyrenees and a booze stop in Spain to subsidise the trip before heading home.

 

[Tourershine]

We did the South of France last October and won't do it again, it was dead and a lot of the stuff seemed to close in the areas we went. I agree with @DXX about fuel, but disagree about food in France. I think France is actually very reasonable for food, both eating out and shopping.

This October we are going back to Switzerland, where it seems everything stays open throughout. Yeah ok, so Switzerland is very unpredictable with the weather at this time of year, and we are going into the mountains, but it's can be like that anytime of the year there, and we find October is far less hectic with tourists.

 

[Loz]

We’re off to Provence end October..

 

[Pete C]

Thanks for the quick responses folks. We were in France for 3 weeks last year, so looking for new pastures, which is why Spain and beyond looked interesting.
Will have a closer look at the ASCI.

Pete

 

[Lukavell]

Abruzzo in Italy is cool at night but gets into low to mid 20 during the day with lots of sun. It's a beautiful place but a long drive!
I can recommend Majella National Park, we stayed in a little village called San Giacomo. Also, Villa Barrrea is nice too.

 

[DXX]

Got me acronyms mixed up, it’s ACSI not ASCI
Discounted rates per night for two people with showers; 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19 Euros.

 

[Loz]

Portugal gets my vote then..

 

[Pete C]

Ferry now booked to Bilbao
Planning to end up in Portugal and Southern Spain, then trundle back up through France at some point.
We haven't booked a return crossing, so keeping all options open

Pete

 

[True Romance]

Nice, do post some photos of your adventures

 

[Pete C]

Well we are on our way. Ferry from Plymouth to Santander (24 hrs) a couple of days ago, and we are now in Northern Spain. The plan is to get into Portugal then down to the Spanish southern coast.

I suspect we will come back up through France and get the Channel Tunnel back home.

More to follow.

Pete.

 

[Pete C]

Straight from Santander port to Caravanning Oyambre about 40km from the port. My wife described the ferry as like being in a care home, given the age of the travellers. We are in our mid 50’s , but we felt young !
Loads of vans and caravans on their way over to Spain.

The campsite is excellent - not that busy, but good facilities.

Weather is fantastic: 20°c and sunny, but it gets a little chillier the moment the sun goes down. Very few vehicles on the road, and the tourist locations are quiet.

If you want good beaches, then it’s great, and the Picos mountains are just a short distance away too.

Pictures to follow.

Pete

 

[Pete C]

 

[Tourershine]

Currently at Camping Jungfrau in Switzerland, and I've been really lucky with the weather, because it's been mid 20s since I've been here.

 

[andys]

Currently at Camping Jungfrau in Switzerland, and I've been really lucky with the weather, because it's been mid 20s since I've been here.

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Rub it in did nothing but p!ss it down while I was there, could barely see the hill behind that church

In all seriousness, I'm pleased you've hit lucky, have a great time

 

[Eli]

Currently at Camping Jungfrau in Switzerland, and I've been really lucky with the weather, because it's been mid 20s since I've been here.

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If you go into town, you can buy tickets to get the tram to the top. Cost a few quid but well worth the view. There is a Bollywood restaurant ant the top also

 

[Tourershine]

If you go into town, you can buy tickets to get the tram to the top. Cost a few quid but well worth the view. There is a Bollywood restaurant ant the top also

We went to Murren yesterday, but no higher. This is the 4th time we've been to this site, so know the area pretty well.
Camping Brienz is also a firm favourite with the family.

 

[Tourershine]

Rub it in did nothing but p!ss it down while I was there, could barely see the hill behind that church

In all seriousness, I'm pleased you've hit lucky, have a great time

Yeah I did think about you whilst typing that and adding the pictures, as it was me that made you come here

 

[Pete C]

Well the plan was to go to West to Santiago de Compostela in the NW of Spain, but the forecast there was dire, so we went South instead. A conversation with our campsite German neighbours suggested that Salamanca was a good destination, so we headed that way. Having got near there we decided to divert West to the “Arribes del Duero Natural Park”, just because it looked interesting. We used pitchup.com to book 2 nights on the “Camping las casitas de las arribes” campsite.
The roads down to Salamanca were really quiet.
This is a good but basic campsite, and it too was quiet. It was a good job we had bought an “emergency meal” the day before, as we had missed that it was a Spanish holiday on Saturday, and nothing was open !
Luckily the tiny campsite shop also had drinkable local wine at €3 a bottle.
The national park here is based around a deep gorge that separates Spain from Portugal for many miles. We had a look at the gorge from several viewing points, and there are many walking and biking routes.
As ever the weather was warm and sunny, and the roads quiet.
Driving up through the gorge round the steep hairpins , I commented to my wife that some people thought the 102bhp T6 was a little underpowered. Her response was “if you drive any faster I am going to throw up”. As ever the van performed perfectly.

Pics to follow.

Pete

 

[Pete C]

Pictures: