Help Planning a Road Trip in Spain
Help Planning a Road Trip in Spain
Hi girls
my friend and I are thinking about spending our holidays having a road trip in Spain and I wanted to ask if any baggers had any ideas on how to go about this? Are there any websites with route suggestions that we could look at, or holiday companies that specialise in this sort of thing? I'm not really sure how to start planning...or even where to buy a Spanish road map from so any advice would be really helpful.
Gracias!!
Answers:
Hola ;)
I did try to reply to this before but my laptop hung so I'll start again.
You can get a road atlas from bigger bookshops in the UK; I'm sure we got ours from a Waterstones.
We did a road trip in 2003 and we just decided where we wanted to go first, sadly revolving around the football fixtures as our plan was to go to as many matches as we could. In the end, we did Barcelona->Zaragoza->Bilbao->San Sebastian->Pamplona->San Sebastian->Tortosa (on the Ebro delta)->Barcelona. As we knew when we were going to be where, we booked hotels on sites like hotels.co.uk, expedia and Travelocity. Only one was duff, but that was cos the film festival was on in San Sebastian and there were also a lot of greek footy supporters in town for a Champions League game. If you don't want to book in advance, the tourist offices are normally good at helping you book somewhere although it might be an idea to research if anything major is going on in the places you want to visit (like an international film festival. ;) ) and gauge if you wanted to get a room booked before you go. Local tourist offices also normally give out free maps of the town you are visiting too, which are handy.
We found that the motorways are the best to use for travelling long distances as the national roads go through towns and several hundred traffic lights! However, be aware that most are toll roads but they are well worth the money. I believe you also have to beware in areas like the Costa Dorada/Costa Brava if you are driving a British car or obvious hire car as people try and flag you down on the motorway on the premise that something is wrong with your car and then try to rob you. Apparently, the worst for this is the A-7 which runs between Barcelona and Valencia and beyond.
Paradores are also a good way to travel round the less well known areas of Spain and are mostly located in specialised buildings - although they are government run and some of the staff need to hone their customer service skills. (Like smile, in the first place ;) ). I think their site is http://www.paradores.es - they have a UK agent and they have special offers and have some suggested routes around different parts of Spain.
hth
kateab
Answers:
Hola ;)
Paradores are also a good way to travel round the less well known areas of Spain and are mostly located in specialised buildings - although they are government run and some of the staff need to hone their customer service skills. (Like smile, in the first place ;) ). I think their site is http://www.paradores.es - they have a UK agent and they have special offers and have some suggested routes around different parts of Spain.
hth
kateab
Another thumbs up for these as they are usually gorgeous and unusual buildings and always have great food.
How about looking at a calendar of the spanish fiestas and working it round that?
Answers:
A road trip around Spain sounds fab, you get to see so much more than if you go on a typical package holiday.
I would however second the warning about driving a British car in some areas. A similar thing happened to a couple I know earlier this summer. They were on their way from Barcelona heading south in a British reg van when they were flagged down by someone at the roadside, aparently trying to point out a punctured tyre. All of their bank cards, money etc... were taken. They had no way of getting off the toll road (you pay when you exit as I understand it) until a kind English couple at a nearby service station took pity on them and lent them €100! They then drove 19 hours straight to reach us in the Algarve, as they were put off staying in Spain any longer than they had to.
But, having said that, don't let it put you off! My friends said they would never have pulled over in the UK, so they don't know what possesed them to in a foreign country. It is always good to be forewarned of such dangers, so you can avoid them.
Have fun and be safe! gaja boa x
Answers:
Thank you so much girls, that's really really helpful. I would have never thought that a British car might have been vulnerable. I'm so gullible that I would pull over if anyone asked me so a big thank you for pointing that out! I've had a look at that website and it sounds fantastic.
At the moment, we're trying to figure out ferries, etc. I'm up in Scotland so I'd have to drive down south and we're not sure whether to get the ferry to Bilbao (that takes ages!!) or go to France and drive to Spain from there. Being a complete ferry virgin and not a very experienced traveller, its all a bit confusing.
Kateab, how long did you go for? We were thinking between 4-6 weeks. And, I know this might sound like a silly question, but what kind of stuff do you take with you?? I've only been to normal package holidays before so this is a bit different....plus we'll be carrying everything around in the car - how will I fit the 16 suitacses I need in the boot?! :lol:
Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate your advice xx
Hi girls
my friend and I are thinking about spending our holidays having a road trip in Spain and I wanted to ask if any baggers had any ideas on how to go about this? Are there any websites with route suggestions that we could look at, or holiday companies that specialise in this sort of thing? I'm not really sure how to start planning...or even where to buy a Spanish road map from so any advice would be really helpful.
Gracias!!
Answers:
Hola ;)
I did try to reply to this before but my laptop hung so I'll start again.
You can get a road atlas from bigger bookshops in the UK; I'm sure we got ours from a Waterstones.
We did a road trip in 2003 and we just decided where we wanted to go first, sadly revolving around the football fixtures as our plan was to go to as many matches as we could. In the end, we did Barcelona->Zaragoza->Bilbao->San Sebastian->Pamplona->San Sebastian->Tortosa (on the Ebro delta)->Barcelona. As we knew when we were going to be where, we booked hotels on sites like hotels.co.uk, expedia and Travelocity. Only one was duff, but that was cos the film festival was on in San Sebastian and there were also a lot of greek footy supporters in town for a Champions League game. If you don't want to book in advance, the tourist offices are normally good at helping you book somewhere although it might be an idea to research if anything major is going on in the places you want to visit (like an international film festival. ;) ) and gauge if you wanted to get a room booked before you go. Local tourist offices also normally give out free maps of the town you are visiting too, which are handy.
We found that the motorways are the best to use for travelling long distances as the national roads go through towns and several hundred traffic lights! However, be aware that most are toll roads but they are well worth the money. I believe you also have to beware in areas like the Costa Dorada/Costa Brava if you are driving a British car or obvious hire car as people try and flag you down on the motorway on the premise that something is wrong with your car and then try to rob you. Apparently, the worst for this is the A-7 which runs between Barcelona and Valencia and beyond.
Paradores are also a good way to travel round the less well known areas of Spain and are mostly located in specialised buildings - although they are government run and some of the staff need to hone their customer service skills. (Like smile, in the first place ;) ). I think their site is http://www.paradores.es - they have a UK agent and they have special offers and have some suggested routes around different parts of Spain.
hth
kateab
Answers:
Hola ;)
Paradores are also a good way to travel round the less well known areas of Spain and are mostly located in specialised buildings - although they are government run and some of the staff need to hone their customer service skills. (Like smile, in the first place ;) ). I think their site is http://www.paradores.es - they have a UK agent and they have special offers and have some suggested routes around different parts of Spain.
hth
kateab
Another thumbs up for these as they are usually gorgeous and unusual buildings and always have great food.
How about looking at a calendar of the spanish fiestas and working it round that?
Answers:
A road trip around Spain sounds fab, you get to see so much more than if you go on a typical package holiday.
I would however second the warning about driving a British car in some areas. A similar thing happened to a couple I know earlier this summer. They were on their way from Barcelona heading south in a British reg van when they were flagged down by someone at the roadside, aparently trying to point out a punctured tyre. All of their bank cards, money etc... were taken. They had no way of getting off the toll road (you pay when you exit as I understand it) until a kind English couple at a nearby service station took pity on them and lent them €100! They then drove 19 hours straight to reach us in the Algarve, as they were put off staying in Spain any longer than they had to.
But, having said that, don't let it put you off! My friends said they would never have pulled over in the UK, so they don't know what possesed them to in a foreign country. It is always good to be forewarned of such dangers, so you can avoid them.
Have fun and be safe! gaja boa x
Answers:
Thank you so much girls, that's really really helpful. I would have never thought that a British car might have been vulnerable. I'm so gullible that I would pull over if anyone asked me so a big thank you for pointing that out! I've had a look at that website and it sounds fantastic.
At the moment, we're trying to figure out ferries, etc. I'm up in Scotland so I'd have to drive down south and we're not sure whether to get the ferry to Bilbao (that takes ages!!) or go to France and drive to Spain from there. Being a complete ferry virgin and not a very experienced traveller, its all a bit confusing.
Kateab, how long did you go for? We were thinking between 4-6 weeks. And, I know this might sound like a silly question, but what kind of stuff do you take with you?? I've only been to normal package holidays before so this is a bit different....plus we'll be carrying everything around in the car - how will I fit the 16 suitacses I need in the boot?! :lol:
Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate your advice xx