We left Camping El Astral at Tordesillas on Friday morning for a 4 hour journey to the coast. We had booked a night at Camping Helguero before our ferry crossing at 13:00 on Saturday. We arrived at Helguero campsite (near the pretty port of Comillas) early in the afternoon and the weather was warm and sunny.

Some cables under the caravan had worked loose so balancing the caravan on a grassy ledge, I sent Moe under the van to carry out repairs.

The break in the stormy weather didn’t last too long and by the morning, the campsite was a quagmire.

This set the scene for a very stormy crossing over the Bay of Biscay. Joe spent the first 18 hours lying on his bed!

Our arrival at Portsmouth was precisely on schedule at 20:00 and we were one of the first outfits off – before 9pm we had pitched up on our ferry pitch at Rookesbury park CAMC site. An uneventful tow back to East Devon and we arrived home around 2pm, Monday 24th March 2025.

Another great way to spend winter and the beautiful weather which greeted us in England was in sharp contrast to rather wet winter in Spain.

Hasta el proximo ano…

We are two thirds of the way back to Santander and our ferry leaves on Saturday.

We are camped at Camping El Astral close to the town of Tordesillas and after an early morning deluge of rain, the skies brightened up and we headed over the River Duero into this quaint old town.

First stop was the Tratado de Tordesillas (the Treaty Houses).

In 1494, the Kings of Spain and Portugal agreed upon how to carve-up the New World in this old house in Tordesillas. Apparently this is what world leaders do; in this case they started by drawing a line (pole-to-pole) intersecting the Canary Islands. Portugal weren’t happy about this because access to the Island of Mina would meaning sailing through Castilon territory. In the end, the line of longitude was drawn several leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands and land to the West of that line became Castilon and land to the east Portuguese.

This explains why the country of Brazil is Portuguese speaking whilst the countries to the east are Spanish.

After the cultural tour of this museum we head to the Nuestro Sitio bar / restaurant at the Plaza Mayor. Here we enjoyed a glass of local white wine (from the Duero valley) and some tapas. The Torrezno is somewhat like the Chicharrones dish from southern region of Cadiz..

And after cooking…

Yesterday we travelled from Conil de la Frontera to Tordesillas, a journey of around 450 miles which leaves just another 150 or so to the port.

It was a blustery but predominantly sunny day and this is our pitch at Camping El Astral.

This was only the second fully dry day we have enjoyed in March as named storm after named storm has hit the Iberian peninsula. Spain really isn’t far south enough to guarantee hot weather during our winter but it is the best mainland Europe can offer.

This March has in fact been the wettest on record. It feels like it has rained solidly for a full three weeks. In fairness, our journey yesterday was dry and we had a dry day around a week ago which enabled us to take down a dry awning.

An extract from “The Times” about Spain, 2025:

“Country is wettest in Europe with more bad weather to come after a month’s rainfall in just nine days

Heavy rain in Spain has ended a four-year drought, filling reservoirs, causing floods and making the country the wettest in Europe this month.

Images of dry, empty reservoirs exposing the remains of buildings long submerged have been replaced by video of sluice gates being reopened to release waters to prevent dams overflowing.

The latest rain in March, which will continue this week and next week in much of the country, has put an end to the drought in Spain, the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) confirmed. A shortage of rainfall led to restrictions in recent years on urban consumption, agriculture and hydroelectric generation in many areas.”

Reservoirs which have been empty for years are now overflowing; Lake Vunuela is approaching 50% full and Malaga has enough water stored to last for three years.

A landslide has closed the main route from Marbella to Ronda and this will remain closed until August.

Trains were suspended between Sevilla and Cadiz and traffic was diverted from the AP-4 due to flooding.

We have entertained ourselves with several meals out, daily petanque when there was a break in the showers, the Rosaleda quiz and several communal meals. Met some folks we haven’t seen here before including a couple who’s husband came to thank me for some travel advice I’d provided on one of the caravan forums! That was a really nice touch.

I think they enjoyed the meal at El Nautico but yet again the heavens opened and I’m not so sure the cycle ride home was quite the same experience!

These blog posts aren’t always in sequence. I’ve a long blog which I’m working on from our recent outing in Nellie, so this is a nice easy interlude.

Despite a rather mixed weather forecast, today turned out to be bright and warm if a little breezy on our cycle ride to El Nautico at the Port of Conil. Perhaps because it’s a Monday, and most restaurants are closed, El Nautico was extremely busy – or maybe the reputation of this fine restaurant is spreading.

Food and wine as always was excellent and every table has a great view across the harbour.

Our mainly off-road trail back to the campsite goes right by a new Autocaravana park, in a lovely rural location on the outskirts of Conil.

It is a mystical place. I’ve never seen the gates open and there’s only ever a couple of motorhomes visible above the high, closed fences. Today, there’s a large trailer parked next to the fence which appears to be some kind of luxury toilet block. Not bad facilities for a 5 place site.

Further along the perimeter wall there’s a little break in the fence and you can see that this five place park has ambition – it is akin to Dr Who’s Tardis.

Sunday we packed our Campervan, Nellie and headed west and into Portugal for a few days. It’s around a four hour drive and somewhat of a convoluted route as you need to head up to Seville to cross the Guadalquivir river before heading west to Huelva and then along and into Portugal.

On crossing the border into Portugal, foreign vehicles are diverted away from the main motorway lanes to register for the toll system. The car number plate is then associated with a credit card and the toll for the bridge into Portugal can then be deducted automatically along with the road tolls on the A22.

Except that Portugal removed tolls from the bridge and the entire A22 along the southern coast. Apparently the EU (no doubt with pressure from Germany) were none too impressed that a) They financed a new Motorway to be built in Portugal and b) The Portuguese government then slapped a toll to generate revenue from the EU investment.

Anyway, for the moment, the tolls are gone.

We hadn’t booked anywhere for our first night which was in Albufeira. Whilst our destination was much further west, we did stay in Albufeira some 25 to 30 years ago – in fact our last visit to Portugal and we wanted to stay here again. We couldn’t actually remember where we stayed but we visited slightly out of season (maybe May or June time) and found most places closed.

How things have changed. Albufeira was busy – a little bit run down and perhaps a smaller version of Benidorm.

We found a pitch at Camping Albufeira (the site was mostly full and they don’t take advanced bookings) for the princely sum of 15 Euros. At that price, there is just no reason to wild camp. However, wild camping in much of Portugal is again allowed after a brief suspension and one can stay up to 48 hours in a municipality so long as the camper van or motorhome is fully self-contained.

It’s about a thirty minute walk into the town of Albufeira and that’s where we headed after checking in to the campsite. We looked around the town and drank Gin & Tonic at a bar overlooking the beach.

In the evening, we ate at the campsite restaurant which had a most impressive wood burning stove and lovely views across the campsite.

The stove was just perfect for the cool evening.

The next day we drove further west until we arrived at Turistcampo Lagos, near to Praia de Luz. A top-rated site at which we had managed to book a pitch for 3 nights. That was the longest stay available and the campsite was full. Our pitch was pre-allocated and wasn’t the best pitch we have had. Too much shade for the time of year. It was fully serviced with electricity, water and waste water disposal. None of which we needed nor utilised.

Tuesday we caught the bus to Sagres which is at the very Western tip of the Algarve and it is historically connected to the early Portuguese Age of Discovery.

Sagres is actually near the Western end of the world’s longest estimated straight-line path over land, at 11,241 km, ending near Jinjiang in China.

We weren’t particularly early in setting off and so by the time the bus had meandered its way to Sagres, it was already lunchtime. Being that it was a Tuesday (and Tuesday is our pizza night (Ember Pizza) at the Bridge Inn in Topsham) we felt obliged to eat Pizza.

We shared a delicious meatball Italian pizza before heading to the Fortress of Sagres, which was built to protect the strategic coastal position and the coves that sheltered shipping.

The church of Santa Maria, consecrated in 1519, to the invocation of Nossa Senhora da Graça (Our Lady of Grace) was constructed at the centre of the site, during the reign of King Manuel I of Portugal. The fortification was remodelled in the 16th, 17th and 18th century, after various attacks (including an assault by Francis Drake in 1587); its current form dates to 1793.

On the cliff edges were numerous fishermen; apparently there are several deaths each year fishing from cliffs above the sea…

Wednesday we headed into Lagos before spending the late afternoon at Praia de Luz. Again we used the bus services from nearby the campsite for our travels.

Lagos castle and the old medieval walls are located close to river Bensafrim close to the fort of Porta da Bandeira.

The Fort is located at the point where the Bensafrim River meets the Atlantic Ocean. This position was of great strategic importance, being close to the walls of the city but with easy access to the sea. In this way it could protect both access to the quays along the banks of the river and the south-eastern and eastern sides of the walls, and allow crossfire with the bastions of Lagos Castle and the city gates.

At the time of its construction it was considered one of the most advanced in the Algarve region

Some photos of Praia de Luz, where we enjoyed late afternoon drinks in the sunshine on a warm “winters” day.

Returning to Conil on Thursday, we were treated to a beautiful sunset. This might be the last one we see for a while as the weather is turning much wetter and unsettled for perhaps the next two weeks.

Yesterday Joe headed off to the bar to watch the England Scotland rugby game. A good battle with Scotland a little unfortunate to lose the Calcutta cup. Around 50 campers were crammed into a corner of the restaurant with John live-streaming the game over his VPN.

Tomorrow we head West.

Friday was market day. Moe was dress shopping whilst Joe sought out the local post office to send some documents back to Blighty.

Friday evening was another communal meal – Spanish omelette, followed by beef stew and flan for desert. Great rock n roll duo had the oldies dancing to the oldies!

Thursday was another fine day, with a much warmer feel to the air. We headed out on the bikes to Novi Sancti Petri where we enjoyed a picnic on top of the cliffs overlooking the Ocean.

Earlier in the week we visited El Puerto de Santa Maria, staying for a few nights at Camping Playa Dunas. The campsite is large with three service blocks. We had a pitch on the edge of the site overlooking the football and sports grounds.

After setting up Nellie (which takes all of about 5 minutes) we headed along the coast to Puerto Sherry, a magnificent marina set in the heart of the Bay of Cadiz, near El Puerto de Santa Maria. Despite its name, I don’t think it’s actually a true port in industrial terms.

We found a nice waterfront bar in which to enjoy a late afternoon Gin & Tonic.

Monday we headed into Cadiz itself. There is a catamaran service operated by the government of Andalucia with crossings every hour or two from El Puerto to Cadiz (and return). The catamaran port is around a 20 minute walk from the campsite and tickets were easily purchased from the dockside at a mere Euros 2.90 each for the 30 minute crossing.

As we approached the port of Cadiz, there was a single cruise ship docked so Cadiz wouldn’t be too overrun with tourists.

We have visited Cadiz on many occasions and you can read more about this beautiful town here:

Eurotrip 9, 2022 – Cadiz day 1 – Caravan Ramblings

Eurotrip 7, 2018 – Day 15, Carnival of Cadiz… – Caravan Ramblings

On this occasion we wandered around the quaint streets, lunching at La Taperia de Columela. A popular haunt with locals and tourists alike. Nothing cultural to report, this was just a chilled day in one of Spain’s finest cities.

Tomorrow we head off in the Campervan for a few days away from our campsite in Conil.

During the latter part of this week, we took part in the weekly quiz, again falling short of a prize slot, enjoyed a picnic on the beach, tapas in Conil and a second visit to El Nautico.

Richard and Jennifer headed off to Malaga after another lovely lunch at El Nautico.

*************** Tuesday 11th February, 2026 ***************

This years blog is starting to look more like a restaurant review page than a travel blog! Today we walked along the beach into town as there was a jacket Moe wanted to buy. However, being a Tuesday, the clothes shops were all closed although we did stumble across an Italian Pizza restaurant for lunch.

It’s become a tradition of ours to eat Pizza on a Tuesday – mostly at our favourite pub in Topsham, the Bridge Inn. A fine example of a “time-stood-still” pub with the most amazing fresh Pizzas cooked to order by “Ember Pizza”. There are no finer pizzas to be sampled…

Today’s offering was at Zio Lele, opposite the indoor market in Conil. I’m more of a meat feast kind-of-guy but the fish pizza was excellent. The view isn’t quite the same as the one on offer across the River Clyst in Topsham, but I doubt many were enjoying it on a wet Devonian February day. The weather here remains warm, dry and pleasant.

We didn’t really plan our day properly as later in the afternoon we were entertained at Jennifer and Richard’s plot for even more food – homemade flatbread and a selection of chocolate cakes.

*************** Saturday 8th February, 2026 ***************

One of our favourite restaurants has just re-opened after their new year vacations – El Nautico at the Port of Conil. Despite Richard being told there was no need to book, different rules apply on a weekend, where booking is apparently essential.

We managed to secure a table for a somewhat hurried meal. No changes to the menu, the view or the company! All first class.

We arrived in Spain nearly four weeks ago and the overall weather has been disappointing. We have had rain, cloudy days, sunny days but with a bitterly cold northerly wind, freezing cold nights and finally this week, some signs of spring in the air.

Today is the third or fourth day of unbroken sunshine with pleasantly warm temperatures during the day and chilly overnight. A quiet Friday so far, catching up with a few chores and relaxing after a day of excess yesterday in Vejer de la Frontera (initially) and later at Conil de la Frontera.

As it’s Friday night, there’s a “care in the community” meal at Rosaleda restaurant. Seafood starter, Pork cheeks and flan for the princely sum of 15 Euros per person.

It was Flamenco night.

On the way back to the caravan, Moe grabbed this great picture of a menacing orange sky. At some point during the night, the heavens opened…

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Vejer de la Frontera – Thursday Week 4

Dawn broke across the campsite at 08:20 today – visible in the distance across the sea and over the horizon. As seems to be the way at Camping La Rosaleda, this event was witnessed by few and around 09:30 we emerged from our slumber and readied our selves for the battle ahead.

Today we had reserved a table at the magnificent Moroccan restaurant in Vejer, called El Calife – rated number 2 on TripAdvisor. It’s a 16km cycle ride with a very steep 3km climb up the hairpin road to this spectacular “white village”. Our route took us through La Muela where we stopped at a busy cafe. Richard ordered a round of Carajillo coffees which warmed us after the long slog from the N340 into the village of La Muela.

Carajillo coffee seems to be similar to an Irish coffee in that it’s an Expresso with a shot of Brandy or Rum but not typically served with any milk or cream.

We arrived at the Plaza D’Espana in Vejer with its iconic fountain forming the centrepiece.

After securing our bikes to various orange trees, we descended through the depths of the ancient building and into the garden courtyard for lunch.

We chatted with a group of teachers on a school trip from Norway and France. The kids were apparently exploring the famous streets of this old town with a packed lunch, whilst the teachers wiled away the afternoon at El Calife.

We ate well. Jennifer had an Aubergine Tagine; Moe the Lamb Kebabs (followed of course by desert) whilst Richard and I shared the BBQ meat platter.

A “Cointreau” Cajillo was the appropriate way to end this feast.

The cycle back to Conil, with the wind behind us and the steep descent from Vejer hillside was a little more pleasant than the journey out. It was now a stunning evening and we stopped at Atalaya park for refreshments. Moe and Jennifer shared another desert – Chocolate cake!

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Earlier in the week, we had our third quiz evening with Jennifer and Richard where, despite a much improved performance than the prior week, we were still 3 points off top spot.

This day the 5th February was the long anticipated opening of the restaurant “El Nautico” at the Port of Conil. Moe and I set off just after noon for the 4 mile walk to be disturbed by a phone call from Richard to inform us that the opening day was not in fact today but tomorrow.

We modified our walk and headed along the beach into Conil. Our favourite “beach bar” was also still closed but work is underway with an anticipated opening of the “Shack” on 20th February.

Sunday was a cold and dull day but we cooked a BBQ later on as we appeared to have an abundance of meat rapidly reaching it’s expiry date. Monday was another cold and damp day so appropriate for a visit to my favourite DIY store “Leroy Merlin” and then on to the Carrefour at San Fernando.

Richard picked a cold day to hire an “electric” moped which I trialled around the campsite. They are available for hire in town from 35 Euros per day with a variety of electric motors up to a stunning 1000W Bosch design. Check out Niu electric scooters on Google.

Tuesday was slightly warmer and we decided to cycle to Trafalgar for lunch. It’s a nice cycle ride on a divided road, part of Euro Velo 8 which starts in Cadiz and meanders across Spain. The route to Barbate at least is now all on a dedicated cycle path.

Lunch was at “Las Dunas” bar and lounge aka the Flintstones bar due to the wooden seats and various constructs. Inside was warm with a giant log fire in the middle.