# camp sites



## Babbs (Oct 1, 2008)

Hello everyone, we are 'newbies' to taking a motorhome to Spain, we are retired folk, would like the cheapest route, and not used to driving on the other side of the road, in fact my husband, who is retired seems to think he can drive anywhere and belives we should drive thru' France! And where should we camp, seems looking at the internet there are very expensive places there for a night. 
Regards Babbs


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Hi there Babbs,

Well, you guys are going to have to get used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road! Don't worry, you'll soon get the hang of it. (Just don't start practising before you leave England ...)

It might be nice to drive through France on country roads, avoiding the tolls and stopping at camp sites on the way. My family used to do that when I was a kid.

Might be sensible to avoid the cross-channel routes though. Check out the Brittany Ferries routes from Portsmouth to St Malo, in Northern France, which is quieter. They also sail to Santander or Bilbao in Northern Spain. With the cost of petrol, it might work out cheaper to sail direct to Spain.

Check out the camper-stops network (Aires) if you want to avoid staying on expensive campsites en route (note, these are only for one night stops and your motor home must be self-contained).
Camperstop Europe Motorhome Stopovers, Aires, Stellaplatze guide for the whole of Europe.


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## Mame (Aug 8, 2008)

Hi Babbs
We use the Aires when we are en route. There are also a lot of municipal sites which are a lot cheaper and very good value usually about 15 euros a night. We are actually in Spain and have spent a fair bit of time this winter at a site in Aguilas where the owner gives really good winter discounts


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

I've driven down to the south of Frace a few times over the years and its a nice run especially if you have no schedule and can stop when you fancy, make the trip a holiday in itself and enjoy yourselves.


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## neilmac (Sep 10, 2008)

Babbs said:


> Hello everyone, we are 'newbies' to taking a motorhome to Spain, we are retired folk, would like the cheapest route, and not used to driving on the other side of the road, in fact my husband, who is retired seems to think he can drive anywhere and belives we should drive thru' France! And where should we camp, seems looking at the internet there are very expensive places there for a night.
> Regards Babbs


Hi Babbs,

We do a LOT of motorhoming and almost exclusively use Aires for overnight stopovers, they are mostly free and many have water, waste and sometimes, even electricity supplies.

I'm not talking about motorway Aires though, I wouldn't recommend them from a security point of view. We use the numerous Aires that are in small towns and villages.

We also avoid toll roads which keeps the cost down and allows us to see the 'real' France en route.

We run a motorhome website called Club Motorhome and it has a lot of Aires shown with GPS co-ordinates, photographs and even Google Maps and Google Streetview where available, so you can even look at your destination before you set out.

If you click on Club Motorhome French Stopovers you'll see a map of France and the Aires we have listed. There are also pages for Spain and Portugal. Our site is a subscription site so you need to be a member to see the individual details but you can see the maps for free.

Hope this helps and enjoy your motorhome travels


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## puggins (Mar 15, 2011)

Hi Babs,

When i 1st drove to spain we drove from Calais to Alicante via the tolls, which i personally found alot easier getting used to driving on the left, however tolls came to over 250 euro. As others have said the drive is pretty drap and i didnt see many camp sites along the way, i did pull over into a few services for a quick nap with no problems! Had we not have had pooches in the car and wanted to get there quick we would'nt have done this.

The 2nd time we drove from the UK we went through the country roads, which was a beautiful drive  and would reccomend to anyone who has the means to make this into a short break!


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