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I will be retireing in Feb 2006 and am determined to try over wintering in Portugal and maybe Spain ,so I would like to get a thread going for advice from those who have done it and I know there are hundreds of you ,its probably been done on here before so if so would like to resurect it  . I had thought about it long and hard  wether to get a motorhome  but have decided it would be too expensive for me I would have to sell my house to get one good enough for my likeing ,so I have bought a nearly new Caravan that is big enough to live in for longer than a couple of weeks ,and a car man enough to tug it anywhere I want to go .

So good peeps any advice anyone can give will be gratefully recieved ,I will be able to record your tips etc and hopefully go and do it with confidence .

Thanking you in anticipation.     Tone

Sick of seeing the sad face, and dont want to disappear out of sight so I am resonding to my own thread to bring it back to the fore, so come on you happy caravanners ,Motorhomers , and campers ,give me a little of your time and tell me of your experiences, and any tips would be very gratefully recieved.

Thanks in advance .   Tone

As you have decided on a caravan rather than a motorhome then you are probably looking at campsites rather than wildcamping.

The Camping and Caravanning Club run a number of rallies in Spain and Portugal over the winter months, 5 in Spain and 2 in Portugal for winter 2003/2004. The first one opened in September and the last closed in May. You can choose to split your time between 2 or more of them if you wish.

They are good value and have the benefit of giving you support if necessary from people you have got to know.

We went out to the rally in La Manga in January 2001 and met people who were so organised they joined the rally in the autumn and flew back to the UK for Christmas and New Year before rejoining the rally.

If the rallies don't interest you then the C&CC have a number of winter sites which can be booked through them.

HTH 

Thanks for that Gillian ,I will have to be having a look at the CC&C have been thinking of joining for a long time now ,I am in the CC but they dont seem to do much regarding overwintering, If you think of anything else please come back to this thread any help will be gratefully recieved.

Tone

I travelled down to Portugal through Spain last year. Took a small tent (a very small tent) for the journy down. Stayed in Portugal Olhao on a camp site for 3 months.

Olhao campsite has cabins that are cheaper than staying with a caravan, I had a great time had trouble sobering up enough to drive home They dont call them camPISSimo for nothing.

Im going again this year taking my folding camper and taking my time travelling down through France and Spain. The biggest problem is sorting out the best ferry (cost versus distance/ fuel etc.), Health cover and breakdown cover. A lot of  Ins companies wont cover you if you are going for more than 90 days. The problem is you have to read the small print to find that out. Another prob is finding campsites that are open after Sept in France and Spain

The great thing is the people you meet along the trip. Some of the folks I met last year are still in contact with me ( I think I didnt pay for a round somewhere).

I got a lot of my info from links on this site. It all takes time but think about the cheap beer and the barbie Turkey at X-mass and sitting outside in shirtsleeves when everyone in UK is freezing.

Good luck with it

                         Jape

Just to add I paid for membership to CCC I dont think they are very helpful for what you are thinking of doing. If you try to contact them all you get is an answer machine and they provide nothing for a single person travelling for that period of time.

The only thing I could use would be a camping carnet card, if  I can get through to them.

Last year I left my passport at reception. Could be a bit dodgy.

        Jape

Thanks very much for that Jape ,I will take note of all you have said, very good of you taking time to reply. Enjoy everything you do, and good luck for your next trip.

Regards   Tone