Hi
Am starting to think about next summer already ! Ferry to Santander and back from Bilbao so was hoping to do a few nights in several locations going out through France and back through Spain (or vice versa) sticking pretty close to/in the pyrennees. France not too tricky to come up with thoughts but Spain a real challenge as is Andorra
We are tent and landrover and love the little, relatively simple sites pref with no statics.
So any thoughts gratefully received please !
Thanks all
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Andorra? -----Don't bother. It takes hours to get there, traffic is horrendous and it's not worth going! (My opinion of course) Better to visit somewhere like Foix or Tarrascon sur Ariege but it depends which way you are coming from. We spent about 4 hours in a traffic jam up the side of a mountain but we approached from the French side. I have spoken to 2 other people who did the same at different times of the year and were equally disappointed with Andorra. Others may be able to enlighten me with a different opinion......
Thanks Sandy ! Felt we probably should go if in that area - but happy not to !
Thinking we will do anticlockwise route - so into Santander head along close-ish to the border, into France south of carcassonne (again "ish") and work through France before back to Bilbao for home.
Not come up with much inspiring campsite wise in Spain yet - into their bungalow/leisure park co eps aren't they ?! I'd love to find the camping a la ferme equivalents ...
Will go check out your thoughts now - delays the evil moment of nagging kids about homework !
Thanks
Moira
A lot of French and Spanish sites are putting more and more statics on their sites. Not just in the area you are looking at, but all over!
Quite a few sites we've been to for a number of years have recently had an explosion of them, there must be more money in it for the site owners.
Been to the (French) Pyrenees this time for just over a week, sites we stayed on all had statics on them, in a greater or lesser number, so no point in mentioning any of those.
Andorra: went there years ago, in the 80's, with a tent, enjoyed the scenery, but even then it was a solid queue of cars and lorries going up, for the lorries to offload their wares and fuel, and the cars going to buy it.....
Wouldn't make a special journey for it.
------------- Ina
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
The French Pyrenees is gorgeous. From Carcassone there are some marvellous bits you could pass/visit. Camping Natura near Argeles Gazost is where we stayed 2 years ago - not a static in sight and a gorgeous area for visiting. Loads of dramatic scenery, drives. Loved it!
Here's a site that's not to be missed, it is in the most beautiful area that you could ever wish for , and the manager speaks fluent English http://www.campingbergueda.com/campingeng.htm
It's only 30 minutes away from the Cadi Tunnel and if you really want some cheap goodies its only 45 minutes from Andorra.
------------- Regards
Terry Birch
Our tourer days are over and we have moved on to a Hobby Motorhome
Tina and Terry
Thanks both for these suggestions ! Love scouring the internet and elsewhere for brilliant sites - just what a wet weekend calls for !
Andorra def now not on the list methinks so there and back largely french ... unless someone comes up with an undiscovered locale ...
Moira
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Agree with the sentiments about Andorra. It seems to be a bowl in amongst the mountains. No wonder it's independant from France and Spain, hardly worth fighting for! I'm sure I'm being harsh, but we did it once, and wouldn't bother again. Plus the Customs posts in France and Spain are red hot at checking you haven't exceeded the limits for alcohol and cigarettes. - you are restricted to the 200 cigs and a litre of alcohol each I think. If you do go, don't overdo it.
We also formed a negative opinion of Andorra, based on driving through on the busy main road lined with tacky duty-free shops. However, we have friends who are keen walkers and have been several times, and say that once you get out into the countryside it's wonderful. It's also popular for winter sports, especially snowboarding.
We've stayed in some small Spanish sites with few or no statics, but unfortunately nowhere near where you're going! The Spanish, like the Italians, tend not to use their caravans for touring but prefer to leave them permanently on a site and go to stay at weekends and holidays, so small sites purely for tourers are rare.
This is a smallish site - www.elripolles.com/campingmoliserradell/eng/entorn. I don't know about statics, but it does have some wooden bungalows. We've not stayed there but have visited the area around Ripoll and it's beautiful.
------------- Il vaut mieux vivre ses reves que rever sa vie
It's not easy to drive 'along the border' on either side ... you tend to have to pick the main road along the bottom of the range and then take the valley roads up (and back to continue along the range).
Some good ones on the spanish side: Camping Gavin ... the fantastic nature reserve/park .... and another park using a base at Espot.
As you will be coming into the north of Spain, I'd strongly advise 'doing' the fantastic north coast ... and the Picos de Europa ... which I prefer to the Pyrenees in many ways.
But, the combination of coast and mountains provide wonderfully varied experiences.
Agree about Andorra ... only interesting thing is the huge variety of liqueurs!
I've skied there a couple of times ... as you say, lovely people ... I even played darts for the canadian ski instructors team! .. we beat Andorra!
But, find the ski terrain a bit small ... spoilt by the likes of trois vallees, I suspect!
One trip we came from France via the coast at Biarritz to Donostia San Sebastian then south along the main road past Pamploma and Jaca. One site we stayed at was at Broto, with it's neighbour Oto, it was delightful. From there we went back into France via the tunnel de Bielsa, and so on.
Some parts of the trip I would like to forget, the thunderstorms, heavy rain and snow, in a tent in early April, but my memory of those villages with fields full of spring alpine flowers, and cows with bells round their necks makes me want to return.
Visited Andorra several times and really loved it. The first few times we drove to La Vella (the capital) and the traffic was pretty heavy but mor recently found that Pas de la Casa, just on the French border was just as good. We camped at Ax les Thermes in France and it was only about a 20-30 minute drive to Pas de la Casa. As stated earlier the Douannes (Customs) are really strict (they even made us put the roof of our convertible up so they could look in the compartment where the roof folds into !) so don't even think about exceeding the limit (tempting though it is). We're off there in January ski-ing - hope I'm not too disappointed having been to Trois Vallees the past two years.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Andorra - and thereabouts
