Spain and France August and September 2026
What really stands out from this trek was the high temperatures is Spain and France; so hot that our plans had to change drastically. Instead of heading south calling at Roman sites and revisiting the Alhambra in Granada we backtracked and headed for the high ground of the Pyrenees between Spain and France biding our time waiting for the weather to cool. This is how early explorers spent their time, waiting for the weather to change, in our modern world we don’t like to wait for anything, but we had to wait.
We needed a new battery for the Hymer, the old one had done 10 years, we think that’s good. We stayed on a variety of different types of sites, including CampingCar-Park sites, aires, municipal campsites and car parks. In the end we decided to take the long drive back through France because there was no sign of the weather cooling down in Spain.
Check our itinerary and see where we visited. The second thing that this trek highlights is the low overnight costs in Spain and France, especially when you see that electricity was included at most of the places we stayed. Compare that to the UK where you would be lucky to find a pitch on a grass field for less than £15 and for that you would not find electricity anywhere. The big difference is that the europeans actually want us to visit their towns and cities, they know that we are on holiday and that’s the time we spend the most money, especially on food and fuel. There are some pubs and restaurants waking up to the value of motorhome visits, but they are the exception.
Summary of our motorhome tour through Spain and France, August and September 2026
more details follow as we prepare to start our next adventure, the ferry to Spain is already booked
| Overnight location | Overnight Location type | Cost | km |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Retreat Inn | English pub | £0 | |
| Pont Aven ferry | Ferry | ££££ | |
| Sopuerta ES | CampingCar-Park site * | €10.50 | |
| Sopuerta ES | CampingCar-Park site * | €10.50 | |
| Sopuerta ES | CampingCar-Park site * | €10.50 | |
| Frías ES | CampingCar-Park site * | €6.00 | |
| Elciego ES | aire | €0 | |
| Valtiera ES | aire | €0 | |
| Roncesvalles ES | car park aire | €0 | |
| Isaba ES | car park aire | €0 | |
| Isaba ES | car park aire | €0 | |
| Canfranc Estacíon ES | Municipal Camping * | €9 | |
| Canfranc Estacíon ES | Municipal Camping * | €9 | |
| Canfranc Estacíon ES | Municipal Camping * | €9 | |
| Sabiñabígo ES | €0 | ||
| Izeste FR | CampingCar-Park site * | €14.70 | |
| Izeste FR | CampingCar-Park site * | €14.70 | |
| Maubourguet FR | CampingCar-Park site * | €15.97 | |
| Clairac FR | CampingCar-Park site * | €12.80 | |
| Corgnac FR | Municipal Camping | €9 | |
| Lac Saint Pardoux FR | CampingCar-Park site * | €16.42 | |
| Lassay sur Croisne FR | aire * | €10 | |
| Francheville FR | aire | €0 | |
| Calais FR | CampingCar-Park site | €17.50 | |
| Totals | € | 3,131§ |
Amounts shown each day vary because of conversion to euro
* Electricity included
§ , used as separator; always confusing with km because europe uses .
** Country codes used: ES Spain, FR France