Spain and Portugal – Santander to León
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Santander to León
We left home Sunday lunchtime and reached Santander Wednesday morning aboard the Brittany Ferries ship Galicia. A long journey, not helped by the motion of the ship and the ferry alarm waking us a 0545. Having paid our money for the premium lounge we went there for breakfast, not a good experience, one of the two coffee machines was not working and there was not enough food to go around. Considering that there were 3 staff in the lounge that’s not good enough.
Time seems to pass very slowly on the Galicia, one of Brittany Ferries’ new ships. Internet access is poor, by which I mean it is slow, and restricted to one 45 minute free session unless you pay. Considering that we have paid £35 each for access to the premium lounge I think that is outrageous. We pay a lot of money for the crossing from Portsmouth to Santander, so I think it is unreasonable to pay more for internet access.
Overall we were not impressed by the Galicia, getting to Spain in a motorhome is a long journey, basically there are two options, Brittany Ferries to Santander or Bilbao or the long drive through France, so you take your pick. We like France so next time we are planning the longer drive. I remember well our first foray into France in our first Hymer, trundling along country roads gazing at vast fields of maize and sunflowers and really enjoying the feeling. Unhurried, not knowing exactly were we would spend the night and discovering the aires in small towns that we would never normally have visited.
We were off the ferry quickly enough, passports checked and stamped quickly and efficiently by a young woman who smiled and asked us about our favourite places in Spain, such a contrast to UK border staff. A long drive through the docks area to exit, then onto the roads. Good roads. In general the roads is Spain are good, the toll roads are mostly confined to the major tourist areas over towards the Mediterranean. On this trip we did not pay any road tolls.
Our journey to León was uneventful, bright sunny weather with little traffic on the roads, such a contrast to the UK motorways. Stopped at the Mirador de Floracebos at the top of a huge climb up the mountain road to avoid a section of toll road. For navigation we use Google Maps, with the ‘avoid tolls’ option set, that means we are sometimes routed along narrow roads, but you also find that there are a lot of trucks using the same roads. We are not in a hurry to reach our destination, the drive is a big part of a motorhome holiday so there’s no point rushing it and paying a lot more money to arrive a little earlier.
At León we went straight to the Area de Servicios para Autocaravanas, or aire, on the river bank close to the centre of the city. 22 spaces for motorhomes, clearly marked and only available for motorhomes to park in. Good service facilities and all free. No electricity, which is no hardship, our Hymer has two large refillable LPG (GPL) tanks that power the fridge-freezer, water heater and central heating when needed. The only thing we need electric hookup for is Gill’s hair dryer.
After parking on the motorhome aire in León our first stop was Mercadona, located across the road within easy walking distance. At Mercadona we stocked up with Spanish food, Serrano ham, sheep’s cheese, goat’s cheese, olives, cava and a lot more. We had difficulty carrying it all back to the Hymer. By late afternoon all 22 motorhome spaces were taken and more motorhomes arriving looking for spaces. We settled in and Gill made a delicious meal that was accompanied by a bottle of cava, what else would you drink on the first night in Spain?
Gallery photos Santander to León
Click at image to enlarge
