Hi all. Was wondering about where we would go for a holiday this year and I saw a post from mxomotosis about a Northern Spain road trip. We’ve got a spare couple of weeks in September and thought it sounded so nice we’d do something similar. Ferry from Portsmouth to either Santander or Bilbao and then …? Mrs Lakkabay is into scenary and wonderful views - me I’m all for fun roads, good food and comfortable accommodation (with a view of course). We don’t want to be charging around on a tight schedule and would prefer to spend more than one day in a lovely place and do a bit of exploring (or eating and drinking) rather than having to sprint off to the next stop. Can anyone recommend places that we absolutely must visit and routes that are essential in an MX5?
Ta in advance.
Bilbao/Santillana del Mar/Oviedo/ Ribidero/ Santiago de Compostella.
(Then due south through Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon to the Algarve.)
As regards the northern Spain part of the trip, we LOVED Santiago, and then on the homeward leg back towards Bilbao, Salamanca was also amazing….
If I can be any help, let me know.
Good luck with the plans and have a great trip.
DC
Not an MX5, but very interesting if you’re off to Northern Spain.
Northern Spain is brilliant! Agree, Salamanca is a terrific city. The art deco museum is well worth a visit https://www.spain.info/en/places-of-interest/art-nouveau-art-deco-museum/. The University of Salamanca has a renowned language school and a lovely gift shop that sells some really nice items , not the usual tourist tat.
Cantabria is very rural and the first house that Antonio Gaudi built is open to the public and definitely worth a visit https://www.spain.info/en/places-of-interest/art-nouveau-art-deco-museum/… If you like natural scenery, the Picos de Europa is stunning with some great roads. Potes is a lovely town and a good base. We tend to book apartments through booking .com with a washing machine so you don’t need to take many clothes! They are often cheaper than hotels & offer more flexibility & space. Do it, you will love it!
Terrific, thanks for the advice. Just got back from the pub after having a few sherries and have booked the ferry. Fun bit now - plotting the route and researching places to stay. Very excited! Better get the car sorted although to be fair she’s been mollycoddled by me since I bought it.
I get a big map on the dining table with a rough guide or lonely planet book , find a destination I like the sound of with places to visit & good places to eat. Then I go on booking.com & find suitable accommodation. Generally, one night stays mean you don’t get chance to explore the area, between 2 - 4 nights usually is more relaxing and it gives you chance to do some laundry & dry it ready for the next stage. Google maps are very useful, I also use trip advisor. Generally we limit our driving between points to a maximum of 5 hours driving otherwise it can become a slog rather than a pleasure. It’s nice to have the time to stop somewhere interesting & have a leg stretch & look around. Some of the large supermarkets have a cafe where you can get a decent midday bite to eat at a reasonable price. They are often used by the locals which is a good sign.
A couple of nights in the Picos de Europa is essential. Stunning scenery, perfect roads for an MX5.
Really interested in this topic. Had planned similar trip just as covid hit. Looked at reviving it BUT …. my MX being a 2002 mk 2.5 Japanese import doesn’t meet any of the emissions standards, certainly not ULEZ anyway. !! And I had read that the EU had brought in emissions regulations (ie ULEZ) that seemed to affect many of the northern Spanish towns we’d planned to visit to the extent that some town’s centres had road closures advisories and other works apparently to this end. I know you get some sort of coloured disc to display, as in France, but how do you know if you enter a prohibited zone?? My experience of the London ULEZ is it’s poorly signed and it’s easy to get caught out
Any members have any experience of the situation, or advice etc??
Many thanks
Am currently compiling a list of all the suggestions and having fun linking them up with what I hope will be some wonderful MX5 roads!
Apparently at the moment, the scheme only applies to Spanish registered cars.
This is from the official website FAQs:
Q.
I am a foreigner and I want to visit Spain with my vehicle, can I obtain the environmental sticker?
A.
The general direction of traffic is looking for a solution.
As far as the scheme in France is concerned, it only applies to the larger cities and then only, when pollution levels are particularly high. Personally, I would avoid large Spanish cities in your car anyway . Much easier to stay on the outskirts & get a tram , bus or train in to the centre.
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