Spanish Road Trip 2022 - Index and Tips
Spanish Road Trip 2022 - When you live in Benidorm a question you often get asked is where do you go on holiday? Well, we enjoy discovering Spain and this will be our 4th road trip.
The idea of these road trips is to discover the real Spain, therefore, we always set the Sat Nav to avoid ALL Motorways and Toll Roads, by doing this you never quite know what you are going to come across and we have found so many wonderful surprises on our previous journeys.
Road Trip 2019, Spain, France and Andorra.
Road Trip 2020, Spain and Portugal
Only our first nights' accommodation is booked beforehand, after that, decisions are made on where the next stop will be, decided by price of accommodation and driving distance, one of the joys of this type of holiday is you are never sure where you will end up, which makes every day the start of a new holiday.
This year we travelled a total of 2299km and stayed in 10 different places. Murcia, Riopar, Jaen, Antequera, Guadex, El Ejido, Puerto Lumberas, Villafranca de Los Caballeros, Cuenca and Nogueruelas.
Total cost of 10 nights' accommodation - 554.05€
Additional car parking expenses - 32.00€
Total Diesel cost - in the region of 200€
Leaving Benidorm behind, where the temperature was a hot 32ºc we headed towards Murcia and the temperature began to steadily rise until reaching a whopping 46.5ºc, now it is hard to explain just how hot that feels but imagine stepping into a furnace, that just about sums it up, you can almost feel yourself sizzle.
Check this out.Travelling across country to our next destination, Riopar, we spotted a sign for a sanctuary which looked quite interesting, not knowing just how beautiful and well known this place was, we were surprised to find the wonderful (Sanctuary of the Virgin of Hope).
Check this out.Spanish Road Trip 2022 - Before leaving Riopar and heading to Jean we visited Riopars top tourist attraction.
Check this out.The original plan was to head to Seville which we love, but with it being known as the "Frying Pan of Europe" and the temperature in Jaen holding steady at around 38ºc, the thought of going to somewhere even hotter was not appealing, so plans were changed and we decided to visit Antequera.
Check this out.I have always wanted to stay in a cave house, and now was my chance as Guadix is a well know area for them.
Check this out.The initial plan was to head to the coast to try and escape the heat, unfortunately the price of accommodation anywhere near the coast had rocketed to well over 100€ per night, so plan B book somewhere near the coast with a swimming pool within driving distance of Almeria.
Check this out.With our original idea of following the coast road back to Benidorm well and truly out the window, due to lack of accommodation available at a reasonable price, we decided to head inland once again, even accommodation in Lorca was impossible to find so we headed to the nearest place available Puerto Lumbreras, situated just 14km away.
Check this out.Leaving behind our lovely hostal, which sadly was not available for a 2nd night we started our quite long journey to Villafranca de los Caballeros, for the 1st time in four years we were having to back track and drive on some of the same roads we had driven on in day 3, but you never tire of the scenery here in Spain as its constantly changing.
Check this out.It is now time to start heading back towards Benidorm, and we decided on Cuenca for our next overnight stop, having previously visited Cuenca during our 2019 road trip we enjoyed our stay although we booked accommodation in the wrong area, with more knowledge under our belts this year we wanted to spend some more time in this wonderful city.
Check this out.Our last night on this years road trip, and unfortunately once again we could not book the accommodation we really wanted in Montanejos, so had to book what was available in the nearby village of Nogueruelas about 30kms away.
Check this out.After another amazing Spanish Road trip its time to head home, but not before stopping off at one of our favourite places Montanejos.
Check this out.Let the journey begin....
*Note maps posted are just a guide, km quoted are the distances actually travelled.
Tips for a stress-free Road Trip
1. Make sure your car is fully serviced before you travel.
2. Make sure you and your car are correctly insured.
3. Update your sat nav or any other interactive maps you will be using.
4. Make sure you know the rules of the road, especially if driving in a different country.
5. Keep an eye on the fuel gage at all times and fill up, when necessary, you never know how far the next petrol station may be, even some that are pinpointed on the sat nav can be closed.
6. Make sure you have enough cash on you for your journey, not everywhere in Spain accepts credit cards, especially in the small towns and villages. But don’t keep all of it in one place and make sure it’s safe and hidden.
7. Be flexible. Have a rough route planned but be prepared to change direction if you cannot get last minute accommodation exactly where you want.
8. Drive during the daytime, obviously the whole idea of a road trip is to see as much of the countryside as possible.
9. Take regular breaks from driving.
10. To get the best out of your road trip, avoid motorways and toll roads. Most Sat Navs can be programmed for this.
11. Avoid unpaved roads unless you have a 4 x 4 or are a very competent driver.
12. Keep a close watch for any localised weather reports.
13. Make sure your mobile phone is always fully charged, you never know when you may need it, so carry one or two portable chargers for emergencies.
14. Take photos of informative signs when you enter a city/town. Keep these in handy in case you get lost and need to retrace your path.
15. Have a first aid kit handy in the car and always have a few bottles of water.
16. Learn some basic Spanish, we are far from fluent but always manage to get by but once we leave Benidorm hear very little English spoken for the rest of the journey.
17. Understand Spanish mealtimes. This caught us out for the first couple of years, when you live in Benidorm you take it for granted that you can eat any time of the day or night, this is just not the case in other towns, villages or even the main cities.
18. Most of all enjoy your Spanish Road Trip.
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