Andalucia or Valencia

redhand

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We are on the ferry to santander in two weeks, for the past two years at this time we have spent a couple of months in the area between sagres and malaga.
We had planned doing the same again as we love the area but are we missing out on valencia
What are the pros/cons of valencia/ benidorm area
The weather appears to be slightly better on the med ?
 
We tend to stay to between Peniscola and Mazzeron for october to march then go south . For us the beaches are better and the prices lower but I am sure many may disagree. Also Benidorm good for a few parties , great beaches and Old town . Not everyones cup of tea but works for us. Best advice I can give you is give it a try and make your own mind up when you have experienced both.
 
Andalusia is further south .
There's a great Aire at Rota West of Cadiz. Nice town, good beaches and a handy bus service to get you into town.
 
redhand said:
We are on the ferry to santander in two weeks, for the past two years at this time we have spent a couple of months in the area between sagres and malaga.
We had planned doing the same again as we love the area but are we missing out on valencia
What are the pros/cons of valencia/ benidorm area
The weather appears to be slightly better on the med ?
Click to expand...
The weather here at the moment is not good we are getting really strong winds and some rain at night the weather forecast is not that good for next week.
 
Valencia/Alicante province is generally less windy than the Algarve/Costa de Luz regions. The sea is calmer on the med and not as tidal. Lower wind speeds mean less wind chill so whilst temperatures may be a touch lower it may actually feel warmer. Eastern Spain tends to be drier as it is sheltered from the prevailing winds from the Atlantic by the high mountain ranges in central Spain. In Benidorm you will never want for something to do in the evening but there is no wildcamping.

The eastern med is more urban and developed than the coastline between Gibraltar and Sagres. Having done both we prefer the Algarve/Costa de Luz for touring up and down and wild camping and Benidorm for an extended stay of several weeks. For us the rest of Valencia/Alicante province is a bit dull after the Benidorm experience with the coastline overdeveloped for the most part north and south of Benidorm with little variety although having the occasional place of interest. The Gibraltar/Sagres coastline has incredible variety by comparison.

One thing has to be said and that is Benidorm is cheap for both food and drink and there are some excellent restaurants. You will have to visit the China Garden opposite the Red Lion (Rincon). 3 courses and 1/2 bottle of wine for under €7 and the food is excellent. It is always very busy! And who in Benidorm has not been to Uncle Peds where Amstel is €1.20 a pint and decent coffee with a glass of Brandy to wash the coffee down is also €1.20! And then there is the 4 course Sunday lunch at the Showboat for just €10.95.......and so on
 
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Moped..

One thing has to be said and that is Benidorm is cheap for both food and drink and there are some excellent restaurants. You will have to visit the China Garden opposite the Red Lion (Rincon). 3 courses and 1/2 bottle of wine for under €7 and the food is excellent. It is always very busy! And who in Benidorm has not been to Uncle Peds where Amstel is €1.20 a pint and decent coffee with a glass of Brandy to wash the coffee down is also €1.20! And then there is the 4 course Sunday lunch at the Showboat for just €10.95.......and so on
[/QUOTE]
We're on our way.
Sounds perfect.
 
Moped said:
Valencia/Alicante province is generally less windy than the Algarve/Costa de Luz regions. The sea is calmer on the med and not as tidal. Lower wind speeds mean less wind chill so whilst temperatures may be a touch lower it may actually feel warmer. Eastern Spain tends to be drier as it is sheltered from the prevailing winds from the Atlantic by the high mountain ranges in central Spain. In Benidorm you will never want for something to do in the evening but there is no wildcamping.

The eastern med is more urban and developed than the coastline between Gibraltar and Sagres. Having done both we prefer the Algarve/Costa de Luz for touring up and down and wild camping and Benidorm for an extended stay of several weeks. For us the rest of Valencia/Alicante province is a bit dull after the Benidorm experience with the coastline overdeveloped for the most part north and south of Benidorm with little variety although having the occasional place of interest. The Gibraltar/Sagres coastline has incredible variety by comparison.

One thing has to be said and that is Benidorm is cheap for both food and drink and there are some excellent restaurants. You will have to visit the China Garden opposite the Red Lion (Rincon). 3 courses and 1/2 bottle of wine for under €7 and the food is excellent. It is always very busy! And who in Benidorm has not been to Uncle Peds where Amstel is €1.20 a pint and decent coffee with a glass of Brandy to wash the coffee down is also €1.20! And then there is the 4 course Sunday lunch at the Showboat for just €10.95.......and so on
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There is some places in Benidorm or very close to If you know were to look but only overnight .
 
Pauljenny said:
Moped..

One thing has to be said and that is Benidorm is cheap for both food and drink and there are some excellent restaurants. You will have to visit the China Garden opposite the Red Lion (Rincon). 3 courses and 1/2 bottle of wine for under €7 and the food is excellent. It is always very busy! And who in Benidorm has not been to Uncle Peds where Amstel is €1.20 a pint and decent coffee with a glass of Brandy to wash the coffee down is also €1.20! And then there is the 4 course Sunday lunch at the Showboat for just €10.95.......and so on
Click to expand...
We're on our way.
Sounds perfect.
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If on a site stay at Villasol if they have room. The British area is around 10-12minutes walk from Villasol. €20 a night with ACSI. There are other slightly lower priced sites but they are further out and a longer walk or cycle is required. Sadly Villasol may be fully booked in February according to a friend of ours even though it has 500 pitches! Many have long termers on though. We have already booked in advance for our next Benidorm soirée In 2020.

There are a few park up spots around Benidorm but only for 1 or 2 nights. An area around the local all weather football centre by the hospital seems popular for short stays. I have noted the odd Hymer parked up in a side road by the zoo for almost 1 week however if on street parking is your thing. I do a lot of ebiking around Benidorm so spot what is going on wildcamper wise!
 
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Benidorm campsites are some of the more expensive in Spain sadly but beggars cannot be choosers. Even the French are forced to use a site! But the benefit is Villasol is so sheltered that many sunbath daytime on their loungers even in December and January. And at least you can walk back after several pints of the local €1.20 a pint brew so saving on taxi fares.

We stop for 2 months at a time and set up our base with gazebo, ground sheet and all so wildcamping in Benidorm for us is not practical. There is nowhere else in Spain or Portugal where we would stop for 2 months of hedonism. With the exception of Benidorm we generally wildcamp.

edit additional info - Villasol has a satellite coaxial tv feed that you can connect to on your pitch to receive BBC1, ITV1, Channel 4, 5 and sky news so take a 15m coax extension cable with you to connect. You tune in using the analogue setting on your TV not DTV.
 
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Benidorm is OK in small doses, wouldn’t want to stay long, we’ve managed to tuck in plenty of places with our small van, never been moved on.
Nowadays we stay on the seafront a bit further down the coast & catch the Train/Tram into Benny, quite a cheap ride. €20 per night is ridiculous to be jammed into a campsite.
The weather always seems to be good, even when it’s raining 10km down the road, that & the superb 🏖 beach is probably the reason there are more hotel beds than London or Paris.
 
Hi all, we too enjoy Benidorm. We have stayed at La Toretta, simply as the nearest to the action !! You have to stay a month to bring the price to €20 !! It also has the coaxial tv hookup. An extra feature is its tendency to flood !! Luckily not while we've been there !! As said Benidorm is down to personal taste...we enjoy a blast of hedonism as mentioned above,
then head further south for quieter experience !! Oh, Pauljenny, not all Yorkshire folk are skint it would seem...we were surrounded by them in February and they stay all winter LOL !! (Yes, we stay there on our way back north as well...if you eat and drink enough and walk everywhere like we do it offsets the expensive site fees LOL ) Sadly not abroad this winter as redecorating. Having a few days near Clitheroe instead...err....sun-loungers not deployed !!!! Maja
 
Thanks for replies to all, very informative as allways. On balance we shall stick to algarve/andalucia as the picture you paint of little britain in spain does not appeal
 
J
redhand said:
Thanks for replies to all, very informative as allways. On balance we shall stick to algarve/andalucia as the picture you paint of little britain in spain does not appeal
Click to expand...

You don’t have to go to Benidorm, a few km either side of the Fleshpot are resorts where you’d be lucky (or unlucky) to hear an English voice, they’d be deserted during the week but banged out weekends when the Spanish hit the beach.
The weather seems to be better in this area than the far south, for instance: tomorrow 23deg in Valencia, 19deg in Malaga.
 
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