Spain end of October 2009

[AberdeenAngus]

In preparation for an Africa trip in January, i'm taking the bike down to Marbella around the end of October.
So, i've got about 5 days to get from Santander/Bilbao to Marbella.

Could anyone recommend a good route.
I was thinking Salamanca, Badajoz, Algarve(ish), Seville/Ronda, Marbella - but i'm open to suggestions (so long as thery include the Ronda road - of course)

I've looked at dozens of websites for accomodation and am frankly overwhelmed with choice. Trouble is, without personnal recommendations - I have no idea what's good & what's crap.

So, if anyone could personally recommend good guesthouses or campsites I would appreciate it.



Many thanks.

 

[Corp.Clinger!]

Sounds a great trip and not too hot compared with summer temperatures...

As for places to stay in Spain...perhaps because you have 5 days to transverse the whole country you could try what I normally do,ie,work out a rough route via larger towns,arrive at the tourist office in those towns(usually well signposted) and they will advise. There will be a wide choice according to budget and a leaflet at least to have a look at where you'll be staying.They can 'phone ahead for you and find a price and if it's free. Saves you whizzing about the place trying to find somewhere.

You can also try www.campingo.com


Have a great trip...

 

[John Armstrong]

I use the recommendations in Rough Guides a lot for accomodation.

 

[Kahuna]

What I do now is work-out the route then jump on booking.com, and search using the 'within x km' function. These guys can get some 'really' cheap accommodation for you, and you can check for secure bike parking etc.

The last three years I've had a two floor suite in Avila including dinner and breakfast for SWMBO and I for €72 (should have been €345), Holiday Inn Express' in France for €45, loads of discounted Ibis', and last month a 5* in Portugal for €67 B&B a night for us both.

The alternative is to find a town and just walk in! Trouble is you don't know what you're gona get and you might have to hit a good few before you find a vacancy or the price you're prepared to pay! 5 years ago or so we spent 4 hours trolling Malaga looking for digs and ended up in the crappiest Hostal I've ever been in.

I've also heard some good things about the truckers hostals on the side of the motorways. Seems like they are cheap and pretty good quality, and you prolly only need to be on the motorway for a few miles - can get right back off the next day to travel again.

Anyroadup, have a great trip, I'll be doing the opposite one at the same time - taking my bike home from Ronda area.

 

[AberdeenAngus]

Found this route on motowhere.com

http://www.motowhere.com/maps/route/Santander-to-Riano
http://www.motowhere.com/maps/route/Riano-to-Guadalupe
http://www.motowhere.com/maps/route/Guadalupe-to-Rhonda

Straight down the middle, humps an arl !
Looks interesting.

Now i'm normally the kind of guy that organises everything.
I like to have a full itinerary plotted out day by day, with advance booking every stop of the way.......
So, for this trip, i'm not going to plan anything. Nothing. I'm going to roll off the ferry and.....stop when i'm tired and play it by ear for accomodation and take the tent as a backup.
Might follow the route, might not. Depends on the weather.

Eeeeek !

Bet I chicken out and book stuff !......no, must resist.
Good advice about the tourist info. Easy to forget that other people have them too !

 

[hank]

If you need a stopover in Bilbao we always stay here at this small family run hotel, its about 20 minutes from the ferry port.

http://www.hotelartetxe.com/index.php?idi=uk

We always recieve a warm welcome at the Hotel Artetxe in Bilbao, super place to stay, bike friendly and easy access to the city.

We use the funicular railway to go down into town and the excellent network of trams and trains to get about.

To get to the funicular turn right leaving the hotel and take the left fork in the road (app 1 1/2 miles) at the top of the hill there is a car park where we leave the bike. From here the furnicular goes down to town (it's about 80 cents) arriving in Plaza de Funicular. (The funicular goes every 15 mins). Walk straight down through the square, over the road into Calle Mugica y Butron (Magic Button street) and follow it down to the river (2 minute walk). Cross the fancy looking bridge and you're at the tram stop. You can easily walk to the old town from here or the Guggenheim but we took the lazy option! You can get an all day tram ticket for 3 euros and for 6 euros you can use trams, metro and buses. Fantastic system.

Recommended: tapas in the old town, the Guggenheim (for culture vultures) and the walk over the top of the tranporter bridge (take the C1 metro).

Nearly forgot the most important thing - there's a wee supermarket in Plaza de Funicular to buy beers to take back and drink in the hotel garden while you watch the sun go down - also a wee cafe for the wife to get a cuppa and a cake while you're getting the beers in.

For those of you with G.P.S the Hotel is located at

E 2.9 . 46 .17
N 43.2 . 78 . 79


Hank.

 

[TERRY RYAN]

just choose your route and on the way down just start searching on the sat nav for hotels hostels I am sure you will find one with no problem and good ones as well always fun looking for a place to sleep the night seeing where you end up have you got five days down and 5 days back or just five days up and back ???

 

[Ludlovian]

Just got back

Hi AberdeenAngus,
I came back from Ronda only yesterday but I was not there with my bike - agony. There is a road from Estepona to Algatocin via Jubrique, the MA8301 that is just fantastic and of course gets you on to the A369 to or from Ronda. The San Juan venta at Jubrique is a friendly haven for meat eaters (the Rabo de Torro is the best in the region) and has a camp site although I did'nt stay there.
I will return there next year with bike. Hope you have a good trip.

 

[bsogri]

spain

we are going to Moto-Piston rally in northern Spain next week with 22 bikes and i would reccomend you spend at least a couple of days riding the Picos De Europa, quiet roads usually good weather, spectacular scenery, good beer what more can a biker want

 

[AndyT]

In preparation for an Africa trip in January, i'm taking the bike down to Marbella around the end of October.
So, i've got about 5 days to get from Santander/Bilbao to Marbella.

Could anyone recommend a good route.
I was thinking Salamanca, Badajoz, Algarve(ish), Seville/Ronda, Marbella - but i'm open to suggestions (so long as thery include the Ronda road - of course)

I've looked at dozens of websites for accomodation and am frankly overwhelmed with choice. Trouble is, without personnal recommendations - I have no idea what's good & what's crap.

So, if anyone could personally recommend good guesthouses or campsites I would appreciate it.



Many thanks.

Did you take the trip through Spain in October??? If so how was the Weather and any recomendations in the top half as we are going at te end of Sept this year.

Many thanks

AndyT

 

[AndyT]

In preparation for an Africa trip in January, i'm taking the bike down to Marbella around the end of October.
So, i've got about 5 days to get from Santander/Bilbao to Marbella.

Could anyone recommend a good route.
I was thinking Salamanca, Badajoz, Algarve(ish), Seville/Ronda, Marbella - but i'm open to suggestions (so long as thery include the Ronda road - of course)

I've looked at dozens of websites for accomodation and am frankly overwhelmed with choice. Trouble is, without personnal recommendations - I have no idea what's good & what's crap.

So, if anyone could personally recommend good guesthouses or campsites I would appreciate it.



Many thanks.

Did you take the trip through Spain in October??? If so how was the Weather and any recomendations in the top half as we are going at te end of Sept this year.

Many thanks

AndyT

 

[realboss7669]

...i've got about 5 days to get from Santander/Bilbao to Marbella...Could anyone recommend a good route.
I was thinking Salamanca, Badajoz, Algarve(ish), Seville/Ronda, Marbella...So, if anyone could personally recommend good guesthouses or campsites I would appreciate it.

Hi there AberdeenAngus,

I have travelled Spain and Portugal many times by bike and car so can recommend the following:

Salamanca. If you go through Salamanca from Santander and continue on the A66 towards Plasencia you will see a sign about 2-3 miles down the road for Mozarbez. Come off the motorway there and onto the A-road and this hotel is a regular stop off for me and they do excellent food and plenty of space for parking your bike. Ask for a room at the front and you can park your baby outside so you can get a restful nights sleep! Their website is: http://www.hotelmozarbez.com/

Havent stayed in Badajoz but would recommend Caceres although probably not far enough on from Salamanca for a good days riding. I personally would get into Portugal if you can. There are some amazing places in Evora, and/or if you get further on into the Alentejo (agricultural region just above Algarve) we have stayed in Vidigueira at the following residencial which was very good: www.residencial-santaclara.com‎

You wont believe this but if you go to the Galp petrol station in Vidigueira you will get the best snacks in town!! Try a bifana (guarantee it will turn into 2!) and a Galao (equivalent of latte). They also serve liquors (thank God they are still allowed to compared to our police state). Its just round the corner from the residencial and they are open late. They have plenty of good restaurants in town but ask the locals and tell them you dont want tourist food and high prices. I recommend a restaurant up the road in Vila De Frades called Pais Das Uvas (country of the grapes). You could walk there in 10minutes as the village is about 1km away or you could get a cab. Dont ride as they have wine casks made in the 1700's which are still being used and the wine will go down so well!!

I will drop you a PM call me if you want any more detailed advice. I would recommend the Alentejo though it is gorgeous. Any small village will generally have an excellent small restaurant with proper homemade food at good prices. Most locals love bikers, especially the old guys who will be sat around in the daytime chatting and will crowd around you smiling when you pull up.

Awesome! Enjoy

 

[AberdeenAngus]

Andy

I ended up blasting down as far as Madrid before stopping. Great roads, great weather - why stop ?
So am afraid I can't really make recommendation as to places to stay.
I would recommend the road from Santander down through the Pico's, N621 - I believe to Riano. Riano is awesome. Couple of hours from Santander so just right for lunch/Pee/Fuel.


I used routes posted on Motowhere
http://www.motowhere.com/listpaths/srchkey/spain

 

[Pathologic]

Did you take the trip through Spain in October??? If so how was the Weather and any recomendations in the top half as we are going at te end of Sept this year.

Many thanks

AndyT

Hi Andy

I got this recommendation of the site. http://www.posadasanjose.com/home_en.html

Secure parking is nearby. The setting is superb and better than staying in Madrid. We drove by car through the sierra universidad. I'd love to take the GS through there it was fantastic. The Posada is not cheap, but very comfortable.

The other tip is don't do breakfast in the hotel. Get on the road when its cool and use the truck stops. A bocadilla for breakfast is a great way to start the day.

regards,

Path.