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Our North Spain Mini-Trip: Route, Costs & More

July 28, 2019 by libertatemamo 10 Comments

The Northern Spain route that dad I took in May was the perfect little 2-week getaway.

Dad and I were on our own pilgrimage of sorts (in Burgos, Spain)

I call it our Spain pilgrimage because what we essentially did was trace the Camino De Santiago in both directions, first along the Coastal trail (Camino Del Norte/Camino Primitovo) and then back along the popular French Way (Camino Frances) to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France.

This took us through an incredible mix of landscapes from rugged coastline to dry inland plains, through wine regions and high over the mountains of the Pyrénées. A real all-in-one if you will.

We followed the Camino on this trip, first along the northern route and then back home along the French Way
We saw everything from coast to inland this trip (Llanes, Spain)
Polly loved being on the road again (Alto de Ibaneta, Spain)

We didn’t make it the whole way to the end-point of Santiago De Compostella (that’ll be for another time), but we made it a good part of the way and we did it in the supreme comfort of LMB, which is admittedly much easier and faster than by foot.

Plus we did meet lots of actual pilgrims along the way. Of course we saw many hundreds on the trail, but closer to our hearts were Paul and his dad who had started walking the trail from France in mid-April (I’ll write a blog about their experience soon) and who we met three-quarters of the way through in Hospital De Orbigo, the mid-point of our own trip West. It ended up being a short meet-up (the poor boys were really ill) but it was nonetheless a cool way to bring everything together.

Plus we saw some amazing stuff, from basque towns in France, to stunning coastal beauty in Spain, spectacular churches, wonderfully small villages and some of the prettiest mountain driving we’ve done in Europe. I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

So what were the details of stats & costs? The nitty gritty? Well this isn’t a complete breakdown, but here’s where most of our Euros went to rest.

Km Traveled: ~1,630 (~1,013 miles)
Days Traveled: 9

Category Total Costs Av. Costs Per Day
Diesel €223 €25
Road Tolls €94 €10
Camping €160 €20 (8 stays)

We Traveled Fast (Compared To Our Usual Pace)

All in all we covered ~1,630 km (1,013 m) in a mere 9 days, waaay faster than our usual slo-mo style. I found it exhausting to drive everyday, but we managed to keep it to a reasonable ~2-3 hours per day, so it was do-able despite it all. Plus we did vary it up a bit. Our longest drive was 296 km (~184 m) from Santillana Del Mar to Hospital De Orbigo (from coast to inland, basically), whereas our shortest was 75.2 km (~47 m) on the last full day, coming down the steep, curvy French side of the Pyrenees.

We covered a ton of miles this trip (Llanes, Spain)

Our Average Fuel Price Was EUR 1.30 Per Liter

One of the nice things about traveling in Spain is that fuel prices are lower than many other European countries.

All in all we filled up ~171 liters of diesel at a cost of ~EUR 223 (~$250) which breaks down to around EUR 1.30 per liter. This is a smidgen more expensive than what we paid during our last trip in March, but IMO still not bad at all.

Gas prices were reasonable through the whole trip

And we finally figured out our fuel usage! When we crunched the numbers after our trip (including what we had in the tanks at the start and finish) we figure that LMB managed just under 9 km per liter (= ~21 mpg for my American readers). This included quite a bit of mountain driving, so I expect that will number improve as our engine breaks in and we do more flat-ground miles.

We saw so many cool little towns along the way (the Medieval village of Santillana Del Mar)

We Paid EUR 20/Night For Camping

Because I was traveling with dad, we decided to stay at full-service campgrounds the whole way and didn’t really think too much about costs*.

We stayed at full-service campgrounds the whole way (one of our fav waterfront sites at Laredo, Spain)

Despite this it all ended up being quite reasonable. May is still low-season and many of our campgrounds were ASCI, so we managed to get decent discounts almost everywhere we stayed. We camped in 8 total spots and spent a total of ~EUR 160 (~$178) on camping costs, which works out to exactly EUR 20/night (~$22/night). As usual we used the Park4Night app as our go-to camping/parking locator to find spots the whole way.

*Cutting Costs: If we had chosen to stay at Motorhome Aires (Areas De Autocaravanas) instead of campgrounds, these costs would easily have been half. Plus when we were traveling the inland route back home there were tons of free parking areas where we could have overnighted as well. It would be super easy to cut costs here.

We Paid ~EUR 94 in Road Tolls

Toll roads in Spain. We paid tolls on A8 and AP66 this trip.

All in all we ended up paying ~EUR 94 in tolls this trip. We didn’t really make much effort to avoid them, taking pay roads when they were offered and using back roads the rest of the time.

Most of our tolls were incurred in France on highway A64 (getting to/from Spain), with the rest in Spain on coastal highway A8 (which is a pay road from the French border to Bilbao) and AP66 (which is a pay road south from Campomanes). The entire route back home going East through inland Spain was on smaller N-type back roads and cost nothing at all.

France Tolls: EUR 59.65 (all on A64, Class 2)*
Spain Tolls: EUR 34.82 (on A-8 & AP66)

*Class 2 Rates: Our motorhome is rated as “Class 2” in France (vehicle below 3.5 tonnes and 3m in height), which means we pay around 50% more in tolls than Class 1 (regular car). In Spain there is no rating difference. Motorhomes pay the same price as regular cars.

Many of our “coolest” finds were on smaller, free N-type roads (Tosantos, Spain)

Eating & Drinking Was Cheap

We only ate out a few times this this trip primarily for lunch, simply because Spanish dinner times are really late and waaaay past our bedtime. So most of the time we just stuck to simple meals in the motorhome, with plenty of brilliantly inexpensive Spanish wine and gin to supplement. In the end we spent a total of EUR 115 ($128) on groceries for the whole trip, which averaged out to ~EUR 13 per day, and that wasn’t holding back one single bit. Spanish groceries are a bargain!

Polly Went Everywhere With Us

There are things that cost money and things that are priceless and since we are a paw-obsessed family (as you well know), one of the latter is the ability to bring our pets with us everywhere we go.

Polly went absolutely everywhere with us

And in that respect, Spain (and France) rock!!

All 12 paws came with us on this trip, as they always do. The cats got their usual walks (everyday at camp) and apart from one night where they both decided to test my mental limits, they were pretty relaxed throughout. They managed to find their “spots” and figure out a routine, which is something I’m really happy about. Plus they’re older now, so they really do prefer to just hang in bed and sleep most of the day.

Polly was a trooper and came into town on every single one of our sightseeing trips. We all walked 5-6 miles a day which was A LOT for our little crew, but both dad and Polly rallied to the task. All the towns we went into accepted dogs, and every restaurant did too. The only place Polly didn’t go was inside the churches themselves, so dad and I just took turns sitting with her outside while the other went to visit. It worked out perfectly, and Polly never had to stay in the motorhome alone once.

We walked an average of 5-6 miles per day (Estella, Spain)

We Loved The Lot, But The Inland Route Was Especially Fun

I have to say this trip opened our eyes to inland Spain.

I LOVED driving the inland N-type roads

Prior to this we’ve only driven the coastline, and most motorhome folk that come to Spain do the same. There’s no doubt the coast is gorgeous, and we’ll certainly be back there again (the ocean always calls to us), but some of the BEST experiences we had this trip were on the inland N-type byways.

Driving on smaller, less-trafficked roads was just such a pleasure. It was SO quiet (we saw SO few cars) and the roads were in great condition with wonderful views. Plus we just had a blast stopping off whenever we felt like it in the smaller villages and towns. I think we’ll be seeking out many more N-type roads in the future.

Burgos Cathedral was one of the highlights of our trip (Burgos, Spain)

I’ve Got Interactive Maps & Blogs Posts To Cover It All

That really covers the lot!

I’ve spent some more time on mapping (yeah!) and now have both our 2019 mini-trips (the one we did in March and this one that we finished in May) on a single interactive map complete with routes traveled, places camped and sightseeing stops as well as links back to the blog posts that I’ve written about each spot. I’ll be updating this particular map after we finish every trip and will keep a copy of it permanently on our side-bar.

So for those of you who are map geeks (like me), click on through and enjoy!


Lastly, for those who prefer to see ALL posts in one place, here are the blogs I wrote about this particular mini-trip:

  • Lounging By The Ocean In Basque Country – St Jean De Luz, France
  • A Mini-Trip Off The Beaten Path – Costa Vasca, Spain
  • A Fish-Man and A Medieval Town – Liérganes & Santillana Del Mar, Spain
  • From Coastal Beauty To Inland Plains – Llanes & Hospital De Órbigo, Spain
  • A Heavenly Stop – Burgos, Spain
  • A Squeeze, Snowflakes & Gin – From Burgos to Logroño, Spain
  • From Lows To Highs on the Camino – Logrono to Espinal, Spain
  • Crossing The Pyrénées & A Fab End To Our Trip – Sauveterre-De-Béarn, France 

That’s it for this trip my friends! The next one is (hopefully) just around the corner and this time, it won’t be in Spain.

Coming up next: Y’all asked for it, so here it comes…a summary of Paul and his dads experience walking the Camino de Santiago. Stay tuned..

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« Crossing The Pyrénées & A Fab End To Our Trip – Sauveterre-De-Béarn, France
Walking The Camino De Santiago -> What Was It Really Like? »

We LOooVE Comments, So Please Do

  1. Laura says

    July 28, 2019 at 1:18 pm

    Thank you for all you have done to keep this blog going. While we are stuck back here in the US, I am a fan and total wannabe European traveler! I jus have to finish the US first….

    FYI, I am still using your travel information on the states as a base for our travels. All of your work has been so helpful to us. We leave the west to go east for a year or two (I hope at least 2!), and I know we can get our 35 foot 5th wheel to go as long as we follow your tracks and those of Technomadia!

    Thank you for all you have done.

    Reply
    • libertatemamo says

      July 28, 2019 at 1:37 pm

      Awesome! I love that all my US stuff is still used. Happy travels to you!

      Nina

      Reply
  2. Kathy Kobishyn says

    July 29, 2019 at 1:47 am

    I look forward to your travel blog. Love the photos,details. It’s so very personal! I’m full timing with my husband and your blog has been inspiring. So excited to read all about the Camino. Thank you for opening up your life and sharing it with us all. Safe travels

    Reply
    • libertatemamo says

      July 29, 2019 at 2:44 am

      Lovely to have you along for the ride, and wonderful that you’re getting to have your own fulltime adventure too! Happy travels to you!

      Nina

      Reply
  3. Diane Borcyckowski says

    July 29, 2019 at 5:35 am

    I’m about to buy a 24′ Winnebago trend and begin US travels mostly by myself and my 2 cats. I am concerned about leaving the cats In the rig if it gets warm. Do you leave air conditioning on via the generator when you park in towns? Do you trust it to stay running? How do you handle this? Also, do you ever find yourself to be unwilling to go somewhere because of parking? Or can you mostly find big enough spaces close enough to where you want to be?
    I so enjoy reading about your European travels and am so grateful for all the knowledge you share.

    Reply
    • libertatemamo says

      July 29, 2019 at 5:46 am

      With the pets we’ve always had the policy that if weather is hot we look for sites with electricity hookup so we can leave an aircon running while we’re gone. As an additional backup, in our old RV we also had auto-gen-start (on our generator) in case the power went out. That was always a nice safety net and ensured our electricity would keep going no matter what.

      A further option is to buy a temperature monitoring devices that can alert you (e.g. by phone) if temp goes over a set limit in your RV. I know lots of folks who have these in the USA. They can be a really nice extra back-up.

      And as for campsites, we always had a tow vehicle in then USA which really helped for sightseeing. So we would just park wherever and then take our little car around to see things in the area. If towing is not a possibility for you, then temporary rentals might be another option. I know folks who’ve full-timed like that (just renting whenever they needed a car).

      Good travels to you!

      Nina

      Reply
  4. Diane Borcyckowski says

    July 29, 2019 at 6:33 am

    Thanks for your quick reply. I like your solutions. I didn’t know about the phone app or that a generator could come on automatically. The rig I’m getting cannot tow the weight of a car so I was hoping to feel more agile with parking it in towns. Maybe in any season but summer. Thanks again. PS I love your photography and your writing style.

    Reply
  5. Carolyn says

    July 29, 2019 at 6:50 am

    Great post! Love the pictures. Love reading about your adventures!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Back To An “Old” Favorite -> St Jean De Luz, France – Wheeling It says:
    September 22, 2019 at 1:47 pm

    […] only been a few months since my dad and I were here. We camped in May right before we headed into Northern Spain on our mini-tour to meet Paul and his dad on the Camino. We only stayed for a night that time around, but the […]

    Reply
  2. Our Mini-Tour Of “Les Landes”, SW France -> Route, Costs, Stops & More – Wheeling It says:
    December 8, 2019 at 10:38 am

    […] (that translates to ~$6.4/gallon for my US friends, if you’re curious). Compared to our last two tours into Spain, this was the highest price we’ve paid for fuel for our motorhome travels in Europe so […]

    Reply

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