Taking our annual trip beginning early October and booked a ferry last week. Article in the Saturday Telegraph travel section about a ferry price war and they mentioned SpeedFerries as the best price.
Great advice and booked off the internet for a standard return for £50.00
We normally drive down to Lagos in Portugal and meet up with daughter and family who fly down. Being retired when time doesn?t matter we enjoy a leisurely drive down, stop for a week or more and head back home.
This year however they will not be there and the wife and I are thinking of perhaps choosing a destination not so far to travel as Lagos. We love the place and find it exactly right with lovely self catering apartments on the Algarve and English type cafes and bars.
Can anyone advise on a similar type place either in Northern Spain or on the Southern Coast in the area of Barcelona. Not a lager lout place but with English speaking facilities to make life easier.
Roger (Malteser) hope you read this as you should be the man in the know.
Any advice and opinions please.
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>>>>>thinking of perhaps choosing a destination not so far to travel as Lagos.
Strewth! I thought, not surprising. Then I realised you weren't talking about Nigeria!
I can recommend the L'Estartit/Toroella de Montgri area in N.E. Spain. It is yer actual Costa Brava but the northern end, much more select. Family- rather than Cromagnon Man-oriented. For many years I owned a villa at Pals, on the golf course, and (stupidly) sold it 18 months ago. Apartments are easy to come by - Pals/Begur area may suit you better than L'Estartit, which tends to attract the younger set. If you have your car you can simply visit there as you need. Pleasant little town. English is widely spoken. Plenty of cafés and bars and supermarkets. Road conditions are excellent. We enjoyed many happy holidays there when my daughter was little. The area is primarily agricultural and dotted with many pleasant small towns and villages.
My managing agent was Bigrup Torrent API, who have offices in most of the towns in that area. Their Head office is in Toroella de Montgri. They could doubtless sort you out. You'll find their fax numbers if you google. All their offices have English speaking staff.
HTH.
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Take the ferry to Santander, stay your first night in Sardinero which is the beach resort attached to Santander and then head along the coast through Cantabria and up in to Galicia. Past Santiago de la Compostela and ending up at Vigo. In Vigo the ferry to Isla de Cies may still be running if so go for the day.
Loads of lovely little towns/villages along the way and the views down the ria to Vigo are breathtaking.
Virtually no one in this area speaks English but hey live a little.
Mines an Estrella...
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second that, Thommo - the wonderful northern coast with green lush countryside and spectacular mountains (much like Switzerland or Austria) is way off normal tourist trail and takes in "real" Spain, including Asturias where I'm a regular visitor. Great roads, too .. pleasure to drive.
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Alvin
I live on the Costa del Sol, not far from Gibraltar,(avoid Gib unless you want cheap booze & fags and beware the Spanish Customs, run by the Guardia Civil,who often open boots to check you are not over your limit)
I have never been to Barcelona, but I understand the City itself is very well worth the visit. The only experience we have of the Pais Vasco is driving through the coastal part on our way to France & the channel ports, but from that little view it is a very green & beautiful region. Mind you it is green because it "enjoys" similar weather to the UK, with plenty of the wet stuff
If you intend travelling as far as the Costa del Sol, I could suggest some quieter places to stay (no lager louts)
I could heartily recommend visiting Madrid, (you'll need two days at least) - the Palacio Real, the Escorial,where generations of Spanish monarchs are buriedand the Valley of the Fallen, built by Franco after WW2 to commemmorate the Civil War dead. It is a cathedral driven straight into solid rock for 600 metres and surmounted by a gigantic granite crosson the mountainside.
Also on the must do list is Cordoba and the ancient mosque with a Christian Cathedral built inside it! Truly impressive. Granada and the Alhambra is also a must see INMHO.You need to book, many major banks, such as BBVA, can do this for you,and I also recommend a trip to the Alpujarras for beautiful countryside and jamon serrano and you haven't tasted black pudding until you sample the morcilla with pine nuts!
--
Roger. (in the UK for 2 more weeks and then back to the sun! )
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During the Moors occupation of Spain the bells from the cathedral at Santiago were taken down and carried across Spain by christian slaves, many of whom died in the process, to be displayed upside down outside the mosque at Cordoba as a humiliation of the christian faith.
I'll get my coat...
Oh in Madrid also visit the Thiessen museum of modern art.
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I second Rogers suggestion of a visit to Granada and the Alhambra - possibly one of the most beautiful palaces and gardens in the world. Also worth a visit to the nearby Sierra Nevada for some of the most spectacular scenery in Spain.
Coincidentally SWMBO and I have a weeks city break booked in a couple of weeks to Seville, a city which is also well worth a visit for the cathedral, the Giralda, the Plaza de Espana and for your truly the numerous tapas bars and restaurants in the old Santa Cruz district.
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Thanks to all and given me plenty of scope.. have now got the maps of Europe spread across my desk with a Shelock Holmes magnifying glass to find some of the places mentioned.
I agree that Northern Spain is absolutely beautiful. One day we counted 12 eagles circling above the road in that area. However as Roger rightly pointed out this is due to the rain.
Not being insular but I do do prefer areas where the English language can be found as it gets hard work after a while and with just two of you its easy to run out of conversation.
Growler as usual has his finger in the pie in every part of the world and I half expect to see him one day being led down the steps of a plane at Heathrow. STOP PRESS..Mastermind of the Great Train robbery finally apprehended. "Sorry about that Growler I just read too many books." Found your agent on the web by the way.
Regarding the ferry to Santander I agree its great but the prices they charge compared to a £50.00 channel crossing!. last time I checked it was over £500.00
More research to do but you have all given me some great ideas and will come back later.
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Never sure why anyone wants to take a ferry to Spain anyway. Much better option is cheap flight in to Santander (currently 45p plus taxes on Ryanair) and then hire a car. Cheaper and quicker.
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