Basque Spain

Posted on October 10, 2026 by Jo F

We left our lovely campsite by the sea on Monday, October 5 to make our way into Spain for the final leg of our trip. First stop was Lekeitio via the Flysch Rocks at Zumaia. These rocks look more amazing at low water but sadly, it would be dark!

Onto a very convenient and free site in Lekeitio (P4N#12848) which was just outside of the town. The car park has designated motorhome spots as well as discharge points but no electricity. However, with Dora’s solar panels, we really don’t need it that often. The town itself grew on us. It’s been described as a little San Sebastián but I think that’s pushing it a bit. The harbour area is busy with restaurants and bars and it has an island that is accessed via a causeway at low water. When we walked over it, a rogue wave decided to hit the causeway so we ended us with very wet feet. We climbed up the island to get a lovely view of the town. We also saw young school kids out rowing. Sea rowing is a very big thing all around the Basque area so it was fun to see the youngsters learning a new skill. Liz was convinced that she would be bit to pieces by mossies so she donned an over jacket that whilst it wasn’t exactly sartorial elegance, it worked!

The next day, Tuesday, we left around midday to head back towards San Sebastián as we had a dinner reservation at a Cider Farm restaurant just outside. However, we first of all stopped off at Pasaia Donibane as we had heard it was cute. We weren’t convinced as it seemed to be a major shipping port but as we walked away from the harbour along the estuary, a delightful old town emerged.

The restaurant we had booked, Petritegi, has been a Sagardotegia for 500 years. Cider making is a part of the Basque culture around San Sebastián and there are many cider houses to choose from. The cider is very sharp and cloudy. You are supposed to drink it direct from the barrel and aerate it for the best experience.

The meal is standard across the houses: cider braised chorizo, salted cod omelette, cod with peppers, T-bone steak. All served with a baguette and copious amounts of cider! It was such a fun evening and the restaurant allows campervans to stay overnight.

The following day, Wednesday October 7, we made the short distance from the Cider House to San Sebastián and our campsite for the next couple of days, Wecamp San Sebastián (P4N#21410) to meet up again with our friends, Sue and Sheila. We stopped on the front at San Sebastián for an hour not realising that we needed an ULEZ type documentation to do so. Jo quickly did it online and we are hoping that it will be sufficient for the authorities!

We spent the next couple of days chilling in the campsite during the day and going into the town early evening.

There’s a fantastic bus service from outside the campsite to the centre every 30 minutes for €1.50 so it makes it all very easy. Jo had caught Liz’s cold so was feeling pretty miserable and decided not to go in with the others. They had a lovely time trying various Pintxos bars, Gandarias and Baztan, with the Basque equivalent of tapas but with a culinary twist.

We all went in together on the Thursday evening and queued up outside a favourite of ours, Ganbara, so we could get a seat at the bar. We started queuing 30 minutes before it opened and were the 3rd group in. The queue was down the street for the whole evening. The food was sublime and the wine excellent, even though your choice is white, red or rosè.

After a lovely couple of days, we were keen to explore more of the Basque Country between San Sebastián and Bilbao, where our ferry was departing from on Saturday. We left the campsite around 13.00 on Friday, October 9 but not before meeting up briefly with our neighbours in Harpenden, Stuart and Wendy, who are in their own campervan, Hetty, touring around France and Spain.

We wanted to go to Guernica (Gernika in Basque) where there is a peace museum following a horrendous event on April 26, 1937. In the height of the Spanish Civil War, Gernika was a Basque and Republican stronghold. France, as leader of the Rebel army, colluded with Germany and Italy to bomb the town. Not only did they bomb it but they destroyed 85% of all the buildings. After 3 hours of bombing, fighter planes arrived to mow down those fleeing to the countryside. It was the first example of total war. It was not until 1997 that Germany admitted its role in the affair and the truth did not come out in Spain until after Franco’s death in 1975. The museum was fascinating and horrendous in equal measure. Picasso’s painting of Guernica makes more sense now.

From there we drove for about 30 minutes north to San Juan Gaztelugatxe to see the hermitage on the peninsula. We arrived after 19.00 so we were able to park at the site and wander down. We figured that there was no one around to tell us off!

Our park up for the night was an aire in Bermeo, a small town nearby for the princely sum of €6 (P4N#660108).

Total miles since last blog: 248

Total miles this trip: 2,543

Biscarrosse, Bayonne, Biarritz and Basque

Posted on October 6, 2026 by Jo F

We left Gavarnie on a very wet morning (Thursday, October 1) with very low cloud so we decided against visiting other cols en route as we wouldn’t see anything!

Our first stop was Pau to see the chateau and the medieval town. Naturally, the chateau was shut for lunch when we arrived but we could wander around the outside of it before exploring the city itself.

It was a long driving day as our destination was the Dune de Pilat near Biscarrosse, not that far south of Bordeaux. We had planned to visit it last year but the weather had turned so we changed our plans. The dune itself is 100m above sea level and covers an extraordinary area. We parked up and walked to the top of it. Photos don’t do it justice regarding the sheer scale of it.

We then drove onto our park up for the night which was a Camping Car Park aire (P4N#3694), nestled in a pine forest less than ten minutes to Les Viviers beach. It was so idyllic that we booked in for an extra night.

The next day we drove up to Arcachon to catch the ferry to Cap Ferret. It took us the best part of an hour to find somewhere to park that would allow us to stay for more than two hours. Nightmare. Finally, found a spot outside of town and cycled to the ferry port. Caught the midday ferry over, (where bikes are put on top of the boat!) and then cycled up to the village of L’Herbe to have oysters and crevettes for lunch at a seafood shack, Chez Guillaume, washed down with a wee glass of wine. Although Cap Ferret isn’t an island, it sure feels like one – Ile de Re meets Nantucket. Great cycle paths and upmarket shops in the main town of Bélisaire.

After lunch we cycled down to Cap Ferret point but the dune was closed to visitors so we cycled back to the lighthouse and climbed its 200 plus steps to the top. We were rewarded with fantastic views of the dune.

Back to our camping car park aire to watch another sunset with a beer.

The next morning, Liz’s cold was getting worse so we had a leisurely morning chilling before leaving our campsite just before 14.00 to drive 86 miles to Ondres Municipal Camping Car Aire (P4N#132008), just north of Bayonne and right on the beach. This cheered Liz up being next to a beach.

On Sunday, October 4, we had tickets to the refurbished Musée Bonnat-Helleu in Bayonne as all museums are free to entry on the first Sunday of every month. We drove the short distance to Bayonne around 10.00 and managed to find a place to park near the station on the northern side of the river. It was incredibly busy for a Sunday morning so we were very lucky to find a space.

Bayonne has an interesting history, having been around since at least Roman times. There are still Roman towers around the town that were converted into homes, one of them known as the Executioner’s House!It is the French Basque capital and was once even under English control after Eleanor of Aquitaine’s marriage to Henry II. It was a lovely city to wander round and we popped into the Basque museum that ensured that the Basque culture, history and traditions were recorded. Bayonne became famous for its chocolatiers as Jews fled to the city following their expulsion from Spain in 1492 bringing their chocolate making skills with them. The Bonnat-Helleu museum had a number of masters’ paintings in there, including Constable, Reynolds, Degas as well as Léon Bonnat himself. Overall, though, it was slightly underwhelming. Bizarrely, the cathedral is known for its two steeples, only one of which is kept clean!

We then drove onto Biarritz some 30 minutes away on the coast, still very much in the Basque region. We didn’t know quite what to expect as reviews had differed. We found a lovely seaside town that was once very glamorous but now was still quite sweet mixed with lots of surfing dudes as the waves and beaches were perfect for it The town was very busy on a Sunday afternoon but definitely not motorhome friendly as we had to park over a mile away from the town centre as all the main car parks had height restrictions. We enjoyed the mix of art deco and early 20th century architecture with promenade walks and sandstone rock formations. We even found the chocolatier, Miremont, where Queen Victoria apparently loved their caramels.

We left Biarritz around 18.30 as we needed to find somewhere to stay for the night and had no plan! Again, a number of places had height restrictions or low bridges. We eventually found a lovely campsite, Camping Soubelet (P4N#201165), near Guethary, right by the Mayarco beach that both had space, was open at 19.30 and was charging less than €20. Once parked up we quickly walked to the Ti Cabanon beach bar and had an incredible meal of Moules Marinière and squid risotto whilst watching a lovely sunset.

Miles since last blog: 357

Miles this trip: 2,295

Dali Triangle

Posted on October 1, 2026 by Jo F

We left our aire in Carcassonne on Friday, September 25 at 10.30 to drive the 120 miles to our next stop near Figueres in Spain. This should have been a simple enough task even though it would take three hours as we object to paying the French tolls. The campsite we were heading for was set in an olive grove with 9,000 organic chickens. They shut for lunch between 14.30 and 16.00 so leaving ourselves four hours should have been plenty of time.

We needed to do a shop and the only decent supermarkets we found were hyper markets that took ten minutes to find the entrance in the shopping centre let alone find our way around the store. Next, we wanted to get more diesel but in France it is astronomically expensive at around €2.40 per litre. However, we had found one provider, Total Energies, who had capped the price at €2.25 so we were on the hunt to find one that still had some fuel left. We found one near Lezignan but the queues were long. We decided it shouldn’t take too much time as there were several pumps. What we hadn’t reckoned on was the fact that everyone had to prepay for fuel before filling up and then go and get their receipt before driving off. It took the best part of 30 minutes! To add insult to injury, we found more Total garages en route with no queue and that fuel in Spain was much cheaper anyway! To be fair, we needed some fuel to get there but certainly not a full tank. Consequently, we didn’t arrive until 14.45 but our friends, Sue and Sheila had already checked us in.

The campsite was delightful, nestled amongst the olive groves with only the farm animal noises. We spent a very lazy afternoon in hammocks chilling and watching the world go by before a pasta and pesto dinner al fresco.

The reason we had chosen Agricola Siurana (P4N#385095) was the fact that a) it was an olive farm and b) only 20 minutes from Figueres and the Dali Theatre Museum. So, Saturday morning we left the campsite around 10.00 to get to the museum on plenty of time for our timed entry. As Sheila and Sue have a Go Pod (think very small caravan) we were able to have the luxury of being in a car! The museum was interesting and confusing at the same time. There wasn’t much in the way of information unless you’d prebooked a guide so it was fairly chaotic.

After that we meandered the streets and went in search of his birthplace, a house about ten minutes walk away. This was much quieter and gave a real insight into the man himself. It was a very immersive experience with doors opening and closing automatically to guide you through. Back to the campsite for a spot of lunch before making our way to Gala’s Castle in Pubol. Gala, Dali’s wife, was a talented writer herself but also an astute businesswoman who understood celebrity, marketing and PR. She ran his career and also had a huge input into his many projects from film sets to advertisements. Fascinating. A lovely BBQ to end the day.

The following day we drove to the town of Cadaques on the peninsula. About an hour away though only 50km but over mountain passes and windy roads. Cadaques itself was a lovely place and we spent several hours wandering around it after a lovely brunch at a local cafe. Whilst there, we came across a local delicacy called Millasson, which is a Spanish version of Pastel de Nata.

Portlligat, a short walk from Cadaques. was where Dali had his home for many years. They converted fishermen’s cottages overlooking the bay there. A truly gorgeous setting. Dali had a mirror angled over the bay so that he could see the sunrise from his bed and claimed to be the first Spaniard to see it as Portlligat is on the eastern tip of NE Spain.

Back to the campsite for another lovely BBQ.

Miles since last blog: 120

Miles this trip: 1,608

Auxerre to Sancerre and beyond

Posted on September 24, 2026 by Jo F

Having had to get up whilst it was still dark on Sunday morning, September 20, we made excellent time getting to Auxerre. There was even space at the car park we had chosen (P4N#3021) despite the fact that none of the overnighters had yet left! Liz went back to bed for an hour or so before we had breakfast and ventured into town. Auxerre is another medieval town so the car park was on the other side of the River Yonne but with a footbridge nearby. It was a lovely town with a 13th century cathedral, a medieval clock tower and a 5th century abbey. All visited via the old cobbled streets. The town itself dates back to the 1st century and was the capital of the Roman Empire in the 4th century. Delightful place and because it was so early, devoid of people. The whole visit was done and dusted by 10.00.

Onto the village of Vezelay, a UNESCO site with a religious context. It wasn’t in our guide book which seems strange given its UNESCO standing. The abbey at Vezelay supposedly holds the relics of Mary Magdalen and as such became a major pilgrimage destination from the 11th century. In fact, it’s the starting point in France for the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. We parked at the bottom of the village and walked up. Why are all churches at the very top of steep hills??!

It was actually quite nice wandering the streets after visiting the Abbey although fairly touristy. We succumbed into buying a bottle of the local beer and a cheese brioche thing called Gougère. It was rather delicious.

Next stop was Sancerre. We had low expectations as one review had described it as not one of the beau villages en France. We thought it was delightful. Again, it probably helped that it was mid afternoon on a Sunday. We popped into a wine shop and bought a couple of bottles, of course!

When we were driving out of Sancerre, we noticed a viaduct that had a water tap halfway up the wall. No idea why!

From there we continued heading vaguely south towards the Massif Central. There are a number of extinct volcanoes there that make up the Chaîne de Puys. You can see why the French Resistance squirrelled themselves away so effectively when the Germans took over Vichy France. The woods are vast with lots of trails making it very difficult to follow if you were not a local. Apparently, the Tour de France came up the Puy de Dôme this year. We were very impressed given the gradients! We stayed overnight near the Puy de Dôme at a free park up (P4N#444818) nestled amongst trees. Lovely end to the day.

On Monday morning, we drove up to the train station to the Dôme as we didn’t fancy the trek up. We’d bought tickets the night before, not realising that there would be low cloud in the morning so we wouldn’t be able to see a lot from up there! We could have waited but we had lots to do so we caught the train anyway.

It was a lovely journey up and even though there was zero visibility most of the time, it was still fun. There was even a Temple to Mercury up there that was discovered in the 19th century. The museum was very interesting. One of the first longer distance airplane flights landed on its crest in 1911 to claim the prize of 100,000 Francs from the Michelin brothers. They had to take off from Paris and land at Puy de Dôme within 6 hours.

Back down on the midday train before heading onto Chateau de Val. The castle was on the Dordogne River. It sat very majestically on its promontory but was less impressive inside. The best part was the modern art exhibition by Jo Di Bona.

We finally made it to our overnight stop at Rocamadour (P4N#17495) around 19.00 in preparation for an early start in the morning.

Miles since last blog: 411

Miles this trip: 1,286

Troyes and Chablis

Posted on September 21, 2026 by Jo F

We had a leisurely morning packing up and saying goodbye to our friends in Èpernay on Saturday, September 19 before continuing our journey south (ish). First stop was back to Avenay Val d’Or where we had stayed on Wednesday night to pick up some more of their lovely champagne!

Then onto Vertus, a sweet town before Troyes, a wonderful medieval town. We were able to park up just outside the historic centre of Troyes and walk in. The car park was very busy but a van pulled out just as we entered so the parking goddess was definitely looking out for us. One of the reasons the town was so busy, apart from being a Saturday afternoon, was that it was National Heritage Weekend. This was to celebrate all the traditional crafts across France. So, in front of the cathedral were many different apprentices showing off their skills. There were blacksmiths, carpenters, roofers – you name it. Lovely to see such artisan skills being celebrated. Further into town there was a fete as well, where they were letting kids try out wheelchair basketball to see what it felt like to be in a wheelchair. Clever idea.

From Troyes we went onto Chablis. We stopped at another France Passion winegrower and managed to snaffle a tasting for 18.00. Lovely wine and we learnt more about the difference between Petit Chablis and Chablis. The latter grown on land that was once a seabed and has fossils in the stone. Consequently, Chablis has a more salty taste to it. We then offset our free night’s accommodation by buying several bottles of his wine! A wander into town where we purchased some local cheese and bypassed the shop selling andouillettes (tripe sausages!). On the way back we spotted some locals playing boules in a dry river bed. The only downside to a lovely day was the fact that our host, M Jacquin, needed to leave by 07.00 the next morning to set up a stall in a market in Dijon that morning!

Miles since last blog: 117

Miles this trip: 875

Den Bosch

Posted on September 15, 2026 by Jo F

We left our campsite just outside of Arnhem around 11.00 on Tuesday, September 8 to make our way to Camping Distelloo, some 60 plus miles away in the Brabant region of The Netherlands. This would be our home for the next six nights whilst we watch the Solheim Cup. This is a biannual golf match between Europe and the USA featuring some of the best women golfers in the world. As you can imagine, the rivalry is intense but also played with mutual respect. That goes for the spectators as well. We obviously wanted Europe to win but it’s equally a showcase for women’s sport which so rarely gets the media coverage it should.

Anyway, before we arrive at our campsite outside of ‘s Hertogenbosch (known as Den Bosch, woods in English) we pop into the lovely town of Buren. This was the home of Anna van Egmond, the first wife of William of Orange and became part of the Orange family dynasty. Although the town promotes its connection as much as possible, it is still a quaint little town. It had the added advantage of easy parking and a supermarket close by.

We then drove onto our campsite, which was set in the woods. We found it via a google search as it wasn’t on any of our apps.

It became full over the week with many campervans and motor homes, mainly for the golf as it was only a ten minute cycle ride through the woods to the cycle park at Bernardus Golf Club. The organisers were running shuttle buses to and from various locations, including Den Bosch, so we jumped on one on Weds afternoon to see the city. Torrential rain was also forecast so it seemed a good idea as it was only a practice day for the players.

Den Bosch has a wonderful old quarter, Uilenburg, dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries and, unusually for The Netherlands, many of the canals went through tunnels rather than just having bridges over them. The twice weekly market was just finishing up when we finally arrived so we were able to enjoy a Dutch staple, kibberling. This is a freshly made fried fish in bite sized chunks that you have with either mayonnaise or rémoulade. Delicious and not expensive. As the heavens opened, we thought it appropriate to pop into the Sint Jan’s cathedral for shelter, which has one of the largest organ walls in Europe. After all this culture we had to stop and have a Bossche Bol that was a huge profiterole.

The woods in the nearby town of Vught was the setting for a concentration camp during WWII. Whilst it wasn’t an extermination camp, many people died or were executed there or were moved onto other camps in Poland or Germany. A well thought through exhibition highlighting that there never is just black and white in war.

Back to the golf course to pick up our bikes and then back to the van. The theme of torrential downpours continued for the rest of our time there but the golf did not disappoint. World class golfers playing for each other was nail biting stuff. All square after days one and two with 12 singles matches on the Sunday to decide who will take home the trophy. Europe prevailed 15-13 and the place roared with each hole won let alone when we won a match. Great stuff.

Miles since last blog: 67

Miles this trip: 440

Oudewater and Geithoorn

Posted on September 9, 2026 by Jo F

As the motorways are toll free in The Netherlands, we made good use of them to drive towards our final destination of the day, Giethoorn. Before that, though, we stopped at Oudewater, about an hour north of the Biesbosch.

Oudewater became famous in the 16th century for weighing people who had been accused of being witches. It is thought that over one million women were killed as a result of the witch hunts across Europe during this time. It was a time when petty grievances and superstition ran rife. Many women were tortured, drowned or burnt alive due to the fact that it was extremely hard to prove their innocence. However, one test was about how much they weighed as witches were thought to be very light in order to fly around on broomsticks. So, women accused of witchcraft could be weighed. The town weighing house was generally used as this was where goods were normally weighed. Many of the weigh masters were bribed to ensure the women only weighed a few pounds. This happened when Emperor Charles V was passing by and he ordered the woman to be reweighed at Oudewater as he knew the weighing there was reliable. The woman survived and was given a certificate stating her weight which was then proof of her not being a witch. After that, the town drew thousands of women who for a small fee could be weighed. So, of course, Liz demanded to be weighed and got a certificate to prove that she wasn’t a witch.

We then continued north for another 90 minutes to reach Giethoorn and found the lovely, quirky campsite Haamstede (P4N#32120) about a 20 minute walk from the centre.

We arrived around 19.00 so we had a quick G&T before heading out to find our restaurant, L’Achterhuus, in the centre of the village of Giethoorn. Giethoorn means goat horn as they found hundreds of horns when they drained the area in the 13th century. They believed that the remains were from the St Elizabeth Day flood of 1170. It now is a delightfully pretty village with no cars that felt to us like a cross between Cambridge, Marlow, Cotswolds and Norfolk Broads with criss crossing canals flanked by quaint thatched cottages on the banks and hump backed bridges. Due to the large number of tourists, there are also hundreds of small electric boats to hire to meander around the village for an hour or two. Dinner was gorgeous with Liz having guinea fowl and Jo had boneless ribs, washed down with a glass of wine. A walk around a deserted village afterwards made for a very pleasant evening.

The next morning, Sunday September 6, we took advantage of the coaches not having arrived yet to walk around the village in daylight. It really was very pretty, helped by the lovely weather no doubt.

Miles this blog: 123

Miles this trip: 293

Delft

Posted on September 5, 2026 by Jo F

We finally managed to leave home around 16.30 on Tuesday, September 1st. We weren’t sure we would even make it away with various family medical emergencies in the previous couple of weeks. However, we did. We drove across to Harwich and parked up at the ferry terminal for the 09.00 crossing the next day. Stena Line kindly allow you to stay overnight by the check in so that you are virtually in the queue when it opens at 07.00. We are travelling with our friends, Maria and Jane, in their Adria Twin so it was an easy way to meet up.

The crossing itself was uneventful but long as it takes 7 hours. The entry into The Netherlands was easy enough as we had already submitted our biometric data back in June when we visited Spain. They just checked our passports and we were on our way. Our first stop was a lovely campsite just outside Delft which we had booked the day before. Camping de Drie Morgen (P4N#196346) was just a few kilometres outside of the town so a perfect spot to explore from.

It seems that in The Netherlands you can’t really wild camp. You can only stopover where they explicitly say it is allowed. Consequently, I think that we will be on recognised sites and aires for our two weeks here. It’s not that much of a hardship although you don’t tend to get the same views you can find wild camping. However, what they have invested in is zillions of bike paths. Everywhere. So far, we have only had to be on a road, a minor one at that, for about 5 minutes. Wonderful and the traffic stops for cyclists at roadabouts and most junctions.

Anyway, back to Delft. It would have been a 30 minute cycle into Delft and the weather had been atrocious overnight and during the morning. We had booked a walking tour for 13.00 so we all chickened out and caught an Uber taxi into town late morning. There was a lovely market in the main square so we stocked up on fresh vegetables, a cooked chicken and, of course, cheese! We even found the oldest shop in Delft (1782) which is a chemist and it sold salted liquorice by the kilo!

The walking tour by a lovely woman called Astrid was highly informative covering both the famous ceramics as well as the murder of William of Orange (father of the nation) in 1584 during the 80 years war with Spain to gain their independence. The town has two churches, the new one built in 1381, with imposing spires although the Oude Kerk is definitely at a jaunty angle. Delft is also famous as the birthplace of Johannes Vermeer but sadly the painting of the Girl with the Pearl Earring is on loan at the moment.

After the tour we needed a beer or two at the local microbrewery, naturally, before having an early dinner at a canal-side restaurant. Apparently, there were over 200 breweries in the 16th and 17th centuries when the water was unfit to drink. Back to the vans and a relatively early night as we wanted an early start in the morning.

Miles this trip: 116

Galway City

Posted on May 18, 2026 by Jo F

What a vibrant place! It’s like Dingle on steroids. Having parked in the railway station car park we wandered into town to find a restaurant. Galway is known for its music scene, food and bars. Being a Friday night, of course, all the notable restaurants were fully booked. We had found a Portuguese restaurant on Google that got good reviews so we booked a table. We arrived there to find that there were doing a special three course set menu with paired wines. It all sounded delicious.

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Dingle Peninsula

Posted on May 15, 2026 by Jo F

Wednesday, May 13 started off horrible with more lashing rain and extremely windy. However, we were not deterred as we wanted to drive the Slea Head Drive. This is done clockwise as that’s the way the buses go and the roads are extremely narrow. Of course, you had some numpties who decide to go the other way and create chaos and bedlam. It’s a 24 mile loop from Dingle so we needed to drive around 20 minutes to get to the start. We also used the drive through Dingle town to decide on where to stay the night when we had finished as we fancied a meal out and some proper Irish music in a pub.

First stop was Ventry Beach, which was lovely but strangely had an Irish warship anchored in the bay. This was followed by some quite dodgy tourist attractions. Dun Beag Fort had collapsed a few years ago, the Famine Cottages weren’t bad but the Beehive Huts were a rip off.

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Lighthouses and marinas

Posted on May 5, 2026 by Jo F

Yet another peaceful night in Dora and we awoke on Sunday, May 3 in the car park of Camus Farm to stunning views across the fields. We left relatively early for us at 09.10 as we had booked a ferry trip to go round to the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse at 14.00 from Baltimore and we wanted to visit a few places on the way. First stop was the Drombeg Stone Circle that was created around 150BC with an altar stone that is aligned to where the sun sets on December 21 (Winter Solistice). Next, we saw the waterfall at Leap village. According to legend, many people escaped the law by disappearing into the dense forest around Leap.

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Clonakilty and Galley Head

Posted on May 4, 2026 by Jo F

Wednesday night at Charles Fort was a bit blustery as we were high up but it was still a peaceful one. We left around 09.30 on Thursday to make our way down towards Old Head of Kinsale to visit the Lusitania Museum. The sinking of the Cunard passenger ship in 1915 by a German U Boat was instrumental in the USA joining the First World War as there were many Americans on board. No one survived. The ship sank very quickly when a second explosion occurred soon after the first. At the time it was thought the U Boat had fired a second torpedo. The more likely reason is that it was carrying ammunition for the British Army! The museum itself is in the old Signal Point that had been established during the Napoleonic Wars to warn of imminent attack along the west coast of Ireland. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty miserable so the views weren’t great!

Lusitania Museum with Head of Kinsale in background

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And we are off!

Posted on April 24, 2026 by Jo F

Our Irish adventure has begun! We left home on Wednesday, April 22 at 13.30 hours, slightly later than planned, and drove to Fishguard via Birmingham to check on Liz’s parents’ flat. This all took a bit longer than expected so we didn’t get to our overnight stop until 20.30 hours. The stop was The Harp Inn at Letterstone, about 15 minutes from the ferry port. We were meeting up with Maria and Jane, who also have an Adria Twin called Arty, as travel companions. The inn was a great stopover with 5 designated places for mohos with water and electricity if required (SfS:S38630S). Sadly, the food was mediocre at best and even the Abbots ale was off!

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Dora The Explorer

Jo and Liz’s Adventures in their Campervan

Tag Archives: food

Basque Spain

Biscarrosse, Bayonne, Biarritz and Basque

Dali Triangle

Auxerre to Sancerre and beyond

Troyes and Chablis

Den Bosch

Oudewater and Geithoorn

Delft

Galway City

Dingle Peninsula

Lighthouses and marinas

Clonakilty and Galley Head

And we are off!