very random question regarding campsites seville/gibraltar.

[stewby]

Righto... here I go sounding crazy again but I can't help it.


Does anyone here have any knowledge of Seville and/or Gibraltar??

Basically, I am reading this book about a couple who went campervanning in a Hymer (yuk) around Europe for two years. I am not far into the book they have been to two places I am very keen to look at. However, their descriptions are very vague and I am not sure if it is proper camping or wild camping (as they do both and they have not specified which one these entail).

The first one is at Seville. They speak about being camped right at the end of the runway and the planes practically leaving tyre marks on the roof of their van. (no such problem with a bongo I would imagine, maybe a bit of extra lift if we positioned ourselves with the roof in the right place).


The second one is near Gibraltar... possibly a wild camping spot.
Anyways, they talk about walking to Gibraltar (going through security) and having to stop at a level crossing as a plane takes off. The level crossing is a runway for planes!! Not trains.


I know it is a massive long shot but does anyone have any idea of specifics for these places?? My OH loves plane spotting and flying and everything else so I thought that this might be an amazing idea for our first bongo-ing abroad holiday. (will be in 2015 though).


P.S: Told you it was a very random question.

[Muzorewa]

Sadly the runway is nowhere near as active as it used to be. A good while ago the RAF used to fly Buccaneers around the rock just to irritate the Spaniards.

Have a look at this.... http://www.furgovw.org/mapa_furgoperfecto/ ....and you can zoom into specific areas where you can camp. I suspect the people in your book in the Hymer would just pitch up anywhere rather than a pukka campsite.

Also consider this.... https://www.vicarious-shop.com/All-the- ... ition.html ....which gives you all the detail on Spanish área de servicio where you can camp in your van cheaply.

Consider this too.... http://www.espana-discovery.es/en ....where you can stop at a variety of farms with no commitment to buy any of their produce, but they'll provide somewhere safe for you to stop overnight in your van.

Buena suerte!!

Team Muz

[janie]

I know nothing about spain I'm afraid but the book sounds interesting - what is it?

[stewby]

I am currently reading "marie potter and the campervan of doom".


If you go onto amazon, they suggest heaps of different ones. couldn't find any with a bongo sadly... maybe something Muz can fix.


It was suggested to me after I bought the "penniless" book which is about two lads who cycle from lands end to john o groats starting in a pair of boxers and blagging freeze stuff on the way (clothes, bikes, accomodation). It was a great book, really funny.


There are loads of books by people who have campervanned their way around places... the reviews for marie potter was quite good which is why I bought it. Do not regret it at all although I do now want to travel round europe in the bongo.


Ah, muz... should have known you would be the expert on this too. Will have a nosey at your links, thank you so much. What a shame that it is not so well used any more. My OH would have loved it. One of our aims is to go to st Maartens just for the airport right beside the beach.


Thanks for the replies... will go exploring soon, I am so excited about it. Love the fact that farms will let you stay on their land... would probably end up buying food from them anyways.
Oh... will probably be pestering you again soon muz... we are planning on doing some one nighters in the bongo (just saturday night due to time demands)... however, that is for another thread.

[janie]

Thanks - I'll have a look out for it - you might like this...http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/alikim/

[Muzorewa]

The "camping on some bod's land and maybe buying a bit of cheese or few bottles of wine" idea was started off by this crowd.... http://www.france-passion.com/gb_formule.php ....and it's getting going in Spain & Portugal now but only in an embryonic form. Likewise, we will very probably buy some of their gear too, we went to a fromagerie in France the other month and pretty well cleaned them out

Ask away about the one-nighters

[Muzorewa]

Re Gibraltar, this is a pic I've been looking for for ages and only stumbled across it today whilst looking for something else. That I still haven't found. The RAF irritating the Spaniards around Gibraltar....

[Muzorewa]

And if you do get to Seville, go into the cathedral. You don't need to be religious but the altarpiece will absolutely blow you away

[Bob]

It is the duty of the RAF to annoy them due to the Spanish Armadillo being a nuisance in 1066.

Ever since then every Spaniard must have his beard singed by someone in Plymouth shouting, "Ho", and this is a kind of update.

The jet exhausts singe the beards.

[Muzorewa]

For Seville there doesn't look to be any broadcast camping spots near the airport. But if you have a close look on Goggle Maps, at the west end of the runway (37.417797,-5.917884) there looks to be an ideal spot although you're right next to the motorway too and you can never be sure how up-to-date the mapping is.

For Gibraltar, you have to cross the main runway whether you drive or walk in. Favourite is to park just by the border and walk, then you can just stroll across the tarmac. But there's little activity there nowadays, only about 25 scheduled flights a week plus the rich knobs on private jets

[Bluespanner]

For exploring Seville, which is a beautiful city, I would recommend staying at Camping Villsom in Dos Hermanas and then getting the bus in. Its basic but good. The old city is the place to go with narrow alleys opening up into small squares with orange trees everywhere.
For Gibraltar there is a campsite on a small sports complex about a 1km or 2km east of gibraltar on the beach road. If you walk out on to the beach you can see the rock clearly. Its ridulously cheap when I stayed 8 euros, reception is a small sliding window looking into a small office, with one draft beer for 1 euro a glass. This was a couple of years ago so add a bit of inflation but it was still the cheapest I've stayed anywhere in Europe, and Ive stayed at a few, perfect for a short stay.

Going into gibraltar is best by foot, otherwise you risk long delays depending what mood the spanish customs are in that day. There are roads here and there without restrictions not to far from the border, where I managed to park up for the day. There's a english/spanish cafe opposite the border who were helpful with local info. The lady is english and her husband spnish. They gave me an insight into the locals on gibraltar.