Santuario de la Misericordia

This is one of those random stops where we literally put our finger on the point on the map which we think is half way to our next destination. We’re travelling blind in this leg without any recommendations or real stand out points, as we just need to get north. We had envisioned that we’d be travelling along the foothills of the Pyrenees, but we hadn’t actually looked at the map to verify this and the heat had meant we’d moved further along the coast to be near the sea.

As we near where the map tells us there is a campsite, it’s eerily remote and we’re not sure if we’ll find one, but luckily after a few tight u-turns, we pull in. It’s a tiny and quiet little stopover, and as I go to check in, I realise the lady speaks zero English, and with my dismal lack of Spanish, we weave through an awkward conversation of pointing and writing things down and she shows us to our pitch.

We are perched on a hillside with amazing views across the Spanish valley. Although it’s quiet, there is a lovely park for the children, free WiFi and a small swimming pool. Granted we had to fish the millions of bees out of the pool to have a swim but it was lovely to cool down after the drive.

We were going to try the local restaurant as the tapas was ‘locals’ prices, but some local campers didn’t recommend it...luckily we had enough food to make a meal out of.

We head off early to reach the northern coast and as we head into the mountains and out the other side it’s like a different climate. All of a sudden the sky is white and grey and the air is cool. We get great views again of the north Spanish coast.

We manage only one wrong turn (albeit that led us up a very winding dirt track which quickly narrows, luckily we find a field to turn in before we got stuck and we make it onto the very large campsite on the hillside.Read more