After we left the campsite in Árvore, we first went back to Vila do Conde in the motorhome to go shopping. We filled up the fridge as we wanted to be somewhere off the roads for the next few days and we like to have enough food and drink with us.
Provided we get our German gas bottle filled up in Portugal, because when we’re camping we need the gas for the fridge and for cooking.
Refill German LPG bottles in Portugal
I wasn’t sure whether it would all turn out right. First you have to find a gas station and then the Portuguese have to have the necessary adapter to refill the German gray 11 kg LPG bottle.
I had previously found a map on the Internet with the relevant gas stations that can provide this service in Portugal and so we then drove on to Arada (south of Porto in Ovar) to Autogas Cuco.
I was very happy when the local colleague understood what I was looking for and left with our empty LPG bottle. He filled the 11 kg bottle for 21 euros and we were able to continue with our plan to stay somewhere for the next few days and enjoy the time in comfort.
After refilling, we drove a few kilometers from the gas station to the sea at Praia de Cortegaça for dinner and a good night’s sleep. It was very pleasant, right by the sea with a beautiful sunset and the constant sound of the sea.
At night, a few cars came and went, which can be scary when you’re sleeping alone in a motorhome. They were probably either fishermen or people who got lost there at night?
Freestanding with the motorhome in Portugal
We had a relaxed breakfast in the morning and then set off. I was recommended to drive to Aveiro, the Little “Venice”. No sooner said than done. There was a motorhome parking lot right next to the highway bridge. It was a bit noisy and scary with caravans that seemed to be parked there permanently.
We didn’t want to leave the motorhome there unattended, so unfortunately it was just me who went into town and took a few pictures for us. As a surprise, I gave everyone an ice cream afterwards.
As always, the road to Aveiro was quite easy to drive, but finding a parking spot for the motorhome in the narrow streets was a real pain. I drove with the sat nav and at some point we came to a bridge that we were supposed to cross, but I wasn’t sure whether I was allowed to drive over it with the motorhome.
It was quite small and the traffic sign in front of it confused me. So I drove on, simply ignored the navigation system and the route was recalculated. It will go on somehow, I thought to myself, and the roads got narrower and narrower. 🙈
With the motorhome through narrow streets
At one point it happened, we were practically stuck. On the left was a van on which I unfortunately couldn’t fold in the wing mirror and on the right was a stop sign that protruded too far onto the road. Then came the wall of a house and a sewer in between.
I couldn’t move forwards or backwards and was getting a bit nervous and annoyed because I couldn’t fold his mirror in. At least I was able to fold our mirror in to get past it and then fold it out again straight away. However, the rear side wall was only a few millimetres away from the van’s wing mirror and there were no millimetres left between the awning and the stop sign on the right.
The awning was now the problem and the next cars were already coming up behind, which slightly increased my sweat production. But it didn’t help, I had to stay cool and get through somehow. Fortunately, two local residents came to help and also saw that I couldn’t get through.
One of them and Stefanie pushed the stop sign aside as best they could and I drove past it very slowly. We had made it and continued on, but unfortunately we were not yet on the main road.
There were a few more narrow alleyways but luckily we could fit through them all. Here is a picture of the narrow streets, unfortunately there was no picture of the previous situation, we were both just too excited and busy.
We didn’t want to sleep on the highway bridge, so we drove on. That was definitely a good decision, because we came to a beautiful beach near Vagos and spent the night behind the dune.
This time we weren’t completely alone and a few other campers also slept there, but the area was so large that it was very well spread out. But here, as well, cars arrived from time to time at night. Nevertheless, we slept very well and enjoyed a cold shower on the beach the next day. After breakfast, we set off again.
Our next destination was a large parking lot right by the sea near Figueira da Foz, but somehow we didn’t like it for sleeping. We took a nap after lunch and then continued on to the free Costa de Lavos motorhome parking area. I drove past it by mistake and had to turn around in the next village, where it stank horribly.
I don’t know how to describe it, but I would say it smelled extremely strongly of concentrated broccoli water. I have no idea what kind of industry it was and the next morning the wind was blowing in our direction. It was a bit unpleasant in the morning and we drove straight on to Nazaré after breakfast.
The biggest surfable waves in the world in Nazaré
Unfortunately, there are no big waves to be seen at this season and somehow I didn’t like the place for sleeping. It may well be a paradise for surfers. Nevertheless, we had lunch and a nap there and then drove to Peniche to the lighthouse for the night.
Although we had a cozy camper next to us, the sunset was a dream and we could look directly out the front window at the sea and the sunset. This definitely makes dinner even more enjoyable. We had a good night’s sleep, although cars arrived here at night too.
It seems to be common in Portugal for people to either take a drive around the traffic circle or for fishermen to actually come fishing. I was awake relatively early in the morning and was therefore able to take some beautiful pictures of the sunrise.
After four nights without on-grid power, we wanted to go to a campsite again to recharge the batteries and, most importantly, take a proper shower. We don’t have any solar panels on the roof, but we don’t use very much electricity either, so we could probably have done without electricity for a few more nights. The showers were the most important thing for us, as we had never showered in a motorhome before.
Beautiful view of the sea
We stayed for one night at a relatively new campsite near Setúbal and were initially delighted with the great view of the sea and the container ships passing by. But unfortunately there were a lot of flies, the pitch was too expensive and you pay even more for motorhomes over 6 meters in length.
I don’t know why, because you stand on the same pitches as motorhomes under 6 meters. The next morning the gardeners came with power shears and trimmed the hedges right next to the campers. I’ve never seen that anywhere else and we decided to drive on.
Arrived in the Algarve in Portugal after over 4000 km by motorhome
Our next destination was the Algarve, actually our main destination in Portugal. On the way there, we took a lunch break somewhere in the middle of nowhere. We then drove straight to the motorhome park at Praia da Falésia.
We stayed there until today and tomorrow we want to drive on towards Faro. The beach and the sea here are beautiful and we had a great and relaxing time during our two weeks here. We were able to drive to various destinations from here.
We took the motorhome to Praia da Marinha, an even more beautiful beach with its bays and rocks - simply a dream. Unfortunately, others now know this too and so everything there is very crowded and there is a parking ban for motorhomes from the road to the beach.
In general, it is not allowed to stay overnight anywhere in the parking lots near the beaches during the high season. The police often drive past and I have heard that it can cost a penalty of 150 euros.
So it was good for us to have a place to retreat to at the motorhome park. Incidentally, we also had everything included for just 9 euros a day. There is a bus stop right at the entrance and we went on an excursion to Albufeira one day.
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Soon we’ll be traveling back to Spain with the motorhome
It’s not far to Spain now and we’ll see how long we stay in Faro from tomorrow. Otherwise, we’ll soon be heading back to Spain and exploring Andalusia next. Gibraltar is also on the list and we want to visit my grandpa in Denia at the end of August. Then we’ll drive back along the Mediterranean coast towards Germany.
There are certainly some nice campsites in Spain and France in the off-season with the ACSI Card that we can visit on our trip. I will therefore probably write a third part about our trip through Spain and Portugal.
Best regards Sebastian
PS: In the meantime, I’ll be posting the latest locations and pictures from our trip on my Facebook profile.