Grand Tour Andalusia Contest: The winning route

Last year (2019) we held a contest in which we rewarded the person who proposed the best route to discover Andalusia with a free week in one of our campsites to do it. The winner was Monique Sterrenburg from the United Kingdom, and this is her experience narrated by her.

Date: 4th March 2020
Trip: Malaga – Cazorla
Spot: Alhambra in Granada
Conditions: Great
Distance travelled: 270 km
Time travelled: 3,5 hrs
Campsite: Camping Cortijo ‘San Isicio’ Camino San Isicio s/n 23470 / Cazorla/Jaén. Phone: +34 953 721 280
Comments campsite: Very nice terrace campsite with Dutch owners
Rating campsite: 4 out 5 stars

We arrived at sunny airport of Málaga and were picked up by Gonzalo. At Flamenco Campers our lovely camper van Lucia was ready for our trip through Andalusia.

The winning route I designed is a lot in one week, I would advise at least 2 weeks to do this round trip to be able to get some moments of rest in between, but mostly to enjoy the beautiful areas more. For us it was to discover the nice spots and where to come back to in the future.

Our first stop was La Alhambra, in Granada. We had tickets for the Palacios Nazaríes (Nasrid Palaces) which you have to order online in advance (tickets are for an hours slot and are sold out quickly, so buy them when you know you are going!) A beautiful place with lots of history and great photo opportunities.

We did some grocery shopping on the way to our campsite. We arrived late at the campsite and nobody was at the reception anymore. We found a spot to park Lucia and had a tapas meal in our camper.

Costs day activities: € 29,70 (La Alhambra tickets, 2 persons including reservation)

Costs campsite: € 16 (campervan, 2 persons, no electric)

Date: 5th March 2020
Trip: Cazorla – Andújar
Spot: Parque Natural Sierras de Cazorla y Segura y Las Villas
Conditions: Started great, but later wet and very foggy
Distance travelled: 123 km
Time travelled: 2 hrs
Campsite: Parking in Parque natural de la Sierra de Andújar, Mirador El Peregrino
Comments campsite: No facilities, but amazing views in evening and morning. On the road, but very quiet over night
Rating campsite: 5 out 5 stars

We slept very well at this quiet campsite and had a lovely breakfast in the sun the next morning.

We left to pay a visit to the visit center. This day we really wanted to spot otters, red deer, ibex and wild boar. And also the golden eagle, vultures and the famous lammergeier.

Unfortunately, heavy rain started just as we arrived at the start of a small walk to see the Lammergeier. We decided to have lunch (baked egg with Chorizo and cheese) in our camper van and move on. The rest of the route was on a bumpy, muddy road with the hope to find the ibex. But not only the rain was blocking our view, also a thick layer of fog with minimal view. We did spot some red deer and lots of squirrels were crossing the street. Also the Griffon Vultures were still active. Definitely a place to come back to for a longer stay.

At the end of the day we drove to Andújar to find a parking to stay for the night. Unfortunately, there are not many campsites in this area. We decided to stay at Mirador El Peregrino, luckily we brought the potty with us… We had an amazing view in the evening with van made paella!

Costs day activities: € 0
Costs campsite: € 0

Date: 6th March 2020
Trip: Andújar – Cordoba
Spot: Sierra Andújar
Conditions: Cloudy, sunny, dry
Distance travelled: 100 km
Time travelled: 1,5 hrs
Campsite: Camping Municipal El Brillante
Avda. del Brillante. 50 zona norte, 14012 Córdoba. Phone: +34 957403836 / 957278481
Comments campsite: City camping
Rating campsite: 3 out 5 stars

This time we set the alarm to get up early because Sierra de Andújar is one of the areas to spot the lynx with the highest chance at dawn or dust. After a quick breakfast and a wee on the potty with best view ever, we headed off. We drove the route towards the dam at Salto del Jándula, one of the areas top spot ibex and otters and on the way multiple places to spot the lynx … fingers crossed.

The views in Sierra de Andújar are amazing and we spotted red deer, fellow deer, griffon vultures, black kites, an imperial eagle (with the help of some locals), red-legged partridge and a lot of other birds. But the lynx … was probably asleep, we haven’t spotted it. But we had one more chance in Doñana National Park..

At the end of the day we drove to Córdoba to stay at the city camping.

Costs day activities: € 0
Costs campsite: € 27,00

Date: 7th March 2020
Trip: Cordoba – El Rocío
Spot: Cordoba, Sevilla, El Rocío
Conditions: Amazingly sunny
Distance travelled: 226 km
Time travelled: 3 hrs
Campsite: Camping la Aldea  Ctra del Rocio Km. 25 , 21750 Almonte . Phone: +34 959 442 677
Comments campsite: Campsite just outside El Rocío with nice places
Rating campsite: 4 out 5 stars

A great start of the day with fresh made banana pancakes with fresh fruit. We had until midday to stay at the campsite and decided to walk in to the Córdoba city center to visit the mesmerising Mosque-Cathedral Mezquita, for me one of the most beautiful buildings in Spain with amazing photo opportunities.

We started our journey when back at the campsite towards El Rocío with a stop in Sevilla. We parked the camper van at the special camper parking Area Autocaravanas Sevilla, a safe place to park, but not easy to reach the city center. We could have parked closer and cheaper elsewhere with the VW California. We visited Parque de Maria Luisa with the beautiful Plaza de España. It was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. It is a landmark example of the Regionalism Architecture, mixing elements of the Baroque Revival, Renaissance Revival and Moorish Revival (Neo-Mudéjar) styles of Spanish architecture.

After an amazing tapas lunch at the small restaurant in the park we went back to continue our journey.

On our way we had another small attempt to spot the lynx driving via Villamanrique, but no luck again. We arrived just before sunset in El Rocío. This place is nestled on the edge of the wild lagoons and marshes of Doñana National Park, the town looks like a film set from a spaghetti western.

Unfortunately it was very busy due to the weekend. We had a short stroll through the village and watched a breath taking sunset over part of  Doñana. We stayed at the campsite just outside the village.

Costs day activities: € 22,00 (2 tickets Mezquita, Cordoba)
Costs campsite: € 19,50

Date: 8th March 2020
Trip: El Rocio – Tarifa
Spot: National park Doñana
Conditions: Superb
Distance travelled: 284 km
Time travelled: 3,5 hrs
Campsite: Camping La Paloma, Tarifa, Carretera Nacional 340 Kilómetro, 74, 11380 Tarifa, Cádiz. Phone: +34 956 68 42 03
Comments campsite: Next to the beach with enough shadow
Rating campsite: 4 out 5 stars

Today was an early bird start again because we booked a private photography tour with Wild Doñana (www.wilddonana.com) for 10 hours. Our guide Maria arrived at 8 am to pick us up from the campsite. We immediately had a great connection and the day felt like a girls trip out. She took us to amazing places to spot in total 89 (!) bird species from birds of prey, to different owl species and small birds. And we have seen a lynx paw print, lynx poo, but … no lynx … again. So we definitely have to come back!

After that we had a long drive to Tarifa with a meal on our way. Late night we arrived at the campsite, tired but very, very satisfied about the day!

Costs day activities: € 304,38 (private photography tour for 10 hours for 2 persons)
Costs campsite: € 16,00

Date: 9th March 2020
Trip: Tarifa – Gibraltar
Spot: Tanger, Morroco
Conditions: Top
Distance travelled: 44 km
Time travelled: 1 hr
Campsite: Camping Sureurope,
Camino Sobrevela, s/n, 11300 La Línea de la Concepción, Cádiz. Phone: +34 956 64 35 87
Comments campsite: Close to border with Gibraltar, nice places, but tennis court/sport facilities next to campsite with lots of noise
Rating campsite: 3 out 5 stars

We woke up with a beautiful sunny morning and after we packed the camper van we headed to the beach for breakfast with a sea view.

We went to the port of Tarifa for our trip to Tanger in Morocco. We booked a trip in advance including the trip by ferry. At the other side in Tanger our guide Rachid was waiting for us and together with a couple from Florida we went on our touristic tour. We had the best laugh with our guide with all his jokes. The first stop was at the point where the Atlantic ocean meets the Mediterranean sea. The second stop was a lot of fun … a small ride on camel with great photo moments. After that we went to see the caves of Hercules. The cave itself is part natural and part man-made. The man-made part was used by Berber people to cut stone wheels from the walls, to make millstones, thus expanding the cave considerably. The cave has two openings, one to sea and one to land. The sea opening is known as “The Map of Africa”. It is believed that the Phoenicians created the sea opening which is in the shape of Africa when looked at from the sea.

Now it was time for lunch. After a short walk we arrived at restaurant Mamounia Palace for a typical Moroccan lunch. We were ready for our stroll through the Medina and the Kasbah. On our way we visited a local store with home made scarfs, so before we knew it, we looked like berbers with the scarfs around our heads. We stopped to buy some typical Moroccan species like Ras El Hanout and hurried back to the ferry.

We had a short drive to our next campsite where we had a van made dinner.

Costs day activities: € 179,91 (2 tickets day tour Tanger via GetYourGuide)
Costs campsite: € 20,50

Date: 10th March 2020
Trip: Gibraltar – Malaga
Spot: https://www.officialrocktours.com/gibraltar/dolphin-tours Ape´s den Gibraltar
Conditions: Fantastic
Distance travelled: 131 km
Time travelled: 2 hrs
Campsite: Camper van back at Flamenco campers

We started the day relaxed with a breakfast in the sun and after we cleaned the camper van and packed all our stuff we drove to the border of Gibraltar.

We parked Lucia at parking Santa Bârbara which is next to the border. We walked in to Gibraltar to the place where our Dolphin tour started. Although the time of the year is not the best to spot dolphin, we saw 2 striped dolphin and a group of 15-20 common dolphins, also very close to the boat. Back on the main land we walked to the cable car to visit Ape’s den to photograph the Barbary Macaques.

We were lucky to see a mother with a baby cuddling and a lot of activity from the youngsters playing and fighting. You have to be very careful though because they try to get food out of your backpack. So either don’t bring one or carry it on the front because they won’t attack it then.

Back down with the cable car and this time we took the bus back to the border. And then our last drive back to Flamenco tours in Malaga started …

Costs day activities: € 77,79 (2 tickets for combo Dolphin tour and Cable car to Ape’s den Gibraltar via GetyourGuide)

We had the most amazing week with a good laugh and most of all enjoying the van life experience. The freedom is amazing, especially when staying the night at a parking with nobody around you. For us the highlight of the trip was national park Doñana because we love wildlife and wildlife photography.

Andalusia is a beautiful area of Spain and highly recommended for lovers of culture and nature. I would highly recommend Flamenco campers. Their camper vans are amazing, very well equipped and very clean. Truly a home from home. Also the communication is great which is very important. We fell in love with Lucia, she is easy to drive in and to park, but also has a lot of space inside with two separate beds and the opportunity to cook inside.

Everybody should experience this!.