19th – 21st June

Well the unsettled weather continued. The main problem is the cool wind blowing from the north. This  has kept temperatures down to around 18c and maybe even less. Sao Pedro is a small resort and a bit quiet. We were lucky to pick up the restaurants wifi using the booster so at least we could catch up with the telly via Filmon and Coronation street via Youtube. However after two nights here it was time to move on.

 We studied the weather forecasts and couldn’t believe how bad it is in Northern Spain and France. I considered returning to the Algarve where the weather looks hot or even driving across to Mediterranean Spain but it looks like we’ll stick to the plan. Mainly so we can see places we might want to come back to in future. It looks like temperatures will pick up around the Porto area in time for the weekend so we decided to head there. We drove along the N109. This road runs parallel to the motorway, saves the toll fees and also has loads of petrol stations selling cheap diesel (Intermarche 1:26e a litre). We also managed to fill our LPG bottle for less than 8 euros just south of Figueira.

 We again passed Figueira da Foz and were able to have a good look at it from the huge bridge that passes over it. Its really a large working city and not really the place to go unless you particularly like visiting large working towns/ cities. Not really for us.

 Travelling through Porto gave us some insights into its attraction. Most of the old city is spread along the river. Unlike Figuera it did seem to be the place where you could pass a couple of days looking at the old waterfront. However with most of the campsites outside the city it would mean leaving Pickles on his own for some considerable time so for this trip its out of the question.

As we traveled north towards Porto we stopped at the site at Mira.. Mira itself looked fine but the site looked too basic with little shade.Eventually we stopped at the Orbitur site at Lavra/ Angeiras. This seemed to follow the usual Orbitur standards, wifi at the reception/bar, a pool etc. Although the beach here was clean etc it lacked a decent waterfront, there were few bars and restaurants and it just looked like an ordinary residential area. It reminded me of the seaside towns between Dunkirk and Ostend.

The sanitation facilities also looked in need of modernization and again like some of the Orbitur sites we’ve visited there seemed to be a large number of neglected long stay touring vans with shabby awnings.

In summary since leaving Vila Nova da Milfontes we’ve been disappointed with the coast north of Lisbon. This maybe influenced by the weather but much of the coastline lacks character and mainly consists of sand dunes and surfing waters. We are hoping that our last resort in Portugal, Caminha, may change that viewpoint?