It’s getting cold so I’m travelling south to Morocco for the winter. On my way along the coast I found some incredible places to stay. Here are some of my favourite.

Port-Vendres

Location: 42.507083, 3.105427

This place was unbelievable. I spent about two hours trying to find a decent place to stay. There were lots of insane small, windy (windey??) roads between olive groves. Some that I definitely didn’t want to take the van on.

Then I found this little beauty. It took some sketchy reversing manoeuvres to get in but once I was settled the view was breathtaking. A great view down to the Balearic sea between a valley. I woke up early to see the sunrise and wasn’t disappointed. It’s close to a road but really quiet and if you reverse in like I did then you can’t be seen, even in a bright yellow van. Sneaky!

Benicassim

Location: 40.061484, 0.045778

I found a great place to stay about a mile towards the mountains outside Benicassim. It was essentially a large patch of dirt on the way up to the a very nice view in the Desert des las Palmas. It was really quiet this time of year and there was lots of interesting trails and ruins to explore. A few people came to walk dogs and run but most of the time it was just me.

Borriana

Location: 39.870569, -0.061589

I stayed by a beach near Borriana. As it’s the off season here there weren’t many people around and I was the only van parked up. The town is about a 10 minute cycle away and I spent a day exploring the market and surrounding area.

Cova Negra

Location: 38.965563, -0.495071

This is a Palaeolithic site in the mountains about 45 minutes drive from Valencia. The roads are pretty treacherous in a van but it’s worth the ride. You’ll find a lovely quiet forest to camp in and various trails to explore. If you’re in to climbing there’s a fantastic rock face to climb too, I’m not, but I saw lots of people who were excited about it.

Mazarrón

Location: 37.665290, -1.349330

My friend told me about this spot, it’s about 3 miles from the town of Mazarrón. There are many reasons I liked it here but mostly it was because of the hot springs. Yes, hot springs! If you want to do what I did and park right by the pools be warned, it’s a difficult drive but if you persevere you’ll be rewarded with a nice soak and a quiet(ish) place to camp.

I won’t say too much here but I’ve written a separate blog post about why I think it’s a great spot to stay if you’re looking for somewhere for longer than a few days.

Cabo de Gata

Location: 36.859119, -2.007010

I stayed at a beach near the coastal town of Las Negras. The scenery was unbelievable, it reminded me of Jurassic Park and to top it off I parked about 30m from the beach. There were loads of other vans here and lots of room to park. At night it was so peaceful and you could see star constellations you didn’t know existed! You can also walk across the cliff to Las Negras, which I’d highly recommend. Took me about 40 minutes.

I’d heard that police were quite active in this area and tended to send people away but I stayed for three nights and had no problems.

• coast
• freecamping
• Morocco
• Spain