Motorhome friendly town centres 1,2,3 ...


Journey home 11/12/13/ April 2013


What do Coimbra, Chaves and Leon have in common? Well for us they were all stops, with a hint, or stronger, from the Internet that we could park. And so it was; a common pattern of a city centre parking space at the side of the river in a park/sports/ recreation area. I really do mean in the centre of the cities, you could not have wanted a better place to stay, even if you had booked an expensive hotel. In all cases, close to and overlooked by the old part of town. It was the same pattern in Salmanca, and in smaller places or those without rivers: the Rossi, or market squares, made a similar offering at Estremoz and Evora.
Coimbra we parked by the boat houses at a River Thames sized waterway. At Chaves it was a small car park near the hot springs where we tested the hot water on tap and I used the swimming pool for a shower. Chaves parking was unofficial, not recommended by the tourist information, but we had a friendly wave from the police. Before we left Chaves we bought some bread for lunch. Our linguistic ability left us pointing at a loaf on the shelf. The baker, and he really was a baker, then went round the back and we saw him pick up a loaf as it came out of the oven. And to add more style we got it in a paper carrier bag with his picture on it.

Leon was a real city and we parked between the river and a shopping plaza. In the morning we walked up to the unusual shaped and impressive cathedral. The stained glass wowed us, we learnt afterwards that it was world renown and original glass.
So, mainly stopping places on our way, but stopping places with style. I’ll do a full list later with comments and GPS coordinates.
Photos:



Coimbra

Coimbra boathouses

Coimbra old town

Coimbra new bridge

Tardis and boathouse

Chaves

Chaves Spa water

Chilled out, could be anywhere

Chaves - stepping stones

Chaves - stepping stones

Chaves - stepping stones

Umbreallas, Umbreallas everywhere.

Chaves
Baker in Chaves

Leon Mall

Leon - Free motorhome parking ... official

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