emjharts

When we move to Spain soon we will be driving from the ferry in Santander or Bilbao down to the Nerja area and so as we do not want to do the 10 hour drive in one go we are looking for a nice place to visit and spend the night on the way. As we will have a car load of valuables we have ruled out Madrid and so can anyone give me any ideas of nice towns that are halfway that would be a good place to spend the night?
Thanks!

jackytoo

We have stayed here

http://www.paradores-spain.com/spain/pmanzanares.html

Beware though with stuff in your car. All those hotels on main routes are targeted by gangs looking for an opportunity. We always do it in one day now the roads are better. Some hotels offer secure parking for a payment.

cricketman

No need to rule out Madrid. Most hotels in the centre have secure underground parking.

I've always wanted to go to Toledo, but think you have to do a bit of a detour to get there

lovingthesun

We did Toledo on our way up last year as we wanted to avoid the Madrid ring road - even with sat nav we always get lost! Our sat nav, however, led us to the Hotel Martin - a 2 star in a great location right across from one of the main gates into the city. It had private parking for €10 - worth it for piece of mind. http://www.hotelesmartin.com/ also read about it here http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/mart...FUbwzAoda1EZlA


Next morning we had hoped to visit Avila on the way north, but the way that I had the sat nav programmed led us straight to the Madrid ring road

We have also stayed at Lerma and El Molar on other occasions.

steviedeluxe

For me, places like Toledo or Segovia merit far more time than just one evening, and should be left for longer visits. Avila is I think ideal for an overnight stay; Alcala de Henares, Chinchon or Aranjuez may be other options (but they may be fully occupied at weekends). If you'd like really good food and wine, Valladolid is a good place to visit (right next to major wine regions) but it may be a bit big and a little north of the centre for your liking. But, as recommended by LovingtheSun, wherever you are, best to pay for private parking for the peace of mind.

bcn-bcn-bcn

I have to agree with cricketman - "no need to rule out Madrid" just because of parking concerns - "Most hotels in the centre have secure underground parking". Madrid's a fantastic city to visit so I wouldn't strike it off your list just because of worries over parking. However the traffic and time to check into a hotel in the centre of the city for just the one night may make another option better on this occasion!