Spanish Road Trip As A Family of Five…
And just like that the holiday has come to an end, the last three weeks we have travelled through Spain with all three children. This holiday was overdue, I had not taken any proper holiday since Christmas, taking some time out from my business and life to spend quality time with the children I feel very grateful for.
Our holiday started with getting the Ferry from Portsmouth, we decided to get the ferry as we wanted to spend some time in Madrid visiting family after our trip to the coast. It made sense to take our car, this meant we crammed it full of everything we needed for the three weeks. On the ferry we booked a cabin, that was pretty entertaining as it was tiny and we had to spend two nights on the ferry- for some reason on the way out to Santander, it was just under 48 hours. Nevertheless, the children enjoyed the Ferry, it was a little adventure for them. Top tip if you are traveling on the ferry take a big freeze box with you and take as much food for the ferry as possible. The food on the ferry was average but quite expensive, so to save costs take snacks. To be fair everyone had the same idea and took their food. On the Ferry, there was entertainment for the children and a children’s playroom with toys and games. There were lots of others children on the ferry too which kept our older two entertained.
We arrived in Santander on Saturday at 8 am Spanish time, we had a ten-hour journey to Ayamonte, we did debate when booking it to have a stopover at a city on the way down but we decided to just brave it and go for it! Crazy some might say!!! We managed to get a good 3-4 hours under our belt before stopping for lunch at a station on the motorway. Before we left home I spent some time packing activity bags for the older two, on the drive down to Ayamonte they did their activity books and watched a few films on their devices. Archie was the hardest to entertain, he did have two naps but towards the end of the journey was restless and unsettled so I sat in the back. I think my children lived off biscuits and snacks during the ferry and the car journey to keep them quiet 😅🤣
We finally arrived in Ayamonte early evening, we decided to put the children straight to bed and get an early night. None of us slept that well on the ferry, so we all needed a good nights sleep! We stayed in my friend’s mum’s villa in Ayamonte, we have been before but not with children. The Villa was great, it had everything we needed for the children, Arthur and Florence had their room too which was good. The following morning we took a trip to the local supermarket to stock up on food- there is something about a Spanish supermarket! All the fruit and veg is great and much bigger than in the UK. Many of you asked me how I kept up with eating healthy over the holiday, I have written many blogs about this available on the app. But essentially no food is off limits, but I do try and eat everything in moderation. I had an ice cream most evenings but I did stick to the same breakfast I have at home- greek yoghurt and fruit. Not because I was watching what I was eating, simply because I enjoy eating this for breakfast. Lunch consisted of fresh meats/salads and dinner was cooked in a few nights, we did ate out quite a bit too! Lots of tapas and lots of tomato salads! I love the Spanish tomatoes.
We spent 15 days in Ayamonte, the villa had a shared pool with other villas however many of the people in the villas were Spanish so didn’t use the pool much, which meant it was really quiet most days. We did venture to the beach on the first day, but that was a stupid idea, we lasted 2 hours before heading home. A crawling baby, sand and hot weather do not go well with a 14-month-old! Archie wanted to eat the sand, wanted to crawl everywhere but couldn’t as the sand was so hot. I think Brett and I wanted to re-create the last time we came to the villa when we spent most days on the beach- the difference is then we didn’t have three children (laughs). So top tip, I wouldn’t recommend going to a very hot beach in Spain with three small children, especially if one of them is a baby!
We spent the rest of the Ayamonte holiday by the pool, which Arthur and Florence loved. Florence has developed so much confidence in the water and can now confidently swim unaided! Archie loved playing in the baby pool with his pots and of course his ball! We brought some pool shoes for Archie which helped as he was crawling everywhere, so protected his knees and feet. He has no motivation to start walking, he just wants to crawl everywhere!!
We went on a boat trip to Vila Real, where we were staying was right on the border of Portugal, if you was flying you would be flying to Faro. There was a boat trip from Ayamonte to Vila Real, the children enjoyed this and it was a nice thing to do to break up the holiday a little. Vila Real was lined with white buildings and narrow cobbled streets, we walked along the front near the sea and then grabbed an ice cream before heading back. Vila Real is renowned for being super hot as not much of it is shaded, for this reason, we went later on in the afternoon and didn’t stay too long.
My dad arrived for the last week, we spent a few days in Ayamonte with him before heading to Madrid to see our family. We drove from Ayamonte to Madrid which was around six hours, we decided to leave early in the morning so the children could sleep in the car! Of course that didn’t go to plan, as soon as we got the children up they all woke up! We stopped for breakfast to break the journey up and then continued on our way! We arrived in Escorial (where our family lives, just outside of Madrid) mid-afternoon and checked into our Airbnb. We stayed in a gorgeous flat just next to the monastery, the balcony looked out to the monastery. Our family lived not far from where we was staying, we met them for dinner both evenings during our stay. It was so nice to catch up and for my children to meet their cousins, the last time we visited was for my cousin’s wedding when Florence was just three months old.
On our last day, we visited the Real Madrid stadium, Arthur was very excited to see this. We took him when he was only 9 months old, so obviously doesn’t remember any of it! Florence was equally excited about it, which surprised me. Archie spent the whole time pointing say ‘bbball”, he is obsessed with balls. I think he is going to love football as much as Arthur when he grows up! We took the bus from Escorial to Madrid, which was pretty straight forward but then the tube around Madrid was pretty stressful. Partly due to the fact we had not done it before so took a bit of getting used to, combined with three children and a pram. Brett and I had to take a few deep breaths at times, it was really hot too!
Overall we had a great time, would I do a villa holiday again? I think on reflection with a baby and two children an all-inclusive would have been easier, what with the kids club and constant food and entertainment, that being said being able to take three weeks out in Spain I feel extremely grateful. It felt like a home from home, I can see why people with jobs whereby they can work remotely take the whole summer off and work abroad. You don’t have to worry about expensive childcare during the summer and you get the added bonus of the weather! We had a great time and will definitely be going back to the villa again. I have linked the places where we stayed except the villa and the ferry we took! Please reach out if you have any other questions :)