This was a GREAT, relaxing drive from Picos. We followed the N634 – the old ‘main’ road – which has since been superseded by the A8 highway. The road follows the same route and winds across and back over the toll road and is fairly deserted with not much traffic. Although not perfectly maintained in places, this suits the loping gait of the Defender perfectly.
Forests line the road and we pass through some sleepy towns and villages. Here and there we see old, abandoned buildings – gas stations, factories, shops and some deserted houses. This speaks to how the local economy gets affected by the displacement of the road and the traffic that goes with it. I suspect that the remote, far north-westerly part of Spain suffers a bit with investment in infrastructure (but stand to be corrected).
What IS noticeable are the hikers and back-packed walkers along the road. Miles from anywhere but determinedly striding towards their personal goals. It slowly becomes apparent that they are on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela!
Camping Bastiaguero
Overlooking the bay of the Ria de Coruna with the city of A Coruna forming a backdrop lies camping Bastiaguero. It is not a very big site with a couple of chalets for rent and perhaps thirty to forty pitches for tents or campervans. First impressions are that this place seems to be a Spanish secret, of sorts. Just a couple of wayward tourists are parked up.
There is some green grass and a tired-looking old building houses well-used but still serviceable ablutions. Some basic kitchen sinks line the rear walls outside for the dishes and there is not much else to be seen. At first glance anyway.
But the big secret here is the bar/restaurant on the first floor. With a great view of the bay! And perfect for a sundowner! The restaurant also gets a lot of action in the evening making for a lively bit of background noise. The combination of restaurant and campsite seems to be a pretty good business plan in my opinion…
The beach
Just a five-minute stroll away is the wide beach of the small bay of Platja de Bastiagueiro. Also quite long. And not very many people about it, which is cool. What people there ARE, are walking, chilling – or taking surfing lessons. Yes, the surf school has its little basecamp caravan on the campsite as well…
The shore break and long, even waves seem to be perfect for beginners learning how to remain on their feet on a bucking surfboard. And there are quite a few boards in the surf! Nice to watch while sipping on a Corona.
We met a couple driving around in an old VW T2 campervan. There’s no need to explain the cool factor here, but even more interesting were the stories being told of all the travels by the owner. Check the video below.
On the eve before we were to depart we had a group of Spanish join the campsite. They seemed to be family and they travelled with a small shrine??? They had a good time and were pretty loud and rowdy until 2 am – but hey, we’re in Spain…
It’s a great little site. There is no pool – unless you want to jump over the wall into the neighbours – but the beach is close. The vibe is relaxed and the option of a bar (with view) and/or restaurant is just brilliant.
You need to look past the older services building and take the charm for what it is. On checkout, we still had no paperwork so I had to walk the confused guy through two nights, two people, one tent etc… In broken Spanish and with hand signals as they do not speak English. It just sums up my thumbs up!