Long winter holidays

chucknorris

My wife and I are exploring the idea of spending 3-4 months in Southern Spain and/or the Algarve during the winters when we retire. I'm just wondering has anyone done/does this? If so, was it as good as you thought that it would be?

agrinnall

If you do it make sure you get a place that has decent heating, I stayed in a friend's house in the south of Spain for a week in February one year and when the weather wasn't great it was bl00dy freezing! You might want to consider the Canaries or Madeira, which are warmer due to being that bit further south.

[Deleted User]

chucknorris wrote: »

My wife and I are exploring the idea of spending 3-4 months in Southern Spain and/or the Algarve during the winters when we retire. I'm just wondering has anyone done/does this? If so, was it as good as you thought that it would be?

As the previous poster says you're at the mercy of the weather in that part of Spain/Portugal - some days can be mild and sunny but if you get a cold spell it can be miserable.
And it often reminds me of an out-of-season seaside resort with a lot of places closed for the winter and pensioners shuffling around looking for something to do.
Certainly the Canaries would be a better bet although even they have wet winters.

InsideInsurance

My mother used to disappear to southern Spain for 3 months a year over winter. Used to just rent a villa in a complex she liked in Nerja and various friends and family would come and visit her at various points.

The weather there is variable, most the time I went there was t-shirt and jeans in the day and a light jumper in the evening (remembering I'd have come from near freezing here). One issue was that the villa really was more set up for summer holidays and so only had basic electric bar heaters and an open fireplace in the lounge for heat. Never a problem when I was there but if you were unlucky it could get cold.

Many places do close down but certainly there a fair mount of is still open including in the tourist areas and the ex-pat zones in particular. Of cause one of the problems is that the town is as much british as it is spanish. For my mother, a supporter of UKIP, this is great as she wants a mix of the two and being able to speak to people in english etc but certainly there was nothing close to a true spanish experience.

She just used to sit around, drink cheap wine and read books, wander down for a walk on the beach when the weathers good and eat at the little cafe's and restaurants. When others came who were willing to drive there then go for day trips to other places.

Wammer

Make sure your house insurance covers you for an extended time away from home as most policies only cover 30-60 days.