The weather had stayed really warm despite us being in late October, so we pootled down the Spanish coastline a little further and arrived at Benicassim where we’d been told about an amazing 5-star campsite from a fellow camper during our trip; it didn’t disappoint but more about that later in the blog.
Benicassim is situated to the north end of the Valencian Community and was originally a spiritual retreat founded by the Carmelites, but is now a traditional holiday destination attracting all nationalities throughout the year, mainly due to its mild climate during the winter months. There are 6 kilometres of beautiful sandy beach; it really is like walking on a bed of the finest milled flour. The town is sheltered by the mountains of the Sierra de Santa Agueda and Desert of Las Palmas, which you can climb for extensive views if you are feeling extremely energetic; I passed on that one.
A Walk along the Main Beach
The campsite is a 5-minute walk to the wide promenade and beach, all flat with shallow clear blue sea to dip your toes or have a swim, and even communal beach huts to change in. There are quite a few high-rise private apartment blocks along the promenade but they are set back enough to not impose.
However, the highlight is the row of modernist and colonial-style holiday villas that line the seafront where building began towards the end of the 19th Century. There is a sign outside each of them describing their history and who now owns them, some are public buildings whilst others are still family holiday homes. They all have an individual style and are still beautiful architecturally; the oldest that still stands is Villa Pilar from 1860, this is the only one I photographed. It took us a while to walk the section, as the history boards are so interesting and informative so you must check them out if you go that way.
Towards the end of this stretch of promenade is the watchtower of San Vicente that I thought was very unusual to see at the edge of the beach. There are some nice restaurants along the promenade around here, but many only opened limited hours due to being late season, it was very quiet other than at weekends when Spanish families visited. It was here that I was introduced to Fartons, a sweet spongy bread that you dip into horchata, a milky drink made from tiger nuts and served cold in this region. I became a little addicted when I realised I could get them in the supermarket!
When you get to the end of this stretch, you head up into town then pick up the promenade again once you have left the town at the other side, around a 20-minute walk passing through the market square and shopping area, we saved that for another day.
Cycling Trip to Oropesa del Mar
From behind the campsite, you can join the Via Verda del Mar cycle track that takes you through the mountainside on the old train track to Oropesa. There is an initial small climb up onto the track but I managed it on my non-electric bike on a hot day so I can assure you it is nothing strenuous. There is a long tunnel so you will need bike lights or a torch as it is dimly lit.
The views out to sea are fabulous and we stopped a few times just to admire them, there is a café half way if you want refreshments and coves you can drop down onto, but we continued on to our destination.
The track brings you right into Oropesa above the marina and down onto the seafront and another beautiful sandy beach. We arrived at siesta time so cycled on through the backstreets to the vast beach at the other side of town where there were an abundance of restaurants and hotels lining the seafront. Unfortunately, most of them were closed and the place was almost deserted, but we managed to grab a sandwich at the one bar that was open. The cycle tracks runs on for miles along the seafront but we decided to head back after lunch. A total of 11 miles round trip from the campsite.
Cycling Trip to Castellon de la Plana
We picked up the cycle track again and headed in the opposite direction towards Castellon de la Plana. After heading through the back of town, you pick up the promenade cycle track and follow that all the way alongside the beautiful beach that continues right to Castellon. We stopped a couple of times along the way, once for refreshments and once to watch the parachutists and small planes landing on a grass airstrip that runs along the seafront, you do not see that in England! Unfortunately I only got one photo as they were super quick landing.
We rode all the way to the Planetari de Castello, which is a domed white building housing a planetarium on the promenade. The harbour looked quite industrial from here so we didn’t venture further but we were told later by a fellow camper that it is quite nice, it’s just the backdrop of the mineral company on the shoreline further along that can be off-putting. There is a good market in Castellon de la Plana town but we decided to stick to the seafront and headed back on ourselves finding a nice lunch stop along the way. A total of 13 miles round trip from the campsite.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at Camping Bonterra Resort, a 5-star campsite on the outskirts of town, just 5-minutes from the beach it has a supermarket directly opposite and a Lidl a few minutes’ walk down the street, and mountain views to the back. I do not think I can praise this site highly enough, especially if you are looking for a winter retreat that feels more like a community than a campsite, as it opens 365 days a year and is a firm favourite with Brits, Germans and Dutch, fortunately for them they can stay all winter!
The pitches are all gravel hardstanding mostly demarcated by hedges on three sides. You have water and grey waste to every pitch regardless of whether you book a standard or premium pitch, these are just larger; we had a standard one. There are three toilet blocks, one had just been refurbished to a very high standard, and the others were still high quality and all super-clean all of the time.
There are two pools, one outdoor and one indoor heated in winter. The bar/restaurant is very reasonable, and offers a daily English 3-course special at excellent value. They have live bands a couple of nights a week, both were very good and there may have been a bit of sangria consumed during happy hour one day! There is a winter daily entertainment programme including Spanish lessons, exercise and gym classes, and summer includes kids programme. The hubby even got his hair cut at the onsite hairdressers, she made a very good job of it too, and there is a resident doctor’s surgery on site.
Where We Ate
Besides eating a couple of times at Camping Bonterra Resort restaurant where the food was excellent, we had a couple of meals out at restaurants that I’d recommend:
Habanero Benicassim – on the seafront near the campsite, good food and great service. Fabulous sangria made with a twist; it has Cointreau in it. I got Horchata here too.
Restaurant Tasca El Pollo – on the seafront heading towards Castellon, good lunch snacks and tapas, great service. It now says closed on google but if it reopens it is worth a visit.
Café-Bar MaiTai – on the seafront at Oropesa, great for drinks but sandwiches were a bit basic.
Summary
Benicassim is a great base to explore the area around, especially if you have bikes. However, the buses run to all the places I’ve mentioned above from outside the campsite, so it is very easy to get around and leave your unit in situ if you don’t cycle. We also visited Valencia on an organised coach trip from the campsite for 18 euros each that took 50 minutes, but I’ll cover that separately as Valencia deserves its own blog. A local bus goes from outside the camp gate if you prefer to go under your own steam. If you’ve not visited this area yet then add it to your list as it really is worth the stay, in summer or winter.
Enough waffle for this week, if you have been to the area, please drop me a comment on the blog letting me know what you thought of it. If you enjoy reading my blogs, please like and subscribe to my website so you get notified when the next blog is published. It’s completely free, I don’t fill your inbox with unwanted spam, and it really means the world to me to know my experience has helped someone else.
Happy Travels
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