Wigan → Portsmouth
Head south to the ferry port. Departure day and overnight arrangements to be confirmed.
≈245 milesDriving
Family · Motorhome · Adventure
Next stop,
Spanish sunshine.
From Wigan to the Mediterranean, with a ferry crossing, a few new horizons and the freedom of the open road.
Our family adventure · October 2026 – January 2027
1,510 milesEstimated driving · provisional
2 crossingsOut via Bilbao · back via Santander
Spain awaitsBasque coast to Benidorm
The journey, one stop at a time
Our road trip itinerary
A plan in progress. All dates, routes and mileages below are provisional. Ferry dates are the planned travel dates supplied for this trip and have not been verified as booked sailings. Driving distances are estimates; local journeys, detours and sightseeing are excluded.
Portsmouth → Bilbao
Planned outbound ferry · 29–31 October 2026.
29–31 Oct 2026Ferry · no driving miles
Bilbao → Sopelana
A short first drive in Spain, towards the Basque coast. Stay dates to be confirmed.
15 milesEstimated driving
Sopelana → Zaragoza
Turn inland for the next stop. Travel date and campsite to be confirmed.
203 milesEstimated driving
Zaragoza → Benidorm
Continue towards the Mediterranean. Arrival date and length of stay to be confirmed.
290 milesEstimated driving
Benidorm → Santander
The return journey north. Intermediate stops and travel dates are still to be decided.
≈512 milesDriving · stops TBD
Santander → Portsmouth
Planned return ferry · 6–7 January 2027.
6–7 Jan 2027Ferry · no driving miles
Portsmouth → Wigan
The final drive home after the return crossing. Timing to be confirmed.
245 milesEstimated driving
Estimated driving total: 1,510 miles. This provisional total is the sum of the six road legs above and excludes both ferry crossings.
Our travel diary
Photos from the road
A little inspiration from an earlier adventure. This test entry shows how our trip photos and the details behind them can look.
Test photo · An earlier adventure
A stop with a view
- Date taken
- Time taken
- 11:03:57 (camera time)
- GPS location
- 57.759622° N
5.122471° W - Altitude
- 396 metres above sea level
Details read from the photo’s embedded metadata. The camera did not record a time zone. This photo predates our 2026–2027 Spain trip.
A little room for adventure
Homeward bound,
at our own pace.
The return stops are still open
We’ll shape the journey from Benidorm to Santander around the route and the places we want to pause. For now, allow approximately 512 driving miles before the planned 6 January ferry.
Campsites, overnight stops and sightseeing plans will be added once decided.
Our route
Wigan → Portsmouth ⇢ Bilbao → Sopelana → Zaragoza → Benidorm → Santander ⇢ Portsmouth → Wigan