Vinya els Vilars, Spain

This vineyard in Catalonia, Spain, has basic facilities for motorhomes and you'll definitely find more luxurious campsites, but staying at Vinya els Vilars is free and you have the opportunity to taste the vineyard's wines, so that more than makes up for it!

Firstly, this is not primarily a campsite. It is a vineyard, where the owners are generous enough to provide motorhome stopovers for free – but it has facilities including electric hook-up, and there is wine, so what’s not to like!

We read about Vinya els Vilars on a Facebook motorhome page and decided that it had to be part of our trip. We emailed to ask if we could book and received a reply saying that there was actually no need to book – just turn up.

We arrived at about 4.40pm, just in time to join the free wine tasting which takes place at 5pm on weekdays.

The vineyard here is family-owned. We were warmly greeted by Maria who started the vineyard with her husband. She now runs it along with their son, who provided us with an entertaining talk while 10 of us enjoyed tasting several wines. Naturally we bought a few bottles, but it wasn’t mandatory and we didn’t feel under any pressure to do so at any point.

There are over 25 spacious pitches available at the vineyard, 14 of which have electricity. There are facilities to dispose of grey and black waste. If you need to fill up with water, you can’t connect a hose onto the fresh water tap and so need a large water bag and funnel – we were lucky enough to borrow those from fellow visitors (now on my list of things to take on trips). There are two toilets, a shower and washing-up area – a little bit basic – but did we mention that staying here and all of this is free?

We stayed for two nights in May and thoroughly enjoyed our time here. Although it’s not a campsite, you can put out chairs and sit outside – and it’s a beautiful, peaceful place to visit. We enjoyed relaxing on the site and enjoying the sunsets at the end of the day.

The village of Arbeca is about a 25-minute walk away, where there are bars, places to eat, and a well-stocked Spar supermarket.

This vineyard campsite and the local area was well worth making a point of visiting for the peaceful experience. And also for the opportunity to taste and buy a selection of excellent wine!