Escaping the British Winter – without our Motorhome

As we near the end of February 2026, daffodils are starting to appear, the evenings are getting lighter and on the odd day it actually feels like spring is finally making an entrance. We’ve never been big fans of winters in the UK. It’s not so much the cold, you really feel alive on a cold, crisp, sunny winters day. It’s the rain, or rather the grey that comes with the rain. This year we decided to do something about it by skipping a chunk of the UK winter.

In previous years we’ve enjoyed months of winter sun in Spain, Morocco, Italy and Tunisia, but these days we need to be at home more for our parents, so our options are a bit more limited. We priced up taking Zagan our motorhome to southern Spain, but once we took into account the cost of the ferries (£800), fuel (£500), wear and tear on Zagan (£who knows) and campsite fees (£625) it actually worked out not much more to fly over there (£440) and rent an apartment for a month (£1450) – so we did.

Flying and renting also made it easier if we needed to get back home quickly. During the start of the Covid pandemic we discovered for us it takes four long driving days to get from Southern Spain back to Dover – and that was before Jay’s hip started to hurt when sitting for long periods (blimey we sound old!).

We booked flights to Malaga back in September when there was a sale on, then we just had to decide where to go from there. At Malaga airport you can easily hop on a train heading along the west coast and be in Torremolinos in 10 minutes or Fuengirola in just over half an hour.

I looked at accommodation along the train route, but nothing was shouting out to me. I looked at some of the resorts to the east of Malaga, but the problem was again nothing was calling me, probably because we already know and love the resort of Nerja. However we’ve spent almost six months there over the past few years, and we didn’t want to be ‘those people’ going back to the same resort every year.

By December we still hadn’t decided, then I went through a tough patch with my Mum and Dad. During that the decision was made. Life’s too short to worry about being ‘those people’, I needed a break. Not a holiday where I’d feel I should be out and about going to see places, just a break where I can sit doing nothing guilt-free.

So, I picked out a lovely apartment in Nerja, about a kilometre from the beach and a mile from the town centre, but high up in a block so we had sea views. The balcony was in the sun most of the day, so it also gave us a great spot for people watching on the sports pitches below.

Once I’d found the accommodation, I did another search for it across several sites – AirBnB, Expedia and the agent’s own site. I found that for some reason it was on offer, around 20% cheaper, on Booking.com so I snapped it up. As we were spending over a certain amount, they also threw in a free taxi from the airport to our accommodation. On a previous trip we’d hired a car and traveled around the local area, so as we weren’t bothered about hiring one again, the taxi was a nice bonus.

Our flight was in the morning so, instead of stressing about getting to the airport in rush hour (the M1 can be a nightmare and snow was forecast), we booked a stay at the airport hotel for the night before. With breakfast it cost us £110, which was a lot cheaper than airport parking for the month. By arriving at the airport the day before we flew we could relax. Also, we could get there cheaply by catching the local bus to the airport for the princely sum of £3 each (it didn’t run early enough to get there for our morning flight). It was a good job we did as several lanes on the M1 were closed the morning of our departure.

After a go in the sauna and steam room at the hotel spa, we settled in for a great night’s sleep. No rush in the morning, a huge buffet breakfast then a 7 minute stroll to the check-in in the departure lounge. The airport was closing for maintenance at 10am, so there were only four flights departing that morning. The chap at security said they called it ‘no flight Wednesday’ as we breezed through the scanners and checks with no queues.

Arriving in Malaga we got to have a go on the new EES machines, it worked for Jay registering him for the scheme and taking his fingerprints, but they didn’t like me. Two scanners later and I gave up and joined the short queue for the border guards’ booth. We grabbed our cases and met our taxi driver, an interesting guy from Ukraine. Within an hour and a half of landing we’d arrived in Nerja, picked up the keys from the rental agents office (we’d been WhatsApping with them directly to arrange where and when to collect them) and were in our home for the next month. After a short wander to the supermarket for some essentials it was time to relax.

Having been to Nerja so many times before, we were happy to just wander around the town, walk in the hills, eat out and enjoy a bit of sun. I say a bit of sun because we had several cracking storms and a lot of rain. The dried up riverbeds that are either used as roads or driven across to get around the place soon filled with water.

We watched on excitedly as cars splashed their way across through the water, until the police arrived and taped off the crossings, eventually putting a barrier across them. By this point you could hear large rocks crunching their way along hidden under the water, as branches floated down the rapids in a giant game of pooh-sticks.

Half way through our stay our walking route to the pueblo blanco of Frigiliana in the hills behind Nerja was cut off. We were under an Orange Alert one day to stay in, and during our last couple of days chunks of beaches and some walkways were washed away. We were getting no sympathy from home though as it looked like it had rained every day since we’d left.

Fortunately for us, the weather wasn’t that bad. It did put a stop to us having a day in the Sierra Nevada ski resort after a booked trip had to be postponed several times due to snow and closed roads, but as we were only going for a look around (we hadn’t bought gloves or ski gear with us) it didn’t bother us.

My brother lives in Spain, and it was lovely that he and his wife were able to drive over and see us for the day. Sadly it was a blustery day, so we sheltered in a tapas bar for several hours and had a good catch up.

When it was time to leave, we dropped off the keys and trundled our suitcases to the bus station. I’d pre-booked bus tickets to Malaga as I wasn’t sure how busy it would be – I needn’t have bothered. The bus ran every half hour, and only cost €6 each. At Malaga bus station, we got off the bus and crossed the road to a shopping centre from where we caught the train to the airport for €1.15 each.

Once in the airport we went straight to check in and through security, as there was a bit more of a queue than at East Midlands. Before went went to the border checks, I got another go on the EES machine, but it only registered my passport, no idea why it didn’t want my finger prints, but I’m sure we’ll find out next time we cross into the Schengen zone.

It’s now over ten years since we achieved financial freedom and I often forget what a great position we’re in. It’s only when I talk to people about our trips or plans and they look at me strangely then ask ‘how do you get time off work for that?’ that I remember.

We’re very fortunate to be able to move our lives somewhere else for a while, and I’d certainly look at doing something similar next winter. I was happy staying in one place, albeit somewhere we knew there would be enough going on to keep us entertained. The extra bit of sun, the change of scenery and a chance to step back and mentally regroup after a bit of a rocky December was just what I needed to kick start 2026.

We’ve been back for three weeks now and are back into the swing of life in the UK. We make a point of going somewhere for a walk when the sun is out (or when it’s at least not raining). The trip to Spain has given us the idea of maybe going further afield next winter. We’re in the very early planning stages and a lot will depend on what happens with my parents this year.

In the meantime we’re about to bring Zagan out of his winter stasis to start fettling him for a possible trip to Ireland later in the year. We’ve also booked a cheeky mid-week break to Mallorca in August to (hopefully) see the total solar eclipse. Having been in hot weather in Zagan in the past we know we don’t manage well, so we decided not to drive around Spain in August in him.

We may go quiet for a while again now as we go back to our ‘normal’ lives, but we’ll keep this blog updated if we do anything worthy of writing about.

Ju x