2025 has been the biggest yet for Pub2Pub Adventures, and in making it so, they’ve roamed further than ever.
Our resident classic car road tripper, Ben Coombs, kicked things off in March, with a trip to the Arctic winter, and so it was fitting that for their eighth and last trip of the year, they should push further south than any previous trip. To within sight of the shores of Africa, in fact. Together with their trusty ClassicLine Insurance sponsored Volvo 240, Ben tells us what happened.
Given that this latest trip went by the name of the Trafalgar Tour, it’s no surprise that its destination was Cape Trafalgar, on the southern shores of Spain, just across the water from Morocco. The idea behind the trip was to arrive at Cape Trafalgar on Trafalgar Day – the anniversary of the famous battle, and doing so took a fair bit of planning.
Trafalgar Day is the 21st October, and so an itinerary was pieced together which saw us leaving the UK on the 9th October, and following a route around the coasts of Spain and Portugal which would deliver us to the sandy headland exactly 220 years to the day after Nelson’s final encounter with the French.
The plan seemed reasonable enough. However, the reality was far beyond what we’d expected.
When the eighteen cars of the inaugural Trafalgar Tour rolled off the ferry into Bilbao, with ten days in which to get to Trafalgar, the first thing which awaited them was the mountains of the Picos de Europa. And while not nearly as celebrated as the Alps or Pyrenees, these mountains play host to some of the best – and quietest – driving roads around. And so, we hit the ground running with hour after hour of epic alpine roads which were up there with the best any of us had ever seen before. The only worry was, how could the following days live up to this start?
Fortunately, they did. As we left the Picos for Galicia, in Spain’s northwest corner, the fine tarmac and views simply kept on coming. And when we dropped out of the mountains to the coast, the excellence continued, with headlands, bays and beaches which gave the trip a Cornish vibe – just without the crowding and caravan parks.
For day after day, we worked our way down the Atlantic Coast, with Spain giving way to Portugal, and the excellence continuing. A two-night stay in Port proved to be a hit, as did a similar break from the road further on in Seville.
From Seville, Cape Trafalgar was but a few hours away, and so we headed on down, passing the port of Cadiz, from where the Franco-Spanish fleet sailed, to the sandy headland, whose name is now synonymous with the Royal Navy’s greatest victory. As we walked the shore, a storm rumbled offshore; a fitting echo from 220 years earlier, when hundreds of cannons had roared away.
As it was for the British fleet after the battle, our next destination was Gibraltar, before setting course for home. And for us, this proved a far faster affair than it was for Nelson’s fleet, as we headed north across Spain’s arid centre, before boarding the ferry across the Bay of Biscay, back to Portsmouth, where Nelson’s Flagship – HMS Victory – still resides.
The Trafalgar Tour was the first Pub2Pub trip to take place solely on the Iberian Peninsula, and the general consensus was that it was a winner right from the off.
We’re already looking forward to heading out again next year, for Trafalgar’s 221st anniversary.
Sounds good? You’re welcome to come along… planetpub2pub.com/trafalgar
