Preparation is Everything

We returned from our first solo visit to the Portugal and Spain in September 1994 and we started planning for a return visit immediately.

We had pretty well done all we wanted to do in central Portugal and Spain, and wanted to explore Northern Spain and the Pyrenees. We had gained a lot of confidence on our last battlefield tour, and were keen to try new fields.

On our previous trip we had mostly visited the same battlefields as on our earlier Holt’s Battlefield Tour, so we knew what to expect. This time we would be exploring an area we had never visited before, although it all seemed very familiar from reading so much about it. I spent hours on the map working out the best route and trying to estimate how long we would need to travel and then to explore. Then I went to our local travel agent who was very helpful arranging accommodation. This was before your could easily book on-line, and I was disappointed to discover that it would not be possible to book accommodation on or near the battlefields. So once more I had to consult the maps to see which of the available hotels were best situated. But by far most of the preparation was in reading about the battlefields we planned to visit and photocopying extracts from all the books I had at home or could borrow from the local library. It involved a lot of hard work, but it was very enjoyable and rewarding research.

Our last tour had been a fly-drive, but this time we would travel by Brittany Ferries from Plymouth to Santander and take our own car. Again we would stay in Paradore’s (state run hotels), as they were the only type of accommodation we could easily book from UK.

We would drive the 95 miles from Santander to Burgos and explore the castle and surrounding area before driving 50 miles more to Vittoria, where we would spend two nights. Then 70 miles to Pamplona to explore Roncesvalles and Sourauren. This would be followed by a 60 miles drive to Hondarribia where we would spend three nights to explore the Pyrenees. This would include Vera, Bidassoa, San Marcial ridge, The Rhune the battles of the Nivelle and the Nive. We would then drive the 140 miles back to Santander, stopping at San Sabastian to explore the castle and the siege area. It was going to be a very busy 10 days.

The morning of 12 June 1995 was sunny and warm as we left Salisbury to drive to Plymouth to catch the ferry. We planned to travel 1100 miles and visit 13 battlefields and the whole trip would cost £500.

Once more our guide would be Jac Weller’s “Wellington in the Peninsula”. Indeed we had planned our trip largely on the battles covered in this excellent book. And again we would be using the photographs and maps to get our bearings on site.

Julian Paget’s book “Wellington’s Peninsular War – Battles and Battlefields” would again be our main aide in finding where to park and what to look for. This book had proved its worth during the previous tour and we were confident it would do so again.