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Campervan travel has been growing steadily across Europe for several years now and Easter is one of the most popular times to take the plunge. You set your own schedule, you take your accommodation with you and you're not at the mercy of flight times, hotel availability or anyone else's itinerary. If you want to stay an extra night somewhere because it turns out to be wonderful, you just do.

 

It also makes financial sense more often than people expect. When you factor in flights, hotels, car hire and eating out for every meal, a campervan trip can work out surprisingly competitive, particularly for families or groups travelling together.

 

Spain is one of the best countries in Europe for this kind of travel, with an enormous variety of landscapes, coastlines and inland scenery all reachable within a few hours of each other.

 

Here are three routes that work particularly well for a three to five day Easter getaway.

 

 

Starting from Barcelona, this route heads north up the coast towards the Costa Brava, taking in beautiful coastal towns like Tossa de Mar and Cadaqués before turning inland through the Empordà region and up into the Catalan Pyrenees.

 

Natural parks including Cap de Creus and Cadí-Moixeró offer dramatic scenery and plenty of walking trails, and the contrast between the turquoise coves of the coast and the mountain landscapes inland makes this one of the most varied routes in the country.

 

 

Málaga makes an ideal starting point for exploring one of Spain's most iconic landscapes. Heading inland, the route winds through the famous white villages of Andalucía, with stops in Ronda, Zahara de la Sierra and Grazalema among the highlights.

 

The combination of winding mountain roads, natural parks, local food and those brilliantly whitewashed villages makes this a route that tends to leave a lasting impression. The drive back down to the coast at the end gives you the best of both worlds.

 

 

For something completely different, the north of Spain offers possibly the most spectacular coastal scenery on the Iberian Peninsula. Setting off from Bilbao, the route follows the Basque coast before continuing into Cantabria and on towards Asturias.

 

Highlights include the extraordinary rocky island of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, the medieval town of Santillana del Mar and the towering Picos de Europa mountains looming behind the coastline.

 

The north is greener, cooler and considerably less crowded than the Mediterranean coast at Easter, which for many people is reason enough to choose it.