Driving to Spain

[Neil_Pickard]

This summer I'm going to take my 993 Cab on a long drive to Alicante Spain. I can't wait and am looking forward to the long drive, I'm sure she will perform with no hesitation. I'm going to get the Shuttle to Calais and then drive from there as I don't want to get the ferry.

Has anyone done it and is there any route that is best to take for the driving experience but not too far off track. Also are there any great places to stop on the way to sleep and rest?

 

[peterarcher]

I will just give you this tip. Keep Paris on your left, less cameras and less tolls.
Have a good trip

 

[angry]

Take time to slow down at the pyrenees,and experience the twisty roads that go over them[][][][][][]
Do a stop over there.
Dan

 

[pmjt]

ORIGINAL: Neil_Pickard
Has anyone done it and is there any route that is best to take for the driving experience but not too far off track.

Yes - we do it each year - sometimes twice - the best holiday for me []

ORIGINAL: Neil_Pickard
Also are there any great places to stop on the way to sleep and rest?

Um - the whole of France []

Our favourite route is:

Calais to the Loire, only pain is the Peripherique (imagine a REALLY bad M25!) around Paris - then stay in Amboise (stuning hotel in the middle of the woods called Domain de les Hautes d'Loire) or if you want a little further south there's St. Maixient l'Ecole - a wonderful gastro hotel (can't remember the hotel name just now).

Next day down to Biarritz - always worth walking on the beach and eating the (overpriced!) seafood.

Then down to Madrid - OUTSTANDING hotel / restaurant with rooms is El Cenador de Salvadore - quite simply the best food you'll find in Madrid - utterly mind blowing and very comfortable.

Then on to wherever you're going - we stay every year just outside Granada at a stunning hotel 'Finca La Bobadilla' - wonderful food, great setting in the country and very, very comfortable.

Your choice is going to be dictated by your budget [] There are some amazing little retreats along the way - you can stay for €35 per night if you are prepared to use the Campanile network - or you can spend €500 per night - for us, the journey IS the holiday so we stay in some wonderful places.

Let me know if you want any more route / place suggestions.

HTH

Philip

 

[JP_Albin]

I drive down to the Dordogne area most years (as well as Le Mans) and i would recommend AVOIDING Paris like the proverbial plague. Reason i mention Le Mans is that the A28 is now almost completed, so you can go by "nice" autoroute avoiding the stress of the "Terriferique" as the french call it.

Anyhow, www.viamichelin.com has a great route planner, and if you opt for quickest route from Calais to Biarritz for exanmple, it will take you down the route i mention, it is 1066km long.

I am sure though that you will enjoy whichever route you take!

Good luck!

 

[Neil_Pickard]

Thanks for the information, I will get a map and see where we want to stop on the way. And I'll take the advise of driving round Paris, we drove down to Le Mans a couple of years ago and I remember it being very easy and an enjoyable drive.

I also fancy a trip to see the Millau bridge.

 

[peterarcher]

As I said, keep Paris way over to your left. No need to go anywhere near it. If you want to view the Millau bridge you will have to get off the main road before you get to Millau otherwise you will be across it before you know it. There is a viewing area built for the purpose.
Enjoy the drive, french drivers are very well behaved but be ready for the shock of meeting the spanish when you go over the border, they drive differently.
Peter

 

[Michael Williams]

It can be an exciting trip because types like us stand out like a sore thumb......not because of our good looks but because the car signifies to a certain breed that money is availabe. we were attacked in a busy petrol station by two gipsy types who knifed our rear tyre whilst I was paying for my fuel. The plan is that the tyre goes down when you are out on the motorway alone, and the guys who stick the tyre follow you out of the service station. We were lucky because the tyre went down immediately and we had the flat on the forecourt...having moved the car to the side of the forecourt to change the wheel, they still attacked us! No one came to help as they had knives. my wife and I just wrestled with them and mangaed to frighten them off with the noise. This took place just outside Bilbao so we then had to drive all the way to portugal without a spare because it was Sunday!
Lessons are have a mobile and know the emegency number.
Bear in mind the English are not popular with the Spanish...and they tend to speak Spanish
Never stop at a scenery lookout type place, they wait around those places too.
You will not be coming off a boat to fill up with cheap fuel as we were. Go through the North of Spain having filled up inside France so you are well down before you stop. Have someone guard your car.
If you stay in a hotel, make sure it has a locked garage for overnight protection.
We know lots of people who have been attacked in this way as we drive to our place in Portugal frequently and it is obviously a point of conversation. You need to take great care and be very observant.
I know a hotel close to Madrid for overnight if you need the info.
Good luck.

 

[Melv]

"only pain is the Peripherique (imagine a REALLY bad M25!) around Paris"

I've ended up going north-west about Paris via Versailles a couple of times, nit too bad if u know where u r going or have Satnav...

Ah, yes, Millau Bridge.........tallest pier higher than the Eiffel Tower and the bridge deck is 800' above river level!!!!

 

[hanhams81]

Hi,
Sounds a great trip. I simply endorse JP Albin's recommendation of the Michelin Route Maps. Travelling to Austria last year they accurately plotted every speed camera en route. A great help. My navigator praised the route presentation, it made her task very simple. This is not intended as a sexist remark by the way. Even the local goose feels superior when it sees me comming. You can gues how paranoid I have become about political correctness! At least owning a 993 helps redress the inbalance on my mind.
Hanhams81

 

[Michael Williams]

My first response may have given you some doubts about the trip.I forgot to say that the drive through Spain is excellent, very enjoyable motoring experience that has long gone from the UK. Long, mostly empty roads with some stunning scenery, particualarly over the mountains in the North. Just do it![]