Beginner Pyrenees advice

[Dave Pinner]

In September, we are looking to hire a motorhome for a week, as a test really to see whether to get one in a couple of years or not. I've got an itinerary in my head but I just wanted some views from people who've done this before.
We are there for a week and landing in Toulouse. The rough route is Toulouse - Bagneres Du Luchon - Quillan - Argeles sur Mer - Limoux - Bagneres Du Luchon - Toulouse over 7 days. Total of about 1,000km.
I would have no worries about doing this route in a car but I'm a bit concerned that I'm setting my sights a bit high for our first drive in a motor home. What are people's thoughts?

 

[Mel]

Hi Dave
Welcome to Fun
It might help if you gave a little more information.
What do you normaly drive and what you have driven size wise.
Also whay MH are you going to hire.

Enjoy the Motorhome.

 

[Eenansue]

>100 miles a day every day, for us that would take 3 weeks or more so that we could see some of the sights and experience the local culture. Each to their own but we would spend a lot longer doing that sort of trip. 100 miles a day at an average of 25mph (max speed being 50mph in France now) you are looking at >4 hours traveling every day. Not much time for sightseeing after you consider what time you will hit the road (? 10:00?) An hour (min) for lunch and finding a place to stop for the night. The whole point of using a MoHo (IMHO) is taking your time and chilling

No doubt others will differ in their opinions, just my tuppence worth

 

[DBK]

Just go for it but be flexible. If you find somewhere nice stop early and explore on foot. Don't make your plan something you feel you can't deviate from. France is very motorhome friendly.

 

[davidbaldam]

We went over the Pyrenees last month and depending on your route you should be OK. Most routes are used by lorries, we were nervous before transit but afterwards relished that there was nothing to worry about. Have a great trip.

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[Dave Pinner]

Hi Dave
Welcome to Fun
It might help if you gave a little more information.
What do you normaly drive and what you have driven size wise.
Also whay MH are you going to hire.

Enjoy the Motorhome.

Hi Mel, as i said, first time with a Motorhome. I normally drive an Audi A4 or a hire car on holiday as a Fiat Doblo. The Motorhome I'm looking to hire is a CI Riviera 110, sleeps 6 apparently.

 

[Dave Pinner]

The whole point of using a MoHo (IMHO) is taking your time and chilling

I totally agree, this is what I'm looking for so hence why I was concerned about my schedule. Some re-thinking to be done... Thanks

 

[Eenansue]

Hope you enjoy your trip!

 

[mitzimad]

i can understand wanting to do as much as you can to get the most from your weeks hire but i would find somewhere flatter and pick a smaller area .As your van is a six berth does this imply you have children with you?four /five hours a day driving will not make happy children .

 

[mfw]

As others said take time and enjoy i damaged a mirror out there clipping another motorhome both of us stopped repair for mine was cheap but it was both our faults so he paid his and i paid mine no problem.

If it had been a rental would of been totally different so i would advise erring on the side of caution and give way to others if necessary

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[suavecarve]

I would narrow the tour slightly for a week. Not too much and how I would narrow it would suit me. Argeles being on the coast, is this for the kids/beach ? If so I would completely discard that and research Plan d'eaus which are either swimming lakes or fishing lakes, use google maps to determine if it has a beach and you will have your answer also google lake swimming pyrenees, pretty much all of them are free and many you can stop overnight at free of charge.
Dependant upon your view of tourist traps I would bypass Carcasonne, I would stop off at Mirepoix, consider the little yellow train, pop up via the andorra road, look for all the volcanic waters coming out of the mountains, Font Romeu and other interesting stuff.
I wouldnt be overconcerned about other motorhomes clipping your wing mirrors on the roads up there but i would be very concerned about the logging lorries.
Considered the Lot and the Dordogne ?

 

[Stealaway]

Keep away from the Pyrenees, mountain passes are not good for a novice. You could get into trouble on the mountain roads.
There's loads to see around Toulouse. Enjoy

 

[Eenansue]

I would bypass Carcasonne

Abso-bl**dy-lutely! Don't get tempted by the mediaeval walls, which are nice to look at from the outside, inside is an extra circle of hell maintained by Baelzebub for the purposes of turning tourists into destitute paupers.

 

[Minxy]

The first question is are you wanting to experience the MH or the travel? If the MH them keep your trip restricted to a smaller area and enjoy it rather than spend hours travelling for the sake of it (been there, done that!), you'll still get to use the MH so if it's more to do with if you can 'cope' with it, this is more likely to tell you that than driving for hours.

I'd also forget the Pyrenees totally, it can be concerning at times even for experienced MHers, but for a novice could put you off driving a MH for life!

 

[hilldweller]

Total of about 1,000km.. What are people's thoughts?

Well......

Same beginner's mistake, quantity over quality.

You are not going to evaluate a motorhome if you do nothing but drive it. It's a truck, it's slow(ish), thirsty if you go fast, not one bit of fun to drive.

What you need is few miles and time to see what motorhome life is really like by staying put for at least 3 days which gets you into the poo and cooking cycle.

We often do 250/350 miles a day then stop for a few days, not often more than a week except in winter.

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[Tanya_and_Mick]

Mate, using the A15 over the Pyrenees is a breeze - so don't worry.

We're all different and if you like to drive lots go for it. Plus, considering the typical size of a MoHo you'll get to know the gotcha's quickly.

Nothing is that difficult and if you wnat to do loads of miles; or, stop and soak up culture - the joy is you can do either, as that's the beauty of having a MoHo - options

 

[suavecarve]

Abso-bl**dy-lutely! Don't get tempted by the mediaeval walls, which are nice to look at from the outside, inside is an extra circle of hell maintained by Baelzebub for the purposes of turning tourists into destitute paupers.

Possibly quote of the day/week
Couldnt have put it better myself

 

[Gellyneck]

As your van is a six berth does this imply you have children with you?four /five hours a day driving will not make happy children .

And if this is the case check how many seatbelted seats there are in the chosen motorhome. Number of berths regularly does not equate to same number of belted seats!

 

[Lenny HB]

6 berths and an overcab, for a first timer a Low Profile would be easier lower, more stable. The French have a bad habit of hiring large vans on a 3500kg chassis, a 6 berth implies you are taking kids you may find you dont have enough payload to drive it legally need to check with the hirer.
Ok distance is do'able but far better to take it slower and just amble from one village to the next.

 

[deleted-member02]

I'd also forget the Pyrenees totally, it can be concerning at times even for experienced MHers, but for a novice could put you off driving a MH for life!

I tend to agree, we'll be in the Pyrenees in a couple of weeks time (think this is our fourth visit).
Although the driving can be straightforward and very rewarding, it can also be traumatic.
One warm, sunny July's day we were travelling on the D918 from Laruns heading towards Cauterets.
Low cloud began to roll in, turning to mist, then thick fog, later with hail and sleet in the mix. Temperature dropped to 4 degrees.
The road was narrow, single track at some points, the roadside was rock face or sheer drop, with little or no barriers.
Sat-nav and maps gave no clue that it would be so difficult.
As conditions worsened, we managed less than 15miles in an hour. I eventually pulled into a hotel car park to regain my composure.
We decided to ditch Cauterets and headed lower to the relative safety of Argeles-Gazost.
I'm an experienced, competent motorhome driver, without doubt that was the worst drive of my life
So many wonderful places to visit, I'd probably save the Pyrenees for another time.
From Perpignan, it's an easy train journey into the mountains, perhaps another option to consider?

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[DangerMousy]

We are there for a week and landing in Toulouse. The rough route is Toulouse - Bagneres Du Luchon - Quillan - Argeles sur Mer - Limoux - Bagneres Du Luchon - Toulouse over 7 days. Total of about 1,000km.

>100 miles a day every day, for us that would take 3 weeks or more

Google maps say that route is 1022km (635 miles) and about 12.75hrs driving - so probably closer to 15hrs (on average we find Google's driving time +17.5% is about accurate). Which makes it about 91 miles and 2.25hrs of driving per day. We'd consider that a leisurely trip (our first trip abroad, second ever in the MH we averaged 100 miles per day) but everyone travels differently

For a week I'd suggest having at least one stay of two or three nights and the rest of them just 1 nigh stopovers. For the one nighters we like arriving at lunchtime, exploring the town a bit and moving on the next day, but its still nice having a couple of days in one place to relax a bit more - especially if there are lots of things to do in the area.

Can't comment on the Pyrenees as we've never been to them....but even after a couple of years with our MH I still get a bit nervous on narrow or steep roads. If you don't need a 6 berth then get a smaller one - you might like the idea of plenty of space inside, but smaller definitely is better when you're driving/parking

 

[AndyV]

If you are set on going the Pyrenees route I would cut back on your intended mileage. Don't get taken in by the fact HGVs use certain mountain roads so its ok for you. These guys are using those routes day in day out, for a first timer in a MO its a different ball game. Don't take on something that might put you of for life

 

[monzer]

I unexpectedly ended up going over the Pyrenees in December a few years back, it was my first trip in the van and I was heading for Barcelona. The snow came on, the inside lane was completely white and the gritters started coming out. It just gets higher and higher and higher.

I stopped in a little mountain village for fuel and it was late on by this time. I contemplated kipping up for the night but really wanted to get down the other side to get a good run in to Spain the next day so just went for it.

It's a bit hairy coming down the other side as you cover a lot of height in not a lot of distance.

Didn't have any problems though and looking back it was one of the highlights of the trip.

 

[MisterB]

We've just come back from our first trip abroad and travelled the same area. we went from our static on the Vendee and returned 10 days later. it was a lot of travelling but we did stop for a picnic dinner everyday so that prolonged the driving time, but we found some great places to picnic and enjoyed doing it that way.

My top suggestion would be to carry a couple of days food and water if you can which avoids shopping everyday, so keep the food simple - I was pleasantly surprised how well a cadac with pizza stone cooked pizzas - and managed everything else we threw at it - best £90 (plus the pizza stone) we spent!

I would give the Med a miss completely, its barren, boring and expensive around the tiny part we saw of it. great beaches but as you have to pay to park (in the main) and we ended up on a 9.80 euro per night car park hemmed in between others, I wouldn't bother again, but at least we know and would do it different next time, like stay an hour or so from the coast and just visit to sight see or swim ! We went to St Cyprien, not far from Argeles sur Mer. great town, lots of boats but over commercialised and expensive. once you've see lots of boats .......

I'll post a list of the places we stayed/visited with photos etc later, we meandered around instead of picking the sensible route but we enjoyed getting up in the morning and deciding where to go next!

Download the park4night app and get all the aires books, you wont need anything else. I did find the all the aires a bit misleading as they only give basic descriptions which don't do justice to many of the places we visited, just have a couple of 'overnighters' in your plan and don't be scared of moving on if youre not happy.

Remember the rule - if there are signs saying you can't park up overnight then you CAN'T park up overnight, if there are NO signs ....