Spain via France

[Speve]

That's much further than Alicante..BUSBY.

It may be more Southerly but not a great deal further in miles I wouldn’t think?

 

[Speve]

It may be more Southerly but not a great deal further in miles I wouldn’t think?

Just checked about 200/250 miles extra depending where you go.

 

[Pikeman]

Have done both methods, but after a very dodgy ferry crossing in to Santander a couple of years back, I would have to drug the wife to get her on that crossing again. It was that bad I actually gave up on having dinner . Trying to sleep in the bunk was like a ride at Alton towers.

 

[Gaston aires]

You dont go to Benidorm then its a joke by the way .

I have been to Beni, but only long enough to know I wouldn’t go again. Same with Lloret. Love Spain to bits but not those sort of places.
Phil

 

[martin2603]

If you are over 3 metres high avoid the Péage It can be expensive Poitiers Tours to Bordeaux. The 50.mph are a tight right pain on the N10. We use the free motorway to Cahors then amble cross country towards the Border. The Aude Gorge is also a beautiful route.

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[Jaws]

Ok let's put it another way given the choice. Would you guys get ferry to Spain or chunell then drive. ?
And thanks for the replies so far

We originally used the ferries over to Calais but for the past 7 years or so have used the chunnel and then down to Spain
We never use tolls and try to behave re speed limits..
Usually leave the UK on the first train past midnight on the 15th and plot up for the night close to the tunnel somewhere in France
We usually arrive in Benidorm mid afternoon on the 17th, so two and a half days
We do NOT use toll roads ! ( apart from the Dartford crossing ! )

 

[Wingman123]

Another for the chunnel, very easy experience and quick. We spent 16 days in August driving to the Costa del Sol using rural aires all the way, really enjoyed taking our time and felt very safe. About-france.com is a useful website for planning your trip and places to see.

We are hoping to travel to southern Spain & Portugal if all is well next April either via Santander /Bilbao or through France, but we have 5-weeks and need to call in at Pensacola and Agde in France on the way back.
We are not that happy with free motorway Aires as suffered from a smash and grab within in 2-minutes of stopping a few years ago near Alicante at a small aire with a few people around.
Would consider paid for motorhome service areas and France Passion sites but have not tried them yet.
Could I ask how you got on with your rural sites in Spain? Did you pay for any services or were they free? Has anybody had any experience with France Passion sites?
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated thanks

 

[Wingman123]

Have done both methods, but after a very dodgy ferry crossing in to Santander a couple of years back, I would have to drug the wife to get her on that crossing again. It was that bad I actually gave up on having dinner . Trying to sleep in the bunk was like a ride at Alton towers.

What time of year did you travel as this sounds horrendous?

 

[Wingman123]

We use the tunnel for a couple of reasons we have two dogs and dog friendly cabins are like hens teeth also not a fan of ferries, we enjoy the fast crossing of the tunnel and you are straight out onto the roads in France, it’s a very enjoyable experience driving down to Spain we probably go a different route every time.

What about the return trip on the French side of the tunnel. Do you you head straight for it or overnight locally somewhere safe?
Colin

 

[Wingman123]

my choice, Chunnel and then drive through France. Why? I’m never in a rush to get anywhere, I like french wine, butter, bread, cheese, croissants the journey is part of the holiday. Some fantastic free aires all the way down.

Could I ask if you have ever had any trouble on the free motorway Aires on route?

Colin

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[teddybear]

SWMBO is not a good sailor,so, tunnel is always first choice for us.

 

[Jenka]

Could I ask if you have ever had any trouble on the free motorway Aires on route?

Colin

I've been in France about a week now heading into Spain tomorrow or Tuesday, no issues at all with aires.

 

[Nomadian]

Could I ask if you have ever had any trouble on the free motorway Aires on route?

Colin

I’ve never used the motorway aires tbh. There are enough aires in small towns and villages usually with a boulangerie nearby. I’ve done the journey enough times to know where the aires are, some just off the main motorways.

 

[Stonemags76]

Most towns and villages in France have an Aire de Camping Car, not to be confused with motorway Aires (aire just means rest area I think). We don’t stay overnight on motorway Aires, although I know some do. It’s never very far to detour to a nice village. We always drive from the tunnel, & usually rush towards Poitiers, then slow down! We have a dog, so that is a consideration, but the fun is in the journey really!

 

[Jenka]

I’ve never used the motorway aires tbh. There are enough aires in small towns and villages usually with a boulangerie nearby. I’ve done the journey enough times to know where the aires are, some just off the main motorways.

Ah yes sorry misunderstood I park of MW without problems .on way home in March we were instructed to stay on MW with again no issues roads still quite .

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[Wingman123]

my choice, Chunnel and then drive through France. Why? I’m never in a rush to get anywhere, I like french wine, butter, bread, cheese, croissants the journey is part of the holiday. Some fantastic free aires all the way down.

Could I ask if you have ever had any trouble on the free motorway Aires on route

Colin

Most towns and villages in France have an Aire de Camping Car, not to be confused with motorway Aires (aire just means rest area I think). We don’t stay overnight on motorway Aires, although I know some do. It’s never very far to detour to a nice village. We always drive from the tunnel, & usually rush towards Poitiers, then slow down! We have a dog, so that is a consideration, but the fun is in the journey really!

Hi, Thanks for that info; we are new to motorhoming but have done 35 years caravanning in France so have not used the camping car Aires.
Are they listed in the sat nav or is there a special booklet for locating these?
Colin

 

[Augusta08]

Ok let's put it another way given the choice. Would you guys get ferry to Spain or chunell then drive. ?
And thanks for the replies so far

Done both several times, but in the current socially distantanced times I'm driving down in December -Jan.

 

[gus-lopez]

Could I ask if you have ever had any trouble on the free motorway Aires on route

I use nothing but free mway aires and aires de repos in France and Spain. Never had any problems.

 

[MikeD]

I have been to Beni, but only long enough to know I wouldn’t go again. Same with Lloret. Love Spain to bits but not those sort of places.
Phil

We stop about 3 miles short of Benidorm. Albir near Altea. Lovely place
ps: camp site on the beach not great but the area is lovely.

 

[Nomadian]

Could I ask if you have ever had any trouble on the free motorway Aires on route

Colin

Hi, Thanks for that info; we are new to motorhoming but have done 35 years caravanning in France so have not used the camping car Aires.
Are they listed in the sat nav or is there a special booklet for locating these?
Colin

see post #43

and have a look on Link Removed the website is free but you can pay for the app which is a fiver I think.

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[Minxy]

We have dogs so always do the tunnel both ways and have a Frequent Traveller partner so that means the cost is a lot less than buying the tickets on our own.

We only use MW aires to stop for a break or meal en-route, we never ever stop overnight on them no matter how 'nice' they look, it is all too easy for thieves to drive in, break-in and nick something then be off on the MW before you know it. There are usually villages/places to pull-off the MW and stop for the the night even if there aren't any 'official' camping car aires in the vicinity (although there are a lot in France especially), we used to use Camper Contact a lot but now find that Park4Night is more up to date and reliable, and tends to have more aires on it too for France, Spain, Portugal etc. You can get free versions but it's worth paying the small cost for the full version.

On a practical note, keep your water topped-up as much as possible so you don't have issues if the water/services are turned off and empty your cassette too for the same reason as, although at most you can still empty it you can't always rinse it. The weather in France can be very mild or extremely wintery so be prepared for snow, frost etc and take a scraper and de-icer, we also have a folding shovel just in case as we once had a fall over snow overnight and awoke to 4 inches in the car park! They do however deal with such weather very well there and the roads are kept clear.

Which aires/route is recommended really depends on where you want to end up in Spain, if going to the East side we go down nearly to the South of France and then along into Spain along the coast road, if the West then past Bordeau to St Jean and into Spain that side, you can use tunnels etc but you need a very good bank balance and don't even think of going over the top unless you have snow chains and even then it could still be 'interesting'!

 

[Monty don]

Motorway services on the peage are ok
Safe I use them a lot
GB

 

[Speve]

What about the return trip on the French side of the tunnel. Do you you head straight for it or overnight locally somewhere safe?
Colin

Usually find an aire around Gravelines and then it’s only a short ride into the tunnel complex as we usually try to get an early morning train to avoid traffic on UK side to travel home

 

[Speve]

Could I ask if you have ever had any trouble on the free motorway Aires on route

We had no choice returning back to UK last March and they were perfectly safe although very noisy with refrigerated lorries running all night.

 

[gus-lopez]

Motorway services on the peage are ok

They used to be the absolute worst for theft in both France & Sapin to the extent that you'd think that there was something underhand going on , especially in France when you had gendarmes on nearly every toll exit?

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[Tigertom]

Have done both methods, but after a very dodgy ferry crossing in to Santander a couple of years back, I would have to drug the wife to get her on that crossing again. It was that bad I actually gave up on having dinner . Trying to sleep in the bunk was like a ride at Alton towers.

Yep, did the Santander crossing a couple of years ago in the Autumn, never again .......it was hell with no escape. I’ll only do a short ferry crossing in the future and not even that if the weather forecast is bad.

 

[EdwardFT]

I have seen the weather reports of high winds in Narbonne and Montpellier but I parked near both last week and it was tranquil.
I second the advice to keep water topped up/empty respectively. If you are really stuck, a 6-pack of 2-litre bottles of supermarket still water will get you a shower and a cup of tea or coffee for very little, as a Plan B.
I have found Park4night to have more free spots than any other site but I will take any advice going.
As a side point, I have heard that in France the reason why there are so many free Aires in towns is that the Mairie is not generally allowed to prohibit overnight motorhome parking without making a special case, but they are allowed to regulate it, so they mostly go for creating a free aire so that people won't park up elsewhere in the town. This is just hearsay though.

 

[SMB]

We are hoping to travel to southern Spain & Portugal if all is well next April either via Santander /Bilbao or through France, but we have 5-weeks and need to call in at Pensacola and Agde in France on the way back.
We are not that happy with free motorway Aires as suffered from a smash and grab within in 2-minutes of stopping a few years ago near Alicante at a small aire with a few people around.
Would consider paid for motorhome service areas and France Passion sites but have not tried them yet.
Could I ask how you got on with your rural sites in Spain? Did you pay for any services or were they free? Has anybody had any experience with France Passion sites?
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated thanks

We only had a few stops in Spain compared to France but all the aires in both countries were free and most had free services. The only problem we had with the Spanish aires was the noise and late nights the other motorhomers had but you get that on some campsites, its Spain after all! The park4night app and a couple of 'all the aires' books were all we needed to choose sites

 

[Pikeman]

What time of year did you travel as this sounds horrendous?

That was a December crossing. It also coincided with a freak snow storm across northern Spain. We expected the possibility of snow going over the Picos, but it continued all the way down to east of Madrid before it petered out. Mind you the police had it all under control, with all trucks removed from the motorway and snow plough gritters every 5 miles.

 

[peterc10]

Chunnel every time. Better than any Ferry, just 35 minutes sitting in your own motorhome and straight out onto France's excellent road network. Nice easy run with plenty of places to stop on the way down. Just make sure you are topped up with water. Others have made the point about it being cold in France, and it can be. But I have found going over the plain in Spain to be just as cold. Seen the snow ploughs out in the Sierra Nevada as late as mid April.

Why would you want to risk being sick as a dog on the Bay of Biscay? And a lot cheaper

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