Driving on the continent!

[NopeNopetyNope]

Hello, I'm looking for any tips or advice/guidance from people who've driven through France and Spain. Or any words of reassurance!

OH has just surprised us all with a camping trip in Spain. He has booked the time off work, sorted car and health insurance and come home today with a brand new tent and a load of other camping gear. He's also told the children who are beside themselves with excitement!! I know that lots of people would just pop in the car and go for it and I don't want my children to miss out on an adventure because of me but I suffer terribly with anxiety! Realistically it will be me doing the driving as OH won't be able to do much due to health reasons.

I don't even speak the languages, what about road signs?! Maybe if we were driving in Germany I'd mange to read the road signs but I don't even have a base knowledge of French or Spanish. Road signage is really worrying me. I'm also worried about not knowing which types of roads I'll be driving on (eg highways or narrow country lanes), refuelling (not sure what worries me about this but it does), overnight stops or rest stops, interacting with people! I have social anxiety and struggle interacting with people who speak the same languages as me, I will need to use my phone translator but what if people get impatient with me or think I'm ignorant for not knowing the language? Oh and the ferry, I've never driven onto one before and have no idea how it works.

I wish I was carefree and just went with the flow, enjoyed the adventure of exploring new places and I want my children to experience that without me ruining it so please, any guidance or reassurance (as much reassurance as you can muster) will be so much appreciated!

And thank you of you read all of that, apologies if I've rambled.

We have done similar from York.
It's a long drive.
You could get a hotel near Dover - that's 1 day
Dover to Calais in the morning.

You could do 2 days to Tarragona from Calais- but those will be long days - and you will arrive late at night in the campsite - which is stressful - especially with children

No, he's never given me any surprises on this scale before. I was completely flabbergasted when he announced it! He is a very, I don't know how to put it, he makes the decisions and I usually just go along with it. Which I don't usually mind because he's not nasty or anything and he does normally have all our best interests at heart. But sometimes I don't think what I say/want matters very much.

1st overnight stop near La Flèche.
2nd I would do after Bordeaux but before Bayonne, so somewhere in the Landes.
Lots of little stops in between obviously.
Have a good rest before Bordeaux.
You will find driving on the continent easier than in the UK but make sure you don't get overtired.
Do you have a good car?

All I have to say is …….. I’d fucking kill him!

Yes our car is pretty new and in good condition so hopefully we won't need to be using the euro breakdown cover!

And thank you so much for giving me some stopping points to look at manonwellfling

Spain and France are brilliant to drive in. Great motorways not too many cars on them. It's easy. Wouldn't advise driving round the Arc de Triomph though if you're a tad nervous!

Have you ever camped before? 2 weeks, over a thousand miles away, in a different country is a heck of a trip for your first time...

Op, this is nuts.

I shared your anxiety about driving on the continent. For that part of things you’ll be fine, it’s funny how you just instinctively know what to do, especially when all the cars around you are doing the same,.

but 3 days from Newcastle to Tarragona with kids in the car and a non-driving dh is mad. And in August heat and busyness too.

really, for your own safety, you have to tell dh that this is not happening. Which will be hard. But you can say that he has not thought about you, has not done any of the planning, and that this is too much.

he can’t force you to drive it.
tell,him if he wants to go, he’ll have to book flights to thr nearest airport and you’re prepared to drive a hire car to thr campsite.

and if he starts on about disappointing the kids, tell him you’ll explain that mum was not consulted and you don’t want to subject them to six days in the car there and back.

honestly op, don’t do this.

Good point! Do not go through Paris!!!
From Calais it's
Le Havre
Rouen
Tour
Poitier
Bordeaux
Bayonne
San Sebastian
Pamplona
Zaragoza
Tarragona

Rubbish, I’ve driven from Madrid to Calais non stop and it was a breeze, we left Madrid about 930 and got to Calais in the early hours of the next day. I think people are making a drama out of this as per usual on here. Maybe stop once each way, I’d get an early ferry to Calais or even Dunkirk then drive as much as possible that day, stop overnight then complete the trip the next day. The tolls can be expensive so I would seriously consider looking at cheap flights and a hire car, but this is based on money not the journey

So he just volunteered you to do six days of driving?

I wouldn't do it. I'd rather have shorter holiday and fly there.

@NopeNopetyNope
If you really are determined to do this trip, do look at Via Michelin website, as it will help you hugely to plan your route, it has travel times, suggested halts, overnight stops and lots of advice, all just a couple of clicks away.

It's forecast to be 31° in Tarragona tomorrow, so take that heat into account in all your planning, you're going to need a lot of water each day!!

Well yes. Then there’s the camping!

30 degrees in a tent with kids, for two weeks, having not camped in Europe before…..(a guess but seems the case…)

…imagine the stress.

jeepers op. You dh has really, really not thought this through.

I’d agree with this driving in France and Spain is fine once you are used to it, but it’s a long old drive to Spain! Try looking at campsites is the Vendee in France - or even Brittany.
you also need to look at ferries urgently as it might be v difficult to book for summer hols now

great idea by DH, but absolutely rubbish of him to surprise you with it and leave you to organise the travel!!

and it will be VERY hot in Spain

You have said you feel 'trapped' and feel like you're 'stopping your children from having fun'. You have been forced into doing this and don't seem to be able to say no even though you'd prefer to stay at home. Children are happy camping anywhere - why not just do a shorter trip to Normandy or Brittany or Le Touquet. It really is crazy to spend 6 days (of a 14 day break) on unfamiliar roads. You won't enjoy it and neither will the kids.
You have hinted that your husband expects you to do things his way and doesn't give you a choice, It's worrying. What would happen if you said 'no' or changed the plans?

Having read your update I completely agreee with everyone else - change the campsite to northern France . It’s bonkers to expect t you to drive to Spain. Kids will have a brilliant time wherever they are , and it will still be a massive adventure for them, but MUCH less stressful for you

This is doable, but it's not a holiday for you or enjoyable for the kids to be in the car for so long. It will probably also be a lot more expensive that he expects in tolls, overnight stops and ferries.

Why not camp in France for a first trip, get used to camping and driving, then venture further next time?

The beauty of road signs is that they are mainly symbols.

Your H can navigate while you concentrate on driving.

Can you get the ferry to Spain and miss out much of the driving? I wouldn't be (too) worried about doing it but it will be exhausting doing it all yourself.

Sorry just read your update that you can't book the ferry but I still think this is madness, three full days of driving will be absolutely exhausting.

I would be absolutely furious if DH did this to me.

I have learned to drive on the other side of the road but I really dislike the swapping over period while I get used to it.

I also wouldn't drive a car set up for the other side of the road in a foreign country. So I would only drive a hire car from that country.

The more I think about this the crosser I am on your behalf.

If you honestly want to do it, then I would try to get the shuttle to Calais rather than the ferry. It's more expensive but knocks some time off. I'd plan to stop overnight twice, aiming for around 6 hours a day and hopefully less on your final day. Most suggested routes go via Paris but the Paris ring road is not the best to drive on for a first-timer. You could look at going via Rouen to try and avoid it.

Book hotels as you won't want to be faffing about with the tent every night and morning if you've got a lot of driving to do. Ibis are usually fairly reasonable. Formule 1 are super cheap but very very basic (no en-suite). Definitely book in advance as it will be stressful in peak holiday period trying to find somewhere on the road. Also if you book in advance you can plan ahead where to eat.

OP I have just spent the last two days driving down to the South of France from Calais (for the first time!) so I have some up to date wisdom!

It will be impossible to drive to Spain without an overnight stop. I am very comfortable with driving to Cornwall from London but this is much, much further.

The roads are nicer and quieter but there are tolls. At some points they are every one hour and they can be expensive (up to €15). I spent probably €50 just today in the tolls alone and we probably crossed 5 or 6 of them. It’s also quite impossible to avoid them without adding hours to your journey as they are the main motorways.

Good point from someone about the low emissions zone. You should have a certificate if driving via Paris or Rouen. We didn’t have this but should have done in hindsight.

You will need to buy a European driving kit from Halfords. Also check your car insurance and your breakdown cover covers Europe. Adding this has cost us £120.00 for the week with the AA.

Petrol is very expensive at the services. Again we have probably spent £150 in fuel driving through France.

The other thing I need to mention is the extreme heat at the moment. Driving through Bordeaux today it was 40 degrees Celcius. It is unbearably hot to drive without proper Air Con in your car. Our AC was pretty useless and just a fan wasn’t enough. We had to stop multiple times just being too hot to drive.

I don’t want to upset you further and raise your anxiety. I’ve driven to the south of France these last two days because I hate flying and the Eurostar disruptions! I just want to make you aware of the realities. Your camping trip won’t be a cheap holiday. Probably looking at £700 just in the ferry and petrol and tolls alone.

I hope it works out for you OP but might be worth showing DH my reply.

Why Spain? Why do this without talking to you first?
I agree that unless there is an explanation like DH is Spanish then stopping in France makes a great deal more sense.
Also agree with booking hotels for your route.
We are about to do a long USA road trip but everyone agreed the route, the driving will be shared and we all feel comfortable.
This glory seeking at your expense seems really mean of your DH.