Driving from UK to Spain

[DrivingToSpain]

We've talked about it for ages, and are now starting to map it out - we've got available accommodation near Valencia (one week).

We would like to drive there, through France (don't want to boat to Bilbao). Please can you share your recommendations / top tips / must see locations en route?

We will have just over 2 weeks to do the round trip.

So you want to spend a week in Valencia, and have a two week holiday window? So the driving there and back needs to take a week in total?

that’s a LOT. I don’t know how much you’d see because you’d have to drive constantly sure to make it down there in 3 days, a week there and back in 3 days?

i don’t think it’s a sensible plan personally, but…. If you want recommendations, what sort of things do you like?!

If you are doing it, then I’d drive on the morning ferry over to Calais. Have lunch on the coast near Le Touquet. Drive across through/round Rouen and down to Le Mans. Visit the town, the motorsport if that’s of interest.

then I’d stay overnight near Tours, somewhere like Troo on the Loire. Then next day I’d head toward Biarritz/ Saint Sebastian on the coast.

Thanks @ChannelyourinnerElsa - this is exactly why I posted!

We are pretty flexible in terms of days either side, we were thinking we could leave on the Wednesday to arrive in Valencia on the Saturday; then depart the week Saturday to arrive back home on the Wednesday. Clearly thinking out loud now, the 15 hour drive from Coquelles will need at least 5 hours a day...

Where do you live? If you are in the north that makes a difference. I recommend the eurotunnel.for a quick crossing.

16hrs driving each way. So three days of steady driving down, a week in Valencia, and three hours of steady driving back. You could do in in two days, but 8hr driving days are not fun if it's not something you do regularly.

I would seriously consider doing it by train and maybe hiring a car at the other end - https://www.seat61.com/Spain.htm#london-to-alicante-and-valencia-by-train

We are about 5mins from Heathrow so the irony isn't lost - flights to VLC coming in at £2k (family of 5), which is why we feel strongly about spending that money on an experience rather than a flight.

This looks amazing - what a fantastic way to "see" France. Thank you for the inspo.

We did it this year from the north west. Stayed the night in Kent then got a very early Chunnel. Stayed a night in Bourges and a night in Carcassonne before heading to o Spain and Andorra.

Cost of tolls will mount up if you use the toll roads but it's much quicker, we have the automatic thing that saves having to faff at the booth every time .

It was fine but we have a newish car which has a lot of assisted driving features which made it easier (an EV which is very well catered for in France)

We did get the Santander boat back after a few days in the north of Spain

We drove as far as the Costa Brava in the 1990s. I don't remember a huge amount about the journey except that we did drive fairly close to Paris on 'le perpanique' Paris equivalent of M25? We took a slightly longer route to avoid the tolls but I don't know how much money it saved or time it added. We were with PIL and their extended family and they always did it that way.

We stayed overnight in a cheap motel near Clermont Ferrand. This was before the days of the Millau bridge, so we had a lot of mountainous driving to do, but the bridge is spectacular and I'd love to see it - I think there's a viewpoint.

It's on the bucket list to do again, probably when we retire as we don't really do 2 week holidays at the moment for various reasons.

Oohhh yes, we also visited the bridge centre and viewpoint before going over it, spectacular indeed.

@Peccary So does that mean you drove from the Girona side across the Pyrenees to the north coast? How was that? If we ever do the journey I think we'd do that too.

There's a hotel (Canfranc) in a converted railway station that has a bit of a history right in the middle on the border that I want to stay at so it would be a good way of fitting that in.

We were leaving from Andorra headed to San Sebastian but did most of the drive on the french side as it was a lot quicker

I would take the ferry to Spain - Santander or Bilbao - one way. 24 hours on the boat vs. 3 days driving. I've done the boat trip once - at the start of a 3,300 mile road trip - and would definitely do it again.

That way you can then be more leisurely about the driving in the other direction - e.g. see something of the Picos de Europa or the Pyrenees while you drive. Both have some excellent driving roads and scenery. Or stop in the Loire or Bordeaux and visit some chateaux.

We did it many years ago when we moved to the south of Spain. We drove there in one go. Left northern England early morning and got to southern Spain around 4am I think. We shared the driving. When we moved back we stayed in Salamanca got the boat from Bilbao which was a much more pleasant experience

We have done this a couple of times- from the midlands to Barcelona and then the ferry to Majorca.

We drove to Portsmouth for the overnight ferry, off the boat early, long day driving to Cahors, then the final leg to Barcelona the next day. Overnight ferry to Palma.

It's tiring- you do need to enjoy driving and a road trip. If you have kids- how will they be in the car for that long?

Don't forget to factor in the cost of motorway tolls.

We have driven our van down to southern Spain with the kids for years. We do the journey in two days ( we do live in Kent though so we can be the other side of the channel tunnel by 8am with ease).
We've driven both ways ( day one to Irun - just over the border in Spain - day two remaining journey down to Moraira area. Or other times we have headed for Perpignan for the first night and headed down to southern Spain from there on day 2). It's basically which end of the Pyrenees foothills you want to head through. You can head right through the middle of them if you want to take a little longer over the journey. Andorra is beautiful as a detour.

I think it's too far for a week but route wise would avoid Paris as far as possible (we usually cut through Rouen and across to Orleans via Chartres) Go right down the middle of France on the A71/A75 stopping at Clermont Ferrand for a side trip up the Puy de Dome. The motorway from Clermont Ferrand down to the coast is really scenic and you cross the Millau Viaduct which is something to behold (there is a viewing platform as you approach the bridge which is worth a stop). Onto A9 past Perpignan and into Spain. Never crossed into Spain so can't advise on that bit. I think you might need an international driving licence for Spain (you don't for France). Would recommend a toll tag for the French motorways. If you plot your route using viamichelin it will tell you how much the tolls and fuel are likely to be.

We've driven to north of Barcelona in a day. Early Chunnel, then autoroutes for 14 hours - it’s important you both drive and swap regularly. With three days you have time for some sight seeing. You also need entertainment for the children!

DH and I did similar to this a few years ago. We drove down to Tarragona and back in two weeks and we spent a whole week in Tarragona. It was incredible!
We got ferry from Dover to Calais and spent three days driving down through France.
Our route was:
Dover - Calais - Caen (overnight) - Poitier (overnight) - Montpellier (overnight) - Tarragona
then going back our route was:
Tarragona - Bergerac (overnight) - Saint-Jean-du-Monts (overnight) - Fecamp (overnight) - Calais

The most incredible part was starting in northern France and watching all of the green farms and fields then as you travel down it's the Alps and then into southern France and it's the Mediterranean villas and houses. We had the best time but it's definitely not a cheap holiday. Tolls are very expensive through France.

If you decide to do it by car you will probably want to use toll roads, as they are much faster. We did this earlier in the year and got a toll road tag that you stick to the windscreen and it lets you drive through the quick lanes at the toll stations and just auto charges you - no faffing with cash/card and much quicker and less stressful. We used this one www.emovis-tag.co.uk/, but I think there are other options if you google. Enjoy, it's a lovely trip 🙂

We've driven down to the Costa Brava a few times, spending a few days driving down through France. Then a week in a villa and 3 days driving back to catch the ferry from Santander. The ferry home was great and would thoroughly recommend.

If you're going via Rouen then getting the overnight ferry from Newhaven (to Dieppe) would cut down the driving in France. And the motorway is toll-free until you get South of Rouen..... Going that way Le Mans, Tours, Poitiers, Saintes are all interesting. Don't try to get round Bordeaux in the rush hour or on a Friday night! Keep on the A63 and into Spain via Biarritz and San Sébastien, but again, avoid both of those in the rush hour. Then it's Pampelune, Saragosse, Teruel and into Valencia.
Selldonaterecycle seems to have plotted a zig-zag course...... I can't see either Caen or St Jean de Monts as being on a route from Calais to Spain without a massive detour, and I've been driving through France for a very long time.
Definitely get the automatic toll payement gadget : then you can use the lanes marked 30 at the toll booths..
That's the speed you can go through on....you'll hear a beep that tells you that your machine has been read so the barrier will open.
Check out Le Bison Futé ..... The French traffic website which will warn you if there is likely to be signifiant motorway traffic on the days you intend to travel.
Alternatively, check out flights to Alicante.... It's closer than Barcelona and the low cost airlines fly there. Trains link Alicante to Valencia.

Can't thank you all enough for the hints tips and recommendations, as well as the brutal honesty that it's no mean feat (but well worth it if we do it the right way!)

Most definitely food for thought....

We did it to 100 miles south of Barcelona with kids (16 and 14) about 5 years ago. We did the drive there in one go sharing the driving, and back the same and had a two week stay at our location. It was a long slog but totally doable. I remember my husband waking the kids to point out the Millau Bridge and he got short shrift. On the way there we set off from kent at 7 in the evening and arrived at our destination by 4pm the next day using the Eurotunnel for crossing.

So if you have a week to go and return you can absolutely have a little sightseeing on the way. We don't mind a road trip in our family but to be fair this was a bit much in one go. If you can break it up, it sounds like fun. Enjoy!

We’ve driven Calais to Valencia several times. It takes four or five days for us but we don’t use the toll roads. If you want to do it quicker, use the tolls but it will cost you.