driving to Portugal from UK with kids in tow... anyone ever done it?

[sammyjayneex]

It's all in the title really. Just wondering if anyone has ever done it. DH has been invited to a family wedding In Portugal (Lisbon) and wants us all to go. He doesn't want to fly because of all the fiasco that comes with flying for example... Luggage allowance and all the extra costs, the flight tickets cost so much for 4 children and 2 adults and trying to keep children quiet and occupied on a plane ect and also because it's just after Christmas and the wedding was announced last minute it's going to be difficult to get flights at short notice. Also he said it's an experience because kids will get to see parts of France and we will spend the day in Spain on the way back and sleep over there. He also wants to do something special as it's our daughters 5th birthday on the 29th December.

Now I'm worried about it all. He's said he's thought it through and has every bit of the trip planned. I don't want to say no because I never went on any trips and never went abroad when I was a kid and I want my kids to experience things. He said we will be getting the ferry at Dover and we will sleep over in small hotels on the way and one of them will be in France. On the way back we will stay in a hotel in Spain too. Accommodation in Portugal is being sorted out by his family.

It's a long journey but I'm prepared to do it for my kids and we will make lots of preparations and make regular stops. He doesn't mind driving and has drove to London and back on the same day ( picking his family up at airport). Has anyone ever done it and how was it?

We have had a lot of problems recently and I'm actually surprised he's suggested us all to go.

Is it a stupid thing to do?

I told my mum and she said its sounds exciting and will be fun for the kids if planned properly and their dad has said she's welcome to come along ( if she can contribute to her hotel costs ect). if she can get time off work and it's extra help for us with kids. ( he has a 7 seater car)
She likes the idea of coming too.

It's actually cheaper adding it all up than going by flight and with us sharing the cost too.

So has anyone got any tips or ideas I would be grateful.

I doubt flights to faro would be cheap around Christmas/new year

Sod that.

Also you speak of luggage- with 7 people in a 7 seater car you'd be able to take more on a plane.

You will need to eat.
You will spend time driving to supermarkets for cheap food or eating cheap fast food.

It's fine in summer you can go out run around eat picnic. But not winter

The whole thing just sounds so impractical.

If you do it then be prepared for it to be a horrible journey with kids crying bored and miserable. Wet cold and windy. and that it will cost more than you think.

And cheap hotels are cheap and not that great. You will be squashed in small room with grotty shower.

I can't Believe the amount of people who have made this sound so horrible. Not many have when said anything good about it. Who cares if it's not a fabulous hotel on the way? It's just somewhere to crash down in for the night. Thanks for telling me it will be miserable.
I don't kind people's suggestions and people telling me the disadvantages of it all but to put a complete downer in it and make it sound horrific is just unfair. Not everyone can afford he expensive flights. We can't just take small hand luggage with 4 children. We would have to stay there for over 10 days as flights are not available after a few days so we would fly before the wedding and have to stay over 10 days before being able to return as he's checked up on it so that's would cost is more too! When me and my mum visited cologne we was only allowed one bag each and a small one at that. We would have to pay £25 more per bag if we wanted more. We had to squeeze out handbag into our tiny suitcase or hey would charge us £25 to put out cabin bag in hold. We didn't even take everything we needed so with 4 children it isn't practical. At least with driving we wont have the stress of getting the quantity right and then doing without in Portugal and then having to spend more money buying more stuff over there.

We're not doing it to be horrible.
Being stuck in a car for 2 days with 4 kids in poor weather will be unpleasant and not necessarily cheaper.

You're going to do it anyway so what does it matter what other people think?

We live in Manchester so that would mean we would have to drive to Liverpool for flight (cheapest flight is from Liverpool) and we would have to leave our car there and parking would cost us £40-50 for the whole time while we are away. If we went by public transport it isn't practical with all our luggage and that would cost us too. So either way it will carry high cost.

I'm not sure I want to do it now after all these comments.
I wasn't expecting everyone to think it's a fantastic idea but at least not make it sound horrific. I bought just have to let DH and the kids down and say no. He'll have to go it alone...

And again will you be able to get all the stuff you say you need into a 7 seater car with 7 people in it?

But you would get one bag per person, so that would add up to a lot. I think people have been trying to suggest that it would actually work out cheaper to fly. Where (just in vague terms) in the country are you and maybe we could work out the costs?
FWIW when I was a child (from age 4 or so) we drove as a family to ski in Italy every year. We took pillows and blankets and games and snacks in an ice box and I have great memories. We did waaaayyy more than 6 hours at a time, at least 10 hours and rarely stopped for restaurant meals. I reckon with tablets/ games/phones etc it will be better than we had it. Having said that, I'd still fly if I could!

Maybe I'm also feeling a little deprived To because most events he goes alone and I'm always left alone at home. Me and the kids are always left at home who's the gets to go along to places and I guess it will be the same scenario again because it wouldn't be fair for me to go to and leave my daughters at home missing my daughters birthday.

I wouldn't be adverse to a long journey.
However I suspect the calculations are wrong.

One of your main concerns seems to be luggage. Not sure which 7 seater you have, but in most, there's very limited luggage room once you're using all 7 seats.

You can get quite a lot in our seven seater if you pack properly
When we go on caravan holidays we take a lot and for it perfectly. We get more on our car than we can take on a flight

do check flights to other spanish/portuguese airports - you might find you could go for a shorter time, and that would make it all cheaper.
I dunno, I'm with other posters thinking that:

• all the driving with 4 kids would leave me in tiny pieces!
• even if you do it as cheaply as possible, it still won't be all that cheap. Bear in mind that it's winter, so you can't picnic outside/run around for ages in playgrounds, and if you want to be inside, that inevitably seems to mean buying coffee, snacks, meals. 6 people - I can't see you getting change from £60/day on your travel days, for food. 3 days there, 3 days back - that's £360. Two rooms at £40/night, again for 6 nights, that's £480. Fuel, tolls - £300??
• if it were me, then I'd research other not-too-far airports (say up to 5 hours drive) and car hire cost. Then I'd wait and see what happens with money closer to the time, and see whether you all go/some go/just he goes.

oh, and if it were me, I WOULD miss my daughter's birthday, in these circumstances - I'd give her a super-special 'official' birthday when I got back.

Would you rather everyone said it would be great fun and cost tuppence?

Better to be realistic and have planned and thought about the pros and cons, then if you decide to go for it you're prepared for the worst but hope for the best - better than all of you being tired, stressed, half way there and run out of money

You know what, I think you just have to go for it - it is 9 days out of your life. If parts of it are crap on the way down, maybe you could look at how to change that aspect for the journey back up, ie, leave earlier and take more time going back. I have never driven in Spain or Portugal but the motorways in France are normally quite good - even in the rain - they are usually not as busy as the motorways in the UK (as the locals avoid them if they can so they don't have to pay the tolls).

The furthest we have driven in a day was from Bern to Calais with DD when she was 11 months old. We have also driven the French Alps to London in a day. I would def use some kind of in-car entertainment as that really helped pass the time for DD for the trips when she was older - she really didn't complain and just watched loads of DVDs (through earphones). I made sure I had plenty of music on my phone so that DH and I had something to listen to in the front of the car (in the UK we listen to the radio but we didn't fancy trying to tune into French radio).

We stayed at the roadside Campanile hotels which were basic but did the job when all you wanted to do was get your head down. I also researched before we went so I knew where the closest supermarket was so we could pop in there and grab fresh bread, cheese and pate and used that to eat on the go (remember some cutlery to cut it - I didn't and had to buy some!). Also tried to find out if they had a petrol station as that was usually a cheaper place to fill up.

You are the one who knows your kids (are they ok in long journeys?), what your actual sleeping plans are and the total costs, and how much luggage you can fit in your car.

TBH, it could almost be better to actually rent a caravan and use it in the journey.

By all means, if your OH and your kids (how old are they?) think it's a good idea and you weren't so sure, then do it. It could be a good or a bad experience, but you won't know if you don't try it.
Just don't expect it to be a fantastic trip. I think people have been very realistic about the limitations and if you start your journey with that in mind, it may be better than you expect.

It would be bloody cold in southern France/northern Spain in a caravan - there was snow in Santander last week and frozen windscreens

"I can't Believe the amount of people who have made this sound so horrible"

Because it does sound horrible. I don't think you have been realistic at all. Also the drive to whichever port you are sailing from will take far longer than you think. I have family in the south east and the roads over the Christmas period are so overcrowded and full of traffic jams that any family visiting at that time of year is done by train.

"because most events he goes alone and I'm always left alone at home"

You chose to have a large family.

We aren't being horrible, just pointing out the pitfalls.

Have all the children already got passports? If not this is another expense to consider.

God no. We drive regularly to Bordeaux (12 hours door to door), I wouldn't want to go further. DTs are 4.5. It's not cheap - €120 on tolls, and then 1.5/2 tanks of diesel each way plus shuttle. Easy jet and not much luggage?

Reason we don't fly to Bordeaux is because the dog comes with us.

We also go for 3 weeks so we dont feel like we are spending most of the time travelling. 9 days isn't long enough imo to do a 52 hour drive.

Just celebrate your daughter's birthday a week later and go with your husband alone.

If you are having relationship issues a potentially stressful trip doesn't sound like a good idea. However some time on your own with your husband would be sensible and fun hopefully.

There is no way I'd do that drive for all the reasons everyone else has said.

Also, we have a 7 seater (zafira) - with the seven seats up there is no boot. Even with a roof box you'll struggle with luggage.

Why not catch the ferry to Bilbao or Santander? I've just returned from that crossing and went north to south Spain and back and it was still over 1,800 miles from our house door to door, excluding the crossing.

It was tiring but it was just me and DH and I can't think of anything worse than more than double that (which your crossing would be) but with kids in the car too!

What are you showing them of the countries anyway apart from out of a car window or some bargain hotel room?

We did one overnight stop in Spain (10 hour journey each way) and even that was pretty relentless as it worked out about 5-6 hours plus solid driving each day. Then you have to add in toilet breaks, cup of coffee, sandwich etc, it's a long day. I said to my DH I could not imagine doing this from a french port. Our crossing was actually quite reasonable but you have to have a cabin otherwise you're knackered before you've even started.