Terrible holiday! Need advice

[Fishy54]

We are currently on a road trip which is not going well.

the plan was to drive to though France to get to Spain but the journey is taking too long and we are ending up booking into cheap affordable accommodation in awful places to break up journey and we are all stressed. No exercise. Too much time on the road and stopping in places that are making us feel depressed.

we have done this sort of journey before through Europe but for one reason or another this year we have failed.

we all got really upset last night that we have experienced nothing and we are already 4 days into journey with only 7 days left, not where we planned on being plus having to take into consideration the journey back home.

we don’t know what to do. Driven too far. We are 2 hours from Biarritz and was meant to exploring the north of Spain. My son was upset and wished we had stayed at home but being very mature and helping with ideas, my husband has come to a standstill and tired from driving, I’m stressed do to driving passed all the beautiful places to get to where we currently are.

if we carry on we feel like our time will be spent r in much the same way when we get to Spain as we have not allowed enough time to relax and and just be in between visiting places.

we have driven so far that we are at a loss as to what to do. My heart is not in the journey. I don’t think anyone’s was really . It was my husbands idea a while back and my husband and son speak Spanish.

we discussed other more restful options before we left home. I feel awful
that we didn’t pursue them. Nothing I can do about that now. But what should we do now. My husband is suggesting we just stay put. Find somewhere in France and stay here for a few days then drive back home.

we have already lost one day of accommodation as w weren’t going to make it in time for check in.

Alternative is we move on and carry with the plan. Our accommodation for first few 2 days now is quite remote. Which we wanted but now we fed up with the driving. Then we have 3 more days booked elsewhere to explore a different area. Then we have to make our way home. The only way we can get home now in good time is to take the long ferry ride home. Which will kill another two days. My husband seemed to think we first left home that we had enough time to do a loop and drive back through France visiting some lovely places. we now can’t do that.

I can’t sleep and don’t know what to do.

I feel awful for my son. He needed a good break as much as we did.

we are all wishing we had just cancelled this idea and had a single location holiday somewhere peaceful.

what should we do?

Can you get to a train station that has fast trains going to somewhere nearish in Spain? Leave the car for a few days, and get to where you need to be without all the stress of driving?

OP four days to get to Biarritz? We drove Calais to Lugano which is almost north Italy in 14hrs! Are you both driving? Even Nice with two small children only needed one overnight stop.

Google accomodation km Biarritz and stay there.

Or see if you can get the ferry back from Santander to save the drive home.

I would be inclined to see if you can stay on Ile de Re.

If so, turn back and go there - if the weather is decent, even better.

You can all chill and unwind - plenty to do also.

We drove from La Rochelle yesterday. Left at 10:00.

Ok, but Ile de Re would have been a great place to enjoy the rest of your hols.

Questionable whether there’s any accommodation last minute, sure.

Do you have a Peage tag btw?

Yes. We have driven through whole of France in one full drive stopping once for a nap a service station. I don’t know why we just couldn’t do it this year.

We did visit ile de rey..

What’s a Peagevtag?

Ok, with respect, I would put your son first - he sounds like a mature young man.

I hope it all works out for you - I see you have decent weather, so that’s a positive.

On the French autoroutes - peage are tolls.

You dont need to queue if you have a tag in your window, but you need to have ordered it before you left on the trip.

That was only 3 hours to St Emilion.
I'm understanding why your partner is finding the driving so exhausting? French roads, even green ones are so much easier than UK.

I am concerned about him.

He is in contact with his friends sharing their holiday experiences and locations. Last night he said he would be happy to go home. We live in a great area. Arrange a day fishing. Swimming at local
pool. Run each morning at home…

😞

He is always my priority.

Biaritz is beaitiful. Go there and stay there for a bit. Get on the beach. Span next year...fly instead.

Sorry but I don’t understand how this trip can take so long. Your only a few hours from Spain now do go straight there - 3 hours or do only. You could have done the drive in one long day from Calais.

That’s a gorgeous area find somewhere in Hendaye by the beach and just stay there.

If. The three of you are unhappy the plan is not working, what keeps you on it???

Sit down check how much money you have left and make new plans with whatever you can salvage from the original plan. The three of you need to be realistic and re adjust.

This is exactly what I'd do, you wanted Spain and not a chance I'd be disappointing my son so close to the border after 4 days of driving.

On our holiday it was amazing but in one place the weather deteriorated so we bailed drove 5 hours and found a blissful lakeside place in the sun for last few nights was totally worth changing plans.

Could you get that ferry from Spain to Plymouth home?

You really should've planned better! Tough lesson.

How many hours are you actually driving each day? Because it can’t be more than 2-3. You’ve made it sound like you’re trying to cross Australia not France!

Agree. I find this all quite weird, whAt a waste of each day.

Are you doing any of the driving or is it all on your husband ?

Turn back and slow down. You say you've driven past some lovely places. Choose 2 or 3 of them and book at least 2 nights in each so that you can have some non-driving days. The plan for the next 7 days should be to never do driving on two adjacent days - you drive one day then spend the next day exploring somewhere lovely.

Do spain another year with better planning. You haven't specified exactly what your start and destination points were but e.g. Manchester to Valencia is 21 hours driving in total. With driving shared between 2, and a focus on getting there quickly, that could be done across 2 days but 3 is more realistic. You've made such slow progress this time because you weren't focused on getting there, and have broken the journey in ways that are incompatible with achieving the priority of getting to the destination. You could go by ferry next time - the Portsmouth to Santander route takes 2 nights so you get one day on board ship and arrive in spain without having yournerves frazzled by the drive through France. Or you can drive across 3 days planning how to share the driving shifts and not trying to do/see/explore anywhere en route but just stop at the end of each day and put up with whatever is available where you stop without seeking out lovely restaurants etc. Or you can drive across 6 days with more exploring and opportunities for enjoyment during the journey but you'll then need the whole trip to be 3 weeks.

None of these plans is compatible with the idea of a low budget holiday. If you want to be low budget you either need to be much closer to home, or going to places with a very low cost of living relative to uk, or doing something that is so popular that you can use the mass-market buying power of being part of a huge crowd of brits all doing the same thing (ie budget airline flights to popular destinations)