UK to South of France - travel options/suggestions?

mcfisco

The N104 is now the A104 in places, but yes, that's the route I prefer

off the top of my head it's something like this ....

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Carmen

We always go down the west side from Calais.There is a lot less traffic on this route.
A16-A28-A10 I'm not sure if you would want to go as far as Bordeaux and take the A62 to Toulouse?
I have not tried it but Poitiers to Limoges would get you to the A20 to Toulouse.

On a good day the A1 -A104 can be fairly easy. Those days for me I can count on one hand, so many lorries in close proximity!

Bonne chance

mandragora_2

Where are you starting in the UK? We go to Les Landes every year (ie south of Bordeaux) and have tried pretty much every combination of crossing over the past 10 years - the Plymouth or Portsmouth/Northern Spain route and the Poole/Cherbourg or Portsmouth/Caen or St Malo routes. If you've got reasonably easy access to the South or South west crossing points - Plymouth, Portsmouth or Poole then you might want to consider those. From northern France to Les Landes takes about 10 hours perhaps less for you - we do it in two goes, with an overnight stop, but it's relatively easy to do all in one go, depending on what time your sailing gets in. From Santander to 'round the corner' into SW France it's about 3 hours for us, perhaps a bit longer for you. Look at relative prices of crossings - the UK/Spain route is expensive; factor in the cost of tolls (about £45 each way through France) if you plan on the ease and convenience of using the autoroutes. The ferry to Spain takes 24 hours, and can be a lovely thing to do if you like the experience of being at sea and don't mind the time/expense but make it part of your holiday. If you just want to get there, then probably the quickest way is to drive. Finally, it's hard to understand, if you haven't done it before, just how much easier in general it is to drive in France than the uk. The autoroutes are relatively good, with plenty of pleasant places to stop - take a good picnic! The miles go by much quicker than a long road trip in the uk.

frogeye

Carmen wrote: »

I have not tried it but Poitiers to Limoges would get you to the A20 to Toulouse.

On a good day the A1 -A104 can be fairly easy. Those days for me I can count on one hand, so many lorries in close proximity!

I've just checked this alternate route on Google and it indicates that this would be an extra hour and 140km - this in itself doesn't necessarily rule is out but I'm guessing that there is not much of a route from Poitiers to Limoges.

It's a shame that there is no good link from Rouen to Orleans!

I'm planning on travelling on a Sunday so hope to avoid a lot of commercial traffic (i understand that it is banned on Sundays?)

Currently planning a 6am start from Cambridge via the tunnel to a 9-10pm arrival at Foix (south of Toulouse) - selecting a suitable music playlist for me film selections for the kids is the next challenge!

Bob_the_Saver

mcfisco wrote: »

The N104 is now the A104 in places, but yes, that's the route I prefer

off the top of my head it's something like this ....

.

My route as well but I head off south at Evry (anything to miss Melun and Nemours :eek:) I'll even pay on the motorway.

Carmen

frogeye wrote: »

I've just checked this alternate route on Google and it indicates that this would be an extra hour and 140km - this in itself doesn't necessarily rule is out but I'm guessing that there is not much of a route from Poitiers to Limoges.

It's a shame that there is no good link from Rouen to Orleans!

I'm planning on travelling on a Sunday so hope to avoid a lot of commercial traffic (i understand that it is banned on Sundays?)

Currently planning a 6am start from Cambridge via the tunnel to a 9-10pm arrival at Foix (south of Toulouse) - selecting a suitable music playlist for me film selections for the kids is the next challenge!

I have never calculated the time/kms (not very money saving:o) The main reason is for stress free journey (spent many wasted hours around Paris) for O/H as he does most of the driving.....
I cannot vouch for the N147 Poitiers-Limoges but from my experience the main roads in France are pretty good.
Having said all this the A1-A104 can be a good run.It will help travelling on a Sunday,generally the only lorries on the roads are carrying perishables.
However the journey goes it will be a good experience.
Have a good holiday, let us know how you get on.
Carmen

Carmen

Just to add, one of our trips we travelled through the tunnel late afternoon/early evening. Stopped in a motel (Etap I think) for the night and finished our journey fully refreshed.

slinga

Hopefully you have a diesel car.

I just saved £70 on the price I'd've paid driving the 1700Km we drove if I had been driving a petrol car.

And I suspect you'll drive a lot further than 1700 Km.

Bob_the_Saver

slinga wrote: »

Hopefully you have a diesel car.

I just saved £70 on the price I'd've paid driving the 1700Km we drove if I had been driving a petrol car.

And I suspect you'll drive a lot further than 1700 Km.

Make the most of it this year

http://www.thenational.ae/business/economy/diesel-tax-plan-galls-french-drivers


Or Better still an LPG vehicle 68p per litre

slinga

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

Make the most of it this year

http://www.thenational.ae/business/economy/diesel-tax-plan-galls-french-drivers


Or Better still an LPG vehicle 68p per litre

It's because the diesel consumption is so much lower than petrol consumption that produces the major saving.