Driving to spain through france with dogs.. any advice

Giraffe76

Hi all,

We will be driving to the south of spain through france with our 4 dogs and i was wondering whether there is anything we should be aware of so that we dont get fined or have our dogs taken away from us?

The dogs will be going in the boot all together (2 are only mini yorkshire terriors) which will be sectioned off with a dog guard but is there anything else for either us or the dogs that we need to do?

In addition, we've heard that if we take the toll roads that there is no speed limit and we cant get fined? Also we were going to use our satnav to help us find the best route.

Any information would be much appreciated

Kind regards Mark

andrewf75

Don't know about dog rules in France but there is most certainly a speed limit on motorways! Only places they isn't is Germany and the Northern Territory in Australia.

DTDfanBoy

Make sure you have you pets passports and know how to comply with the regulations

https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad/overview

When in France make sure you have speed camera alerts turned off on your satnav.

As stated previously speed limits do apply on all roads, some are also variable depending on the weather, on some roads the limit is lower if the road is wet.

Buzby

All dogs need a pet passport each and be chipped. An additional fee is payable per animal at the port (Eurotunnel?) and all the boosters must be in place and in date.

Sat Navs that gave speed trap info will be confiscated - you need to ensure you don't have the data, simply deactivating it is no defence.

Moto2

Giraffe76 wrote: »

Also we were going to use our satnav to help us find the best route.

It almost certainly won't do that
By all means use your satnav, they're great for keeping you informed

But look at an overview on a real map and have an idea which way you should be heading
Write a crib sheet and stick it on the dash

e.g.
A131 towards Rouen
A28 towards Bordeaux until Tours
A85 until Vierzon
A20 towards Toulouse

etc.

That way you keep a sanity check on where you should be

BTW - that's not a route for you to use, just an example.

Cornucopia

This is a long, long journey. You will need overnight accommodation (possibly twice). Thankfully many/most hotels in France allow pets, but you will probably have to book for them specifically.

All roads in France & Spain have speed limits. On motorways it is (generally) 130kph/81mph - in the dry, less in the wet. France have many more patrols than we do, and speed cameras. Speed camera signage is normally idiot-proof, though.

Tolls can be expensive. Depending on where in Spain you are heading, you might want to look at the toll-free motorways: A20 (Orleans-Brive) & A75 (Clermont Ferrand-Bezier/Montpellier).

andrewf75

I would highly recommend the Bilbao-Portsmouth ferry for one way to mix it up a bit. Think was about £600 for car and cabin but you save on petrol/tolls/overnight costs and its a great way to come back. We did that a couple of years ago. We don't have dogs but I think its dog friendly there were plenty of people with them and there was a special area on deck.

Cornucopia

It's somewhat cheaper than that at this time of year.

Brittany Ferries have taken it over and offer a mix of destinations (Bilbao & Santander in Spain, and Portsmouth & Plymouth in the UK).

brodev

There is a requirement in Spain for the restraint of dogs in cars. I have lifted the following from another forum.

The law simply states that pets must be secured so they are not able to distract the driver, but it doesn't specify how they should be secured. RACE (Spanish equivalent of RAC) recommends small animals be placed in a container and larger ones either in the boot behind bars or a mesh, or secured on the back seat using a harness that clips onto the safety belt in two places.

As this info is a couple of years old I suggest you ask either the AA or the RAC.

walwin

Giraffe76 wrote: »

we've heard that if we take the toll roads that there is no speed limit and we cant get fined? Also we were going to use our satnav to help us find the best route.

Any information would be much appreciated

Kind regards Mark

Maximum speed limit on Spanish Motorways is 120kph, whether toll road or not.

If you wear glasses you are supposed to carry a spare set (I've never known anyone asked to produce them and I lived there for over 20 years, but it is the letter of the law).

You must carry 2 warning triangles and a fluorescent vest.

Having done the journey in reverse with a dog and a cat I would strongly advise you to pre-book pet friendly hotels. We had two overnight stops which I'd recommend you to do.

If I think of anything else that may be helpful I'll let you know

ETA: We used Eurotunnel as it meant we could have the girls with us at all times

Cornucopia

mappy.fr is a route planner that understands French toll roads, and can do things like estimate costs with/without toll roads.