Driving to spain through france with dogs.. any advice

Giraffe76

ive tried looking on the french map website thats been specified but cant find an option to change it to english.. any ideas?

I think by the time we've paid for the ferry to north of spain we could of paid to drive through france, stay in a hotel, have the dogs with us 24/7 and not pay expensive prices on the ferry for food.

I read somewhere that we need 1 warning signs not 2.

Any ideas on a cheap dog friendly hotel to stay in as we will only be using it for sleeping and possibly breakfast.

The ferry is the cheapest option for us so i think we'll be going dover to either dunkirk or Calais.

Do anyone know If we had our 2 little dogs in our very large boot but tied up would that be ok?

I will look for pet friendly hotels preferably as close to the spanish border as possible.

Thank you for all the information.. if theres anything else please tell me.. im open to suggestions, help and advice

Moto2

Giraffe76 wrote: »

I will look for pet friendly hotels preferably as close to the spanish border as possible.

Don't underestimate how far it is from the Channel ports to the Spanish border.
It depends what route you decide to take and how much UK travel you have but getting as far as Lyon on your first day is enough for most people.

hollydays

Read up on priority a droite in case you have to drive on minor roads.
You need to buy headlight deflectors.

Cornucopia

Giraffe76 wrote: »

ive tried looking on the french map website thats been specified but cant find an option to change it to english.. any ideas?

Try this: en.mappy.com The only thing I can see that isn't translated are the fuel types (SP95 = Unleaded Petrol, GO = Diesel). Although the map comes up focused on the UK, you can enter any destinations and it will sort out the right country/ies.

I will look for pet friendly hotels preferably as close to the spanish border as possible.

Ibis budget has a "Pets Welcome" search option. http://ibisbudgethotel.ibis.com/gb/united-kingdom/index.shtml#
click on "More/fewer criteria" to see it.

Moto2 wrote: »

Don't underestimate how far it is from the Channel ports to the Spanish border.
It depends what route you decide to take and how much UK travel you have but getting as far as Lyon on your first day is enough for most people.

Isn't Lyon somewhat in the wrong direction for Spain?

Moto2

Cornucopia wrote: »

Isn't Lyon somewhat in the wrong direction for Spain?

As I said it depends where you set out from and where your heading to in Spain. The OP hasn't elaborated

A lot of people, crossing to Calais etc. give Paris a wide berth to the east heading down the A26 to Troyes, Dijon and then Lyon
A7 & then A9 to cross the border.
Regardless of whether you think Lyon is not the way to go, my point stands that getting that far is a good day's drive

Cornucopia

I tend to avoid Paris to the west (sometimes stop in Versailles).

The advantage of that is being able to easily access the A20 towards Bordeaux/Toulouse, or the A75 towards the French Mediterranean coast. The A75 is a spectacular drive in itself.

I'm not a great fan of the tolls.

Giraffe76

We have friends who live in margate who we are staying with over night, we were going to get an early ferry and hammer it at 80mph and try to get down to about the biarritz area and carry onto our destination which is about 3/4 of an hour drive north of granada but in the south of spain.

I did see the headlight deflectors in one of the kits id seen on ebay.

I will read up on priority a droite.. thank you.

We are going to avoid paris and go down the west side...rouen le mans tours poitiers bordeaux bayonne biarritz

I will look at ibis to see about their availability

hollydays

Giraffe have pmd you

Giraffe76

I have contacted DEFRA and are aware of the regulations, all the dogs have had their injections.

My satnav does'nt have the camera alerts, plus tomtom have emailed me a sheet to print off to tell the french authorities in case i do get pulled over.

Cornuopia, when you say the A75 is a spectacular drive, do you mean that there are lots of views as im not the best with heights, im also a nervous flyer so going over lots of bridges would fray my nerves.

Can anyone tell me where the best/cheapest place is to get maps of france and spain?#

What is the quickest way to the South west corner of France? If its driving round the outskirts of paris then ill go that way, could anyone tell me the difference in going the paris route compared to going down the west coast route?

With my nerves about heights is there any bridges that i need to be made aware of by going either route?

Are we allowed to fill up the back seat completely or do i legally need to have use of the rear view mirror?

Whats the best place to get the beam deflectors and breathalyzer kits?

brodev

The following website gives details on the various roads south
http://about-france.com/tourism/routes-to-spain.htm