Drive from UK to Northern Spain (Salou)

AlexMac

Great idea; we first drove (from London) to southern Spain over 40 years ago; in an air cooled Citroen, latterly a BMW, with never a thought about breakdowns (never had one and we're still driving annually to/through France, Spain and sometimes Italy) nor punctures (only ever had one).

Can't wait for next month's trip to northern Spain; luckily the Beemer's seats are a bit more comfy than the old canvas deckchairs in the Citroen 2CV!

So don't catastophise; just go for it. No one has mentioned it yet, but we find viamichelin.com invaluable for its accurate route-planning, toll claculator and drive-time estimator; so if you aint already using it.... You can tweak the route and avoid tolls too

And while you seem to have dismissed the longer crossings, hang on a bit, and factor in the time/fuel element of alternatives to the Dover short-crossings. For example, although the Portsmouth Santander trip on Brittany ferries isn't ideal for your trip to NE Spain, if you compare
- fuel costs & time in the driving seat without allownace for breaks; (£400 and 20 hours plus from Manc to Salou; a bit over half that from Manc-Portsmouth / Santander or Bilbao to the Costa Brava..)
- relaxation value of a relaxing 24 hour crossing in a cosy cabin; saving one night in a hotel
- the fact that if youthen book 2-3 added nights in a hotel with BF you'll get discount crossing rates; clik 'holidy' not 'ferry only' on their website, and use their hotel mapper - but phone in to book

The BF offer doesn't seen so daft!

But whatever... you'll have an even better time than we did in the early 1970's, when Franco was still a looming memory and Spain was like a third world Country; with roads to match!

pd001

AlexMac wrote: »

Great idea; we first drove (from London) to southern Spain over 40 years ago; in an air cooled Citroen, latterly a BMW, with never a thought about breakdowns (never had one and we're still driving annually to/through France, Spain and sometimes Italy) nor punctures (only ever had one).

Can't wait for next month's trip to northern Spain; luckily the Beemer's seats are a bit more comfy than the old canvas deckchairs in the Citroen 2CV!

So don't catastophise; just go for it. No one has mentioned it yet, but we find viamichelin.com invaluable for its accurate route-planning, toll claculator and drive-time estimator; so if you aint already using it.... You can tweak the route and avoid tolls too

And while you seem to have dismissed the longer crossings, hang on a bit, and factor in the time/fuel element of alternatives to the Dover short-crossings. For example, although the Portsmouth Santander trip on Brittany ferries isn't ideal for your trip to NE Spain, if you compare
- fuel costs & time in the driving seat without allownace for breaks; (£400 and 20 hours plus from Manc to Salou; a bit over half that from Manc-Portsmouth / Santander or Bilbao to the Costa Brava..)
- relaxation value of a relaxing 24 hour crossing in a cosy cabin; saving one night in a hotel
- the fact that if youthen book 2-3 added nights in a hotel with BF you'll get discount crossing rates; clik 'holidy' not 'ferry only' on their website, and use their hotel mapper - but phone in to book

The BF offer doesn't seen so daft!

But whatever... you'll have an even better time than we did in the early 1970's, when Franco was still a looming memory and Spain was like a third world Country; with roads to match!

Thanks for that,
i ll look into the Brittany Ferry website in a bit more detail over this coming weekend.
I will choose the holiday option and go from there.

Cornucopia

Brittany Ferries is good - certainly worth trying it you've never done it before.

However, it's much more expensive than Dover-Calais, and the Spanish routes can easily be £500+ for a return ticket in high season. (Dover-Calais can be as little as £60 return).

There is an option to use 2 different Brittany Ferries crossings (e.g. Portsmouth-Santander one way, and Caen-Portsmouth the other). This can reduce the cost considerably.

pd001

Cornucopia wrote: »

Brittany Ferries is good - certainly worth trying it you've never done it before.

However, it's much more expensive than Dover-Calais, and the Spanish routes can easily be £500+ for a return ticket in high season. (Dover-Calais can be as little as £60 return).

There is an option to use 2 different Brittany Ferries crossings (e.g. Portsmouth-Santander one way, and Caen-Portsmouth the other). This can reduce the cost considerably.

Thanks for that, i ll look into it.

With regard to the V5C registration document...
Do you really have to have the original with you?
Would a photocopy not suffice?

mgdavid

I've never taken a V5 for a car, as for 30 years I had company vehicles and never saw the V5s. I do take it for the campervan though, 99% you won't need it but come the day you are involved in somebody else's accident you will need it.

pd001

mgdavid wrote: »

I've never taken a V5 for a car, as for 30 years I had company vehicles and never saw the V5s. I do take it for the campervan though, 99% you won't need it but come the day you are involved in somebody else's accident you will need it.

You take the original?

mgdavid

pd001 wrote: »

You take the original?

sure do...
it seems that a lot of more experienced motorhomers fit a safe in the van and keep V5 & insurance docs, copies of passports & driving licences, extra cash etc tucked away in it, I suppose I'd better find out about them sometime.

ilovemygarden

if you have a speed camera detector, or a Satnav that tells you where the radar traps are, read this article before you go http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/radar-detectors-in-france.html

Cornucopia

ilovemygarden wrote: »

if you have a speed camera detector, or a Satnav that tells you where the radar traps are, read this article before you go http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/radar-detectors-in-france.html

I haven't driven in France for a couple of years, but before that I was going at least once, sometimes twice a year.

The reality is that French roads (with a few exceptions such as around Paris) are much quieter, much calmer, much friendlier and much more cooperatively driven than British roads.

Unless things have changed significantly in the past 2 years, Policing was also more sensible with fewer speed cameras overall and more specific signage. There were occasional Police speed traps on entry to towns & villages, but IMHO only a fool would speed in a foreign country, anyway.

Although I have encountered Police roadblocks in France on a couple of occasions (in 20 years), I was waved through upon them seeing a UK numberplate.

mgdavid

ilovemygarden wrote: »

if you have a speed camera detector, or a Satnav that tells you where the radar traps are, read this article before you go http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/radar-detectors-in-france.html

the relevant bit seems to be:
"If you have a satnav capable of displaying French camera locations in France then you must at least disable camera alerts before driving in France. We recommend that you contact the manufacturer of the satnav for advice as it is likely that a software or database update is available that will actually remove camera data for France from the device."

Totally impractical of course, but the French do have a propensity to behave like King Canute.
Just think how may British vehicles have satnavs built into the dash nowadays, and how many thousands of vehicles go to France every single day. I'll wager less than 1% actually do anything to comply with the above, an I'll wager less than 1% of French policeman know how to check it in any case.
The Op will no doubt make their own decision.