Hi, we are planning trip at the end of June from Calais to the South of France to give our MX5 a run out and thought we ask in here if anyone has any suggestions of routes they have followed, good places to visit/stay over etc.
We also understand that you can do the drive down and get a train back (incl the car of course) so any info on this would also be appreciated
Thanks
Liz & Gary
A couple of us are doing a similar trip in September. We are taking the ferry to Le Harve, driving Paris and putting the cars on the French auto train to Nice. Have a look here
Loads of info about the auto train.
We are then having 3 days near StTropez, 3 days near Carcassonne then driving through Andorra before heading off towards Bilbao ferry back to Uk.
Try airbnb for aaccommodation, make up your own rules avoiding toils and go for it.
Enjoy
Derek
Don’t know where you’re situated, but if you’re in the south of the country why not take the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen (Ouistreham)? That way you’ll avoid the problems around Calais and the slog through northern France, and if you avoid the autoroutes and use the “N” and “D” roads you’ll have some wonderful driving!
Check out La Route Napoleon, N85, Grenoble - Cannes. Great driving road. As for accommodation I sometimes use the campanile motel chain. formula 1 are cheeper, more basic, often with shared bathrooms. B&B also get the job done cheaply. My experience Campanile offer best combination of comfort and reasonable price. Sometimes fun to take a punt on a small hotel/guest house, as you’d expect it’s a lottery. Have fun and stay safe.
Yes, we are also hoping to go down through France to Northern Spain in early June. In the past we have mainly used the Dover- ferry- Calais route driving down from North Shropshire to , M54, M6 toll, M1, M25, Dartford crossing etc. arriving in Dover mid day.
We usually stay near Bolougne as I need an overnight stop after tackling the unaccustomed traffic of the M1 and M25.
Next day we set off relatively early to stay in Fonteny le Compte. travelling through Rouen and down western France. Sometimes we have another overnight stay approx 50km north of Bordeaux depending on how I feel, as I am an elderly driver and frequent rests are sometimes necessary as my wife does not drive on the wrong side of the road.
We stay in a seaside towm near Donostia in the Basque country for approx. 4 or 5 days before making the decision to venture deeper into Spain or return to Blighty. We have in the past driven down as far as Malaga City with appropriate overnight stops.
Generally we tend to stay in known safe parking hotels .
We have not booked any ferries or hotels as yet, but will probably do so, not later than mid April, as some of the hotels are popular.
Hope this helps.
Regards & Good Luck.
Gales.
Get a map, google town names,see if they have an Ibis hotel and do it that way.
OK, From wales midlands and north try Portsmouth to Caen or Le Havre go travel down pm on ferry about 2300 cost of cabin about that of hotel.
Compared to Dover route you save 1-1.1/2 hours stuck on M40/M4 M25 M20 and about same getting from Calais to Rouen or thereabouts. And saving 125-150 miles each way and fuel cost. You roll of at about 0800 and 8 hours on the road (not exceedg limits) will get you roughly level with Bordeaux or Toulouse and 2.5 hours from Spanish Border (very approx figures)’ Oh dear I sound like an advert for Brittany Ferries but I go back and forth regularly
For overnight,as N&J say,on way to Spain The Logis de France (2400 individual Hotels) or Ibis are my preferred choice both have good booking systems or just use Booking.com or the like as they all come up.
Frog
We did this route in 2009 down from Calais to Menton return. Daily distances not too excessive and trying to avoid all major highways where possible.
01. Calais to Vertus 213 mi
02. Vertus to Nevers 209 mi
03. Nevers to Vals 243 mi
04. Vals to Menton 256 mi
05. Menton to La Salle (Short) 174 mi
05b. Menton to La Salle ( Long) 293 mi
06. La Salle des Alpes to Evian 241 mi
07. Evian to Gerardmer 221 mi
08. Gerardmer to Sedan 188 mi
09. Sedan to Calais 210 mi
09b. Sedan to Calais-Short 185 mi
I have the Garmin SatNav instructions for the exact route if you want them and details of the hotels we stayed in?
Remember as per previous posts you don’t need to start from Calais.
Have you tried La Rochelle? It’s a nice little port just North of Bordeaux, very scenic and also, if you stand on the seafront, to the left of the harbour there’s a long flat outline - it’s the former U boat pen as used in the film ‘Das Boot’ which has been on the box several times. At one time you could get in and see it, but I posted this to someone two years ago and they replied “Not now you can’t, it’s been taken over by the French Navy” Pity - a piece of history shut to tourists.
Basque Country - Just west of San Sebastian, apparently now part of it (places expand!) is a little fishing village named Fuenterrabia. Quite unique, it’s like Olde London, well before the high rise. You have to go down to the harbour to see it properly, and best time of the year is first weekend in September, when it’s fiesta time. Populated by Basques, who tend to be “take us or leave us” but can be very sociable if you stick your hand out. Next to the Harbour is a bar, and when I was last there (ah’mm) in the early seventies it was full of would be opera singers, who vie with each other for a rendering of their favourite opera. It is however very difficult to get a drink at the bar, as 1) it’s crowded with Basques; and 2) they are a noisy bunch! They are all good singers by the way, no has beens present. The guy I went with at the time fortunately spoke some French, so we introduced ourselves to one guy - a beefier lookalike to Yul Brynner and asked if he could get us a drink? - He looked offended, till my friend showed him the money. He then bought us what we’d asked for but refused pointblank to take money for it, so later we bought a round ourselves, also via him. We’d still be standing there to this day, if we hadn’t! He called us Inglitch!
On the Saturday night of that particular weekend, just up the Olde street from the harbour there’s a square, or rather an open space. They erect a bandstand, and play traditional Basque dances for the locals - when the evening draws on, a Guy in a gigantic bulls head (papier mache?) stuffed with fireworks chases all the local girls round the square, both risky, picturesque and memorable. Which describes Fuenterrabia down to a T I reckon!" Overlooking this is a fish restaurant where you can get almost any fish dish you like, though a whole lobster is enormous! Family groups order these. A time and place I shall remember till I die.
My son stayed last year at a tiny French village named Tillac, which also has one part very similar to the old part of Fuenterrabia, it’s further East than that, but doesn’t seem to have any accommodation other than a few Gites. My tip - don’t go in season -end of june to early september, the rates generally are less expensive - anywhere except Paris.
It’s also less hot, though in Spain it can still hit 80+F O/K - you’ve been before, but watch out for the back of you neck if you drive top down, you won’t know till you get up next morning, your neck badly sunburned. The real Spain centres around Madrid, Toledo, Avila and Segovia - all great places to visit and an easy drive from Madrid. If you go there, you must see 1) the Casa de Toledo (battered by the Civil war) and the Cathedral, which is one of the eye catchers I’ve ever seen - look at the ‘Retribu’ and then go round the back and look up, it’s awe inspiring. There’s the famous wall round Avila, and a Roman Aqueduct at Segovia and the Casa there too - see old spanish armour. Toledo still sells real Toledo Steel, we still have a kitchen knife bought back in the mid sixties by my mother, from the first trip we made as a family back then. It’s still as new. And it’s not Stainless steel. I also have a genuine Toledo sword, and it’ looks brand new too.
Further South - Too far? - there’s Granada of course- where else? You have to see the Alhambra. Built by the Moors and what an outstanding contribution they made to medieval architecture. You ain’t lived till you’ve seen it. Believe me.
More - so much more!
Hi Gerryn
Yes, I know La Rochelle quite well.
However,
you obviously love Spain as much as I do.
My father,born in Anglesea, as a young man was an engineer with the M’CAndrews Line which had a small fleet of coasters which used to pick up oranges, amongst other things from ports around Spain and deliver to ports around UK. Over many years he developed a love of Spain and the Spanish people. Many years later he saved enough cash to take his family down and around Spain in his A40 Devon. My first trip around Spain was in 1954 or thereabouts, it’s changed a lot since then. We visited many of the ports he visited in his youth, and many other Cities in the interior including Granada, Madrid , Burgos, Barcelona, Valencia and many others. I also, developed a love of Spain over many years of driving down and around Spain with him. My last trip with my Father was in 1962, he was too ill to drive at that time. I drove him down to Zarauz in the Basque country in his Citroen ID 19, a wonderful car. He died a few years after, but I’ve kept going back to Spain, revisiting many of the cities and towns which made such an impression on me in my youth.
I was very lucky to share my fathers’ experiences as a young man.
Happy days.
Regards
Gales
I have twice driven to St Tropez (Before the Camps)And have always driven through the Night My Wife and I taking turns Driving and taking Stops for refreshments. This because our holiday was in St Trops and surrounding area. We both Times Drove the Corniche which is an amazing Drive the scenery is outstanding. The road drops down to a Lake with a river running into it bordered by high rock walls. We enjoyed watching the Kids in Hire boats climbing onto the Rocks and diving into the crystal clear water. For speed we used the Toll roads all the way both there and back.
Hi Gales,
That’s a very interesting post, and yes I did love Spain, full of history with mainly placid people and a variety of food. The markets in Barcelona are something else! We used to have a closed market in Nottingham, but it didn’t hold a candle to those in Barca.(our former market is now a bus station!)
However, more recently, having been to France with our Area, and several trips since with my son, my new love is France, and I would dearly love to retire there. He still loves Spain however, but he has conceded that French supermarkets in general are better than Spanish ones. In turn, also better than ours! Tesco can’t match Carrefour! Nor can our Bakers, though with a few exceptions, Birds of Derby is well known round here for lovely bread. - Proof is plain enough, they sell out before lunch!
Back in time, driving through France was not entirely a happy event, we encountered a fair amount of hostility from waiters especially, whereas in Spain most were polite and helpful. More recently that seems to have changed - in France, where most staff we encountered did their best to help us. Would that change if we left the EU? Good question. Only aloofness we encountered in Spain, back in the early seventies, was at a bar in Granada, where we tipped in coins, and a bunch of Yanks (from Rota presumably) were tipping with dollar notes. We got one drink, and that was it.
While I was still too young I’m led to understand that in some pubs Englishmen had a similar problem when American bases were nearby. However, we can’t blame them really, they don’t know what they do!
How to behave when abroad is something quite a few English don’t know either, so I avoid the Costas everywhere! “When in Rome - - -” is something that should be taught at school.
Sigh!
If you are in the St Tropez area try the terrace of restaurants on the Promenade Dei Barri in Gassin, with great views out over the countryside. It was once a gun platform when it was a hill-top fort.
Now it has several restaurants all competing for trade, with lots of tables, and they feature specialist table clearers who return the dirty dishes to the plongeur with trays in excess of a metre in diameter stacked high with the wreckage from several tables. Once when we were there a tray piled up with maybe thirty or forty plates etc shot past into the restaurant at high speed, followed by a prolonged shattering crash and rolling tinkle. After a brief moment of silence, there was a rousing cheer from several hundred diners across all the restaurants and the unfortunate who had dropped the tray re-appeared in the doorway to take a bow, this to great applause and further cheers. So he milked it of course, and then the management came out and all in our restaurant got a free drink as well, apparently paid for by the one who had dropped the dishes.
Happy memories.
Hey everybody, thank you so much for all your helpful advice. Given us lots to ponder
Liz and Gary
Yes, when we lived in Aberystwyth, many years ago, we did the Portsmouth route, catching the fast ferry to Cherbourg, I think it was called the Portsmouth Express, however I don’t think it runs any more.
It was very convenient as it started from Portsmouth at mid day and arrived in Cherbourg about 5 hrs later. Our first stop was Valognes which had a quaint old hotel with garaging. Superb restaurant as well ,always our first meal in France.
Happy days,
Gales
Hi Gales
Yes it still runs. Operated by Brittany Ferries as Normandie Express
http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/ferry-routes/ferries-france/portsmouth-cherbourg/high-speed-ferry
I’d definitely recommend using Portsmouth to Caen overnight route. Leave about 10pm and arrive about 7am. You can get a cabin very reasonably and sleep all the way to France. Breakfast on board boat and hit the road refreshed. As suggested by someone above, Ibis Hotels are great value and clean.
Interesting dilemna.
you could bomb down to the South of France via the motorways over 2 days and have a horrific journey in a car not at its best on a motorway.
or you could cruise down the minor roads with the top down but this takes a week, each way. Will the MX5 boot carry enough luggage for 2 for 2+ weeks? Do you want to do laundry on holiday? And this involves searching for hotels (hopefully with off street parking) and checking in and out every night.
Or you could say “screw le Sud de France” (which has a very congested road system) and enjoy the 80% of France nearer to Calais. The weather should be lovely in June. If anyone is interested, the coastal road from calais to Boulogne, Le Touquet and the Baie de Somme areas are lovely touring areas, good for a 3 - 5 day break. We will be taking our MX5 there for the first time this June. More importantly, I have calculated I can lay 9 bottles of the obligitoire vin de dessert in the well in the boot.
Bonnes vancances.