What’s best way to drive to Benidorm from Calais

The opposite direction. 

With tongue in cheek.

V

Hello, unlimited options here but it would be easier if you could tell us if you want the quickest, to avoid tolls, or want to make a road trip out of it.

x2 Cheryl but if speed is the priority Google maps shows the two quickest and easiest routes and in practice there is little to choose between them although having done the trip myself numerous times personally I would take the A16 out of Calais and negotiate Paris on the western side not eastern. 

For stopovers (@1800km or 1100m you may well need two not just one) you will find that there are motels on the outskirts of just about every town and city you pass by, many only a few hundred meters off the motorways, the vast majority of which will have vacancies so you can stop when it suits you rather than being tied to a prebooking(s) before you start. 

It's easy to over think or over plan such a journey when in reality if unencumbered by kids, pets, or semi-incontinent aged relatives, most times you can just jump in and go!

Thanks for the replies

We have two children and are looking fo do the drive over a couple of days but never driven this far before so not sure what to expect !! 

We drove from Cherbourg to La Zenia using the website Via Michelin to plan our route. The website provided a precise detailed route including showing where and how much tolls were. We had planned to stay in pet friendly ( as we were bringing our dog )  hotels on the route which we prebooked but as others have said there are many hotels and motels on route that will have vacancies.

Tolls all the way. Calais, Rouen, La Mans, Poitiers, Bordeaux, San Sebastian, Pamplona, Zaragoza, Valencia.

This is exactly the same distance as the Paris route, but bout 30e cheaper in tolls. 

I do it one go 19 hrs including a quick snooze for 90 mins at the French border.

There is loads of info on here if you use the search facility.

We drove down in September with all our worldly goods. Every ones needs are different.

If you have plenty of time the journey can be done almost toll free, .

My advice would be to search on here  for some advice , Check michelines route finder web site which will tell you rough petrol prices and toll charges.

also when driving with kids add on some time between destinations for toilet stops and stopping at unplanned sites of interest.

The motels are cheap and readily available but I would check a few out for each over night destination.

I enjoyed the trip down but made a mistake booking accommodation because I did it on the road instead of preplanning.

Good luck

We used to do it frequently. Just jump in the car and set off using whichever route appeals to you on the map.

We never ever booked accommodation in advance, drove as far as we felt comfortable with and then looked for motel on the outskirts of wherever we were. Usually Campanile, but there are several others, mainly clean, reliable, available. The advantage of Campanile was that it has an onsite restaurant, not brilliant, but perfectly acceptable and reasonable; means that you don’t have to check in and then go out again into a town to find a restaurant - unless of course you want to!

We used to make the journey part of the holiday, so never attempted to rush it. Take longer and do it more slowly, it’ll be much better!

Thanks for that 

How long did it take you roughly to drive Calais to Benidorm pls?