Driving to Spain from UK

Check out the website Via Michelin, we used them when driving from Cherbourg to La Zenia, excellent route planner that gives details of the route, where and how much tolls are. We split the journey up as we were bringing our dog with us and from the route map then booked pet friendly hotels enroute .Enjoy the trip as an extra holiday as you travel to Spain

Sorry John , I cant give you route advice, we are doing it ourselves 1st time in March via Santander. However just wanted to advise you after 90days in Spain, you would have to apply for residency, as "tourists" are only allowed to visit Spain for 90 days in each 180day period. Brexit is also changing many aspects of being a non EU person visiting a EU country(after 29th March) and hopefully we will not need visas to enter but you may need international driving permits and France and Spain use differrent permits each(so 2 needed). Suggest to go to UK gov.t website to get more information regarding after Brexit.

Regards

Pauline.

Thanks Pauline.

We have a house in Los Balcones and are going through the process of obtaining residency this month. You are right about the uncertainty over Brexit which is why we have decided to get our residency sorted asap.

Thanks again.

John

Thanks John.

I will check out the website.

hi was told if you bring your car to spain it would cost a lot more for ins and tax

Thanks for the heads up on that Billy.

I will look into it. 

I'm finding there are a lot more things that need to be considered beforehand so the input I have been given by forum users has been very helpful.

Thanks again

John

Hi again John, Tyne or Lyme? I,m 15miles north of Tyne. Once you have residency, you,ll need to import your car within 30days to avoid certain taxes as you can bring it in as "personal belongings" and you only have upto 6mnths to have your car in Spain if not importing it. You need to know also as a Spanish resident you cant drive a UK plated car in Spain too. I too dithered over yes or no to residencia but discovered it wasnt feasible if I wasn,t living in Spain permanently at this time. Good luck.

Pauline.

Hi John,

We've been driving to Benidorm for past 6 years.  We go via eurotunnel which isn't too bad (until you add their breakdown cover and travel insurance, which I always get sucked into!).

We usually just setup the TomTom and it takes us the same route each time, on the toll roads.  I think it usually comes to about £100 ish in tolls and £350 diesel (VW Tiguan) but the time you save is massive compared to any other route and the roads are lovely and smooth.  

Having an economical car is very helpful; we once made the trip in a car where we had to stop every 2hrs to fill up!  Now we can do about 600 miles on a tank, which is much better.  Some of the petrol stations in France can be a little intimidating at night with groups of people seemingly just hanging around in the dark... so we try to time it so that we don't need to fill at say, 2am.

From Calais, we head to Paris, battle our way through the busy traffic which can be fun if you like ducking and diving!  Think London, on speed, 24hrs a day.  After Paris, the road opens up and that's the end of the traffic really, until you hit the outskirts of Barcelona on the AP7 which isn't anything compared to Paris, but can be quite busy if you hit it at peak periods.

Crossing the Milau bridge is always nice, great views - and after that, the scenery turns fantastic over the Midi Pyrenees with lots of winding roads, tunnels, mountain views, etc.

After that, the stretch down to Barcelona feels like it goes on forever (about 2 hrs in reality) and after that, you start to get a sense that you're in Spain.  About 5hrs from there to Benidorm.

Time wise - driving with the occasional 30 min stop every 3 hours or so, it usually takes 21 hours door to door (Brighton to our hotel in Benidorm).  From Newcastle that'd be about 26/27 hours of travel time I think.

For the past couple of years, instead of doing it all in one go, we've stopped at Girona.  For me, it feels like two long drives then instead of one, but better than falling alseep at the wheel. :)  

Top tips from me:  Buy some of that bug spray and a mesh-covered sponge.  Not sure if April will be bad, but it always is for us in Jun/Jul, to the point where we can't see through the windscreen. :)  Also, take spare water for your screen.  Wifey downloads some films on the ipad to watch, there are long stretches which are boring for your passenger(s)! 

Thanks a lot for your detailed and informative reply Simon.

Some very helpful tips and advice there which is very much appreciated.

Kind regards

John