Catching the ferry to Calais drive to Villamartin

Hi Nina

We are signing today for our holiday home on Pau8 Villamartin and drove down from Newcastle upon Tyne started Saturday 4th to Ashford stayed overnight at a Travelodge, caught 07:50 Shuttle from Folkestone on 5th July stayed at Aliotel just North of Pau (avoid like the plague) then down to Campoamar Hotel for 3 nights.

See below route we took although I am going to do a different route back instead of the Somport Tunnel I am going to go across to Pamplona and around via Bayonne the Pyrenees is scenic but the roads aren't great as in single carraigeway, there are a few ways to go but I think this is possibly the easiest and likely the cheapest on tolls great roads apart from the Pyrenees as I said.

We paid 105 euros in France and nothing in Spain but make sure you come off before the La Zenia slip or you will catch 2x 4 euros tolls in a short distance upto you its a bit of a round trip but saves tolls if time is more of an issue then pay the 2 tolls gets you there quicker, I came the Bordeaux route Calais - Rouen - Le Mans - Tours - Poitiers - Saintes - Bordeaux - Pau and through the Somport tunnel via Jaca - Huesca - Zaragoza - Tereul - Valencia and down to Villamartin.

Hope this helps safe journey and happy holiday home.

Regards Andrew

The main decision you have to make in advance is whether to cross the French border into Spain on the east side or the west side of Pyrenees. I always go for the latter, because if you go east side it is busier and you are paying tolls from the moment you enter Spain, all the way down to Valencia. If you cross west side, you can travel on quiet roads toll free all the way to Alicante.

So I would use French motorways (yes, pay the tolls, you can save by using A roads but the slower travelling involved is not worth it in my opinion) and go Calais/Rouen/Le Mans/Tours/Poitiers/Bordeaux/Bayonne. Going through Rouen is a bit tricky, just keep following signs for the motorway.

I don't know how far you want to drive in a day, but there are many hotels just off the motorway a little north of Poitiers serving the Futuroscope attraction. A handy place to stop. I would recommend you aim for Tudela in NW Spain on your second night where I can recommend Hotel bed4U. Very comfortable, great breakfast, secure parking, close to restaurants and cheap fuel nearby. When you cross border at Irun, turn off motorway immediately onto inland road N121A for Pamplona. It's a toll free decent standard road. When you get to Pamplona, follow signs for A15 motorway. This is the only toll section you need take before Alicante, but it's worth it. You only need to travel on it for about 50km, then come off at the A68 Tudela if you're going to Hotel bed4U.

You can now stay on the A road all the way to Zaragoza (A68) to avoid tolls, then filter onto the ring motorway of Zaragoza and take toll free A23 motorway for Valencia. This motorway goes through some high, desolate country with few stops. Look out for good place to stop for lunch, service area Valcarce La Bascula about 50km north of Teruel. It has a really tall sign which stands out on the left for approaching motorists, you can see it several kms before you get there. Reasonable fuel prices, good shop and cafe, menu del dia for about 11 euros!.

It's plain sailing now down to Valencia, then the AP7 motorway south down to Alicante and Torrevieja area.

Good luck.

https://www.viamichelin.com/ 

There are multiple ways to do this, from making it into a road trip to keeping to the E15 route the whole way and the above site is the best way I have found to plan routes anywhere. If you do the E15 then Paris can get very jammed up but we passed it at about 3 in the morning and it was clear (very end of June a few years back) but of course you do have a lot of tolls on this route, all detailed on viamichelin. Being in a foreign registered car you will stand out and there are many stories of people being targeted by distraction thieves when stopping at services etc. If anyone approaches you, smile sweetly and walk away, if they approach the car then lock the doors. Another trick is when they overtake you on the motorway indicating something is wrong with the car, ignore them or if they persist take a photo of them and their numberplate but do not stop.
You need to continue to stay alert, as Boris says.
Don't forget to turn the water off at the mains when you leave and drain down everything which is a condition of all insurances and you may want to consider finding a keyholder as things can go wrong at a time when you can't just pop over to sort it out. Fincas Inland, who advertise down the right hand side of this page, get a lot of recommendations on the forum and have a good reputation.

I hope your new home brings years of enjoyment for you and yours.

Edit: Damp and mould can be a problem here so get some of those trays of crystals to absorb it or leave some bowls of salt here and there.