Driving to Spain - Page 2

Plenty of good advice on here, but you need to asses your needs .

The pay roads in France are very expensive,

If you are bringing pets there are a few different options.

we came over via Poole to cherbourgh.

the ferry only takes 4 hours. our dog just stayed in the cab of our van and slept. though you can arrange a visit half way across to see they are ok.

ferry arrived around 1400 and we drove south to Bordeaux , we stayed in a motel as we had allowed a couple of days.

we could have made it to our new home the next day as it is a very straight forward drive, but we decided to overnight at ghandia to get a good nights sleep before unpacking the van the next day.

It was very easy and my wife and el perrro slept all the way.

Hi... I have done both ferries and driven from Calais ... both have there firs and against. However the ferry (there are two choices) can be a great trip you arrive early or late just decide which day you want to go. The route either viaMadrid or Zaragoza and Valencia is motorway virtually 99.9% of the way. And very little road works!! Even they don’t hold you up. I last did the trip last year and from Santander to Alicante took 8 hours including fuel and sandwich stop and you arrive fresh. 

The driving from Calais really needs and overnight stop and is quite expensive with fuel tolls and motorway service station prices ! The ferry is the option for me every time !! If you want more info let me know.

Another thing our dog stayed with us in the cabin which I and he preferred

Mary

Hi we drove from Santander to San Miquel on Britany Ferries's, it was great like a mini cruise in fact there were a lot of people just doing a round trip, there is entertainment and a small indoor swimming pool, lots of bars and a couple of restaurants, reasonbly priced. When we got there the route was very straight forward it is mostly on the motorway,(no tolls). We used the satnav. We done the trip in one go only stopping for diner took about 9 hours including the diner rest. We will be doing the trip again on the 26th in out motorhome with the two cats, so it will be two/three day drive, but looking forward to it.

Many methods. My favorite mini-cruise into Santander, enjoying refreshed. If you have time, enjoy the coast, Bilbao, San Sebastian etc. If straight on your way, (for me) the refreshing my favorite way. Villas.

Together with my wife we drove a hire van from Bolton, Lancashire to Rojales in January. We had our pet cat with us. We couldn’t get a pet friendly cabin on the Brittany Ferries Bilbao or Santander routes. Went Dover Calais and drove through France stopping overnight in Bayonne. Then through Pyrenees to Zaragoza and don to Costa Blanca. I know I was in a large van but tolls in France cost me over £250 and diesel was €1.65 per litre on the autoroute. When I took the van back to the Uk empty I went via Santander/Portsmouth took approx 8 hours from Rojales to Santander totally toll free and was a very easy drive. The 24 hour crossing was very relaxed and on board prices are a great deal cheaper than anything you will find on the French autoroute. Obviously it’s only my opinion but it’s a no brainier to use the Bilbao or Santander ferries. 

Hi we traveling to Plymouth to get the ParAvon Ferry (Britany Ferries) as that Ferry is the only ones that allow cats on board, and the have to sleep in the vechicle. But I agree the Ferry is very relaxing.

You can take cats in the pet friendly cabins but they sell out very quickly.

This is a good way. Have a cabin or a cupboard as my wife calls it. This way you can log away your personals, have your own shower toilet etc and get some sleep away from the local stag doo.

On the Spanish end it it a really lovely drive but stop over north of Madrid first night and star fresh next day for the longer drive to Orihuela. 

Dont be discouraged it is a really lovely way to do the trip and much less stressful, if a bit expensive, than the long trek through France with their heavy tolls.

I would recommend this to anyone.

HI, we did the ferry by car to Santander for first time in March and thoroughly enjoyed it. We had done years ago the Calais route but found it exhausting. As we had driven through night for early morning departure, we slept most of that first day. I took a toasty sandwich maker with bread, butter and cheese in a cool box and a couple of snack pots. The dining areas were always full with queues of people buying food so they must have felt prices were ok but we didnt buy a thing. Made our own tea/coffee. The drive from Santander was excellent, motorway most of way, 1 stop for sandwich and took 9hrs to Alicante with 1 toll of 2.30€. We will be returning on 19th June to UK and returning back to Spain with a van in September. We joined the Voyage membership to get discount off the fares as we had 2 journeys planned this year and I can give you our membership no. for you to get 10% off your ferry fares if you pm me. Although nothing can compare to the price and speed of flights, taking the Santander/Bilbao ferry  was a pleasant experience and we will be doing same twice next year taking belongings by van. Since booking in February,  I went onto Brittany website with a view to changing our return date but was horrified the price had now doubled, so booking up early is advisable.

Regards

Pauline.