Pippin Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Hi we plan to take a trip to Spain and Portugal for two months starting the third week in March. We havent travelled any further than the south of France and as were working at the time we used the motorways. Most of the routes i have seen on the forum have avoided toll roads. Is there a straighforward route through France using motorways and how much would it cost? Also how busy will it be in Spain and Portugal around easter and beyond. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Paris and head south I guess to east coast of Spain and on to Portugal?. We did Portugal via santander ferry once. but in no rush to repeat as prefer to drive to be honest I really dont think there is much in it to be honest as not as if your driving a sports car...and if you come of the toll for supermarkets /lunch/ overnight stops/resonantly priced fuel etc...nothing in it. maybe do a combination of both and use tolls for slow sections but the N roads are very good and in winter not to busy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mondo Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Use the M routes you will see a lot more of France...if you have 2 months and are going into Spain why rush down the Peage stick to the N Routes more stopping places/Aires/campsites.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Use this tool,every route / combination is there, with total costs. A really excellent route planning tool. http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I copied the quote from on here and I have to apologise to whoever posted it as I have edited your details out so I can't give credit due. I have used the route a couple of times and it is a good compromise between cost (French tolls are expensive) and saving time. " QUOTE We live 2 hours south of Poitiers and I would advise ANYONE to use the A10 motorway between Tours and Poitiers Sud. This will cut 1 hour off any journey and it is definately worth the cost as taking the N10 from Tours takes you right through all the shopping centres and goodness knows how many roundabouts before you get to Poitiers. Over the past 6 years we have done most routes down to Portugal and found you are just as likely to have snow going the southern route as the northern route. My preffered route to the Algarve and we did this in September then returned by the same route 3 weeks ago is as follows. Calais Rouen Le Mans avoiding the toll roads Tours then the N10 which is motorway standard as far as Bordeaux Biarritz stay on the toll section across the border Vitoria Gasteiz Burgos Valladolid Salamanca Caceres Saville Villa Real, Algarve You will find good safe aires at Vittoria, Palencia, Valadolid and Caceres. From Tours down the roads are all motorway standard and the only paid sections are the section around Biaritz and across the border which is worth the few euros and then Vittoria Gasteiz to Burgos which you can easily avoid, after that its all free motorway. " END QUOTE H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippin Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 Thanks everyone for the really helpful replies. Having only really used the motorways before we were nervous of trying anything else. There are obviously a few options out there and as we are really in no great hurry we can take our time, especially on the way back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Pippin - 2013-02-18 9:00 AM Thanks everyone for the really helpful replies. Having only really used the motorways before we were nervous of trying anything else. There are obviously a few options out there and as we are really in no great hurry we can take our time, especially on the way back. we normally belt down the toll roads but as retired, last year was first time using N roads. this was the route recommend on here and we found it very good. we were heading for Alicante so just the French part quoted Calais - Rouen - Everux - Chartes - Tours - Poitiers - Bordeaux - Biarritz http://en.mappy.com/map Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crbtaylor Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Calais Rouen Le Mans avoiding the toll roads Tours then the N10 which is motorway standard as far as Bordeaux Biarritz stay on the toll section across the border Vitoria Gasteiz Burgos Valladolid Salamanca Caceres Saville Villa Real, Algarve WE have just done that route, but did motorway all the way, very quiet roads, cost around 125 Euros, but can't be exact. Stayed at Futurscope, Poitiers, Aire at Cap Bretton and site at Caceres. Would recommend it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grasscutter Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 We have just returned from Benidorm using toll routes all the way back to Calais. Our route was :- Benidorm Zarragossa Pamploma San Sebastian Bordeaux Le Mans Rouen Calais Cost was 145 euros. Hope this helps with your plans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterjl Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 1footinthegrave - 2013-02-16 4:09 PM Use this tool,every route / combination is there, with total costs. A really excellent route planning tool. http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ to get a more accurate estimate of Toll costs on this website when using a motorhome tick the box marked "caravan" - this works unless you have a tag axle of a very large m/h. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 grasscutter - 2013-02-23 7:01 AM We have just returned from Benidorm using toll routes all the way back to Calais. Our route was :- Benidorm Zarragossa Pamploma San Sebastian Bordeaux Le Mans Rouen Calais Cost was 145 euros. Hope this helps with your plans. Just out of interest...how many nights did this take you please... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grasscutter Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Judge Mental. I have to admit that I have always driven long distances and do not have a problem with it. I left Benidorm at 08-30 hrs on a wednesday, taking a number of short stops for food and stretching the legs. I then stopped at Bordeaux (motorway services) and slept for six hours, showered and refreshed set off and stopped a few more times and arrived at Calais at 16-30 on Thursday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Like your style! Kind of thing I used to do when tight on time. retired now so not in such a rush. But wife still working and only has about 10 days at Easter so may well push on down. We did it last year with 4 overnight stops and could have easily done it with 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 1footinthegrave - 2013-02-16 4:09 PM Use this tool,every route / combination is there, with total costs. A really excellent route planning tool. http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ Or have a play on this: http://tinyurl.com/ankua5p Similar, but may be more up to date on toll costs. I've assumed you'd go via Biarritz rather than Perpignan. In truth, if using autoroutes, all you need do is eyeball a map. The easiest route is pretty well immediately apparent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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