Paul M Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 40 of you have viewed my request, Please there must be some one out there to help, as we shall be off soon. Paul and Ann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syd Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 So sorry that you have had no replies, have not been to Gib myself yet but will be going this year. Try plotting your route on here http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/viamichelin/gbr/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm A close study of this site will give you rough fuel costs and toll fees for a CAR but as guidance it is better than nothing. To the right of the screen, when you have plotted your route, it will show what there is to see in the area that you are visiting. Hope this helps you a little, have a nice trip and enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 You don't say what kind of route you want.... are you happy to travel motorways and pay the associated toll costs? are you in a rush? or have plenty of time to meander your way south on free roads...... I don't have much time on my hands so its expensive tolls for me when we go away. but there are many on here with a lot of experience who avoid tolls like the plague :-D I do my routes on a prehistoric Garmin GPS, and once you have GPS you will wonder how you managed without one. but I do think its best to buy and learn how to use well in advance of setting of *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Hi Paul M- If I was planning the route and setting off this time of year I would head down on the eastern seaboard of the Med. The motorway system from the Frence boarder will take you down nearly to Gib, and you can always come off it onto the N340 when you feel like it. My only other thought is that if you are intending to enter Gib with your van, depending on its size, the Spanish may stop you at the boarder, I think I read that this can happen. Gib is a very interesting place to visit with lots of history but with no campsites and some narrow roads and climbs could be difficult for a large type van. Sounds a good trip all the same, Good luck. chas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 JudgeMental - 2008-01-22 3:21 AM I don't have much time on my hands so its expensive tolls for me when we go away. but there are many on here with a lot of experience who avoid tolls like the plague :-D When I was working I had lots of money and little time. Now it's the opposite. I do Valencia to Dunkerque comfortably in three days. I never use toll roads. My attitude is every Euro I spend on a toll I could spend on a litre of diesel and travel 10kms (since new I've averaged 10km/L since new). I use 160L one way, I'm sure using tolls would double my costs and not save much time. Also, if I used toll roads I would be tempted to drive faster than my average 95 kph and thereby increase my fuel consumption. My trusted Tomtom using the non toll route at max 90kph would be:- via Quimper, Vannes, Nantes, Niort, Bordeaux, Biarritz, San Sebastian, Burgos, Valladolid, Salamanca, Caceres, Seville, Jerez de la Frontera. Total of 2011 kms. 25hrs 2m The toll road option going full speed limit (too fast in a MH in my opinion) is 2029 kms. 19 hrs 27m In Spain and France Tomtom almost invariably, over estimates the time. In the UK the opposite!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Hi Paul - As it happens we live on the Costa Blanca coast of Spain, and we went on a mini-trip in our own MH down to the Andalucia region just last week, and popped into Gib whilst we were down there. My suggestion would be the same as Chris's above. If you are coming down at this time of year and want to avoid the possible bad weather problems that can occur in Northern regions and mountainous areas of Spain, then get yourself dowm through France to the Med coast, and then come all the way down through Spain (the Eastern coastal side), past Bracelona, then Valencia, then Alicante and so on, using either the coastal motorway (designated the "A7" when it's not a toll stretch and "AP7" when it's toll) or the National road that runs alongside it almost all the way through Spain to the bottom. Unless you're in a massive rush and are determined to spend quite a lot of euros, I'd advise coming off the motorway every time it tells you that it's going to become "peage" ahead, and switching to the "N" road instead. In some stretches you also see "A7" and "AP7" signpostes to the same places. Just take the "A7" (non-toll) route. The reason for the two is that on certain stretches the old motorway was getting very congested, so they built loverly new stretches alongside, which you pay a toll to use to pay for their construction. But because some people do use the new bits, it means that the old bits are now less crowded! Hugging the Med coast means you'll get warmer, sunnier weather at this time of year too. Couple of thoughts on Gib, in case you've not been there in an MH before:- It ain't signposted till you're almost upon it. This is 'cos the Spanish Govt doesn't like it being a UK colony. Keep your eyes out instead for signs for "La Linea", which is the Spanish town (not a pretty one at all) that is on the mainland side of the rock. You can JUST ABOUT get onto Gib in an MH, but you'd be totally mad to try it in anything other than a smallish one. Ours is a 4 berth coachbuilt luton cab jobbie, and quite stubby. I really would not wanna do it is anything bigger. Really. Not. Unless you are very competenta t driving your MH in VERY tight congested raods, just don't bother at all - because aprt from my little tip that follows, you simply can't park a MH anywhere on the rock. Literally nowhere. For those who are too big, or too sensible to attampt to actually drive onto Gib, there's a massive piece of open ground just to the left of where the entrance/Customs/border Police is - and loads of bigger vehicles park up there. You can then walk through the Police/passport checks etc and it's a 5 minute walk into the middle of Gib. We saw perhaps 6 MH's and lots of lorries parked up there, and although it's only rough ground it looks reasonably secure 'cos the border Guards etc are only 50 yards away. Next time, that's where we'll be parking. Alternatively you can park in the other large car parks just before the rock entrance & take a taxi in or out - but beware that at peak times ( I think about 8am till 10am; and about 4 pm to 6pm ish) you can sit in a very long queue to get on/off..took us maybe half an hour of queuing to get off last week at about 5.30pm). Just one other thought - why do you want to go onto Gib anyway? If it's for shopping only, my STRONG advice would be don't bother. We've found (and we go there every couple of years if we are down that way) that prices of electrical goods/perfume/computers/leather clothing etc are at best only a couple of percent lower than mainland Spanish prices. Remember that because Spain does not treat Gib as part of the EU, you can't (leagally) bring more than 200 cigarettes per person back out of Gib into Spain. Can't remember the booze limit, but it's something like a couple of litres of spirits. It's the same limits as though you were coming back in to the Eu from anywhere else outside of it. Final thought. If you are absolutely determined that you must drive onto Gib with a MH, DON'T head into the old town once on the rock. Honestly, there is absolutely no-where in the entire rock for an MH to park. Trust me. I know. Instead head for the Port area once across the airstrip (you fork right once you're into the town itself) and look for Morrison's Supermarket. You can park up in their large car park for free for 3 hours so long as you buy from their store - and their stuff IS quite a bit cheaper than mainland Spain anyway). The walk from there to the Old town main shopping street is no more than 2 minutes. (Now, don't tell anyone else about that on-rock parking palce, 'cos I don't want bloody hundreds of you English lot to be all parked up there next time I pop down!) Incidentally, don't be afraid to wild camp here in Spain - apart from around the big cities/popular Costa areas, you can normally find a lovely quiet spot so long as you get off main roads and out into the "Campo" (countryside) a few miles. On our 5 night trip last week we only camped on a proper site one night - and that was only because we chose to. Hope this helps. Cheers, Bruce. P.S. Her's a piccy of one of the MH's that was parked on the rough ground just outside the entrance to Gib that Kathy took through the border fence as we were waiting in the queue to get back off again. Its the first stretch Motorhome I've ever seen!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul M Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 :-D :-D :-D Thanks everybody all very usefull, we swill be taking the slow route down to Gib. Then we off to Morocco, again with all the tips very kidly provided by your good selves. Just a couple more questions. (well five) A Where is the best place to change our euros before crossing to Morocco and what size denominations should we take, plus where should we change them on the way back? (thats three questions!) B Where is the best place to buy ferry tickets and how much should it cost in Mid March. (thats two more questions!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry1956 Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Hi. re the rock, my other was working there last year for 3 months, I went down in the Hymer and parked on the large parking area to the left of the customs office, the cost was 10 euros per 24 hours, there is a guard on duty 24 hours aday, but there was a lot of noice, so I moved on and parked for free along the road alongside the beeche, used the quad to get in and out of the rock, please take note that nothing over 3.5 tons is allowed to park up over night on the roads on the rock, and there are 100,s of police to make sure you don,t. Its an interesting place for a visit, many of nelsons sailors are still there in the small boneyard, but I was glad to leave, one thing there is a great food market and taco bars in la liner, hope thats the correct name, anyway injoy, ps. re tickets, pass to get them at the ferrie port, not from the small tickets offices you will see all over, I find it cost around £300 for the hymer, so did not go, best way is to get a 3 day all in short break from a travel office, you will see these on the rock, cost was around £80 pp for 4 days. terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 My advice would be to make sure you take in some of the real Spain before hitting the Rock - not literally you understand... if you go via Madrid you will be going past some of the best of Spain.... the coats is all very nice and warm, but for me areas like Salamanca, Segovia,& Toledo are defo worth a detour for... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinfrier Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Hi When you reach Spain ther are less tolls and the charges moderate class 1 on for 4 wheel vehicles.Try Burgos,Granada,Motril,along the coast A7 all the way to Gib dont miss Tarifa while your in the area. When you get to Gib go out to Europa Point loads of free parking and no problem with a motorhome mine is 7.25m the buses go there great views over to Africa and the straights Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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