Road Trip
- firsttango
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Road Trip
Thinking of doing a "leisurely" road trip in early December from Nerja to Calais taking a few days. Anyone done this? Would appreciate some input as to any tips, pitfalls etc.....good places to stop for an overnight etc....basically any info....prefer to stick to motorways.....thx
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Re: Road Trip
There are quarantine rules in place at the moment. Whether they will still be there in December - who knows!
Sid
Sid
- firsttango
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Re: Road Trip
Where? U.K? If so thats not a problem
Re: Road Trip
We've done the trip a few times from here to south western France and back the only thing I would say is to consider the weather as you're going in early December. We had cats on board so didn't stop off sightseeing anywhere, travelling up via Jaen to Madrid, around the city for a night in Guadalajara, then past Zaragoza and right through the middle of the Pyrenees (Bielsa-Aragnouet tunnel) towards Agen. The coastal routes may be less likely to have snow, but central France can be freezing in the winter as I well remember!
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Re: Road Trip
There is no quarantine between Spain and France at the moment, but the way the cases are going in Spain, I would not rule out the possibility of one being imposed.
Sid
- firsttango
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Re: Road Trip
Cross that bridge if it happens, just looking at possible routes at the moment.....life goes on regardless of Covid19, can't not plan things forever.
Re: Road Trip
Leisurely?
Roughly 2000 km so 20 hours driving approx. What we find is it is hard to balance stops and sightseeing with covering ground. For example make a detour to take in an historic town and you have lost 200 km of journeying. You could visit the Don Quixote windmills ( detour off the Granada to Madrid motorway) allow about an hour off route.
My tip would be to plan it around seeing some sights and decide how many hours a day you want to drive. French motorways are very good but have tolls. Non toll roads are reasonably fast and you see more “France”.
Roughly 2000 km so 20 hours driving approx. What we find is it is hard to balance stops and sightseeing with covering ground. For example make a detour to take in an historic town and you have lost 200 km of journeying. You could visit the Don Quixote windmills ( detour off the Granada to Madrid motorway) allow about an hour off route.
My tip would be to plan it around seeing some sights and decide how many hours a day you want to drive. French motorways are very good but have tolls. Non toll roads are reasonably fast and you see more “France”.
- firsttango
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Re: Road Trip
Thanks Olive, probably aim to do the trip over a 5-6 day period...but thats open ended as may wish to spend longer somewhere along the route before pitching up at Calais
- Devils Advocate
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Re: Road Trip
We've done the leisurely multi day trip from UK to Andalucia for the last 3 years now as opposed to flying, a lot more expensive but it became a major feature of the holiday, discovering places you'd never see otherwise. We have never enjoyed holidays as much, something new every day.....gutted not to be doing it this year so well done you!!
I'd have some tips, great places to see and some great hotels.....and handy ones.
Problem is we always sailed from Ouistreham a bit further up the coast than Calais, so we struck across Spain, through Madrid, in to the Basque region (stunning) then ambled down the French Atlantic coast before swinging inland through Lemans and on to Caen.
I have a feeling for Calais you'd be going up the Med coast to Barcelona, over the Pyrenees, through Toulouse then through central France to Calais?
I'd have some tips, great places to see and some great hotels.....and handy ones.
Problem is we always sailed from Ouistreham a bit further up the coast than Calais, so we struck across Spain, through Madrid, in to the Basque region (stunning) then ambled down the French Atlantic coast before swinging inland through Lemans and on to Caen.
I have a feeling for Calais you'd be going up the Med coast to Barcelona, over the Pyrenees, through Toulouse then through central France to Calais?
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- firsttango
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Re: Road Trip
Thanks, looking at it I think we will head up the French Atlantic Coast for sure as really fancy a day in Biarritz (nostalgic), then onwards up towards Calais....but nothing booked so may even consider Caen-Portsmouth ....any more tips appreciated Thx
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Re: Road Trip
Hi firsttango,
Carry snow chains for that time of the year.
Carry snow chains for that time of the year.
All my best learning experiences start with a problem I need to solve.
- firsttango
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Re: Road Trip
Absolutely.
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Re: Road Trip
Ah, thinking about it again some of the gems we found were off the beaten track, La Pedraza in Segovia for instance, stayed in the best hotel we've ever used in Spain, beautiful place with a world renowned restaurant too in the lovely walled village. Whether it's open and functioning in these times and in December I don't know. I'd hate to give you duff advice here. A shame as it's only 20 minutes off the main drag when you pass Madrid. I can certainly chip in on any other questions that may arise on this thread. La Rioja is worth spending a night or two, Miranda de Ebro is a fantastic place to explore, we stayed at the Convento there which I'm sure will be open. Brinas too, another walled town on the banks of the Ebro is glorious but much smaller, similar to La Pedraza so not sure what will be open there. France is a strange one, even in late summer everything seemed to close at 8.30pm, unlike Spain where nothing gets going until then. We had a beautiful time for instance in Saint John de Luz, however when we went out for an evening drink and a meal everywhere had shut. If you fancy a gite and a special Hote D'or and experience near la Rochelle I know the one that we used, and the French couple who run it won't be beaten. A unique atmosphere. You've got me jealous now!!!
Last edited by Devils Advocate on Sun Sep 06, 2020 5:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Road Trip
Following this as we are contemplating driving back to blighty next feb or so. Initial thoughts are to head up the med coast visiting portugal maybe lagos or porto. Then back into spain for santiago, bilbao. Then either head up through france to calais, or take the ferry from bilbao.. Can't at the moment think of on-route places in france that we'd like to visit. Done paris to death years ago so no interest in going there.
Regards
Bob
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Re: Road Trip
Plaza Nueva in Bilbao is an absolute must if you love a nice wine and some of the best tapas in the world. If it's anything like back to the way we found it last year it's a memorable place to visit. We stayed outside Bilbao in a town called Muskiz and a hotel called Munatones. Highlight was the ease of getting the C2 train in to the centre of Bilbao to walk over the river to the square, we had 2 nights there it was so good.
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- firsttango
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Re: Road Trip
Muchos gracias.....exactly the kind of info we are looking for in the planning of the trip....will definitely use your info as a reference....Thank you....keep it comingDevils Advocate wrote: ↑Sun Sep 06, 2020 5:28 pm Ah, thinking about it again some of the gems we found were off the beaten track, La Pedraza in Segovia for instance, stayed in the best hotel we've ever used in Spain, beautiful place with a world renowned restaurant too in the lovely walled village. Whether it's open and functioning in these times and in December I don't know. I'd hate to give you duff advice here. A shame as it's only 20 minutes off the main drag when you pass Madrid. I can certainly chip in on any other questions that may arise on this thread. La Rioja is worth spending a night or two, Miranda de Ebro is a fantastic place to explore, we stayed at the Convento there which I'm sure will be open. Brinas too, another walled town on the banks of the Ebro is glorious but much smaller, similar to La Pedraza so not sure what will be open there. France is a strange one, even in late summer everything seemed to close at 8.30pm, unlike Spain where nothing gets going until then. We had a beautiful time for instance in Saint John de Luz, however when we went out for an evening drink and a meal everywhere had shut. If you fancy a gite and a special Hote D'or and experience near la Rochelle I know the one that we used, and the French couple who run it won't be beaten. A unique atmosphere. You've got me jealous now!!!
- Devils Advocate
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Re: Road Trip
Another gem in the La rochelle region for a stop is a town called St Jean D'angely. Not a huge place as we avoid them but well big enough to explore. Lovely central square with safe parking too. Lot's of restaurants and bars and a truly French olde worlde morning market that is fabulous....all food and no tat!!! You'll not want to dine out though if you stay at Hotel de la place, situated basically on the square so easy to get your cases there. Guy who runs it is ex French Military and a gent. Rooms nice but the food again is Michelin standard but sadly without the star. We weren't even going to eat there but the place we chose to go earlier was shut......disappointed we dined at the hotel, best stoke of luck ever. Quite hard to find places so good. Not expensive in the scale of things either for the true quality you get.
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Re: Road Trip
We have done every permutation driving from Malaga to UK. My least favourite is via Madrid over border at Irun and on to France. I prefer going up the east coast past Valencia , Barca and then up through France. Unless your getting off the motorway to visit several towns it can be a bit boring. Santander can have snow as can Madrid especially in January. Segovia is nice as is Toledo, Burgos, Valencia, Barca, San Sebastian. You could drive back via from Calais via Northern Spain and down through Portugal past Porto. Stunning drive around Northern Spain and Portugal.
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Re: Road Trip
There are various ways to drive up through Spain. I usually stop off at at least one or two places on the way up or down. Toledo, Avila Salamanca and Segovia are all beautiful. Madrid is another must if you haven't already visited it. Then further north, some of the places already mentioned but one place I love is a small wine producing village just north of La Rioja in la Rioja Alavesa called Elciego.
Bilbao, especially lively at that time of year San Sebastian. and Pamplona. Then in France, as already mentioned, up the west coast through La Rochelle, Maybe Mont San Michel and along the north coast of France to Calais. Then you could return on the other side of France and travel though Catalonia, Figueres, for the Dali museum. There are some beautiful medieval villages in the region, Pals is highly recommended, then down to Barcelona. I'm not familiar with the area south of there, although I've heard Tarragona is nice.
On the coast, I doubt if you will come across snow but you will cross some mountain ranges and snow is highly likely so it's a good idea stick to good roads. Castilla at that time of year can be absolutely freezing so make sure you are prepared.
Bilbao, especially lively at that time of year San Sebastian. and Pamplona. Then in France, as already mentioned, up the west coast through La Rochelle, Maybe Mont San Michel and along the north coast of France to Calais. Then you could return on the other side of France and travel though Catalonia, Figueres, for the Dali museum. There are some beautiful medieval villages in the region, Pals is highly recommended, then down to Barcelona. I'm not familiar with the area south of there, although I've heard Tarragona is nice.
On the coast, I doubt if you will come across snow but you will cross some mountain ranges and snow is highly likely so it's a good idea stick to good roads. Castilla at that time of year can be absolutely freezing so make sure you are prepared.
Last edited by markwilding on Mon Sep 07, 2020 8:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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