Flat route from Spain

[zaskar]

Returning from Aguilas in a couple of weeks.

Normal route home is.................
AP7 to Valencia
A23 Terruel - Zarragoza
AP15 Tudela - Pamplona - San Sebastian
..........and then up the west coast of France (N10).

Nice route BUT the haul up from Valencia and then over the Pyrenees to San Sebastian is tough and I'd like to find a gentler ie flatter, route if poss'.

Last time back, we took advice from a friend with an old RV who had the same concerns and so advised ...........
AP7 all the way to Narbonne, then left to Carcasonne and north up through France.
As far as Carcassone it was a great route and a MUCH easier/lower route across the Pyrenees BUT the route north from Carcasonne was a killer with some 'orrible gradients!

I'm thinking about................
AP7 to Narbonne
A61 to Toulouse
A62 to Bordeaux
then up the west coast (N10)

Anyone done this route? Please understand that I'm not interested in alternative non toll routes. With a rig like ours, its FAR easier to stay on the motorway, my main concern is gradients.

Thanks

 

[2657]

Returning from Aguilas in a couple of weeks.

Normal route home is.................
AP7 to Valencia
A23 Terruel - Zarragoza
AP15 Tudela - Pamplona - San Sebastian
..........and then up the west coast of France (N10).

Nice route BUT the haul up from Valencia and then over the Pyrenees to San Sebastian is tough and I'd like to find a gentler ie flatter, route if poss'.

Last time back, we took advice from a friend with an old RV who had the same concerns and so advised ...........
AP7 all the way to Narbonne, then left to Carcasonne and north up through France.
As far as Carcassone it was a great route and a MUCH easier/lower route across the Pyrenees BUT the route north from Carcasonne was a killer with some 'orrible gradients!

I'm thinking about................
AP7 to Narbonne
A61 to Toulouse
A62 to Bordeaux
then up the west coast (N10)

Anyone done this route? Please understand that I'm not interested in alternative non toll routes. With a rig like ours, its FAR easier to stay on the motorway, my main concern is gradients.

Thanks

Done that route many times, the biggest gradients are in Spain and over the Pyrenees, the route through France is relatively flat, easy motorway cruising. Busy traffic around Toulouse and more so Bordeaux. The Bordeaux ring road is used by lots of trucks en route to Iberia.

 

[Mikeco]

A much easier route would be via Madrid and Burgos and then San Sebastián, good roads all the way with steady gradients.

 

[2657]

Returning from Aguilas in a couple of weeks.

Normal route home is.................
AP7 to Valencia
A23 Terruel - Zarragoza
AP15 Tudela - Pamplona - San Sebastian
..........and then up the west coast of France (N10).

Nice route BUT the haul up from Valencia and then over the Pyrenees to San Sebastian is tough and I'd like to find a gentler ie flatter, route if poss'.

Last time back, we took advice from a friend with an old RV who had the same concerns and so advised ...........
AP7 all the way to Narbonne, then left to Carcasonne and north up through France.
As far as Carcassone it was a great route and a MUCH easier/lower route across the Pyrenees BUT the route north from Carcasonne was a killer with some 'orrible gradients!

I'm thinking about................
AP7 to Narbonne
A61 to Toulouse
A62 to Bordeaux
then up the west coast (N10)

Anyone done this route? Please understand that I'm not interested in alternative non toll routes. With a rig like ours, its FAR easier to stay on the motorway, my main concern is gradients.

Thanks

I didn't realise that it was you as the OP, we bought our 5'er slightly before you in 2008 from Calder Leisure, we had some correspondence regarding tyres from memory. We did the route in our 5'er pulled by a Mazda BT50 without problem. Our 5'er is now permanently sited in Portugal.

 

[Devon Sue]

Returning from Aguilas in a couple of weeks.

I'm thinking about................
AP7 to Narbonne
A61 to Toulouse
A62 to Bordeaux
then up the west coast (N10)

Anyone done this route? Please understand that I'm not interested in alternative non toll routes. With a rig like ours, its FAR easier to stay on the motorway, my main concern is gradients.

Thanks

We regularly use the N10, we travel from Roscoff, really easy route. Will you be heading off for the channel crossings at Niort or Nantes, others will have advice on those routes. Last year we used your suggested route to get as far as Figueres. There were a fair number of big lorries so with a rig like yours it should be a doddle. There are some gradients going east-west, unavoidable to a greater or lesser extent given the geography of France, but from memory nothing too steep

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[zaskar]

Right guys, we're back in blighty!
Cracking run back until we got to Chartre where the wind got up big time! Pushed on to Calais instead of stopping for the night and ended up at the car/coach park down the coast at Escalles where we nomally wild the night before our tunnel. Again, blowing an absolute hooley and SHMBO started getting gittery so we go to Eurotunnel, explain we're worried about towing in the wind and can we get across early so we can hole up at Black Horse Farm. Yes, no problem, that'll be another £200 please sir! WHAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!! Robbing gits, no amount of pleading was gonna move the girl on the phone even tho' the man in the barrier booth was genuinely pleading our case!, The "Boss" said just pay em, so crying blood, I did and we're now holed up in Dover waiting for this bloody awefull wind to subside so I can get oooop North to Burrs at Bury, Manchester. I wouldn't mind but I counted TEN empty carriages on our train!

To get back on topic!..........the new run back that we tried is BY FAR AND AWAY a much flatter/gentler route back from Spain. Far less hills and less steep. Fuel consumption averaged 22.3 as opposed to 19.1 on previous route (see O/P).
Route back was
AP7 Aguilas to Narbonne
A61 Narbonne to Toulouse
A62 to Bordeaux
N10 North
A26 Calais.

Yes, there are tolls involved but we got Class 2 all the way through France and back by politely asking in French..........no quibbles, and IMHO the cost of tolls is worth paying if like me, you dont like pushing your engine and box.

Yes, a Nav/KL or CR will cope with San Sebastien- Zarragossa, but why push it when there's a flatter route? Will definately be using this route again.

Once we downsize to a "normal" motorhome, I'll happily hit Somport etc but for now, with a rig /engine combination like this, I'll happily use the flatter route to get to the sun.
I might also add that by staying low down at night and crossing France from Med to Atlantic in one day, as opposed to a couple of nights high up on the Spanish plain, we used a lot less gas and stayed warmer.

HTH