Organise Europe trip

[Darren payne]

Hi all next year 20/20 going to travel through France to Portugal then over to Spain has any of you lot done this journey looking a plan of best roads and stop overs please help

 

[Clarky]

Don’t over plan your trip.
You’ve got loads of time to sort out where to go and there’s lots of help on here.

What time of year are you planning for?
How much time do you have for the trip?
What sort of facilities do you have on your van?

All these things make a difference to where you stop and what route you take.
Loads of us have been on that sort of route so you will get lots of suggestions.

Richard.

 

[Clarky]

Oh! Should have said, welcome to Fun.

 

[davidbaldam]

Hi and welcome to FUN. You might find the search button hand.

 

[The Wino]

We went all the way to the Spanish coast near Santiago de Compostela this year. There's lots of places to stop

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[Allanm]

We did similar earlier this year. In my opinion, the best route is one you pick yourself, depending on what you want to see and how far you want to travel each day.
There are hundreds of places to stop, usually, the best ones are the ones you come across yourself. We had a rough idea of where we wanted to go ( mainly following the Camino de Compostela Route from France) to Fisterra then down the Portuguese coast.
Half the fun is planning your own route

 

[Riverbankannie]

How long do you have ? We took about 6 weeks to travel down France, across top of Spain, down Portugal coast as far as Porto, then up the Douro Valley and back into Spain , Salamanca, back into France and home.
unless you are going at very peak time, no need to book.
I wouldn’t recommend central Spain July and August. We went end May, June and beginning of July but it was too hot in Salamanca for us middle of June.

 

[Razamataz]

We did similar earlier this year. In my opinion, the best route is one you pick yourself, depending on what you want to see and how far you want to travel each day.
There are hundreds of places to stop, usually, the best ones are the ones you come across yourself. We had a rough idea of where we wanted to go ( mainly following the Camino de Compostela Route from France) to Fisterra then down the Portuguese coast.
Half the fun is planning your own route

absolutely totally agree!!!!!!planning wee bits and pieces of travel, where to stay,places to visit,things to do,coast or inland. All helps with the build up of total Excitement for Your Trip.
MEE,
I can hardly wait till Ferry leaves 3rd Jan

 

[Lenny HB]

Have a look at my trips (links in my signature) you can see which way I went and I put photos up with coordinates of all our stops.

 

[Razamataz]

Have a look at my trips (links in my signature) you can see which way I went and I put photos up with coordinates of all our stops.

YEP, Lenny,I have found Your Travels and Northeraiders very informative!!!

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[Lenny HB]

absolutely totally agree!!!!!!planning wee bits and pieces of travel, where to stay,places to visit,things to do,coast or inland. All helps with the build up of total Excitement for Your Trip.
MEE,
I can hardly wait till Ferry leaves 3rd Jan

What's this planning lark?
We book a ferry have a rough idea of where we are heading and just bumble along. If we planned a trip we would miss all the interesting places we find on our way to wherever.

 

[PhilandMena]

We too have done this. Everything you need is in this post below, also in the resources section.

From Calais to southwest France & Spain without tolls - Updates

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Firstly, routes and route maps for France and Spain. This first link is an award winning database about France. It has a host of information on best routes to many locations. I have selected the famous N10 route from Calais to Irun which is used by many motorhomes when travelling to Spain. It’s almost Toll free (more on that a little later) and almost all duel carriageway from start to finish with the exception of about 100 K. This route is great for motorhomes small, medium and large. Note: (HGV’s are not allowed on French roads, Sunday’s, so plan your journey over a weekend if possible).

https://about-france.com/tourism/no-tolls-routes.htm

Tolls: Avoid the toll road from Calais to Abbeville and save 12.50 Euros. The non-toll route is quite scenic and fairly straight forward, between Boulogne-sur-Mer and Abbeville.

At Abbeville, join the A28 and cross the river Sein at Rouen. We take the second exit immediately after crossing the bridge (about 50 m past the first exit at the end of the bridge), swing down and under the bridge you have just crossed and continue on this road and join the A13 motorway until the N154 which takes you down to Evreux. (Note: there are a number of different options for getting through Rouen and no doubt other members will have their own preferences. We find this very straight forward on both outward and return legs). Approaching Tours on the D910 join the A10 toll road at Jct. 19 and exit at Jct. 23. This will take you through the city via the toll road, (€1.80). At Jct. 23 take the exit lane for Montbazon which returns you to the D910. (Reverse for the return leg). That’s the last toll to pay until you hit the bottom of the A63 after Bordeaux.

To save toll fares on the A63 south of Bordeaux please read the route recommendations in the above link. Do not come off the A63 near the bottom as all roads will be heavily congested and it’s worth paying the last few tolls. (From Jct 6 €8.90 in total) (Fuel costs approx. €147.84 (Based on 1056 K @10K per Ltr. @€1.40 per ltr. 3.5T motorhome)). This route is also recommended during winter, due to its proximity to the Atlantic ocean, which means little to no problems with ice and or snow, unlike using the A75 to cross the Massif Central. Although the A75 is quickly cleared, it is advisable to have winter tyres fitted and there may be some small delays due to snow ploughs clearing this route.

If heading to the Mediterranean side of Spain, it’s worth taking the N121-A to Pamplona after crossing the Spanish boarder on the A63 at Irun. It’s clearly sign posted (Large white sign) about 300 m after passing through the last toll booth and crossing the river. Also here are Repsol fuel stations and shopping opportunities. You will find more details in this link for the N121-A and how to navigate Spain toll free.

https://about-spain.net/travel/no-tolls.htm

If you decide to pay Tolls in order to save time getting to Spain, your best route options are in this link.

https://about-france.com/tourism/routes-to-spain.htm

Should you choose to plan your own routes anywhere in Europe and also establish Toll costs, (or toll free costs) use this link. Under route options, select caravan then select toll roads. Toll costs for a class 2 motorhome will be calculated for the whole journey. You can also choose Non toll routes and other options. This is currently one of the best online free route planers.

https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/

As for stop overs on routes, you can’t go wrong using the App below which is free but I would recommend getting the paid version for about £6.00 which you can then use off line. You will find numerous places to stop along the above route and I have deliberately not made any recommendations so drivers can make their own choices. This app is also brilliant for finding other places too and highly rated by many users.

https://www.campercontact.com/en/content/app

There is another popular app/website that is used which you may also find useful if you’re doing a lot of wilding and looking for free overnight stops. It too is used by many motor homers in Europe. Get the paid version to use off line for around £9.00

https://www.park4night.com/

One of the best off line MAP ‘App’ and used by many. It also includes a sat-nav function which is quite good and can also be used off line. Again many motor homers use this, especially in Morocco.

Broken Link Removed

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(Tip!) (Go on their online ‘Web Chat’ and ask them to confirm the contract starts when you activate the sim and if they agree (they did with me) keep a copy of the Web Chat that they will email to you, otherwise the contract will start from the day your order the sim card). After two months contact customer services by phone and cancel the contract by giving them 30 days’ notice. This prevents their fair play usage kicking in after 3 months and you paying through your nose for Wi-Fi. If they say the contract started from when you made the order contact the complaints number and they will honour the agreement made with the Chat agent! (UK number is 03333 041 524 (standard call charges apply, they will even call you back if you ask them and they are very helpful)). The Wi-Fi coverage is exceptional.

https://www.vodafone.co.uk/shop/bundles-and-sims/sim-only-data-bundles/

Vodaphone APN settings for an unlocked MiFi.

https://search.vodafone.co.uk/search?proxystylesheet=default_frontend&q=APN+settings&x=0&y=0

 

[Razamataz]

What's this planning lark?
We book a ferry have a rough idea of where we are heading and just bumble along. If we planned a trip we would miss all the interesting places we find on our way to wherever.

It take someone with a Lot of Motorhome Expierience ........just to go bumbling along(just look where its taken YOU) You Trail Blazer

 

[TerryL]

Apart from the annual winter break we tend to have an idea of what we want to do but the planning just consists of making sure I've packed the right maps etc. and, if necessary, booked a ferry.

Our last trip, to Ireland (see blog in signature), was intended to follow the Wild Atlantic Way. But we got sort of side-tracked and only got half way round. No matter, it's given us a trip for next year to finish it off.

The annual trip is meant to find some winter sun so we tend to just keep heading south, how fast depends on the weather; if it's nice we dawdle, if not I get my foot down!

When we first started the wife got nervous about where we were going to stop overnight but nowadays she's the expert at finding somewhere nice when we decide we've had enough for the day.

As said above, don't overplan it, much more fun that way.