Travel Time to PortAventura? (1 Viewer)

[MrsCubaB]

Hi,
I’ve never posted before but thought this would be a good place to ask some advice... so here goes!

We are thinking of going to PortAventura, Spain, next year during the Easter break - leaving home Good Friday and hoping to spend 4 days in Spain.

Question is... how long would you advise it would take to get there?!

It would take us approx. 6 hours from home to Dover so wanting to maybe stop either in Southern England or over in France on Good Friday evening but without wrecking ourselves, how long would you advise to spend getting there and staying other places overnight to still enjoy the journey down? Especially if anyone has ever done it before??

Thank you for any help anyone has for a complete novice over here!

 

[Chris Laing]

Where are you travelling from. If you are travelling from Scotland I would allow 9 hours to get down to the south of England.

We stayed over night at canterbury motorhome stopover before heading over in the morning on the eurotunnel

 

[Lenny HB]

From Calais if you don't mind paying Autoroute tolls doable in 2 days but 3 would be more comfortable, its 1400km.

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[Mickey1]

Mickey.

 

[TerryL]

We are thinking of going to PortAventura, Spain, next year during the Easter break - leaving home Good Friday and hoping to spend 4 days in Spain.

Hope I'm not misreading your intentions, but that's an awful long way to go for just 4 days in Spain.

Oh yes -

 

[MrsCubaB]

Thank you for your replies, much appreciated!

Yes it is a long way to go for 4 days but we want to enjoy the journey down too and spend time overnight in other campsites in France etc with no rush to get to PortAventura.

We’ll also have my husband’s son travelling with us who is 12 years old and need to get him back for the following Monday as he’s back at school! But desperately want to go to this theme park and thought it was a great opportunity to try out the Motorhome abroad!

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[mitzimad]

much easier to do in that timeframe is europark in rust just over the german border its got everything that spain has theres a campsite attached for 33 euros a day and you could go via luxembourg for cheap fuel and drink

 

[Pia]

....and Easter in Spain is a HUGE celebration and such places are usually full of families. In France Easter is a bit of a non event so no need to worry about booking campsites. 3 nights will see you to that area of Spain but 4 would make it more leisurely.

 

[SteveB123]

Sanguli in Salou is a great site for kids

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[Richard n Ann]

Hi,
I’ve never posted before but thought this would be a good place to ask some advice... so here goes!

We are thinking of going to PortAventura, Spain, next year during the Easter break - leaving home Good Friday and hoping to spend 4 days in Spain.

Question is... how long would you advise it would take to get there?!

It would take us approx. 6 hours from home to Dover so wanting to maybe stop either in Southern England or over in France on Good Friday evening but without wrecking ourselves, how long would you advise to spend getting there and staying other places overnight to still enjoy the journey down? Especially if anyone has ever done it before??

Thank you for any help anyone has for a complete novice over here!

In total then you have 9 days, giving you 4 days in Spain and 2.5 days travelling each way. That's doable on the toll roads, it won't be pleasent for the driver though, it sounds an adventure until you've been driving 6 hours and realise you've got another 300km to go. Don't let me put you off mind

 

[Chris]

I think it's too far . I should think it's c1000 miles from Calais by road. Try Alton Towers

 

[StephandJohn]

You could compare the cost of going to Santiago or Bilbao versus the campsite fees and fuel going through France. I think its likely they'd be similar bu that way you could start off in Spain and take your time visiting some interesting places on the way.
I don't know where PortAventura is but its a long way down through France and then to get in to Spain.

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[Chris]

Or fly to Reus which is close to there.

If you are lucky Ryanair don't fly there

 

[Chris]

You could compare the cost of going to Santiago or Bilbao versus the campsite fees and fuel going through France. I think its likely they'd be similar bu that way you could start off in Spain and take your time visiting some interesting places on the way.
I don't know where PortAventura is but its a long way down through France and then to get in to Spain.

I think it's near to Tarragona

 

[Xabia]

I don’t want to rain on your parade but ...... I have been doing a similar trip twice a years for 20 years or so. You don’t realise how big a country France is until you drive it’s length. I would suggest that a 12 year will soon get bored on the motorway trip and the driver will be very tired on arrival. This trip could dampen your enthusiasm for motorhoming so I would suggest a rethink. How about Futurescope and Parc Asterix?

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[Sue]

Driving through France always makes us realise what a HUGE country it is. This year we set off from Calais to the Pyrenees. Exhausting journey over 3 days, when we arrived we met people who had taken the ferry to Santander and then just 3 hours to get to France. Because of that we are off to Spain soon, but it's the ferry for us...the trek rough France ( lovely country that it is ) is just too much. More so if you have time constraints.

 

[Allan & Loren]

Have to agree it is a lot of driving and even if you enjoy driving it can very quickly become a relentless slog.
Also agree with @Xabia abut futurescope and Parc asterisk both of which are brilliant and you're close enough to Paris to enjoy a day there too and euro Disney which would be a brilliant Easter treat for your 12 year old.

 

[deleted-member02]

We often visit https://www.duinrell.com/ for Easter.
Four hours from Calais, it's pleasant camping with theme park and Tikipool.
There's loads to do in the local vicinity and https://keukenhof.nl/en/ will be open too.

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[MrsCubaB]

Thank you everyone, lots for us to think about and plan for next year

 

[Allan & Loren]

Thank you everyone, lots for us to think about and plan for next year

Whatever you decide, have a great trip

 

[Barclaybasher]

France is great to drive through........but the distances are so much more than here

Wouldn't do it............ 3-4 days to cross France is rushing it !!

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[Whitebirdyman]

We are thinking of going to PortAventura, Spain, next year during the Easter break - leaving home Good Friday and hoping to spend 4 days in Spain.

When my son was younger he really liked Port Aventura so we went several times, one of which was Easter. I think that Easter trip was one of the few where I drove directly to Salou without meandering around. On that occasion I left Canterbury after breakfast, used the tunnel, used the route via Paris, overnight near Montelimar and in Salou mid afternoon the next day, my focus was on getting there, not enjoying the scenery en route.

On a subsequent trip I crossed in the evening, overnight on the aire at Montreuil, early start, toll free via Rouen, Chartres etc then overnight at the aire at St Flour on the (free) A75, then to Narbonne and paid the tolls to Salou, arriving in the afternoon.

If you both take turns at driving and if you are less than 3500kg so you have the higher speed limits then this is not that difficult a trip. With one driver and over 3500kg it is more of a struggle if you stick to speed limits.

In reality I think the driving part of the trip is much harder on the child than it is on the drivers. I would seriously consider taking one of the child's friends along for the trip and setting them up with games etc that they can play en route.

As mentioned by someone earlier in the thread, Sanguli is a good choice of campsite. It is slightly further away than the Siesta site but much nicer and the bus runs from there anyway. Bus is 1.20euro per trip using a multi-person 10 journey ticket, but you have to pay 3.50euro for the rechargeable ticket. Sanguli will be busy at easter! You need to book a pitch and it would be a good idea to go online and do it now, area A is a good one as you are not too far back from the front entrance of the site, but there is a little train noise area W has larger pitches and is a little further back. The campsites in Cambrils are cheaper but a bit further away and they are not so pleasant, but they are also more like campsites and less like resorts.

 

[hilldweller]

Thank you for any help anyone has for a complete novice over here!

All the time we keep giving newbies advice -- too many miles and you turn a holiday into a route march and need a holiday when you get home less than happy.

Never underestimate how big France is, it's a long grind top to bottom.

If Spain is essential, have a look at the direct ferries. You can save time and arrive fit for a holiday.

 

[urban_biker]

We drove to Alicante (La Marina) last Easter from Calais via the tunnel (night crossing with a sleep stop at Citie Europe). It took 2.5 days. We planned for around 8 hours of driving a day, broken into 2 hours slots with a 20 minute morning and aftrenoon break and around an hour for lunch. We have two boys aged 12 and 14 and a dog. The boys just listened to audio books all the way and where happy so long as we stopped for food on a regular basis.

I'm not sure I'd want to do it if I didn't use the full 2 weeks of the Easter hols. Doing it this way meant we had a whole week to relax in teh sun before we headed back. And although it was a great experience it was tiring. We stopped on the way down at:

Roullet Aire
45°34'51.0"N 0°02'39.8"E

And

Carinena Aire
41°20'16.8"N 1°13'50.1"W

On the way back I did an extra long day and drove all the way from Alicante to an aire in Biaritz. Then the next night we stopped at Suze sur Sathe. So the trip is doable but more of an expedition rather than a holiday. Oh - and its expensive, particularly if you use the toll roads like we did. It may be cheaper just flying.

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[PhilandMena]

I have to agree with others, 4 days is not enough. It takes me 2 days of driving to get down near the Spanish border at Irun from Calais and thats solid driving all day long. Plus another 1/2 day I would think for you to get to your destination. It will be no fun for your passengers and you will be very tired when you arrive. Using toll routes will save you time but be very expensive.
Should you decide to forge ahead this may help you with your route choice.
https://about-france.com/routes-from-calais.htm

 

[TerryL]

Salou was one of my destinations when I was coach driving. Took over the coach at Dover around 1800 (another driver would collect the passengers), drive overnight and be at hotel in Salou around 1500 next day. So it's doable. BUT. This was with two professional drivers at maximum allowed speed, using motorways/toll roads all the time and being non-stop, only pausing for driver change evry 3/4 hours. B----y hard work and it took 24 hours to recover - both drivers and passengers!