We are driving from Calais to faro just after xmas. We intend stopping maybe 3 times on way down and wondered if anyone has done this trip and can suggest places to stop. France especially seems bit daunting as don't know it very well at all.
Sorry to ask, but did you read these answers to your post about 10 days ago????
I'm not sure what you mean about France seeming to be a bit daunting!
It is motorway all the way. It is true that the traffic between Bordeaux and Burgos can be a bit heavy by if you go at it steadily you should have not problem.
You should try to avoid routing around Paris as the traffic there is usually heavy.
I would suggest that you route Calais, Rouen, Le Mans, Tours, Poitiers, Bordeaux.
If you are departing from Salisbury I would suggest that you overnight on day one in Rouen or at a pinch Le Mans. Day 2 head for Burgos/Valladolid/Salamanca and then Day 3, the Algarve.
Bearing in mind it is winter and early evenings, you probably will not have much time for sightseeing, so you should try and find hotels as close to Motorway exits as possible.
Another tip! Fuel! Do not buy on the French Autoroutes! It is much more expensive. Around most large French towns, if you come of the Motorway at a major exit you will usually find a large hypermarket complex run by Carrefour/Intermarche/LeClercs/Auchan. Most of these have discount fuel outlets where prices can be up to 5 cents per litre cheaper than on the Motorway. Given that you will be paying tolls (know in France as Péage), it helps to save money. These shopping centres also host outlets like McD's or Quick where you can eat junk food more reasonably than in cafes etc.
If you do layover in the Burgos area, one hotel, I recently stayed at, about 5 minutes off the E80 motorway on the N120 road is the Hotel Camino de Santiago.
See: http://bit.ly/a8SXFN
We got a good internet deal there on the last trip in October. Be warned it is outside Burgos BUT easily accessible from the Motorway although the last 300 metres is a bit of a dog's breakfast as you have to slide into a slip road and then run along parallel to the N120.
There is a restaurant and cafe in the Hotel. It is very clean and the staff were very pleasant.
As you slide into the slip road to approach the Hotel, you will see on the right a taverna type place called the Hotel Restaurante Los Braseros. We walked there from the Hotel Camino de Santiago and had a great and very reasonable Tapas Supper at the Bar.
Hope this helps.
Thankyou so much for your help.... much appreciated.
Its not the driving in France that I am finding a bit daunting, but actually where to stop, as I found it a bit difficult to work out how far down we could reasonably expect to get before making our first stop.
We had thought we might get down to Bordeaux??
Thanks again for your help and tips
Pat
I've done this trip through two diferent routes. One is more or less the one described by the previous post, but I would head to Madrid once in Spain and then follow the route to Sevilla and from there to the Algarve. More or less the same distance but you save on tolls by avoiding Portuguese highways. I've slept in Bordeaux and Madrid, at highway hostels such as F1 which are economic and very convenient.
Another option is that you head down from Calais to Reims / Lyon and enter Spain via Barcelona. Then follow on to Valencia / Cordoba / Sevilla. The route is somewhat longer but less busy (unless you're coming during the hollydays when many people take this route from Europe to Northern Africa). It would be my second choice.
I was interested to see the advised routes as we were thinking of using the ferry for a long-term stay, but £800, (2 people, small car, April) fare from Plymouth to Santander took my breath away, There is an option Plymouth Roscoff I suppose, but would it not be easier just to follow the road down the coast and end up somewhere like Biarritz? Excuse my ignorance ... havent done such a long road trip towards Caldas da Rhaina before.
-:- Message from Tripadvisor staff -:-
This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
To review the Tripadvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html
We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.
