Talk Quesada forum

Travellinhg in January you need to know how good sailors you are. The seas in the Bay of Biscay can be
horrendous and somtimes the channel as well. Best to take the tunnel for peace of mind. Head SSW to Le Mans avoiding Paris and then on to Poitier. Up to now its all tolls about 45 Euro. From Poitier take the N 10 south to Bordeaux and then further south until junction 10, No tolls. Now head SE to the Simplon Tunnel,use Michelin to know the town and village names to follow. Through the tunnel and head for Huesca and Zaragoza and finally Valencia, all free motorways. At Valencia join the A7 to Mucia and head for Quesada. All free again. You will need to night stop once or twice, prob twice. Its just over 1200 km from the French channel coast. Good luck. Mike

We came via Brittany Ferries Plymouth to Santander, a lovely journey(fortunately the BofB was smooth).
No satnav then (2004) and we took a wrong turning out of the docks and chased wild geese for about half an hour! After that it was all pretty easy-going, apart from a close encounter with a camione which removed my lh door mirror!
We had a paper route, and an allegedly up-to-date road atlas, which we found did not show the latest roads from Madrid to Albacete, so I had to follow my nose a bit for the last bit.
It was tiring, as we had to be there(Quesada) the same day, to meet the removal van, and I was the only driver. It's a long time since I'd driven nearly 600m(including the unplanned 'diversion') in a day, and it said a lot for my Focus that I was not completely knackered
It was quite an adventure, but I wouldn't tackle it now (in a day) that I am 9 years older!

Good luck!

we go from portsmouth to bilbo brittany ferries we have a pet freindly cabin so we can keep our pet with us ,very pleasent journey

takes about 8 hours to gaurdamar we do stop for the toilet and refreshments .

Senior moments allowed, dingbat, lol, any interesting stops you have for Madrid, with dogs of course, like to take our time, fortunately they have extended the time allowed for the dogs stuff, being done from 2 days to 5 so never a rush nowadays.

Thank you so much for all of the helpful info posted. My husband would prefer to use the pet cabin on the ferry to Spain but i have heard such bad things about traveling over the Bay Of Biscay in the winter and we are traveling at the end of January. I have absolutely no sea legs and i think our dog woudl be petrified!

mancityfan wrote:Don`t forget your AlcoTest kits, in case you get stopped by the friendly Gendarmarie.

Another bizarre French law that never saw the light of day. It is still the law to carry one on board..... The penalty is, well there isn't one !! Only in France

There you go Ali the tunnel is the answer for you. Mike

The only problem Mike is that we have a truck full of our items and a dog so we've been told we cant go on euro tunnel as you cant stay on the truck and there is a small limit for items that can be transported only 3 cubic crushed!

Hi there,


The route Mike gave you is a good one that I would also recommend it. However be prepared for bad weather in January! We drove to Poitier in our motorhome last January & drove through torrential rain from Bordeaux to Poitier . We left early as heavy snow was forecast. We stopped over night at some friends of ours at Pau. The new motorway from Bordeaux to Pau is a good motorway but cost a lot in toll fees. The next morning we then headed towards the tunnels. As we gained altitude, the snow deepened. Even with snow tires on the last mile took us 3/4 of an hour to drive with thick snow over thick ice. We have never been so pleased to see the tunnels in our lives!! You need to bare in mind that there are at least 5 ski resorts in Spain so not all Spain is warm & sunny as it is on the coast. On the Spanish side of the tunnels the roads were clear & toll free but the air temperatures were still -1C !

I am not saying that the route is always like that, we have driven the journey on clear dry roads, & I am sorry for the gloom & doom, however plan for the worst, hope for the best, especially if you are driving a van or motorhome. This is why I put an alternative route of going down the center of France to Marsailles & then hang a right at the Med coast & going via Barcelona, Valencia, & Alicante.

Which ever way you go, look at it as an adventure & not a chore with travelling through different climates, different temperatures, wonderful scenery, delightful towns, & wonderful food & drink. Don't try to drive too many miles on any day. My friend did this & ended at the bottom of a ravine!!!!!

Enjoy which ever route you take, after all it is the start of o whole new wonderful life for you, so relax & enjoy the journey.
Dingbat

dingbat wrote:Hi there,


The route Mike gave you is a good one that I would also recommend it. However be prepared for bad weather in January! We drove to Poitier in our motorhome last January & drove through torrential rain from Bordeaux to Poitier . We left early as heavy snow was forecast. We stopped over night at some friends of ours at Pau. The new motorway from Bordeaux to Pau is a good motorway but cost a lot in toll fees. The next morning we then headed towards the tunnels. As we gained altitude, the snow deepened. Even with snow tires on the last mile took us 3/4 of an hour to drive with thick snow over thick ice. We have never been so pleased to see the tunnels in our lives!! You need to bare in mind that there are at least 5 ski resorts in Spain so not all Spain is warm & sunny as it is on the coast. On the Spanish side of the tunnels the roads were clear & toll free but the air temperatures were still -1C !

I am not saying that the route is always like that, we have driven the journey on clear dry roads, & I am sorry for the gloom & doom, however plan for the worst, hope for the best, especially if you are driving a van or motorhome. This is why I put an alternative route of going down the center of France to Marsailles & then hang a right at the Med coast & going via Barcelona, Valencia, & Alicante.

Which ever way you go, look at it as an adventure & not a chore with travelling through different climates, different temperatures, wonderful scenery, delightful towns, & wonderful food & drink. Don't try to drive too many miles on any day. My friend did this & ended at the bottom of a ravine!!!!!

Enjoy which ever route you take, after all it is the start of o whole new wonderful life for you, so relax & enjoy the journey.
Dingbat

Another great post - There are some very good, helpful posts on this topic!

Everyone.