# help booking a route please



## 117831 (Oct 29, 2008)

hi we are planning a trip to spain for xmas with our 5 kids aged 4 - 14

we would like to end up around mojacar/almeria and we are looking for suggested routes,areas to avoid and places worth stopping at.
we are going mainly for the warmer weather and to escape british xmas suicide missions to the supermarkets !
we are not planning to use campsites unless the kids get restless and bored so aires and wild camping are the thing for us!
sorry forgot to say we are sailing from dover to calais , so that's our start point.
we are also interested in people's opinions on whether it is worth the extra travel to avoid toll roads??
sorry for so many questions !
we are going for 2 weeks by the way.


----------



## sideways (Jun 2, 2008)

Hi and welcome to the site, just a couple of points, there will be no warm weather in France at christmas, it will be the same as here or worse, it will also be much the same in northern Spain,Two weeks is not going to be long enough because unless you push extremely hard its going to take you a minimum of 7 days to get there and back possibly longer. last year i kept track of the mileage to Benidorm going toll roads all the way, we came back non toll roads an entirely different way and the difference was less than 40 miles.


----------



## 101405 (Oct 15, 2006)

Well out of the two weeks you will have 6/7 days travel. that leaves a week . would not recomend wildcamping in Spain . People do it I know . but you can stay over winter here for 300€ a month all in . All this is a bit of a push on yourself is it not, and no garantia for dry weather, sorry be a bit of a downer on this, but I look back on some of the crazy drives I did to the Sof France when the kids were small , more stressed when I got back. check out ,say! southwest france have known it to be mild and sunny end of year,


----------



## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Welcome to the site. You will get plenty of answers to this one, but mostly negative I suspect. 8O   

Not for me to make your decisions for you, but you did ask!   

It's 1320 miles from Calais to Almeria, and you are going for only two weeks! 8O 8O 8O 

If you drive 450 miles per day, that's half the holiday used up with hard driving just getting there and back - so you'll need another holiday to get over it. 

450 miles in the truck, avoiding toll roads (if that's what you want) will take about 10 hours or so, and that is with minimum pee and food stops.

With five kids and the youngest only 4 years old? :? 8O 

Not something I would even contemplate, and there are only the two of us. 8O


----------



## 117831 (Oct 29, 2008)

has any one got any other ideas then?

we were contemplating germany instead , but think the weather will be even colder than france???
does anyone have any experience of this??


----------



## C7KEN (May 27, 2005)

All the previous posts are giving you very good advice. I have just returned from England in the last few days. Did not hang about but its really a minimum 3 day trip. Even then the kids will get fed up with the constant driving. If you could make it 3 weeks or more then it becomes more viable. I have tried most ways of crossing the pyranees now but what you need to remember is there could be snow when you propose to travel so your options will be less. As I crossed on Sunday I could have reached out of the cab window and grabbed a handfull of snow. The route I used would be no good to you in a couple of weeks. I can suggest another route I would use if its any help. It avoids all the tolls. You can use French aires to rest and Spanish ones on the costas although the Spanish ones are likely to be full up. However I can tell you some places to stay overnight in Spain and also where to stay longer near Mojacar. All safe places that we personally use. Its a long way to here as France and Spain are large countries


----------



## whistlinggypsy (May 1, 2005)

I would forget about Germany as it will almost certainly be cold  Wet  and possibly snowing   so you will need all the right clothing for that kind of trip, the aire's/campsites will certainly be empty as most of the German m/homers will be already on the way/arrived too Spain along with the Dutch contingent.

2 weeks is way too short a period for such a venture, if you can extend the trip by even a week it becomes more of a pleasant trip for all involved especially you the driver.

Sorry for the negativity but that's the was it is, i do hope you can find the time and you do not have too go as far south as you mentioned for decent weather though saying that the further south the better normally.

Bob


----------



## 38Rover (Nov 9, 2006)

Hi
You might find the weather on the Costa del Sol better but it's 1375 miles from Calais to Malaga.
I do it regularly in 2 days but with kids that might be too much so 3 days each way is more realistic.When my kids were little i did a lot of the driving at night with them asleep.
If you use toll roads then about £90 each way and if you want a fast trip to the sun that,s the best way.
Have often spent Christmass Day at our local Hotel dinner on the open terrace sat out till 5pm when it gets chilly but the weather can vary but more good than bad.
Fast route is Calais Rouen,Le mans,Tours.Poitiers,Bordeaux,Bayonne,Burgos,Madrid,Jaen,Granada then either Malaga or Motril.At granada you can visit the Siera Nevada snow and skiing.
The roads are good all the way from Calais but plenty of tolls in France.
Colin Frier Malaga


----------



## bobandjane (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi as said its a long way, we do it in 3 days, but when I had my Truck I often did 600km a day, but you have to be the sort of driver that can do it. Many years ago we crossed at Ramsgate, (in a car) on the old Sally Ferries, to Dunkerque on a early boat, and never stopped until we got over the Italian Border, I was young and stupid then :roll: , unlike know old and stupid :lol: and slept for about 3 days.  we went to Spain for 5 weeks and that was not long enough, but nothing is impossible, but I would not go for 2 weeks, mind you we don't go anywhere for 2 weeks. :lol: Bob.


----------



## whistlinggypsy (May 1, 2005)

What a lot of people say about the distance from Calais to southern Spain is that they forget the distance from home address to Dover.

Looking at thewitch profile i see they live in Leyland only a hop skip and jump from our abode, so that in itself is another 300 mile each way (6/8 hrs. depending on road conditions/weather) so there is another 2 days lost driving, so minimum 6 day's to Spain (Almeria return) that is 8 days driving with 6 days left for holiday   no thanks.

Bob


----------



## autostratus (May 9, 2005)

whistlinggypsy said:


> Looking at thewitch profile i see they live in Leyland ........................
> Bob


I took it to mean that the MH was a Leyland Roadrunner 812


----------



## LPDrifter (Aug 17, 2005)

A member of this site called Fego did a trip from UK to south of Spain
for Christmas about two years ago.

He wrote a very interesting blog about his whole trip, including
preparation work, the trip itself and his thoughts afterwards

I can't find it now but this site

http://www.fego.co.uk/

in which he is selling his MH
has contact info and he might still have a copy of the blog
It would be interesting reading for you


----------



## whistlinggypsy (May 1, 2005)

> I took it to mean that the MH was a Leyland Roadrunner 812


  teach me too look more carefully at what i'm reading.

But the principle still applies, the journey starts from your home address as a norm.

Sorry too thewitch :roll:

Bob


----------



## autostratus (May 9, 2005)

whistlinggypsy said:


> ....But the principle still applies, the journey starts from your home address as a norm.
> 
> Bob


That's well worth remembering if you don't live close to your uk departure point.
My 200 miles from Leicestershire to Dover is much more fraught than the 430 miles I often do down to Limoges from Calais.


----------



## julie798 (Jun 13, 2007)

*Trip*

Having read this post and agreeing with most of it, having just driven from and too Almeria, I would only add that the cost, 1000 pound round trip, would give the kids a great holiday at Butlins, were they cater for them, Spain is nothing like England at xmas, although the tourist resorts ie Benidorm would probably be ok, you could always try Almeria later on in the year, only my opinion, have a great time were ever you go, i myself will be in Almeria, but for a lot longer than 2 weeks.


----------



## 117831 (Oct 29, 2008)

thankyou everyone for your replies
mmm interesting reading !
our kids are hardened travellers so that's not too much of an issue but unfair on my better half who is driving
back to the drawing board then !!
have booked the ferry already so can't extend the trip

any other suggestions more than welcome


----------



## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

thewitch said:


> have booked the ferry already so can't extend the trip
> any other suggestions more than welcome


Extend the trip if you really want to do it.  

The most I have ever been charged for varying a booking is £20, which is not a lot when it means the difference between a holiday and an endurance test! :wink:

Who have you booked with?


----------



## sideways (Jun 2, 2008)

Suggest if you can spare the time you extend the trip, Its not as far , to Benidorm you will nearly be guaranteed good weather, there will be much more to amuse your kids, your only problem will be sites will be expensive for short stays 30 euros a day reducing after 15 days and reducing again after 30 days. They will be reduced from day 1 though .I dont do wild camping but met some people last year who were camped on the beach at Finestrat. they had been in Spain months and never been on a site. Its going to cost you 3/4 hundred in fuel plus getting to Dover.


----------



## PIEDODGER (Aug 22, 2008)

C7KEN said:


> I can suggest another route I would use if its any help. It avoids all the tolls. You can use French aires to rest and Spanish ones on the costas although the Spanish ones are likely to be full up. However I can tell you some places to stay overnight in Spain and also where to stay longer near Mojacar. All safe places that we personally use. Its a long way to here as France and Spain are large countries


Hi C7KEN, just starting to plan a similar journey(5/6 week break Calais, Paris stop over, then south heading for Alicante area, Mojacar then asses) have you already written up these details if so is it possible to view them as there may be something I have over looked, many thanks PD.


----------



## C7KEN (May 27, 2005)

Piedodger I guess you have the Paris stop planned so you just need to get from Paris to Mojacar. Where did you intend to stay at Mojacar? wild camping there now is difficult but just along the coast at Agua Amarg which Nuke has listed in the database is fine. France is easy to find aires but for Spain I would use the aires at Blanes , Peniscola, Alfaz de Pi as the three to stop over enroute. The last two may be full and if so I need to point you to safe wild camping spots. I will get the co-ordinated tomorrow from my sat Nav and PM them to you. You need to travel down Spain via the coast road N340 and 332 and you need to be exceptionally carefull about where to park. The places I will give you tomorrow are very safe we have used them often


----------

