# Through France to Spain



## maxautotrail (Aug 21, 2007)

Hi All

I’m starting to plan our trip for this June. We have been able to book the ferry crossing Portsmouth to St.Malo for free using air miles. So, it is the intention to dash down to Spain to spend a week lazing in the sun. Then, a leisurely drive back through central France to Calais taking in Aires and French Passion stops.

As we wanted to get to Spain as quickly as possible the original plan was to use motorways and pay the tolls. Now that the exchange rate has suffered so much I’m looking at using non toll roads but still want to get there asap.

Looking at viamichelin.co.uk and putting in the options for non tolls the route planned is suggested as…

St.Malo
Nantes
Cholet
Poitiers
Limoge
A20 to Toulouse
Narbonne
Perpignan

The driving time planned via the Michelin site is 15.5 hours which we will probably split into two days stopping at an aire.

Question – The route from Cholet through Poitiers to Limoge seems to be smaller roads with a few twists and turns. Is it feasible to use this with a large motorhome (28 foot) and does anyone know if the total 15.5 hours is possible using this route.

I’d really like to get to Toulouse for the first night would this be possible? Are there any Aires around the West of the city, I can’t find any either in the All the Aires book or the map on this forum.

Thanks

Keith


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## griffly16 (Jul 6, 2006)

Toulouse in one day I think is pushing it - about 500 miles? We were there year before last and stopped in Bourges (but we were travelling from Calais and took a while to get through Paris) - and used the autoroutes. N roads would be slower obviously.

We couldn't find any aires in or around Toulouse. We stayed on a campsite 5 miles north of the centre - De Pont Rupe. Not the best site by any means - and you'll need a bike to ride along the canal into the City, but Toulouse is worth visiting.

Camping Pont de Rupe:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&s...288&spn=0.006303,0.018969&t=h&z=16&iwloc=cent

Regards
Griff


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## maxautotrail (Aug 21, 2007)

griffly16 said:


> Toulouse in one day I think is pushing it - about 500 miles? We were there year before last and stopped in Bourges (but we were travelling from Calais and took a while to get through Paris) - and used the autoroutes. N roads would be slower obviously.
> 
> We couldn't find any aires in or around Toulouse. We stayed on a campsite 5 miles north of the centre - De Pont Rupe. Not the best site by any means - and you'll need a bike to ride along the canal into the City, but Toulouse is worth visiting.
> 
> ...


Thanks for that. I was thinking it may be a bit far. The same Michelin site gives a journey time of 10 hours from St Malo to Toulouse even with the option for caravan set. Maybe we will split the journey into 2 night stops.

Cheers

Keith


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## 101405 (Oct 15, 2006)

Wrong route really for sud est France , best Paris- Lyon-Narbonne, Well I think so, allow 2 days , clear Paris and stop on an Aire nr the A7 you can then do Narbonne stoping every 3 hrs to give you and your tyres a break and Arrive Narbonne evening, dont forget for Autoroute driving to Increase your tyre Pres by 2-4lbs ,


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## maxautotrail (Aug 21, 2007)

maxautotrail said:


> griffly16 said:
> 
> 
> > Toulouse in one day I think is pushing it - about 500 miles? We were there year before last and stopped in Bourges (but we were travelling from Calais and took a while to get through Paris) - and used the autoroutes. N roads would be slower obviously.
> ...


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## griffly16 (Jul 6, 2006)

Sliversurfa - have to disagree there - St. Malo to Paris/Lyon/Narbonne to get to Spain????

Miles out of the way..... 8O


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## maxautotrail (Aug 21, 2007)

silversurfa said:


> Wrong route really for sud est France , best Paris- Lyon-Narbonne, Well I think so, allow 2 days , clear Paris and stop on an Aire nr the A7 you can then do Narbonne stoping every 3 hrs to give you and your tyres a break and Arrive Narbonne evening, dont forget for Autoroute driving to Increase your tyre Pres by 2-4lbs ,


But that route would add almost 200 miles at 686 miles? Whereas the route suggested by Michelin is 495.

Regards

Keith


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## colonel (Oct 11, 2008)

I think silversurfa is assuming you can re-route to start at Calais, in which case that would be the best route. As it is, if your landing at St Malo I would think that the route given by Michelin is the shorter. But remember shorter doesn't mean quicker. Going by smaller N routes will take a LONG time. So allow more time than think.


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## seanoo (Mar 31, 2007)

hi maxautotrail, the route you said rennes , nantes etc was the correct route, to go via paris is just nonsense. 15 hours total is a good estimate taking it easy ( 60 ish) . drive it in two days not one you'll feel alot more refreshed when you arrive and ready to enjoy your holiday. hope the weather's good for you, all the best sean


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## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

Hi Keith, if you plant to avoid the tolls be aware that the N roads are littered with roundabouts and small villages and progress can be painfully slow, but if you relax to it it is the best way to enjoy a trip.
Last October we found the following route most enjoyable and got us to the sun in three days driving. Day one got us to a lovely Aire at St Genis-de-Saintonge just north of Bordeaux, next evening saw us at a fantastic Aire in the French Pyrenees at at Bagneres-de-Luchon, from here double back to the N125 (don't be tempted to take the direct rout via the D618) and head for Spain on what becomes the N230, through Lleida and on to the coast at Tarragona, to arrive there on the third night after enjoying and exhilarating drive.
Colin


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## devonidiot (Mar 10, 2006)

Last autumn we set off on a similar trip planning to take a week to get to the Spanish border, then two weeks in Spain and a week to wander back to Calais.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) we spent that much time sightseeing that it took three weeks to reach the border at Narbonne, just in time to turn round and head home.

We may try again some time soon, wonder how far we'll get then :roll:


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## phil4francoise (Jun 21, 2008)

personally if your motorhome is under 3.0mtr high and under 3.5 ton I would still use the E routes ( motorways ) you will only be a class B for toll charges and the money you save on MPG will be better than using N roads. either way enjoy !


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## oldtart (Mar 18, 2006)

Hi. If its any help we left Escanacrabe, a village south west of Toulouse at about 10am in December and arrived at Dunkirk at 11pm but that was using toll roads. It wasn't planned but we had no battery, we had run out of power so had to keep going. We did stop for lunch and it was only when we were sett;ing down at an Aire we discovered the problem!!


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## teensvan (May 9, 2005)

Hi Keith.

We Use a Lot of different routes through france to and from spain, and have found that if you use N & D roads as we do our average speed on these roads is only 35 to 40 MPH. We always work out our days run based on these speeds. There are a lot of 50 KLMS limits on these roads.

Hope this helps with your plans, or may be not.

steve & ann. ------------ teensvan


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## arrow2 (May 9, 2005)

Agree with all - from St Malo (or any of the channel ports) allow 2 days to get down to anywhere near the border France / Spain. If heading for Perpignan border crossing stay somewhere around the Dordogne (lovely Aire in Brantome and lovely small town) then head down to Languedoc next day, if you have time see some of the Cathar castles - magnificent.

Kevin


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## welshtust (Jun 9, 2008)

Don't forget to Fuel stops they add up, 
We did Perpignan to Calais in January in 1 day on the Motorways, it was really hard going.


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## maxautotrail (Aug 21, 2007)

welshtust said:


> Don't forget to Fuel stops they add up,
> We did Perpignan to Calais in January in 1 day on the Motorways, it was really hard going.


Yep, not only fuel. We were on the west coast last year and took 2 nights getting back to Calais using the N roads. We were stopping every couple of hours. It made for a very relaxed journey and we visited some very nice little villages just off the main roads.

This time we are trying to spend some time in northern Spain and take the drive back to Calais as leisurely as possible. After the comments on this subject I think we'll try to do the journey with 2 night stops enroute and get the map out with some of the suggestions.

Many thanks to all who took the time in responding.

Keith


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