Travelling by car to Spain/Portugal

valdigre

Hi everyone!

An ambitious plan came to my mind to take my diesel for a journey to Portugal, so I am trying to make a plan for it - hence the question.

Has anyone here done it before and can recommend a solution to route, ferries?

For instance, I am wondering if it is wiser to take a ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg and drive from there, or Ireland to Uk, drive there to Eurotunnel and drive from Calais.

Those options differ in terms of total mileage covered by car and time wasted on ferry, so wondering which one might be better in long run.

Any other advice hugely appreciated!

Tigerandahalf

There used to be a ferry from Portsmouth to Santander in Spain I think it was. That would save on the mileage but it is a long journey no matter what, much of which will be on non descript motorways.

Are you taking family?

http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/ferry-routes/ferries-spain/portsmouth-santander

average_runner

valdigre wrote: »

Hi everyone!

An ambitious plan came to my mind to take my diesel for a journey to Portugal, so I am trying to make a plan for it - hence the question.

Has anyone here done it before and can recommend a solution to route, ferries?

For instance, I am wondering if it is wiser to take a ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg and drive from there, or Ireland to Uk, drive there to Eurotunnel and drive from Calais.

Those options differ in terms of total mileage covered by car and time wasted on ferry, so wondering which one might be better in long run.

Any other advice hugely appreciated!

Your time on the ferry wiil be overnight if that helps!

Atlantic Dawn

Ideally you should aim to get to mainland Europe first thing in the morning and then drive the most of the day for 1000km or so and then spend the night at a hotel and repeat the same the next day. Have your AC working or else invest in a sting vest.

valdigre

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Ideally you should aim to get to mainland Europe first thing in the morning and then drive the most of the day for 1000km or so and then spend the night at a hotel and repeat the same the next day. Have your AC working or else invest in a sting vest.

I have a car with Ac that I love to drive, so heat should not be a problem.

No family, just me and my gf second driver.

I realize how long this journey will be and challenges ahead, but we are talking about 2-3 weeks in Portugal and I want to do as much sightseeing as possible.

Not sure if there is a ferry to Santander, will have a look.

redcup342

Rosslare - Roscoff

Drive south until you hit Spain .. job done

You'd do Roscoff - Madrid in 2 days comfortably .. 1 day if you want a hardcore 13 hour go of it. You have 2 drivers so just swap every 2-3 hours.

Plopli

Travelled to Valencia (Spain) from Dublin - with wife, 2 kids and dog - 2 years ago.

Ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg (night ferry), one stop on the way down around Bordeaux and one one the way up around Niort.
Do not go through 'le Tunnel' as it makes your driving significantly longer and you do not have the benefit of a good night of sleep on the ferry (take a cabin - I can sleep anywhere in any condition)

Portugal is a bit further away (depending on where you want to end up) so it may need a second overnight but not that much.

Use the highways (and pay for it in France) as using the N road would considerably slow you down (really, do it. N road in France are not that fun on a motorbike where you can overtake easily, it's a downright nightmare in a car).

If you want to not loose time, take a portable cooler and food/drink with you so you can stop anywhere for your lunch time (store the food in the hotel fridge and the cooling elements in the hotel freezer at night).

Swap drivers as you feel (I did all the drive as my wife do not like to drive).

It's really not that big of a deal if you are not afraid of driving.

two wheels good

The cost of tolls can be significant. With a bit of route research online you can save money and enjoy some scenery by taking the N or even the D roads.
Some motorways are free of tolls e.g. Nantes to Niort. See the map legend to distinguish tolled and free. I recommend Michelin maps if available
Paying the toll to avoid N roads near cities is good value - e.g bypassing Bordeaux.
Taking the ferry Spain to Portsmouth \Plymouth on the return might reduce the pressure of deadines and is actually justifiable on cost too - esp. if it's low or mid season. Brittany Ferries fares can be expensive.

Marcusm

valdigre wrote: »

Hi everyone!

An ambitious plan came to my mind to take my diesel for a journey to Portugal, so I am trying to make a plan for it - hence the question.

Has anyone here done it before and can recommend a solution to route, ferries?

For instance, I am wondering if it is wiser to take a ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg and drive from there, or Ireland to Uk, drive there to Eurotunnel and drive from Calais.

Those options differ in terms of total mileage covered by car and time wasted on ferry, so wondering which one might be better in long run.

Any other advice hugely appreciated!

I did this for Christmas/NY a few years ago so shorter days and less good weather. We arrived to St Malo but otherwise similar. First overnight was in Tours then Burgos then Viseu in Portugal before hitting Cascais. Also stopped in Nantes, Salamanca and Fatima but you get the idea. On the way back we took the Bilbao-Portsmouth ferry in a force 9 gle; definitely not something I would repeat but less likely in Summer. Beware that driving over the Pyrenees takes time.

RobM3662

redcup342 wrote: »

Rosslare - Roscoff

Drive south until you hit Spain .. job done

You'd do Roscoff - Madrid in 2 days comfortably .. 1 day if you want a hardcore 13 hour go of it. You have 2 drivers so just swap every 2-3 hours.

Hey, this is the route I have planned for September. Our wedding is there so I'm filing up the Landcruiser and heading off on our road trip.

Quick question if you can help,
How do I deal with the tolls on motorways ? Is there booths?

And any other words of wisdom anyone thinks I may need apart from sedating the missus :P

bigar

RobM3662 wrote: »

Quick question if you can help,
How do I deal with the tolls on motorways ? Is there booths?

French and Spanish Tolls can be paid on the automated gates by Credit Card and coins (some actually give change). There will always be at least one manned toll booth where you can pay with all of the above and notes.

munchkin_utd

RobM3662 wrote: »

Hey, this is the route I have planned for September. Our wedding is there so I'm filing up the Landcruiser and heading off on our road trip.
<snip>

would you not just do Cork-Santander direct and save on the driving / Tolls ?

two wheels good

bigar wrote: »

French and Spanish Tolls can be paid on the automated gates by Credit Card and coins (some actually give change). There will always be at least one manned toll booth where you can pay with all of the above and notes.

That's not my experience. I've encountered a few fully automated toll booths, usually less busy locations, and I read they're becoming more common.

OP it's possible to buy a payment tag to attach to windscreen before you go. It might be worth considering if you're not going to have a passenger in the front seat.
"Sanef" is one type but afaik it requires a UK or French bank account..

bigar

Also have a look at this page. If you plan it carefully, you can travel to Spain through France mostly on free motorways and major trunk roads.
I used it to drive for free to Spain and Switzerland. I completely stayed of the tolled motorways and used the French RN roads instead. These are similar to the major N roads in Ireland. It will take a bit longer, although the upside is that you see more of the country.

https://about-france.com/geo/motorways.htm

RobM3662

munchkin_utd wrote: »

would you not just do Cork-Santander direct and save on the driving / Tolls ?

No can do unfortunately. Have chatted to a few lorry drivers and apparently the boat is 20+ years old. Doesn’t seem to cater for the general public and I’ll have a 7month pregnant wife with me that will not be pleased to be spending 27hrs on a boat.
The driving/tolls doesn’t bother me I just want to be prepared as can be and hopefully avoid any hiccups

Cyclepath

I've just returned from a trip and went Cork>Santander>Roscoff>Cork

The trip over was actually fine - we didn't have kids with us so a Kindle and a laptop with some downloaded Netflix episodes were enough entertainment.

You get on late on Friday eve and spend Saturday on the boat, then you're in port when you wake up Sunday morning.

It's billed as a no frills service but there's a perfectly good restaurant, bar etc and it's not a truckers boat by any means, plenty of families admittedly with older kids/teens but it's a good service.

Carawaystick

You can use debit and credit cards on the french Motorways, you look for a white card sign over the booths where you pay, some of the tolls even allow contactless payment

You take a ticket getting on the TOll road, and pay at the end of the tolled section, so don't loose the ticket.

Mappy.fr will tell you the toll amounts.

The speedlimit on all non-dual carriageway roads was reduced to 80 at the start of the month in France, which is a lot less than 130 on tolled motorways.

Diesel's dear now in France, it used to be cheaper than Ireland in Supermarkets, but not any more, and its nearly 1.60/l on motorways
It's cheap again in Spain though