Stop overs in France & Spain

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We have travelled this route for quite a few years in March and do the following towing a Buccaneer of 8m:

We cross the first day by Channel tunnel and stay over at Chateau Des Tilleuls - 110 km from Calais.

Then on to Tours - Camping Les Acasias - 420 km

Then on to Urrugne - Camping La Rouletta - 562 km

Then on to Aranjuez - Camping International Aranjuez - 523 Km

From there we go off to Manilva which is 581 km.

Enjoy your trip. We'll be doing this again in March next year.

Yes, that's a popular route, but what foxed us was the fact that the original questioner said she was going in December not March - and one of your stopovers will be closed - and she was talking of only doing 200 miles a day so would need many more stopovers.   But they are probably on their way by now and we may not hear how they got on .

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For what its worth, here is our itinerary for February - April 2020, crossing Portsmouth/Ouistreham towing a 7.9m twin axle with 1 dog.

27.02.20      Ferry 08.15 – arrive 15.00    Camping les Capucines – Ranville (A)

28.02.20      Ranville – Bordeaux le lac 606km / 363 miles

29.02.20      Bordeaux – Zaragoza 511km / 306 miles

01.03.20      Zaragoza – Vila Joyosa 465km / 279 miles

22.03.20      Vila Joyosa – Manilva  606km / 363 miles

05.04.20       Manilva – Getafe (A)   619km / 371 miles

06.04.20       Getafe – Urrugne   496km / 297 miles

07.04.20        Urrugne – St Maure de Touraine (A) 521 km / 312 miles

08.04.20         St Maure – Ouistreham 309km / 185 miles – Ferry 14.00 – arrive 19.15

The OP might find some of this useful. TomVDH looks like we may be at Manilva La Bella Vista at the same time as you, roughly.

 

Paul & Gwen

P&G, some pretty long days in the saddle there...600+ km towing at 100kph with a couple of breaks (coffee, lunch) is going to be 7-7.5 hrs.

you have several days of over 600km, whilst some of us feel ok at this level (2hrs/2hrs/2hrs probably) OP is looking for something a bit more leisurely each day.

we do a similar trip each winter and have 2.5 longish days getting to the Valencia area from Cherbourg, but the weather is likely to be cold at that time of year and theres not much else to do other than press on for the sunshine.

in springtime our pace slows considerably, using the better weather to explore a lot more.

having gone to the western Algarve last year i know how far the southern areas are from the ports but we took many weeks to get there and back.

take care, enjoy.

Hi BB

Yes 3 days over 600k, but am comfortable with it. We have done the Vila Joyosa or Oropesa trips several times now in October / February / March and whilst the 600+ days are tiring, its just a means of getting to the sun quicker.

As you know the French weather is crap in winter and its freezing over the Spanish plain so no point in hanging around anywhere.

First time down to Manilva but that 600k leg is after 3 weeks at VJ and well rested. Same with the Manilva - Getafe 600k leg, after 2 weeks doing nothing at Bella Vista. 

The empty autoroutes at that time of year make it do-able. Gwen won't drive either, so its all down to me. She fetches the coffee from the services while me and the dog guard the 'van. Correct about the 3 legs of 2 hours each - works well and is fine for the dog's (and mine) toilet breaks and refuelling. My V8 diesel drinks the stuff  at autoroute speeds with the 'van on.

Cheers Paul & Gwen

 

Hi everyone ,

Just a note to thank you all for your advice & ideas reference our drive down to Southern Spain . We took your advice and stopped over night in Folkestone and caught the early ferry to Calais we have had 4 stopovers we are now at Arunjuez so it all went great .

Thanks again for your help 

Malcolm & Jacqui