First time aboad with motorhome
Looking for help and advice please ,not driven abroad for over 10 years and that was on a motorcycle.Hoping someone can help with some questions we have.We are planning on driving through France to Spain
Do you advise changing our old paper driving licence to a photo one ?
Our motorhome is classed as 3.03 metres high will we be charged a cat 3 toll charge or is there any leeway ?
Will we need an emisions sticker to drive through france ?
Any other helpful advice will be greatfully appreciated.
Comments
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If you click Overseas Holidays at the top of the page you will find a lot of useful information - for instance the Club advises that you should take a modern driving licence with a photo. But it also answers many other questions you haven't yet thought of.
Persnally I think you will still be charged at class 2 on the motorways, but you will get that answer when you pay at the first toll booth, but in any case there are routes across France and Spain where you can avoid tolls altogether
I don't think you will need an emissions sticker unless you are going into certain city centres such as Paris, but most Club members are more law abiding than I am and make sure they have them before they set off anywhere.
Have a safe journey
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For the little it costs you might as well obtain a certificate. Certain areas can declare a pollution emergency, so it does not just apply to large cities. It does not need to be renewed.
Link here. Air Quality Certificate.
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Hi Jim
Think you might find the old paper licence in Spain is illegal alone meaning you will need a IDP to go with it or passport at all times, if you get stopped the Guardia will love you (on the spot fine).
Also you cant hire a car here in Spain with the old paper one not even with a passport to back it up, so it might be helpful if you get a new one just to cover all eventuallities.
Phil
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Hi Jim,
When are you thinking of going and how long will you be away for? We need to know total length of your trip and how long you need to get there and back, then all the advice will tumble out. Also let us know where you will be crossing the channel from, this will help with your route and over night stops on-route.
We left home in Taunton yesterday afternoon at 4pm and spent the night at the Brittany Ferries terminal at Poole. We’re heading for Spain. We took the 0830 Poole/Cherbourg ferry, arrived at Cherbourg at 13.45, then drove down to Nantes and overnighted at Camping Nantes. It is an ACSI site. Take a look on the CAMC site and search for ACSI. You really need this with you. It is an off season camping discount scheme and when you join for about £16.50 you get an ACSI card and a directory of all of their sites throughout Europe.
A guy on here called “Another David” will be along soon and give you a link to his database where you will find the route down the West Coast of France. We are using that route and now overnighting near the Spanish border and will reach our destination tomorrow afternoon at 5pm, where Boloroboy off this site will meet me and buy me a drink!
I will await your further info and pick this up again later. Keep asking the questions, you have come to the right place for the info you need.
Will speak again soon.
BillC
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Calais to Spain and back in two weeks sounds like a bit of a rush. That will make autoroutes almost obligatory. The western channel ports can knock half a day of journey times to Spain and Dover may not be your nearest port anyway.
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Going in June, you certainly do not need to book ahead, which means you can pace yourselves according to factors like traffic, tiredness, weather and local interests. . And as suggested, get an ACSI card. But, that said, I agree with CYs point about rush.
We used to (pre retirement) go down to and back from southern France from Caen in approx 3 weeks, and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to rush more than that. That used to give time to amble en route, rather than just drive and sleep. Plus, visit a couple of sites for extended stays.
Nowadays, we take 6 weeks just in Spain from Bilbao. Much more relaxing.
Choice of departure port may depend on where you start from, but we prefer the longer crossings from Portsmouth, whether to France or Spain.
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