Calais to Valencia
Which is the best route from Calais to Valencia using a minimum of Toll roads? I will be travelling in a motorhome in January as long as the restrictions are lifted.
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The A75 south of Clermont is toll free as is the AP2 now IIRC. It's ten years since I drove that route although I continued on to Alicante. That was travelling by car so a couple of nights accommodation added to the cost. I live fifteen minutes from the ferry at Portsmouth so, if heading that way, I wouldn't use Dover again. It makes the journey laborious.
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From your Gloucester address I too would go via Portsmouth / Caen. It will save you 200 miles of driving compared with the Calais route.
From Caen to Valencia you can use ViaMichelin.com and in the Options ask for a toll free route.
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Hi Bobash
I will be doing this route in late December but in the opposite way from Alicante where we live too the UK with five stops, one in Spain and four in France.
Cambrils at La llosa ACSI
Then in France will stop on airs run by this company https://campingcarpark.com/
We stop on these because hey all have electricity, stop one
Vilasavary on the A61
Souillac on the A20
St Cyr on the N10 near Poitiers
Dreux on the N154 i think
then a two hour drive to the tunnel or another stop at
Merlimont.
Toll roads are the way forward in January with the weather imho
Phil
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It's a brave decision to have booked and paid for the Channel Tunnel four months in advance for a January date, without knowing whether you will be able to travel or not.
But if you do go then the About-France.com website is useful. Click on Driving and scroll down. It gives you routes across France from Calais - either with tolls or with minimal tolls - but as Phil has said you won't want slow roads on short, dark winter days .
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I originally booked the Tunnel in July when the restrictions were lifted. Date of travel was 15th October which I changed last week to 4th January. Eurotunnel allow date changes free of charge at the moment so if FCO advice not to travel is still in force on 1st January I will change it again to a later date.
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January means short days and the possibility of snow. You really want to avoid D roads and get to your overnight stops by 4pm at the latest. When we did that trip we used autoroutes and autopista.
Following the snow plough on the A26 south of Calais in January!
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Just to add some info, here's our post from a previous thread on this topic.
"We've posted this list several times on this site, but hope it's of interest to you in planning your expedition, but note that we have a motorhome which makes overnight stops simple.
We have a set route, mainly on the Peage (our modest motorhome is ‘classe 2’).
Here's our route from Calais:
1. Soissons - Camping Municipal du Mail -164 miles
2. Beaune - Camping les Bouleaux - 250 miles
3. Nimes - Camping Domaine de la Bastide - 272 miles
4. le Barcares - Camping Club Europa - 156 miles or Les Olivers at Le Boulou.
5.Hospitalet de L'infante ( south of Barcelona) - Camping Cala d'Oques - 200 miles. (not in ACSI, but they give a discount to card holders)
None of them bookable but open all year. Soissons was rumoured to have closed in winter, but ACSI and Ukcampsites both say it’s still open all year
Head for St Quentin,Soissions, Reims,Troyes,Dijon, Lyon (Rocade Est to Marseille), then Nimes, Montpellier, Narbonne, Perpignan. Barcelona then Valencia. Needless to say, don't enter any of these cities, just use them as indications of which routes to follow."
Camping Cala d'Oques
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The info re the municipal in Soissons being closed in winter was posted by me in December 2016 (we had driven up from Alsace, read the notice outside and continued to Calais) however things might have changed - best to check if you are planning to stop there..
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Hi Bobash,
I would head for Tours and Camping Les Acacia, open all year, then down to Urrugne and Camping Larrouleta, also open all year. The weather isn’t that bad on the West coast, it can be windy in Jan/Feb and there are tolls but also a lot of toll free. We use the Poole - Cherbourg route with first night at Camping Nantes and then as above. Once over the border into Spain we pick up the N121A down to Pamplona. After that APs to Zaragoza and then the A23 to Valencia.If things improve I will be off early Jan too, site booked In Spain for 12 Jan.
BillC
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I would agree completely with Chasncath; it is also much better to get the days mileage completed before dark as there are heavy frosts in central France in January and D roads can be like skating rinks early in the morning (before 10am). For the same reason, overnight stays where there are steep inclines to be negotiated first thing are best avoided too.
We have travelled via the tunnel to Valenciana for the past 6 years in January and have tried a number of different routes. In my opinion, if you are trying to leave the northern european winter behind you, it is worth paying the circa £90 in tolls to get to the sun as quickly as possible.
My favourite route is Rouen, Chartres, Orleans, Clermont Ferrand and then down the toll-free A75 to Beziers, but you have to watch the weather for the high section of motorway from Issoire south as it can be subject to heavy snow and although the french are very good at deploying snow ploughs when needed, following them at 50kph for miles and miles is not much fun !
If the weather is against you, you may like to consider the slightly lower autoroute from Vierzon to Toulouse and then onwards to Narbonne and Perpignan. Alternatively, the route from Calais via Rouen, Tours, Bordeaux and Bayonne can be less prone to snow due to the maritime influences, but heavy rain is not much fun.
Like you, Bobash, we too have had to change our autumn tunnel booking from August to January (15th) and are now keeping our fingers crossed that we don't have to change it again.
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You say you agree with Chasncath yet, curiously, you have not mentioned the route they suggested??? Have you tried that one too?
I should have qualified my statement - what I meant to say was that I agreed with Chasncath's first post.
Yes, I have tried the easterly route via Lyon but it was the most expensive and it usually carries much more HGV traffic, particularly the stretch from Mâcon to Orange.
In much the same way, I didn't mention the routes via Paris (A1 or A16) as I try to avoid the Paris area and there are higher tolls than the route via Rouen.
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Here is how I have always done it in winter, click >here< I never bother with sites but use the Aires for night stops in France. To keep an eye on snow conditions I use >this site<. Even if there is snow, it is never a problem for very long becasue the snow ploughs are soon out and keep the roads clear. >Michelin traffic< is also very good for checking routes are open/clear.
What ever sites and route you decide to use, stay safe.
peedee
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