calais to costa brava advice please

ray mc
ray mc Forum Participant Posts: 22
edited July 2017 in Overseas Campsites & Touring #1

Hi all, i.ve just traded my eriba caravan in which I previously did a little tour of Northern and north west france, aided by valuable advice from members of this forum. I now own a motor home, and want to venture to costa brava this October. can anyone advise me of the best route to take frm Calais to the costa brava, should I avoid paris?  and can I avoid tolls or is it better to use the toll roads, also any advice on over night stays or places to rest up during the journey..Any  advice will be gratefully received 

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  • MDD10
    MDD10 Forum Participant Posts: 335
    edited July 2017 #2

    I haven't gone to that side before as have been doing the south west coast of France so go via Rouen which is no good for you.  However, I would avoid Paris at any cost, at least in any peak season travel as I haven't heard anyone yet have a good experience yet.

  • Unknown
    Unknown Forum Participant
    edited July 2017 #3
    The user and all related content has been Deleted User
  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,389 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2017 #4

    I hope you are not planning to stay on a campsite on the Costa Brava in October, most if not all close at the end of September.

    peedee

  • commeyras
    commeyras Club Member Posts: 1,853 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2017 #5

    Basically you have a choice of 3 routes.  West, centre or east.

    West is towards Toulouse/Carcassonne; Centre is Rouen/Orleans then A75 and East is the Rhone Valley.  Most direct is the centre route as often discussed on this forum; the other 2 have their plusses and minuses. I would opt for the centre  route.  Why not down one way and back the otherwink?  You can avoid tolls but it will take you a long time and may well frustrate you!  The French have over the last decade become very keen on roundabouts and traffic calming measuresyell.  The centre route is about 1/2 toll free anyway, west less toll free and the east tolls nearly all the way.  Put you options on Michelin routes and see what comes up.

    Avoid Paris!  Don't worry too much about sites at your destination; yes some will be closed but you should be ok, certainly the further south you go the more sites you will find open.  Sites en route through France may be a little more difficult but with a little planning you should be ok - we have done it often enough!

  • commeyras
    commeyras Club Member Posts: 1,853 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2017 #6

    Further to my post above; I have had a quick look through the ACSI guide (it's raining!) and although many finish end Sep/early Oct there are a number of sites open into late Oct/Nov.

  • ValDa
    ValDa Forum Participant Posts: 3,004
    1000 Comments
    edited July 2017 #7

    I'd have replied with something very similar to the above...........  and would say that choice of route and toll or non-toll depends very much on how much time you have.  If you're meandering, seeing some of France, and have as much time as it needs, then use the non-roll routes but if you have to be there and get back again, all within a fortnight, then pay up and get there as quickly as you can.

    We have a house near Perpignan and use  a non-toll route most of the time, as said, I have a PDF file if you need details - email me on valdaathome@gmail.com.  We generally choose to go via Abbeville, Rouen, Evreux, Chartres, Orleans and then Gien, St Pourcain and down to Gannat then the A75 all the way to Beziers or occasionally we choose to go down the free section of the A20 as far as Brive, then use the N20 which runs parallel to the tolled autoroute, and then around via Castelnaudry and Carcassonne, or cross-country somewhere.  But we have loads of time and don't mind how long it takes.

    With a motorhome you can choose to stay on Aires de Service Camping Car, as well as on campsites, so even out of season you'll not have any problems finding somewhere to overnight.  In Spain many people choose to stay with other motorhomes, on car parks, beachside roads, and wasteland!

  • young thomas
    young thomas Club Member Posts: 11,357 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited July 2017 #8

    two extra things,

    there are 'over wintering' sites in Spain many of which cater for all year round touring....the ACSI app is a good addition to the book/card.

    in a MH, you have your pick of France/Spain to stop in, no need to plan (other than one of the 'general' routes mentioned earlier) where this might be....

    aires books and online/satnav POI files are available to make finding these easy.

    we did this same journey in January, used the western route from Cherbourg and stopped at Nantes (aire in Les Sorrinieres, southern outskirts) and then in Irun, before driving across Spain (via Zaragosa) to the Valencia area.

    good luck.

  • ray mc
    ray mc Forum Participant Posts: 22
    edited August 2017 #9

    thanks all, and really appreciate all your advice, my whole trip is going to be within 10 days, and have booked 5 nights at a site in Blanes, a town which I have seen mixed reviews,  so I guess I wont want to dawdle too much, I will email you for the pdf Valda, thankyou

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