Winter Route from Amsterdam to Valencia Region
Hi all, I'd welcome your winter experience and suggestions of routes from Amsterdam / Rotterdam / Zeebrugge down to the Eastern coast of Spain, Valencia region.
I live in the North East and plan to take the ferry from North Shields. I'm interested in your thoughts on winter routes - December to March. I'll be driving a motorhome.
There seems to be 3 options,
Straight down the east side, via Dijon and Lyon,
or down the middle, around Paris, both of these crossing the France Spain border around Perpignon
or across northern France and down the West coast of Spain, crossing into Spain on the San Sebastian side.
I'm also looking for suggestions of stopovers as I've heard that many of the camp sites close for winter.
Thanks
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If the weather is bad the A75 south from Clermont Ferrand might be closed by snow for a day or two, but other than that all the motorway routes you are considering will be viable.
There are enough overnight campsites open on all those routes . Google for Open All Year sites to get lists.
Take care.
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We used to make the trip from Calais each January, and this was our route which we have published on here before. We have often met up with 'Cloggies' heading for Spain on these campsites. From Amsterdam you could inercept our route at Soissons, or at Beaune.
"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 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.
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"
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Thank you very much for your really helpful information ChasnCath and Eurortraveller.
Last year we caught the ferry from Plymouth to Bilbao, which was fine. However, from the North East we have the grind of the drive all the way to Portsmouth and the cost of the ferry is pretty steep. Also many of the return ferries are already booked up on the Bay of Biscay route. To add to the difficulty Brittany ferries have taken off one of the ships in their fleet during Feb and March, reducing the dates and ferries that are available.
So this year we've decided to use our Tesco vouchers on the DFDS from Newcastle to Amsterdam and take the slow road south. Your information is really helpful. So thank you both.
If anyone else also has experience or information to add, please do add to this thread.
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Hi,
I found this is a useful source for Winter sites in France :-
https://www.frenchcampsites.co/french-regions/region-information-open-all-year.html
Plus of course ACSI website etc.
You did say you are Motorhome though.
Do double check site details and geo-coordinates for errors !!
From Holland I'd be on the Lyon route south, cheap fuel in Luxembourg maybe, and then across the Med coast and onward into Spain. As above the elevated central France route (Millau bridge etc Clemont Ferrand) can be exciting in Winter.
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Some other points to consider:
The cost of the DFDS ferry, or does the vouchers pay to whole amount?
You are going a fair distance out of your way on this ferry. Not to mention the time it takes. Is it not worth considering a channel crossing.
I did Calais (tunnel) to Benicassim 2 years ago using the Rhône - Alps route and tolls; the tolls were €180 each way. Using non toll roads would take forever.
This year I did Poole/Cherbourg ferry and the West coast route. Three o/n stops, (Poole Ferry terminal £5, Nantes Camping & Camping Larrouleta at Urrugne, both ACSI €17). Used a mix of A and N roads and tolls came to €46, incl those in Spain. This is a good route with good roads and mild weather.
Let us know what you finally decide.
BillC
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whilst I understand the pain to get to the southern ports from the NE, the travelling has to be done somewhere if you want to get to Valencia...
like Bill, we visit Benicassim from time to time, and use an almost identical route....Poole-Cherbourg (you can overnight on the dock after the drive from home and then wake refreshed for the 8:30 ferry), then the aire at Les Sorrinieres (southern part of Nantes), onto the aire at Irun (a few miles south of Urrugne) using the toll from Bordeaux and then over the plain to Valencia (Benicassim) via Pamplona, Zaragosa in one go (7 hrs) on a wide, deserted dual carriageway....lunch at your leisure along the way...
there is also easy stopping at the overnight parking at Teruel (next to the Police station..nice town....) or the site at Zaragosa (expensive) if you need an extra break....
you have a MH, just overnight to your own pace at any of the Aires down through France, although the stops highlighted by Bill and myself are at convenient distances...
enjoy.
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Thanks Bolero Boy, We took the Portsmouth Bilbao route last year, the ferry was fine, albeit a bit expensive, although the journey down from the North East is a pain and the snow on the UK roads on the way back was interesting.
DFDS won the day this year with Tesco vouchers paying for the ferry.
The overnight at Teruel sounds good, especially as we witnessed an attempted burglary on a British car at Teruel services. Usual thing, one guy knocking on the back of the car and gesticulating, trying to get the occupants to get out, while his mate lurked waiting to grab anything he could from the car if they did get out. You would hope that they wouldn't have the gall to do it under the nose of the police station!
Thanks for the tips and for taking the time to reply.
Much appreciated.
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Thanks for taking the time to reply Kontiki Boy
Yes the Tesco vouchers pay for the whole ferry including a posh cabin and enough left for the return trip, once they release the bookings.
We save 300 miles on this side of the channel as we're close to Newcastle and it's an opportunity to visit Amsterdam on the way down too.
I'll get the map out and check out the routes and overnights you've kindly suggested. The extra miles heading across to the west coast route might be worth it, as you say in terms of tolls and weather conditions.
Thanks for your advice. I now have plenty of homework to do!
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