Driving from Calais to Benidorm - route advice
Hello I'm a newby to this forum ,even though i 've been a member of the club for a few years now. I'm a motorhomer, a 2 berth citroen relay van. And planning an epic drive from Calais to benidorm in a few weeks time. I did this journey about ten years ago and the route i took was ,Calais, a16 to Rouen , chartres, and then n154 (to avoid paris) , to Orleans .then the a20 to Toulouse, narbonne , a9 to Barcelona ,and straight down to benidorm. Mainly using toll roads , the mileage was about 1200 one way. My question is , is there a ' flatter ,not so hilly' route. For instance ,I ,ve heard some people talk of going down the western side of France, Calais, rouen, a28 to le mans , a10 to bordeaux, to san Sebastian, and cutting across Spain to reach the eastern coast and eventually,benidorm. Thanks .
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Cutting across Spain after San Sebastián is hilly - Madrid is over 2000 feet above sea level. A flatter route from Calais would be via Reims, Dijon , Lyon and the Rhone valley to the Mediterranean, and then along that coast.
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The only way to avoid the lumpy bits is to sweep well to the west via Tours, Poitiers, Bordeaux, Toulouse. Not worth it to be honest. From Calais why not head towards Paris and pick up the Francilliene at CDG, thence to Orleans and on to Clermont Ferrand. You can then take the A75 toll free to Narbonne and on down the AP7. I would suggest getting on to the A7 at Valencia but it cuts a bit far inland for Benidorm, not coming back to the coast until ALC. You could, however, follow it for about 30 miles, coming off on to the CV40 to Alcoi and thence to Benidorm. Bit harder work than the autoroute though. Spanish tolls aren't as steep as the French ones.
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the 'western route' to Spain is often mentioned and it's one we use.
its convenient for us as we cross at Poole-Cherbourg, you've chosen Calais, is this fixed?
the route as in the map below can be done with a stop at Nantes (aire at Les Sorriniéres) and then overnight at Irun (or Urrugne) and then past Pamplona, Zaragosa and then down to Valencia and Benidorm.
less chance of bad weather and a fairly flat drive, although it's a climb up to Pamplona, it's level then till the fall down into Sagunt/Valencia.
i wouldn't be going anywhere near Madrid unless thinking of visiting...
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Hi
I'm intrigued by your last sentence, why avoid Madrid? Last November on our route south we happened to miss the ring road turning and ended up going literally down through the middle of Madrid. As it goes it was fairly stress free, even towing the car trailer, and, it ended up saving an hour on the usual journey time. We plan to have a week looking at that fine city on the way home in April because of that missed turn in November. Although mad busy the traffic has a better flow than the race track ring roads!
JK
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Hi
We are returning home too Spain in 32 days (not counting) after working Brighton and we will be using the exact same route you used ten years ago nothing as change. We live an hour south of Benidorm and always use this route at this time of year just a personnel choice we both like and more to see and use it as a short holiday along the way on the coast of Spain.
Phil
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Whilst this thread has been moved, correctly, to this section, how is the OP to find the answers to his question when there is no redirect from its original location? I got the impression that he is new to the Forum and may have difficulty with locating it.
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JK, I didn't mean to avoid Madrid for any specific reason (we've been there and loved it...) purely that the route plotted by Google (and the one we use) doesn't go within many miles of it....and is great non toll route.
perhaps, as AD does, going via Vittoria might swing you more that way, but parking in Irun is convenient to go straight up the N-121-A to Pamplona.
from Irun to Benicassim is about 6.5 hrs, Benidom is not far off that, so a day's drive.
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Before retirement and with two big dogs, we used to use the route mentioned from the tunnel at Calais via The Rhône Valley and A9 for speed and ease. BUT, this has to be the most expensive toll route in Europe, When we converted to a MH in 2016 we only had 24 days break but wanted to visit friends in Benicassim so we did the quick easy route via The Rhône. It cost me €180 just going down to Spain, and that was all Class II. We came back a much cheaper route via the A75. We now always use the Western route described by BB. In exactly one week from now I will be on the Poole - Cherbourg ferry, on my way. Unlike BB though, we use campsites at Nantes and Urrugne and o/n the first night at the ferry terminal. Can’t wait!
BillC
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BB, unless I'm mistaken that Google route isn't entirely toll-free. There is a toll booth just south of Bordeaux for the bit down to the border.
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CY, you're right....we actually used the toll from Nantes right down to Irun...
what I meant to say in my sloppy post was that the Spanish section of the route is all toll free.
Bill, sorry I'll miss you at BP, we are down in Lagos (Turiscampo) but haven't yet decided on which way (or which ferry) back...
if we're heading your way I'll let you know
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'Our' winter route from Calais down the Rhone has served us well, although scorned on earlier posts on this thread! The good news is that the municipal site at Soissons, a key overnight stop, has reverted to all-year opening as can be seen from their new website.
Here's the route, mostly Peage and Autopista.
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.
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.
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And for good measure sites at Lyon and Avignon are open all year too on that route from Chasncath.
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The Rhône route! Scorned? I actually love that route, great road all the way, just expensive!
BillC
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Hi BB,
Thanks for that. We will be there until late April. Hope we can meet up.
BillC
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I only disagreed with "don't enter any of these cities" in the final paragraph. There are eight cities on that list which I would happily visit at any time of year.
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I've not been down to Benidorm, but I travelled a fair amount in France. If I were going, I would use the 'Rhone' route too - besides, I'd probably stop off in N Provence on the way. One extra thought. If you intend to stop overnight on sites (especially in France), check to make sure they ar open this time of year. The French have quite a 'closed season' from what folk have said.
David
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It was a grey, frosty January morning, and ours was one of only two motorhomes on an otherwise deserted deck as our ferry docked at Calais. We were approached by the driver of the other van. "Are you going to Spain? " he asked." Do you have a route?"
"Yes" I replied.
"Can we follow you? We don't need to stop except for diesel. We've got all the food we need. We don't want to get robbed."
"We're driving for about three and a half hours and then stopping at Soissons before it gets dark. Then we'll be following the Rhone route"
He was obviously disappointed. " I've got to drive longer than that. I don't want to go down the Rhine - I've been told to go to Bordeaux!"
At that, the bow doors started to open and I scrambled into my cab. We never saw then again, and often wonder if they made it to Spain!
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Re last paragraph. That's good news. We are unable to go out of season, so I'm only passing on what others have said - the earliest we have been across was Easter, but that's been years ago. I think the motorhead63 may not have been across out of season, reading the post? If that is the case, he may well ask for recommendations.
David
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Thank you all for taking the time to reply to my question about the best route from Calais to benidorm. It's quite a few years since I 've attempted this trip mainly due to my suffering of anxiety /stress related feelings. So all your helpful advice was a massive boost making me even more determined to travel abroad again. -Every reply was very welcome and made me scratch my head and get my map out and check every suggestion. - Anyway as time is of the essence , ( i only have a month break ). so getting to benidorm the fastest way possible means i will aim to choose the Calais to Orleans, toulouse, narbonne, Barcelona , route down to benidorm. I know It's obviously the most expensive way to reach my destination , but I don't fancy the A75 Clermont ferrand way. Did it once before, found it more twisty and steep than the A20. Once again thanks for all the information. Really very much appreciated. Dave.
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