Motorway aires in S.France (via A7) Spain bound?
Hi all
I am new to the club and new to caravanning abroad.
I have looked through other discussion boards on this topic and they touch on my query a little but not completely so after advice from any of you seasoned pros.
We are taking our caravan to Spain at the end of May. We are storing it there permanently so the detailed planning around towing only relates to the outbound journey. We will be car only on the way back.
We are travelling from Liverpool so will be going down early evening to Folkstone for a stopover prior to early Eurotunnel, arriving Calais around 10am (our ticket is booked). On arrival at Calais we then plan to push on as much as we can and travel through France via Lyon and stop somewhere around or near Montpellier for a stopover.
We are on a tight schedule for arrival into Spain (Palafrugell - Costa Brava) as the storage place is only open 9am - 1pm. So in other words on day 2 we need to get there for around 12pm at the latest to allow time for paperwork and drop off, hence why we need to keep the 2nd leg achievable and do a long stint on day 1 (10-12 hours with a few stops inbetween).
Without complicating my post too much we are dropping the caravan off into storage straight away and staying in other accommodation for our holiday. Without boring you all we had some non-refundable accommodation from Covid-19 times to use up and we decided to multi-task and get the caravan moved over there at the same time instead of flying. We've been talking about doing this for a while and the last couple of years made us go for it! YOLO and all that.
Anyway apologies for the ramble but just setting the scene because as much as I would like to take it slower, I only found out the opening times of the storage was limited a couple of days ago. Worst case we will just drop it off a day later than planned and stop off at a site if needs be but I don't want to eat into the holiday too much with the drop off.
So my specific ask is this...
Ideally I want to stop for a short overnight at a motorway aire on A7 somewhere between Lyon and Montpellier, the closer to the latter the better, as this will mean the day 2 leg should only be 5 hours max accounting for stops and delays, and with a very early start will keep me on schedule to drop the van off at storage.
Now I know there are a few horror stories about motorway aires but I'm really interested to hear any real lived experiences rather than 'I heard this story'! Reason I am keen on a motorway aire is purely for speed of stopping late and re-starting super early the next day. I also see it as part of the adventure as the kids love it when we have done this in the UK (when we've been Cornwall bound from Liverpool we have in the past stopped at Gloucester after an early evening start to break the journey up).
Obviously I would prefer not to get gassed or robbed but other than that we can live with a few noisy lorries etc.
In particular, I'd be interested to know of any aires around that location with good facilities, similar to the better UK services (i.e. equivalent to a Roadchef). It's hard to find details on Google.
Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Andrew
Comments
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Avoid Saturday nights for your journey. HGV’s are banned on Sundays so they park up at dusk on Saturday evenings and fill the parking space at the major Aires on the autoroutes for the next 24 hours. As a result you will find it hard to find a space. Other than that just stop when you are tired .
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It is a long way from Calais to Palafrugall, approx 780 miles and I honestly have to say that you are ambitious in thinking that you will do it in a day and a half driving. If there are two drivers it will be less of a problem but still a challenge and any delays will cause you schedule to slip. Although there are stories of people being gassed and robbed in Aires the risks are very low and often with little evidence to support the claims. Having said that, I think the only way you will do it is by driving on through France until late evening; stopping in an Aire for a break when you have had enough and bashing on the next day. ET's point is VERY valid. We used to live near Beziers and we usually had 2 night stops when towing through France to Calais but only 1 driver and no rush. Have you thought of doing the centre route via Rouen - Evereaux - Orleans then using the A75 from Clermont Ferrand to Beziers? This is less busy than the Rhone valley route and has the benefit of being toll free for quite a long way. It may be a little slower than the Rhone valley but is more direct; driving SOLO (ie not towing) we once did this route leaving Beziers at 6pm and arriving Calais at 2am, this was an urgent trip with minimum stops but gives you some idea of the journey time. Just a thought. Good luck.
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When we towed a caravan we often used to get a late crossing to Calais and stop on the Autoroute. Never had any concerns about security but we always used Aires with full services (petrol etc.) as they are well lit. We have also stayed in the lorry areas overnight! Saturday night can be a problem with lorries parking in the caravan areas. Avoid stopping on any free (no toll) sections and, if possible, away from areas close to major towns or cities.
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Agreed hitch; but using the centre route the OP would be well clear of the non autoroute section by the time they would want to do a long stop. The A75 is a free autoroute with some nice services. However, even in May it will be cold at night on the higher sections eg the Caylar services.
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But they are going Reims, Lyon, so it will be A7/A9. No high sections and it’s the fastest route. A75 is cheaper but slower and services are few and far between.
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Hitch. In my earlier post I asked the OP if he had considered the centre route hence my comment about high sections! To answer his last question; at all the services there are catering facilities which put the ones in UK to shame. I see he hasn't come back yet.
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Done much the same and very much agree with HG about stopping on Autoroute Aires and I also suggest you don't use those in Spain or those in France close to the Spanish border.
Finally having done the journey you are planing many times using just about every route possible you will be very hard pressed to do it in your time scale. Cut yourself some more slack and at least plan on two night stops.
peedee
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I'm exhausted just reading the proposed journey, let alone actually towing down it.
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Hi, As mentioned my suggestion is don’t risk the journey you suggest.
You will likely be limited to 90kph, due to outfit weight, so even if you manage to average 50mph it’s 818mls via the A7 so a minimum of 16.5 hours driving.
I think planning one overnight, on a site, would take away the stress of “will I make it” and give a better overall holiday.
If you add in the near 300 miles “early evening” drive to Folkestone then it’s, to me, asking for trouble, with even a minor hiccup wrecking your plans.
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Thanks, you are right our original schedule was very tight. So we had a re-think and changed the time of the Eurotunnel. The plan now is to cross into France around 6pm, get a couple of hours under our belt then stopover. That will take a little pressure off the main leg of the journey. In theory we will have equivalent of 2 full days stretched over 3.
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Yes I've looked at the alternative routes but wanted peace of mind re the inclines etc. Haven't towed abroad before so just wanted the most stress free route. From doing a bit of research most people seem to say the Lyon / E.France route is the least stressful and also avoids Paris. Up for debate I guess but I'm gonna stick with that as I've got all the route planners in place etc so can't really face starting from scratch. I'll live with the toll costs as well!
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