Spanish trip
We have a 2008 Autotrail Dakota Motorhome with a 3 litre engine.
we would like to travel to Spain through France and just wondering if anyone has any tips/ advice on these emissions etc . We have been a bit put off with the fear of getting large fines ! .
Has anyone got any advice who goes regularly in an outfit of this size please .
Moderator Comment - Moved from the Story Section, questions should always be directed to the Discussion area, thanks
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This is it, Marley.
Explore the pages and you’ll see what there is on offer. 👍
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Why not share it here so other folk can benefit too, DD?
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Marley, Currently there are restrictions in eleven cities ( see internet tor list) Rouen is the only one possibly on your route, but you can avoid that one and all the others.
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As a veteran has been ex-motorhomer, I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about as long as you stay out of cities. Follow ET's advice. We made the journey many times in winter from Calais heading south down the A26.
I would advise using motorways as the simplest and fastest way to get across France. It's not cheap, especially if you're over 3.5 tonnes . Plan your night stops to include fuel top up at a supermarket. If you travel on n roads your average speed will be half that on the Peage. 60 v 30
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Some good advice above....also you haven't said when you will be travelling nor how long you will be away....and not where in Spain (and France for that matter) that you'd like to visit or to stay.
much of how you answer the above will influence the further advice given....
travelling slowly through France when the weather is pleasant could lead to numerous stops enjoying cities and countryside...crossing France in Jan/Feb to dash to the Spanish sunshine for a three month break is a different scenario.
similarly, depending where you live, there are many options for crossing La Manche form the tunnel and the Dover ferries, to the Western Crossings to northern France or the long hops to Bilbao or Santander.
then theres the different costs and timescales that each bring...there is no one answer but fill in a few blanks and you'll get tons of great advice and guidance.
good luck.
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If it is just the worry of straying into a LEZ, why not buy the French Crit Air sticker for your vehicle. It costs about 5 euros from the French government web site and is valid for the life of the vehicle. I believe it is also accepted in Spain. There are also web sites and Apps which will give you information about the LEZs across the whole of Europe.
You can order your French sticker >here<
peedee
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As a veteran has been ex-motorhomer, I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about as long as you stay out of cities. Follow ET's advice. We made the journey many times in winter from Calais heading south down the A26.
Trouble is Chasncath, more zones are being added all the time including autoroute stretches and they are becoming more and more difficult to avoid. It is much easier to buy a sticker and be done with it. I have both the French and German stickers and on my last trip the German one proved valuable because I had to enter Stuttgart for a repair at the IVECO agent who was in the LEZ.
peedee
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Pleased to see you can still get about Chasncath and have not given up travel totally. As one of those who posted lots of useful stories (thanks for the tips on Krk and Cres) perhaps you could post one on how you have delt with giving up your motorhome? Some of us aren't too far away from beting forced to do the same and are not really looking forward to that day and might find any tips interesting.
peedee
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Ferries charge a lot for oversized vehicles and can work out very expensive compared to using Le Shuttle where there is no charge for size. Its horses for courses and very much depends where you live in the UK, what is your destination and your attitude to long distance driving as to how you decide to cross the Channel. For me it is Le Shuttle every time.
peedee
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We have used the shuttle for the last 2 years going to/from Spain. However I did a costing exercise last year and for our MH there was only a £30 difference between tunnel and St Malo, the Caen crossing actually turned out to be slightly cheaper but only a few £s. I took into consideration more fuel, more night halts etc.
This year we will be going down using the tunnel (Tesco vouchers) but coming back either Caen or St Malo. Not only is it a couple of days less driving at the end of November but it puts us in a better place for heading north.
The only ferry that proved to be way more expensive was the Spanish route.
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"The only ferry that proved to be way more expensive was the Spanish route."
ridiculous prices now, not done costings but off the top of my head i would say that using the Portsmouth - Santander route , including return would cost you in the region of £2k for caravan, dog, cabin, diesel. I came back 9th Jan this year and the bay was very very rough, not for the faint hearted.
Diesel in France is not cheap 3ltr engine probably does less to the gallon than my 2ltr diesel tow car, Spanish prices for diesel pretty good out of season but they hike them come June.
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On a one way trip for me to Murcia using Le Shuttle, it is cheaper by £200 than the ferry! Apart from that I treat the journey as part of the holiday and I enjoy the sights and stop overs sometimes taking 6 nights over it rather than rushing it.
peedee
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"Dogs must be very expensive to make it £2k"
but if you had read my post you would have seen that the £2k included also diesel, which if i am not mistaken, round trip from Santander to Murcia would be a few hundred pounds
but been there done that got the tee shirt, for £1600 i can have 2 months on a site in lovely Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and living where i live most are within a 5hrs drive towing, so not sure i want to get many more tee shirts, but only time will tell.
also be careful, they have not gone away, even in November last year they were plentiful
"The regions of Spain most affected by the presence of black flies are Andalucía, Aragón, Catalonia, Madrid, Murcia and Valencia, where the insects have grown longer than ever before (about 6mm) mainly due to the rise in temperatures in recent years"
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I costed it out as £800 one way ferry fare plus £150 in fuel for the 500 miles to travel Bilbao to the Murcia region. I have ignored the night stop at Zaragosa and the departure port because for me, regardless of which route I took, its the same cost. From Calais by road it is about 1150 miles which for me works out at at about £370 in fuel. (21m.pg. at £1.5 per litre) so £370+£150 le Shuttle faire, total £520. It amounts to a bigger saving than I thought even allowing for cost of night stops, which are usually very minor when using the Aires. I avoid the tolls. An Auto-Trail Dakota would be charged class 3 tolls in France so like me you may want to also avoid the tolls. Where in Spain do you intend to head for?
peedee
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I normally use the Portsmouth - Cairn crossing as i only live 20 minutes from the ferry port and it is only 5 1/2 hrs crossing time so no need for cabin, just reserve a airline type seat.
Used Santander last time as on the outbound there was no diesel in France due to refinery workers being on strike. I normally take the route via Aranjuez and sometime stop for 2 or 3 days on return leg as they have a pool etc.
Towing a caravan i normally use the toll roads, France is expensive, Spain not quite so bad but they have re-introduced some tolls on the holiday routes.
so even my "off the top of my head" figure of £2k would not be far off the mark taking the Spanish crossing.
how much fuel do you burn in the Uk getting home to port and return, mine is minimal so would not include this in any costing but OP has 3ltr engine and not sure where they would be coming from.
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how much fuel do you burn in the Uk getting home to port and return, mine is minimal so would not include this in any costing but OP has 3ltr engine and not sure where they would be coming from.
I live equidistant from Portsmouth or Folkstone so discount the fuel cost for those journeys, they being the same for me. A 3ltr Fiat would give you about 21/23m.p.g. pulling a Dakota. My first motorhome was an AutoTrail Mohican, a similar size to the Dakota and I used to get 23m.p.g. with it but, it was a Merc engine, 2.8 I think.
peedee
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Is it racist only to blame black flies?
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You need to take her out more
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I only quoted what was on the interweb,
but they are a problem, we bought a a device that is something like those used in e.g. bakeries, flourescent light type unit that zaps flies.The chinese bazaar had sold out of those plastic swotter type things. SIL returned from Torrevieja last week, where they have an apartment, and she said they could not eat outside because the flies were such a problem, so it may not be emmisions you need to worry about, but how many flies your engine will suck in
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This might be of use to the OP concerning emission zones.
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