Furrin' Travel

[El Bee]

Hi Chaps/Chapesses

I've had a few PMs about driving to/through Spain, honestly, it's a doddle, you should carry your licence and registration documents at all times, obviously ensure that your UK stuff such as tax, MoT and insurance are valid and up to date and just get on with it!

Driving in Spain is fine, there's some brilliant roads with buggerall traffic, think driving on the M1 at 4am on a Bank Holiday, halve the traffic and it's like that, the cops leave you alone (esp foreign reg cars) coz they don't want the aggro of speaking to non Spanish Speakers, all in all it's worth doing!

If you are stopped be polite to the men in green uniforms, they drive green and white cars that say "Guardia Civil" on the doors, the ones that say "Guardia Civil Traffico" are worth being extra polite to, messing with them is not a good idea.. Your chances of being stopped in a routine traffic check are about 1/100, say "wotcha mate, how's it goin'" and you get waved through coz Spanish cops (like UK cops) like an easy life.

Enjoy the easy going ways, free parking, cheap(er) diesel, great beaches, warm sea, sunshine and cheap booze :)

Lee B

[Seth1]

Hi Chaps/Chapesses

I've had a few PMs about driving to/through Spain, honestly, it's a doddle, you should carry your licence and registration documents at all times, obviously ensure that your UK stuff such as tax, MoT and insurance are valid and up to date and just get on with it!

Driving in Spain is fine, there's some brilliant roads with buggerall traffic, think driving on the M1 at 4am on a Bank Holiday, halve the traffic and it's like that, the cops leave you alone (esp foreign reg cars) coz they don't want the aggro of speaking to non Spanish speakers, all in all it's worth doing!

If you are stopped be polite to the men in green uniforms, they drive green and white cars that say "Guardia Civil" on the doors, the ones that say "Guardia Civil Traffico" are worth being extra polite to, messing with them is not a good idea.. Your chances of being stopped in a routine traffic check are about 1/100, say "wotcha mate, how's it goin'" and you get waved through coz Spanish cops (like UK cops) like an easy life.

Enjoy the easy going ways, free parking, cheap(er) diesel, great beaches, warm sea, sunshine and cheap booze :)

Lee B

Yes - I totally agree....I do a lot of driving in Spain during Spring - Summer and Autumn....I have left a Car out there (Don't laugh, it's a 1.6 petrol Citroen Picasso!), which I drive over in the Summer (ferry to Santandar) - then drive it back through France the following Spring....Use it every Holiday...wife's a Teacher so it gets used a lot!

The Toll roads are brilliant, the Spanish can, when they want, build a road in no time...

And yes as Lee B says, always carry the originals not copies...

[El Bee]

Yes - I totally agree....I do a lot of driving in Spain during Spring - Summer and Autumn....I have left a Car out there (Don't laugh, it's a 1.6 petrol Citroen Picasso!), which I drive over in the Summer (ferry to Santandar) - then drive it back through France the following Spring....Use it every Holiday...wife's a Teacher so it gets used a lot!

The Toll roads are brilliant, the Spanish can, when they want, build a road in no time...

And yes as Lee B says, always carry the originals not copies...

Where do you get to around these parts then Seth?

It's an easy run down from the North coast, I usually do it in about 8 hours, Burgos, Madrid, Albacete then towards Alicante but dropping onto the AP7 near Elche, the only toll is at Burgos but the alternative route (over the mountains) is stunning but adds an hour or more onto the journey.

Shame about the Citroen

I'm driving back to the UK in May, drive here to Santander, ferry to Portsmouth, visit a few mates in the SE, pick up the g/f near London, up to her place in Ayr for a week then Ayr to Portsmouth, Caen back to Spain via (no doubt) a long and torturous route involving sightseeing So if you see a LHD silver RAV4 with Spanish plates wandering around the UK in the first 2 weeks of May giz a wave

It's quite fun driving in the UK really, nobody asks you to pay the congestion charge in That London and you can park where you like as long as you're away before the tow truck turns up, the pleece are really nice too, as long as you only speak to them in Spanish :)

Lee B

[Seth1]

Yes - I totally agree....I do a lot of driving in Spain during Spring - Summer and Autumn....I have left a Car out there (Don't laugh, it's a 1.6 petrol Citroen Picasso!), which I drive over in the Summer (ferry to Santandar) - then drive it back through France the following Spring....Use it every Holiday...wife's a Teacher so it gets used a lot!

The Toll roads are brilliant, the Spanish can, when they want, build a road in no time...

And yes as Lee B says, always carry the originals not copies...

Where do you get to around these parts then Seth?

It's an easy run down from the North coast, I usually do it in about 8 hours, Burgos, Madrid, Albacete then towards Alicante but dropping onto the AP7 near Elche, the only toll is at Burgos but the alternative route (over the mountains) is stunning but adds an hour or more onto the journey.

Shame about the Citroen

I'm driving back to the UK in May, drive here to Santander, ferry to Portsmouth, visit a few mates in the SE, pick up the g/f near London, up to her place in Ayr for a week then Ayr to Portsmouth, Caen back to Spain via (no doubt) a long and torturous route involving sightseeing So if you see a LHD silver RAV4 with Spanish plates wandering around the UK in the first 2 weeks of May giz a wave

It's quite fun driving in the UK really, nobody asks you to pay the congestion charge in That London and you can park where you like as long as you're away before the tow truck turns up, the pleece are really nice too, as long as you only speak to them in Spanish :)

Lee B

Lee - our place is down in a small village near Lamanga.....10 mins away...near Los Belonies.....Love it.....as you say the roads are a pleasure, by us, even in the main weeks they are not too bad, might take twice as long to get round to the Med beaches from the Mar Menor....

We have Friends who have moved over there perminantly....so drive up to Torrevieja....Over to Mojacar...love Cartagena and Murcia

I have promised myself that someday I will take my Bike over, but hey ho - one day...

For a change this year we did a city break, Barcelona.....what a brill city...mad, but easy to get around, the Metro is something else...

Anyway Lea - I will be looking out for that Spanish number plated Rav...

[El Bee]

Lee - our place is down in a small village near Lamanga.....10 mins away...near Los Belonies.....Love it.....as you say the roads are a pleasure, by us, even in the main weeks they are not too bad, might take twice as long to get round to the Med beaches from the Mar Menor....

We have Friends who have moved over there perminantly....so drive up to Torrevieja....Over to Mojacar...love Cartagena and Murcia

I have promised myself that someday I will take my Bike over, but hey ho - one day...

For a change this year we did a city break, Barcelona.....what a brill city...mad, but easy to get around, the Metro is something else...

Anyway Lee - I will be looking out for that Spanish number plated Rav...

I'm about 4kms south of Torrevieja myself just inland from Punta Prima, rarely go to La Manga though, too touristy :) Anyway the beaches are nicer on the Los Alcazares side. I quite fancy a bike here myself but it would have to be some sort of cruiser, my leathers weigh (quite literaly) about 20lbs and I wouldn't fancy those much in the heat we get here! Insurance is a joke too, if I had brought my Aprilia over here it would have cost me over €1500 a year to insure, and that's me being (well) over 50.

When we drive back from the UK the g/f wants to make a bit of a trip of it and I was thinking about the second nights stop being around Barcelona, not been there for donkeys years, from there it's a nice steady days drive back to here. I'm thinking of coming down the East side of France with a first night stop around Toulouse, I quite fancy going over that bridge at Millau, although the screams in the car will be awful when the g/f finds herself 1100 feet up in the air ;)

Lee B

It's €460 to insure the RAV4 here - robbin' gits :(

Lee B

[*srjp*]

Taragona is a nice stop off, Roman ruins and all that, and right by the motorway. I'll never, ever try and drive in Barcelona again; I've driven in London, Paris and Brussels but even being a passenger in Barca is terrifying.

[El Bee]

Taragona is a nice stop off, Roman ruins and all that, and right by the motorway. I'll never, ever try and drive in Barcelona again; I've driven in London, Paris and Brussels but even being a passenger in Barca is terrifying.

I've deffo not got a route sorted yet so everything is up for consideration, would like to see that Millau bridge though.

Are you living in France then srjp? We get off the ferry at Caen at 11am and would like to get back home (Torrevieja Nr Alicante) with maybe 2 overnight stops, apart from that everything is up for consideration.

Any suggestions from forum members (not involving pain and difficult contortions) gratefully received.

Lee B

[*srjp*]

The bridge isn't on the quickest route back but it's doable if you prepared to do overnights as you say. Tarragona is about an hour south of Barca so you could still do the tourist thing up there for a few hours but benefit from the cheaper and easier accommodation.

Can't help you with overnights in France I'm afraid. I do live there but have never stopped off as I live a couple of hours south of Geneva and so can reach Calais in a day. My folks are down near Malaga a lot though and Tarragona breaks that up nicely if I drive down there. Last time I did it in August the temperature was hitting 40C on the motorways inland - air con is a saviour!

[Davrav]

The bridge isn't on the quickest route back but it's doable if you prepared to do overnights as you say. Tarragona is about an hour south of Barca so you could still do the tourist thing up there for a few hours but benefit from the cheaper and easier accommodation.

Can't help you with overnights in France I'm afraid. I do live there but have never stopped off as I live a couple of hours south of Geneva and so can reach Calais in a day. My folks are down near Malaga a lot though and Tarragona breaks that up nicely if I drive down there. Last time I did it in August the temperature was hitting 40C on the motorways inland - air con is a saviour!

I Think we need a new pinned section - 'Travelogue'

You guys are making me real jealous

[Seth1]

Lee - totally agree about Los Alcazares side...but in the height of the Summer the Med beaches are the way to go...the Mar Menor water can be too hot!

Ref travelling - 8.5 hrs full driving from Santandar to our place...(Even in a 1.6 Picasso lol) - when we drive the car back in the following Spring we travel up to France and stop with friends for 2 days and then do the Eurotunnel....

Best journey we had was a drive over the Pyrenees (stayed a Parador)....down then around Barcelona...stayed on a friends boat in Sitges harbour...onward then pat Benidorm ect...no traffic jams...brill weather....(Shame about the motor...did I mention I have a 1.6 Picasso....LOL)

Los Alcazares