We are going to drive down to spain later this month, if anyone has any tips or advise on the drive or on ferries we would be pleased to have it.

Not sure if we should do ferry to Santander or Bilbao or tunnel with longer drive, so if you have done it how did you do it.
Thanks
Michael Michael
2013 RRS diesel Autobiography Dynamic

I suppose it simply depends on how much actual driving you want to do and if you want to make the drive part of the actual holiday.

When we drive to CY, we are planning on taking 3 weeks or so with the emphasis on driving and seeing all the places we've never seen.

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I've done this trip many times since my wife is Spanish.

The Portsmouth - Bilbao ferry journey is quite a long trip, I think the journey time is about 32 hours all told. Unless you manage to book one of the 4 suites on the boat you may find it a tedious trip, which could be made really bad if the Bay of Biscay is rough - and when its rough its hellish ( recently Brittany Ferries boat got hit by a freak wave and had to seek safe port ).

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2192209,00.html

Another negative is the restrictive timetable for sailings and you find yourself having to curtail or over extend a break to fit in with them. The journey south from Bilbao is very easy as you hit the N1 motorway not far outside of port, Madrid is 400km away (i've done it in well under 3hrs ) on very good 'hi speed' roads- and if you've had a relaxing sea journey its nice to hit the Spanish roads in a refreshed state.

On board the boat you have 2 cinemas, health club and pool, casino and 3 different types of restaurants, so its not too shabby if you're happy with the journey time, timetable and potentially bumpy seas.

The other way of driving there through France is on very good roads, though I'd make sure you hit the French side of the Channel early enough to get on your way to Rouen, LeMans, Tours thru Bordeaux to the Spanish Border-, about 1000km--- Journey time of 8-10hrs, no matter how fast you drive it always tends to be 10hrs, beware of mobile radar.. We've stopped overnight in a nice pension nr Dax not far from Biarritz and then started the Spanish leg early next morning. You get a great sense of adventure as you cross from northern Europe to southern Europe geography. We've not done it in the RRS, however the mere thought of it is making me salivate.....

We tend to fly to Madrid and hire a car nowadays, however if we had to take the car again we would go via the Chunnel and save ourselves at least half a day per leg and not be at the beck and call of P&O's timetable, and also pop in to the Citi of Europe for some bargain Booze. Good Luck...! P400e HSE Portofino Blue and Ivory Seats.. it's like a yacht!!
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I will be driving down to the Spanish mediteranian coast with the family for our summer holiday again this year. We will be be going over on the Portsmouth / Caen ferry and enjoying the drive down through France as part of the holiday.

It normally takes two days of comfortable driving to reach our destination and another two days to get back. So in all, our holiday lasts the best part of four weeks.

The roads in France and Spain are fantastic, no hint of the hold ups and traffic jams we always seem to experience on our motorway networks. Arctic Frost TDV6 SE. Aspen Leather, Cherry Wood, Privacy Glass, PTI, Tow Pack, Mudflaps, Tasmods, a new Fuelflap, a RRSport.co.uk umbrella in the boot & a RRSport.co.uk sticker on the rear glass.
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Later this month should be good traffic-wise, into July/Aug yu could hit the French hols when all of Paris heads for their vacation spots. Definately worth avoiding

Thanks for the info so far, if any of you can suggest nice stop off accomodation on route would be helpful also.
Michael Michael
2013 RRS diesel Autobiography Dynamic