Off to Malaga in May, hints and tips appreciated.

[Barbara]

I think it is the A86 that has the 2 m height restriction. About 10 km long. You keep ducking but absolutely no problems if you have a towbar bicycle rack.

DO NOT ATTEMPT WITH TAILGATE RACK + Bicycles.

You lose your sat nav link in this tunnel so do't forget to study a map.

 

[Barbara]

Have you planned your route across France yet? We go A16 from Eurotunnel Calais to Paris, various routes through Paris, then A10 to Orleans, A71 to Clermont Ferrand and A75 to Beziers. You can then get the A9 to Spain. This route is pretty much North to South on the Greenwich Meridian.

The A75 is free and goes through the Massif Centralmuch more scenic than the alternative route which is A6 from Paris to Lyon and then A7 to the A9. The A16 is generally quieter than the A26 and just seems nicer.

We have tried various routes through Paris. Of the two we use most, one goes through a new tunnel with a max headroom of 2m and I don't know whether to try it out with the Cali. The other goes like this:

A16 -> N1 -> N104 -> A1 -> A3 -> A4 -> A86 -> A10

It looks complicated, but is easy to follow. The A16 turns into the N1 and you just follow signs to Charles de Gaulle airport after you get to the first set of lights. If you keep following the CDG signs, you end up on the A1 and then start following the signs to Bordeaux until you are on the other side of Paris.

Following a Sat Nav in Paris can be quite difficult, because the junction layouts are often quite difficult to figure out. It only gets worse once you take a wrong turn and have to reroute.

"The A75 is free and goes through the Massif Central" - is well worth a trip and almost free if you avoid bridge. I do not go over the bridge but go into Milau, does not take too much longer and saves bridge toil. You will see bridge from underneath, viewing area direction St. Affrique and Intermarche near by.
Extract from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A75_autoroute
215 45 St-Germain, St Beauzély, Castelnau de Petgarolles Millau, St Beauzély, Castelnau de Petgarolles TOLL SECTION SOUTH TO JUNCTION 46
Toll barrier
223 46 La Bastide-Pradines, St-Rome-de-Cernon, Roquefort, St Affrique - TOLL SECTION NORTH TO JUNCTION 45
234.5 47 Millau sud, la Cavalerie, Sainte-Eulalie-de-Cernon Millau, la Cavalerie, Roquefort, St Affrique

 

[WelshGas]

You lose your sat nav link in this tunnel so do't forget to study a map.

Depends which one you have. My RNS510 performs perfectly because it takes input from the road speed sensors and steering sensors to plot the path when no GPS signal, as it did on the longer Laerdal Tunnel in Norway which is 25 km long.

 

[mccp]

"The A75 is free and goes through the Massif Central" - is well worth a trip and almost free if you avoid bridge.

Oh, yes - I forgot the toll for the bridge. €10.40 in the summer and €8.30 otherwise. Mind you, by the time you get there, you will have forked out €45 on the A16/A10/A71 and another €10 if you use the A86 duplex tunnel.

 

[briwy]

If you go that way then by all means go down into the town and under the bridge but going over it is a must, well worth the price.
There is also a visitor centre at the northern end.
Don't forget you can use this, to check routes and work out costs. Really handyas the toll cost costs are up to date.
https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/Routes

 

[Barbara]

If you go that way then by all means go down into the town and under the bridge but going over it is a must, well worth the price.
There is also a visitor centre at the northern end.
Don't forget you can use this, to check routes and work out costs. Really handyas the toll cost costs are up to date.
https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/Routes

Yes the visitor center is good a great place to take photos of the bridge. Going south is best view when going over the bridge but if driving by myself I can't appreciate it while concentrating on driving. Via michelin is very good. All this discussion of the bridge is making me jealous that I will be missing out France on my next trip.

 

[Bellcrew]

Yes the visitor center is good a great place to take photos of the bridge. Going south is best view when going over the bridge but if driving by myself I can't appreciate it while concentrating on driving. Via michelin is very good. All this discussion of the bridge is making me jealous that I will be missing out France on my next trip.

Decent camp sites near/in the town, some with views of the bridge. Big paragliding area, lovely to watch them floating down.

 

[Yorkie]

Noted an

Noted Andy, I’ll be hitting the M25 (which is three hours from where I live) around 3am to beat all that traffic. Toll tags sold on line?

Sadly you would need 2 tags as the ones sold in the uk only don1 country. There is a deposit on each which is unfortunate

 

[Geesvw]

Yes that tunnel is scary.
Personally I would steer well clear of Paris and just head down to Rouen, Le Mans, Tours, Poitiers, Angouleme, Bordeaux, San Sebastian, and then you have a choice down past Madrid or to Salamanca and Seville.

There's an underpass in Rouen that 1.9m high! I went though it on my return home a couple of years ago, it was a good job we had wine onboard!

 

[Grumpy Mike]

I cant wait. I just set the sat nav (Cali one) to miss tolls after setting it to miss Paris and she takes me on an amazing journey through France and Spain.

I used the municipal campsites and they were fantastic from 10 - 15 euro with wifi and showers.

I found taking push bikes a great benefit when out of town at a campsite. Had some amazing rides around beautiful towns in France.

Also fill the fridge with beer, it seems to cost a fortune in France.

Just bought a Handpresso auto as my only issue last time was the poor coffee. Its amazing, making a coffee without stopping..... Also the urine device that has featured this week.

I like my maps of france and a larger more traditional map book with me. I do like to look at it on a night over a beer and also when the French farmers close towns its handy to sort a general direction to go...

I generally travel alone as wife also wont do that distance. But seem to get all kinds to take for the house over there. So my tip is, less is more. I had all kinds in there and when I stopped at a site and got the stove and pans out, steak and plates etc, it was a nightmare.... Too much stuff in the cupboards... Still taking stuff (Beans, jams etc) out I never used...

I just learn more and more each time I get in her... Suppose its a case of just enjoy...

I had an on line account for Dartford... I think thats worth setting up as it would be easy to forget....

Am I silly but, I took a diesel can full up just in case.. It made me feel more comfortable as I have had issues with auto pumps either not liking my card or just not working... It was a comfort blanket and I will take it this year but they all seem to work now.... I would recommend to fill up regular.. but when avoiding the tolls there are loads of towns and retail parks...

Just enjoy it. I am excited again......

 

[Yorkie]

Trouble with 3am is thats when they tend to have lanes closed to repair the damage from the previous days accidents.

I got my Sanef Tag through the caravan club - costs peanuts to buy & small admin charge per year + admin for every month its used. Mine doesn't cover Spain but an additional tag is available that does. You get a statement in English & its paid by direct debit from a uk account.

Was the tag less than getting it directly from Sanef in Harrogate? I need them both for this year.

 

[Yorkie]

Don’t fill up with fuel on the autoroutes where it is currently over €1.50 make a short detour into a town and you’ll find fuel significantly cheaper.

I use the POI feature to look for fuel and then seek out an intermarche near my route.

 

[mccp]

Also fill the fridge with beer, it seems to cost a fortune in France.

Beer might be pricy in bars, but costs peanuts in supermarkets. I’ve never had an issue with a card in an auto pump, but it’s well worth getting a card that has no charges for foreign currency transactions, e.g. Halifax Clarity.

 

[Barbara]

I use the POI feature to look for fuel and then seek out an intermarche near my route.

Stopped at a Intermarche when very low on fuel one Saturday afternoon. Closed but credit card pump was working. So don't forget France seems to close on Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

 

[Volkywagen]

does anybody know if the gas bottle (Standard fitment in the rear) is allowed in to the Chunnel?

 

[westfalia]

does anybody know if the gas bottle (Standard fitment in the rear) is allowed in to the Chunnel?

Yes it is allowed, must be turned off though.

 

[Yorkie]

Beer might be pricy in bars, but costs peanuts in supermarkets. I’ve never had an issue with a card in an auto pump, but it’s well worth getting a card that has no charges for foreign currency transactions, e.g. Halifax Clarity.

I use a Post Office travel money card which states that if the machine taking the payment needs an electronic verification this may fail. It does so about half the time so we end up pulling out a standard credit card to replace the declined one. So i carry 2 cards but definitely try the lower charge one first.

I also agree the beer is almost for for free in supermarkets, hic.