Zuco

anyone know of any around the border area?

olivia

Which side of San Sebastian? We stop in the area on our way to and from UK. We have used
Gran Camping Zarautz on the coast about 20mins west of San Sebastian N43 17‘ 22" W2 8‘ 45" there a couple more in this area ‘Camping Orio‘ and ‘Itxaspe‘ all good for the ferry ports.
If you are coming or going through France there are many more to choose from on the French side of the border in the St Jean de Luz/Biarritz area. Too many to list. We stop there now.
Try looking on www.campingcard.com for maps and listings.

Zuco

Yes Iam travelling from the uk but looking at the drive I think I am best stopping further north in france..then head down to burgos am on my way to Luz in portugal

olivia

We have camped in Burgos at the municipal one 'Fuentes Blancas' Its fine, nice facilities and well located but on the occasion we were there a large group of British travellers had established themselves there! The police had to be called to move them on. We were up early and moved on too! Next time I would park up outside and take a look before committing myself. We had booked!
There are a few at Salamanca. One right on the motorway and you would make Portugal the next day. The road is good and free of toll. 'Alto de Villamayor' N40 59‘58" W5 40‘44"

Zuco

I like the look of that one looks easy to find after a long drive trying to find best place to stop in france arriving into Dieppe at 4.00am don't fancy a 10 hour drive

olivia

Are you happy to pay tolls in France? They are expensive. It is possible to avoid them but obviously will take longer.

Zuco

I always try to avoid them....happy on the slow routes it is less stressfull

olivia

Do you plan to get your journey underway as soon as you land in Dieppe? We use a motorhome so can just pull in at a service station and take a rest before starting out. There won't be any campsites open at that time in the morning.
Tolls are hard to avoid now. On the journey from say Dieppe to Tours where there is a very convenient site. It would make a difference of about 1hour the difference between 3 hours or 4 hours and the non toll is shorter. The journey from Tours to Salamanca would make the difference between about 10 hours and 17 hours. If you opt for non toll Tours to Irun just in Spain it will put 4 hours on the 6 hour toll journey so 10 hours. I would then recommend using toll to cross the Pyrenees in Spain it is a lovely road and not expensive it becomes toll free at about Burgos.

Zuco

We are just car and tent....

Was going have a rest before starting out.....so non toll down as far as maybe bordeaux...then toll to burgos and on to salamanca then luz....or would it be better to do it in 3 stops ?

Zuco

I should add the we includes 2 kids and dogs...who are used doing long hours in cars

olivia

According to my Tom Tom the journey from...
Dieppe to Bordeaux is 716km by toll road and 7.18 hours in the motorhome.
Dieppe to Bordeaux is 699km non toll and estimated to take 10 hours.
You will see the distance is shorter and you could improve on this time.
I can't recommend a campsite but there are some on the CC ACSI map.
Bordeaux to Salamanca is 690km by toll road 7.21 hours
Bordeaux to Salamanca is 826km non toll and estimated to take 11.40 hrs
This difference is mainly down to opting for non toll in Spain.
If you take non toll from Bordeaux to Irun on the border it will be 226 km 4 hours then take the toll from there to Salamanca [not expensive but well worth the cost] it will be 470km and take a further 5 hours so total about 8 hours. 700km total.
In a car you could improve on these times.

Retired in Euskadi

Don't forget that now the N10 (A63) from Bordeaux to Bayonne has 2 tolls. You can avoid it by heading for Mont de Marsan from exit 23 of the A63, towards St Symphorien & then the main road to Mont de Marsan.

Zuco

The more I look at I wonder whether 3 stops would be best.....north of bordeaux then the border then salamanca then on to luz......it is cheaper on diesel just to take it easy perhaps worth the extra 30 euros for a pitch
I know U12 have to be in the back in spain....but what is the rule in France anyone know?
you guys rock with all your help today

olivia

Yes I have the tom tom go live and keep it up to date. We hate that forrest road an do anything to avoid it but we are not time pressured. My times quoted avoid tolls and I updated tom tom last night. Last journey we came back via Dax. The road was good and scenery much more interesting.

olivia

You have the right route its just down to time plan. Where do you take your stops? You have to do something drive/sleep from 4am to 9am before you will find a campsite open.