Dover to Torrevieja via Calais Drive
#16
Re: Dover to Torrevieja via Calais Drive
If you mean Brittany Ferries yes you can all four boats doing the British Isles-Spain routes take dogs. However the cabin space for dogs is very limited and the kennels get booked up very quickly after sailings for the next year are released in November. PM me if you want further information.
#17
Re: Dover to Torrevieja via Calais Drive
To get a good route from Calais to Spain use the Michelin web site - it will give you alternative routes, tolls in each section and will even calculate the fuel you might need.
Personally I have done the trip a number of times - the latest route I took the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen - you can have cochettes as well as cabins on this route. It is an easy drive down - either via Toulouse or Clermont Ferrand (if you want to cross the spectacular Millau viaduct. To the Spanish border near Perpignan - then its the A7 all the way down the coast of Spain. The A7 has a bit of a reputation for car-jacking and robbery - make sure you only stop in proper Services and park where you can keep an eye on your car. If you should get a puncture on the motorway and a kind Samaritan stops to help - lock all your doors and call the police.
If you want to drive all the way from Calais - and I have done this a few times - then take a route either West or East of Paris - never through Paris unless you are a very confident driver and know exactly where you are going. Personally I usually bypass Paris to the West - ie Boulogne; Rouen; Le Mans; Poitiers; either Clermond Ferrand or Toulouse; to Perpignan, across the border and then down past Barcelona etc.. At that time of year you will have no problem pitching up at an hotel without a reservation which should give you maximum flexibility. I tend to use Campanile or Kyriad as they are good value and most have an attached restaurant.
I would plan for at least 2 overnight stops - although I did drive from Valencia to Calais in 2 days with 1 overnight in Clermond Ferrand.. But be flexible - there may be things you might want to visit on the way - make it part of the holiday, not an ordeal you have to get over.
How may drivers will you have?
Personally I have done the trip a number of times - the latest route I took the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen - you can have cochettes as well as cabins on this route. It is an easy drive down - either via Toulouse or Clermont Ferrand (if you want to cross the spectacular Millau viaduct. To the Spanish border near Perpignan - then its the A7 all the way down the coast of Spain. The A7 has a bit of a reputation for car-jacking and robbery - make sure you only stop in proper Services and park where you can keep an eye on your car. If you should get a puncture on the motorway and a kind Samaritan stops to help - lock all your doors and call the police.
If you want to drive all the way from Calais - and I have done this a few times - then take a route either West or East of Paris - never through Paris unless you are a very confident driver and know exactly where you are going. Personally I usually bypass Paris to the West - ie Boulogne; Rouen; Le Mans; Poitiers; either Clermond Ferrand or Toulouse; to Perpignan, across the border and then down past Barcelona etc.. At that time of year you will have no problem pitching up at an hotel without a reservation which should give you maximum flexibility. I tend to use Campanile or Kyriad as they are good value and most have an attached restaurant.
I would plan for at least 2 overnight stops - although I did drive from Valencia to Calais in 2 days with 1 overnight in Clermond Ferrand.. But be flexible - there may be things you might want to visit on the way - make it part of the holiday, not an ordeal you have to get over.
How may drivers will you have?