stevesainty

Jill and I have tentatively put a route together from Bilbao port to Elche, where we are spending our first night in Spain.

We reckon that we can do the eight hour drive in four sections. Bilbao to Zaragoza, Zaragoza to Teruel, Teruel to Valencia, Valencia to Elche.

We intend to stop for an extended break near to Teruel at a filling station, Civera, on the N420A. This is just beyond the halfway point. The other two sections will be for a comfort break and to swap drivers.

Does anyone know if there are places to stop with toilet facilities in the areas we have mentioned? Has anyone stopped at the Civera filling station and know of its facilities?

Michelin and the AA do not seem to give much information about service areas on this route.

If anyone has travelled this route themselves can they recommend any alternatives to our suggestions.

Any help and suggestions will be most welcome.

big wheels

Every filling station I have ever stopped at in Spain has had toilet facilities.
So no need to worry on that score.

missile

Hi,

That is not the shortest, but you may want to take a more circuitous route? I travelled those roads and can confirm there are good facilities at the points you mention. Take care, driving in spain can be intimidating to tourists / first timers.

stevesainty

Thanks missile, we got the route from our sat nav showing 810km and 8 hours drive. We have it set up for quickest route, regardless of tolls, with the speeds tailored to a Luton van.

I have driven a lot on the continent but it still takes me a good half hour before I am back in the groove of driving on the other side of the road and car. My bete noir manoeuvre is a left hand turn at a tee junction.

As far as the route goes it is not cast in stone, we just want to get from Bilbao to Elche in the shortest time possible with one decent stop for a meal and a leg stretch.

If you or anyone else can suggest an alternative, we would consider it. I have driven on the peripherique in Paris so big cities do not phase me.

missile

I would suggest if you head for Burgos skirt round Madrid via Albacete to Elche may be a little quicker, i.e. 803Km and 7hr 16 min per RAC route planner. Primary road numbers are A1, A3, A31 & A30. I don't envy you the journey in a Luton van and if it were me I would plan for more than one stop.

Dick Dasterdly

That's the way to go, easiest by far, take care to stay alert and keep in the correct lanes passing Zaragossa.
Toilets in all filling stations,some better than others.
A few filling stations are set back a little off the road or on the old road but there's plenty right on the route if you keep well topped up.

Having said all that, I just came that way in a snowstorm a few weeks back with only one lane open most of the way due to drifting snow in the fast lane and traffic crawling at 40 kph.
Much the same all the way across to within about 60kms of Valencia.

Saxy

I'm with Missile on this one, I've used both and much prefer his route even though the sat nav says otherwise.

Retired in Euskadi

The Sagunto-Teruel-Zaragoza dual carriageway is very good, especially as it's free! There are plenty of stopping places.
If you've a little time to spare, it's worth going via Belchite on the A222 about 40km south of Zaragoza to see the old town that was destroyed during the Civil war & left just as it was! Very impressive. They built a "new" town next to it.

stevesainty

Thank you for your alternative route ideas.

I have put missile's route into my sat nav and it comes out as 833km and 8 hours 10 mins driving, not much different to our first route.

The distance will be slightly different to missile's as I am going gangway to storage depot as it were. The time will also be different as we have used the lower speeds of a van.

Why do missile and saxy prefer this route, is it a better drive visually?

Our priority on this trip is to get from A to B as quickly as possible, without taking any risks, and with easy driving conditions. Also on this trip we are not bothered how much the tolls cost either if this makes a difference to the preferred routes.

We can take it easy and view the scenery and maybe pay less in tolls when we are eventually living in Spain and are driving in our car.

Also please bear in mind that we will be doing this trip in early Autumn, will the weather effect the route?

If we use missile's route, we will be on the outskirts of Madrid at around 1pm on a Tuesday. Will the traffic be heavy on the ring road?

missile

I have recently driven from Madrid to Ciudad Quesada. It took me 4 hours includning two stops.

The traffic is manic around Madrid but no worse than near Zaragossa, Valencia or the wacky races near Alicante.

Take whichever route you feel best, but I would not relish driving through spain in August in a non air-conditioned(?) vehicle.

negro

Im with missile. Done the route many times - more or less toll free (no need to take toll rd south of Madrid), usually quiet roads, Madrid ring road isnt a problem - great brew stop at the Albacete Parador adjacent to the motorway.

Mitzyboy

I use that route whenever we go for the ferry. It is easy, hassle free and in many places quite pleasant. Mostly dual carriageway. I would caution about doing it at night because most of the filling stations are closed. We nearly got stuck when driving down in the early hours once.

There are plenty of stations / toilet facilities, but most are "off road", maybe a couple of kms or less. Tolls iirc are about €25-€30 in total

Library Ticket

Yes I think we will probably stick with that route. As OH says our priority is to get from A to B as quickly (but safely) as possible, not necessarily as cheaply. We'll change drivers every couple of hours but keep the length of the stops to a minimum. OH can sleep as a passenger but I can't. Not sure about sleeping in a Luton though.

We will be travelling in daylight and in October so even without AC it should be bearable.

Thank you all for the advice.