Re: Driving from Santander to Alicante
 

You couldn't have picked a worse day to travel anywhere in Spain (except maybe Easter). Nevertheless, from Madrid to Alicante will be completely clear and the traffic entering Madrid from the north will only be a small percentage of that returning from the Med. Also the AP-7 entering Valencia from both directions is always stationary on that day. One time I was going from Denia to Madrid and it took me four and a half hours just to get to Valencia.

Re: Driving from Santander to Alicante
 

Hi painterhombre,

The Madrid orbital is complete and a good way of avoiding the central Madrid traffic; it's paije, but not expensive.

It's a far more pleasant drive now and is much quicker than going via Zarragoza.

Hope this helps

want to take my dog to spain, aaargh...
 

can anybody help.. I (a women) would like to drive fm UK to valencia to go out to my place in spain, if i took my dog I could stay longer there but....... I am not used to driving long distances so .... in a nutshell, does anybody know of the EASIEST route for me, do i go the santander route or skirt the outskirts of paris, mind you would like to not go anywhere near paris at all. my brother said I couldnt do it, said its tooooooo far for me to drive but... he does it so why not ME.
dont want to leave my dog in kennels here really, any help, pleaseeeeeeeee

Re: want to take my dog to spain, aaargh...
 

Portsmouth-St Malo,ferry,(takes dogs)and cuts a lot off driving time and distance through France,(can take overnight cabin,then fresh to drive onwards).

Easy fairly quiet run down past Rennes, and Bordo./Bayenne(possible overnight stop).


Then via San Sebastian,Past Pamplona,Past Zaragosa,to Valencia,(mostly new road, very quiet, easy,mostly toll free,no towns or busy areas between S.S, and Valencia.

My favourite route(with my Mut),easy,quiet and fast.

Re: want to take my dog to spain, aaargh...
 

From Santander is about 800km. If you come through France it's about 2000 which to do safely for one person is at least 2 days drive.

Re: want to take my dog to spain, aaargh...
 

Don't forget that the Santander ferry is a 24 hour crossing and your dog will have to go in a kennel on a separate deck, although I believe that you can visit the kennels as often as you like.

Re: want to take my dog to spain, aaargh...
 

If you are not used to driving long distances to attempt to drive such a long way on your own is quite frankly a bit crazy.

The logical thing to do would be to fly to Alicante with the dog and rent a car
you obviously are doing that now so just add the dog.

Re: want to take my dog to spain, aaargh...
 

Mucho dinero,also for a kennel which needs to be booked well ahead.

Only 5 or 10 quid for perro on St.Malo ferry.
Mutt stays in car but you can visit him if needs be, by asking at reception.

Re: want to take my dog to spain, aaargh...
 

i am sure I read somewhere that they were not carrying any animals on the UK to Santander route during August of 2009.

Could be wrong, sometimes am:)

Re: want to take my dog to spain, aaargh...
 

well they accepted our booking for those dates, cat included, so i think they would have said something by now

Re: want to take my dog to spain, aaargh...
 

Quite likely and it doesnt run all the year round.
St Malo ferry does, and is usually no problem at very short notice,though maybe not the case at peak period or holiday weekends.

Re: Driving from Santander to Alicante
 

My Dad is looking to take our dog from Alicante back to the UK. Does anyone know how much the ferries are and which is the easiest with the whole pet passport issue? I understand they have to have some sort of injection and then you have a small window of time in which to get them on the ferry (after 24 hours but before 48) is that right? Thanks.

Re: Driving from Santander to Alicante
 

Dont think I can really answer your question but I think it depends on what rabies injection the dog had when he left the UK.

Our cat only had one cos we dont plan on taking her back.
If we were she would have had to had another then a test that it was positive in her or something like that.

But I dont know how long that would last.

You need to check with a vet in Spain.

Brittany Ferries I think are the best to travel with cos ive heard another ferry not accepting animals.

We are leaving this month - 3 people, car and cat was a smidge under £400 one way(with cabin).

Sorry Im a bit vague but it may help a bit.


I think the procedure could take a while so check soon.

Re: Driving from Santander to Alicante
 

Thanks for the info. The dog originated from Spain, has never been in the UK. Dad has already applied for the passport and I think has been told about the injections the dog will need. He's just trying to find out the best (and cheapest) way of getting the dog back to the UK (won't be returning back to Spain again). Thanks.

Re: Driving from Santander to Alicante
 

Depends where hes going to in the UK really.

Driving up through France does seem a long way way but people do it with animals.

Or theres the brittany ferries which go from Santander to Plymouth and Portsmouth.

The ferries dont charge much for the animal passage.

Also the Campanile hotel chain and the premiere chain(I think) take animals in the hotel rooms if he were to stop on the way.