Good morning now having to return this week end to initially France and then the UK. Leaving Javea Sunday am. When we first came here in October last got stopped (almost) between Barcelona and Valencia by guys in a big black Merc.

So going norther route but our neighbour says there is very little activity on the road and you are going through vast swathes of nothing and with no one around if you have a problem.

After last year and with advancing years must admit to being nervous and will be driving one of those cars without replacement wheel just some glue to fix it and to get to a garage - on a Sunday?

Have breakdown insurance but with French insurers not that matters.

Any thoughts and guidance please?

Hi Porth
I just drove back last week. The route we took from Torrevieja was the AP7 toll road past Alicante, Benidorm and up to Valencia, then the A23 past Teruel to Zaragoza, then the A68 to Tudela, AP 15 to Pamplona and San Sebastian and onwards to Bordeaux. We left at 10am and were into our hotel just north of Bordeaux at about 8pm. The only really empty stretch of road was the run between Valencia and Zaragoza and even then there was service areas every 20 or 30 miles with small hamlets dotted here and there along the road. The road is well travelled and we saw lots of cars and lorries going both directions, the service areas were quite busy as well, there are also the toll plazas as well. If your car is in good nick and well maintained you should be ok. Make sure your tyres are inflated to the correct pressure it might save you some grief and fuel. I have one of those glue kits as well in the car and they are a pain in the ass. Always watch around service areas for anyone taking an interest in your car as that is when the bad guys will try to knobble your car so you get stuck on the hard shoulder a few miles up the road while they follow a few minutes behind.
Also for future reference especially if you drive through France a fair bit Sanef-T (The french toll company) have an english site you can register for one of their fast pass toll tag (saneftolling.co.uk)

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Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

One thing that Graham and I always did at service stations was not to talk as we were leaving and returning to the car so that we would not be targetted due to the fact that we were foreigners.

Rosemary

Thanks again. Just tried a dummy run on the sat nav and it is doing what it did last October. It is trying to take us through Valencia.

Imagine the days please before sat nav what directional signs should I look out for please.

best wishes

sometimes it can be just as quick to drive through the centre of Valencia, the roads are quite fast, that road from Silla to the Airport is about 15 minutes

The route to Bayonne is quick, easy, and very quiet trafficwise.

Take the Teruel slip off the A7/N7 onto the new autovia Mojacar, just North of Valencia heading towards Zaragosa and Pamplona and it's a piece of cake all the way.

No towns or cities to go through and the nearest you'll see to any traffic is around San Sebastian, but even that has an excellent new bypass now.

thanks and you are most kind

I have never had much success with tyre glue. You might want to consider one of these >

+1, I much prefer a pleasant drive through scenic countryside to wacky races on the motorway.

Hi just come back from the bank and met a professional lorry driver. He said on Sundays and for greater security from Valencia go on the national routes up towards Pamplona. Anyone used this route please. He said use ring road around Valencia then it became for me a bit garbled. Bought a map but would appreciate help

rdgs

I am also going to see if I can hire a tyre for the journey

take care

This is the route to take & a step by step instruction, your satnav should take this route if you put into it the main waypoints.

Hmm ? link not working, OK go to Via Michelin.com and put in your place of exit & where you wish to go to.
Click quickest.
Click favour highways.
Click avoid tolls.
It will then show the route, then click View Map in the centre box & then it will give you a step by step rundown.

Visit a breakers yard for a spare wheel if need be, but as long as you have a good set of tyres that are correctly inflated (as has been said) and a good instant repair kit you will be fine.

Thanks will try immediately

Don't forget to pick up a jack and a tyre iron too.
I have a kit with my car and consequently there are no tyre-changing tools in the boot. It would be embarrasing to have the tyre, but no means of changing it
It might also be worth checking that you can actually get the nuts off the wheel. So many of them are tightened with a a pneumatic tool these days, that it can be impossible to remove them by hand.