Hey y'all. Has anyone done the drive back from Spain, either ferrry (for reasons of having a small rabbit to take - plus kids) or driven the route through France. How do-able is it.... for a woman who's never gone north of Malaga! Impossible or not! I will be on my own with my 3 kids.

Depends on ages of the kids and whether they are good travellers.

Advise you to look up your journey on via michellin for a good route and the toll costs. Put each toll cost in a little money bag marked up with where it is and how much. Have some additional coins in another bag incase of discrepencies. This saves a lot of fumbling around at the toll booths so saves one of the tensions that occurs.

Cannot help in any other way but to say good luck and hope it all goes smoothly for you.

Rosemary

I don't have kids but have talked to those that have done the trip. Have plenty of distractions for the kids. Depending on the age they will get bored very quickly. If there younger rotate games etc for them. Bring along a portable DVD player (oh I wish I had one when I was a kid) kids books on tapes, will help you as well.

basic idea is to keep them occupied for the duration of the journey

We have done Santander to Plymouth ferry. Good journey through the centre of Spain and then very beautiful near Santander. Stayed overnight somewhere in the middle. Suggest you book accommodation ahead. Also have done the ferry from France. Nightmare. Do not recommend it. Motorways in France are awful as you have all the lorries travelling on them if the weather is bad the spray is a nightmare and they drive in convoys. Also France more expensive for fuel and food and lodgings. Plus being that much longer in the car although the ferry crossing is shorter.

France deffo out then.

IRO the ferry. Is it a nightmare when getting to the port or even onto the ferry. How are signposts? Is it idiotproof? Or just all in Spanish (this is what I'm thinking).

I would never do the drive through France again. We have done it twice now and we have three young children. Absolute nightmare - even though the kids had a DVD player each they still argued.

The ports at Bilbao and Santander are well posted. Santander is really nice, even though the port is in the city, because if you arrive early you can wander around the shops. Bilbao on the other hand is nowhere near the city. When you arrive at the port in Bilbao there is nothing to do. Basically a prefab building and that is it.

try doing with 5 cats 1 dog, and an 8 months pregnant women:curse: myself of course, only stopped once, and even then it took us 15 hrs, BUT I fooled them enough to let me on board, HANG on it doesnt stop there, they decided to paint the decks, my cats were frothing at the mouth with the fumes, BUT hey its amazing what a panicking pregnant women can even get a captain to do got to face it yet again, give me the route out here through France less stress, stop whenever you like, only prob is with animals on board you must get through france within 48 hrs of a health check NOT poss, dont know about the euro tunnel

Well think you are deserving of a medal for that. What did you do with the animals when you stopped?

Well

We travelled from Murcia to Santander last July it was mighty hot too, we towed a 26 Foot caravan, the animals were on board that you see, in cages for safety, they had biscuits and water etc, we somehow managed to get caught up in the middle of Madrid on our way, well, thats when the panicking really started for us,we were suppose to be at the ferry terminal 1 hr and half before departure as we had animals to check in with the rabies cards PET Passports BUT we arrived there 10 mins before it departed!! I had to hide my BIG bump as your not suppose to travel aboard after 33 weeks I was 36 weeks, was a nightmare journey, but we made it back to the UK in time for the birth of our child, and then turned round and travelled all the way back again through France 4 months later, which I find easier as like I said before you can stop regular and please yourself more, the problem this end is getting the animals to the ferry point as you only get 48hrs from when they have a health check, get a good vet he might do it a few days before and make out it was done the day before, but you still wouldnt make it from Southern Spain to lets say Le Harve in that time.

Aaaahhhh, so you had a caravan. May I ask why you went back to the UK? Was it to have the baby in the UK? What were your reasons for this? Understand if you don´t want to answer for personal reasons. It is just that my daughter is looking to come out to live and at some time she would like a second child.

Yes, it was in the end a last min decision, which sometimes I regret and other times I feel it was something I had to do at the time, I was getting panicked mainly to do with the maternity care for me at the time, it become a little frightening she was my first child too, I wont go into to it but lets just say the easier option was to go back home for the birth and she had a lovely christening and all the family got to meet her etc, she also has a British passport which can be a tricky one to get hold of, NOT impossible just like usual paperwork trail The only regret I had was the cost of it all, but then it was going to cost 5000 euros plus to have a C Section in Spain, and they do not offer after care like back home, its down to the family to help out, which I only have my husband so all in all we did the right thing at the time

But if the parents are British surely you would then get dual nationality if born in Spain?

Thanks for the advice guys. Lulu41 I completely understand you going back for the birth, it's what you know and what makes you comfortable and it's a time that you do need your family and friends all around you.

My wife had a baby here in Spain and we thought it would have dual nationality. Apparently not. One of the parents has to be Spanish.

On the subject of childbirth, we found the Spanish NHS to be very efficient but definitely dated, i.e. "What's a birth plan?" or "Stop all that screaming - you're having a baby, it's obviously going to hurt"

Exactly my setiments, maybe some have had a better time of it, but for us we didnt qualify for NHS in Spain, so it was all private from day 1, lets just say I think I was shipped to and from to about 6 different doctors, none spoke any English and my Spanish is only LTD, hence my fear of it all, and then to be told, I HAVE to have a C Section, and my partner wouldnt be allowed to come in whilst the babe was delivered YES very dated in deed, anyway went home and had her in Dorchester County Hospital was brilliant on the NHS in the UK, was very happy with my choice on the birthing, she was born healthy and I was happy