Best route to Le mans?

[matboyslim]

gt6 said:

i presume you are driving so the route i use now is very easy
Leave calais join motorway and head for rouen (old roads on this part are now almost impossible to use) from Rouen head along the motorway towards caen and then turn of just past the castle on your right (Robert the diable) Follow the route nationale (old n138 now d338) and stay on that road all the way to Le mans.
Only tolls are on the first part of the motorway to rouen and plenty of great places to stop after rouen.

Im with this man all the way! best route by far plus lots of bars and places to stop and drool over the cars lol

[Ronstar]

Any thoughts on this coastal route...?

http://g.co/maps/bxh9n

[m60ddy]

Aftrenoon all. I am in need of advice, I don't want to change the focus from Calais but after doing Dover / Calais for 7 years it was decided to take a different ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo.
Do we do main roads D137 to Rennes then N157 / A81 to Le mans?
Are there a good cross country routes to Le Mans worth doing? whats the N12 like between Fougreres and Mayenne?
We arrive early in the morning to St Malo so we have all day but normally have lunch at Beaumont sur Sarthe.
Any and all suggestions welcomed.
PS cars are a Caterham, Cobra and Capri 2.8 if that makes any differance and all drivers enjoy playing.

Edited by m60ddy on Wednesday 18th April 13:11

[lowdrag]

Frankly, it's dual carriageway all the way if you do the Rennes route until you get off at Le Mans, and boring with it. There are a number of options if you have the time so have a good look at the map and instead of doing the south/east route do the diagonal and you'll find towns and villages with little bars and restaurants. Ambience is the watchword.

[m60ddy]

Thankyou very much for the reply. I suppose the next question is how are these roads policed during the week / weekend, are they as closely monitored as the roads from Calais?
Think we arrive about 8 to St Malo so will find a route to Beaumont for lunch then in from there.
Cheers, M

[lowdrag]

AFAIK the BiB concentrate on the main arteries down from Calais/Boulogne/Dieppe/Caen and there aren't many to the east of town, strangely, but then the vast majority are P&O or Chunnel users so it's logical. It pays though to be careful because even outside of events time we have regular blitzes each month with last week 631 speeding fines and 15 licences taken away on the spot for excess alcohol. Just waft your way down and enjoy the scenery.

[SEE YA]

That is what I do nice easy drive doing around 80mph.
However sometimes a bit more at the right time

[gruffalo]

lowdrag said:

AFAIK the BiB concentrate on the main arteries down from Calais/Boulogne/Dieppe/Caen and there aren't many to the east of town, strangely, but then the vast majority are P&O or Chunnel users so it's logical. It pays though to be careful because even outside of events time we have regular blitzes each month with last week 631 speeding fines and 15 licences taken away on the spot for excess alcohol. Just waft your way down and enjoy the scenery.

What is it like coming up from the south, thinking of poping down to Saumur for the Thursady and coming up on the Friday.

[lowdrag]

The same applies reaslly, but then that is only the opinion of a local who knows quite a few BiB here and isn't to be taken as Gospel. anyway, if I was coming up from Saumur, I'd waft my way through the small roads and villages - I have done it many a time with the E-type after visiting my favourite hotel for a midsummer lunch - Le Prieuré at Chenehutte just west of Saumur. Taking the main arteries will always incur the risk of radar traps, and incidentally it seems one of the favourite traps (it seems to be in the local paper pretty regularly) is just north of Le Mans on the A11 before one swings off on the A28.

[Buck Bundy]

ShiDevil said:

From Calais, head towards Italy, go through the Stelvio Pass, then back through Romania on the Transfagarasan Highway and then back into France to Le Mans

We're doing something a bit like that!

We've done Le Mans via Spain (Plymouth-Santander) and via Ireland (Holyhead-Dun Laogaire and Rosslare-Roscoff), so this year we're doing via Holland and Italy. There are 5 of us on bikes going Harwich-Hook of Holland then motorail train from Holland to Allesandria, Italy then to Monte Carlo and a few days in the Alps before heading north to Le Mans.

Should be good.

[gruffalo]

lowdrag said:

The same applies reaslly, but then that is only the opinion of a local who knows quite a few BiB here and isn't to be taken as Gospel. anyway, if I was coming up from Saumur, I'd waft my way through the small roads and villages - I have done it many a time with the E-type after visiting my favourite hotel for a midsummer lunch - Le Prieuré at Chenehutte just west of Saumur. Taking the main arteries will always incur the risk of radar traps, and incidentally it seems one of the favourite traps (it seems to be in the local paper pretty regularly) is just north of Le Mans on the A11 before one swings off on the A28.

Thanks, back roads it will be and not too quickly!

Is all the stuff about speed traps hyped up or is it really that much worse than over here?

[jbcalvin]

M60ddy.....

I have made the same decision this year, not to use the chunnel, but have a nice relaxing night on the boat after driving down from Glasgow....

If you are on the Wed night ferry/arrive Thursday morning then if you don't mind an oil burning fully laden Audi avant tagging along, I'd love to join you in exploring the French countryside, worst case scenario, I have sat nav to get us back en-route......

[lowdrag]

I would doubt very much that coming the back roads from Saumur you'll find the radar traps, but then what do I knoww? I work on percentages, in that about 80% come the Calais route, so they concentrate where there are easy pickings. In 10 years, I've never seen a radar on the route from Saumur to Le Mans. But do go and try lunch at the Prieuré at Chenehutte - you will never regret it, especially the view.

[joncon]

most years we travel up from tours to the track,on the old road, apart from the two fixed radars , one of those being close to a level crossing, its very rare to see the boys in blue .
only approaching mulsanne do they appear.

[m60ddy]

jbcalvin said:

M60ddy.....

I have made the same decision this year, not to use the chunnel, but have a nice relaxing night on the boat after driving down from Glasgow....

If you are on the Wed night ferry/arrive Thursday morning then if you don't mind an oil burning fully laden Audi avant tagging along, I'd love to join you in exploring the French countryside, worst case scenario, I have sat nav to get us back en-route......

You would have been welcome to join us and normally we would be on the wednesday crossing but some of my team have commitments so we had to travel on the thursday night ferry. Suppose if you have a nightmere on thursday we can sweep you up on the friday.

If you find some good roads and if you have the facility let it be known.

Cheers

M

[gruffalo]

Thanks for the advice every one, spot of lunch at at Saumur or near by followed by a waft back up the back roads it is then.

[Vette_1978]

m60ddy said:

Aftrenoon all. I am in need of advice, I don't want to change the focus from Calais but after doing Dover / Calais for 7 years it was decided to take a different ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo.
Do we do main roads D137 to Rennes then N157 / A81 to Le mans?
Are there a good cross country routes to Le Mans worth doing? whats the N12 like between Fougreres and Mayenne?
We arrive early in the morning to St Malo so we have all day but normally have lunch at Beaumont sur Sarthe.
Any and all suggestions welcomed.
PS cars are a Caterham, Cobra and Capri 2.8 if that makes any differance and all drivers enjoy playing.

That's the route we're taking this year.

http://g.co/maps/arxjc

Last two years we're gone to Caen but this year is St Malo. I'd recommend a run to Mont St Michel for breakfast in one of the cafes on the island. I stopped there on the way to Nantes a few years ago and it's a very impressive place.

[jbcalvin]

Vette_1978....

Ae you on the Wednesday or Thursday night crossing...... that looks a good route....

[Vette_1978]

jbcalvin said:

Vette_1978....

Ae you on the Wednesday or Thursday night crossing...... that looks a good route....

We're crossing over on Tuesday night so will be driving to LM on the Wednesday.

[dredgey]

I went this route last year more by better luck than good judgment. Our convoy (me in front) were not happy with my sat nav's decision but I enjoyed this route none the less; a mix of autoroute and good old fashioned French roads...

http://nok.it/UwWSn