Best route to Le mans?

[Flanders.]

Title pretty much covers it really, has anyone got any nice routes for a Le mans virgin who's getting the train to Calis? I'm heading down on the Wednesday and I'm not too fussed how long it takes to get there.

[gt6]

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.

[ShiDevil]

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

[FredericRobinson]

We skipped the toll road between Bolougne and Abbeville a couple of years ago, seemed simple enough. Abeville to Rouen on the motorway is toll free, Rouen to Le Mans on the old N138 is easy

[Truckosaurus]

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.

Wise words. You can also mix'n'match onto the autoroute to bypass Alencon or speed up the final run into LM.

The only other tips for the above route are:

1) is to watch out for the sneaky left turn not long after leaving the autoroute at Robert le Diable (the road is a little worn out to it might appear you've gone wrong)

2) The road sign will say 'Le Mans' but will guide you onto the autoroute, so you'll need a printout of the route to know which village/town is next on the Route Nationale so as not to get lost.

3) On the return journey, don't forget to stop following signs for Rouen and start looking for 'Boulogne/Calais' otherwise you will end up in the suburbs.

[E36GUY]

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.

The turning you want is signposted by a green sign that says "Alencon Par RN"

[Mark-C]

E36GUY said:

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.

The turning you want is signposted by a green sign that says "Alencon Par RN"

And the Leclerc at Alencon is just off the RN and a great place to stock up for the weekend.

[//j17]

1) Add yourself to the Who's on what Crossing...? Wiki (http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=25&t=1075169&mid=51707&nmt=LM+2012+-+Who+is+on+what+Crossing...%3F).

2) What time of day?

My groups on the 06:50 crossing so we have a long, lazy day to get to Le Mans and means we don't need to cane it down the Autoroute to get there at a reasonable time and risk the... hospitality of the local fuzz.

We Autoroute from Calais to Abbeville, just to get out of the toilet that is North East France then work our way ->Amiens->Les Andelys->lunch->Evreux->Bonnetable->Le Mans from the North East and have yet to see any French police.

http://nok.it/3p5zF

[Man-At-Arms]

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

[TomOSmith]

//j17 said:

We Autoroute from Calais to Abbeville, just to get out of the toilet that is North East France then work our way ->Amiens->Les Andelys->lunch->Evreux->Bonnetable->Le Mans from the North East and have yet to see any French police.

http://nok.it/3p5zF

There's just so many errors in that map, it's not hard to see why you go wrong somewhere every year. ;-)

[lowdrag]

I agree with the A16/28 to Rouen and then onwards, but if you take the D338 (old N138) from there you are missing a great country route with loads of bars/restaurants. On the ring road of Falaise, take the exit towards Putanges Pont Ecrepin. There, if it is that time of day, have lunch at the Lion Verd, a Logis de France by the river in the town square. You won't regret it. From there it is Ranes, Carrouges, Pre en Pail, then the magic Corniche de Pail, then on through Villaines to Sillé le Guillaume and to St. Saturnin before rejoining the ring D338 to Le Mans. A magic route, hardly any traffic, and one I've used since the early 90's. On the other hand, don't bother. I'll just keep it to myself.

[The Leaper]

Thanks for this, Lowdrag.

Although my son and I travel down from Calais, we always need a hotel ( we never camp, I'm too old for it!) and we have increasingly used a hotel in Falaise even though it is somewhat in the wrong direction! It's always available, reasonable standard, reasonably priced, and maybe 75 minutes to the circuit on the autoroute. We stay Friday and Sunday nights, sleeping in the car on Saturday. Had this routine at least 5 times so far.

We have considered finding a nicer route to Le Mans from Falaise as well as exploring the area between the two. Looks like you have given us an excellent steer!

R.

[//j17]

lowdrag said:

I agree with the A16/28 to Rouen and then onwards, but if you take the D338 (old N138) from there you are missing a great country route with loads of bars/restaurants. On the ring road of Falaise, take the exit towards Putanges Pont Ecrepin. There, if it is that time of day, have lunch at the Lion Verd, a Logis de France by the river in the town square. You won't regret it. From there it is Ranes, Carrouges, Pre en Pail, then the magic Corniche de Pail, then on through Villaines to Sillé le Guillaume and to St. Saturnin before rejoining the ring D338 to Le Mans. A magic route, hardly any traffic, and one I've used since the early 90's. On the other hand, don't bother. I'll just keep it to myself.

Something like - http://nok.it/Nc9WV

Yes, I am a little bored and at a loose end

[//j17]

TomOSmith said:

//j17 said:

We Autoroute from Calais to Abbeville, just to get out of the toilet that is North East France then work our way ->Amiens->Les Andelys->lunch->Evreux->Bonnetable->Le Mans from the North East and have yet to see any French police.

http://nok.it/3p5zF

There's just so many errors in that map, it's not hard to see why you go wrong somewhere every year. ;-)

1) From memory.
2) If you would stop overtaking trucks JUST before we hit every big village it would be easier to follow you you know...

[SEE YA]

It may help people if anyone has the sat nav details for the above route?

[The Leaper]

//j17,

As an annual driver from Calais to Falaise, may I suggest a different route?

When on the autoroute from Calais, head for Rouen but don't go there, and instead head for Caen via Port de Normandie at Le Havre (spectacular in itself). After the bridge, continue with the Caen signs until Drubec, leave the autoroute here (excellent restaurant immediately on exiting by the way)then head on the D16 in the general direction of Falaise. This avoids Rouen entirely, the autotoute is just about empty, a good place for lunch, and then some enjoyable cross country roads. The only drawback is that this is a much longer route to Le Mans but it's very good if based in Falaise as we usually are.

Sorry, I do not have your expertise at highlighting Google Maps!

R.

[TomOSmith]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Getting closer. Still spot at least 3 errors. I have a Google Map URL, but it's ridiculously long.

[Dr Slotter]

Here's my 2p: http://g.co/maps/656ea

[Gaity]

Here's mine from a couple of years ago - blindingly good albeit a slight deviation from the starting point! http://ab.cd/b7n

[//j17]

Gaity said:

Here's mine from a couple of years ago - blindingly good albeit a slight deviation from the starting point! http://ab.cd/b7n

Well you've got to take a ferry to get to the continent, so why not the Portsmouth-Bilbao