driving back from spain to the uk-any scenic ideas?

[cragswinter]

ok, following on from my thread about trying to get a cheap ferry return from the uk to spain, i'm thinking we may get the ferry from portsmouth to bilbao, do a bit of touring around the pyranees & then drive back up to northern france.

the idea is to take a maximum 2 weeks starting with leaving portsmouth on a sunday.

we then take a week in spain, seeing the sites & driving the mountain passes.

after the first week we leisurely follow the west coast of france back up to get the ferry back from cherbourg or somewhere.

has anyone done this?

i'd be grateful of any tips for,

a/ the pyranees
b/ the french west coast

i'm guessing that bordeaux is a highlight?

we're trying to do it on a budget too, just to make things more difficult so i'm thinking along the lines of staying in quaint b&b's, campsites or reasonable hotels.

anything off the beaten track is cool with perhaps one city stay over for a couple of days somewhere in the trip.

the idea is to take the west coast, NOT go across the med & end up on the route napolean-that's for the honeymoon in 2013!

any google maps or links would be a great help people

[hornetrider]

Regarding the Pyrenees.

Make this one of your days - you will not regret it. Plenty of beautiful campsites along the way.

http://g.co/maps/5ekgy

[Roger645]

French west coast:

Bidart
Biarritz
Bordeaux
Medoc
Margeaux
Archacon for the dune d'pyla

[anonymous-user]

loire valley?

[llewop]

Cognac is a lovely town and some nice tours
Saintes (close to Cognac) has some nice Roman ruins
La Rochelle is quite popular - and sometimes very busy, but very nice
Off the coast from La Rochelle is Il de Re which is quiet and relaxed
If you go further inland - near Poiters is Futurascope - weird but quite fun - futuristic buildings and mega-screen cinema stuff
As previous poster said - Loire valley; has loads of Chateau to visit + vineyards etc. Clos Luca in Amboise was Leonardo da Vinci's last home and is now a musuem
Further north, a swing to the west on the coast would get you to Carnac, stone circles and avenues
As you head up towards the ferries (St Malo/Cherburg/Caen/Le Havre) places like Caen itself (some huge hypermarkets for your stock up before getting home!) or Mont St Michel are worth a look, you're also in D-Day country so endless WW2 stuff, Bayeax tapestry etc

Just a random selection places we're been, wandering up and down that side of France over a number of years

[rsv gone!]

Western France is pretty boring IMO. Some nice rolling countryside but nothing dramatic. NW France is barren (again, my opinion).

If I was you I would take a week or more meandering through the Picos de Europe and the Pyrenees then blast across the south of France by the quickest way possible. Aim to get to Grasse to do Route Napoleon N85 and generally to stay on the Eastern areas of France. Lots of lovely scenery and great roads.

For cheapness and convenience, the Formula1 hotels are dead cheap, although the slightly less Etap motels are better.

[anonymous-user]

agree with llewop, leonardo's place in amboise is definitely worth a visit.

[Vixpy1]

Bookmarked this thread as we are driving down to Spain for our Honeymoon and need Ideas on where to Stay on the way down and back.

[Kneetrembler]

cragswinter said:

ok, following on from my thread about trying to get a cheap ferry return from the uk to spain, i'm thinking we may get the ferry from portsmouth to bilbao, do a bit of touring around the pyranees & then drive back up to northern france.

the idea is to take a maximum 2 weeks starting with leaving portsmouth on a sunday.

we then take a week in spain, seeing the sites & driving the mountain passes.

after the first week we leisurely follow the west coast of france back up to get the ferry back from cherbourg or somewhere.

has anyone done this?

i'd be grateful of any tips for,

a/ the pyranees
b/ the french west coast

i'm guessing that bordeaux is a highlight?

we're trying to do it on a budget too, just to make things more difficult so i'm thinking along the lines of staying in quaint b&b's, campsites or reasonable hotels.

anything off the beaten track is cool with perhaps one city stay over for a couple of days somewhere in the trip.

the idea is to take the west coast, NOT go across the med & end up on the route napolean-that's for the honeymoon in 2013!

any google maps or links would be a great help people

Campanile Hotels all over France, cheap,clean, fully serviced, restaurants attached, good value,secure car parking, what else could you want.

Have used them for years, alwys able to book 1 day before unless there is something special on.
Used them just before Xmas for 1 week travelling through Brittany

[cragswinter]

Bump!

Righty o lads & lasses, ferry is booked, portsmouth to Bilbao at the end of july.

1st night in Bilbao

Possibly second night in pamploma?

Then onto the Spanish pyrenees.

Then up the west coast of France to catch the ferry in Cherbourg 8 days after landing in Bilbao


So, recommendations a plenty along those lines if you can.

Swmbo would like a couple of days by a pool/beach if possible, at least one day of full on driving

Anything else goes & all suggestions welcome

[Roger645]

Bidart has a great beach and the other half may enjoy a little stay here if she is girly:

http://www.hacienda-bidart.com/uk/index-uk.html

[rsv gone!]

I've done many biking trips in France, including a week doing what you're proposing. (I went back from Le Havre.)

NW France is very flat and boring farmland IMO. SW is pretty and rolling, as is NE.

SE is the peach. Draw a line South and East from Clermont Ferrand for the gorges. Search Youtube for the Top Gear RS4 episode. It is where it was filmed.

[hornetrider]

As well as my road which you simply MUST do, go to the massive dune thingy at Arcachon. Lovely spot.

[cragswinter]

hornetrider said:

As well as my road which you simply MUST do, go to the massive dune thingy at Arcachon. Lovely spot.

Any ideas on where to stay around there? There doesn't seem to be much?

rsv gone! said:

I've done many biking trips in France, including a week doing what you're proposing. (I went back from Le Havre.)

NW France is very flat and boring farmland IMO. SW is pretty and rolling, as is NE.

SE is the peach. Draw a line South and East from Clermont Ferrand for the gorges. Search Youtube for the Top Gear RS4 episode. It is where it was filmed.

Sounds exactly what we're after, again any tips on places to stay?

[hornetrider]

We did Santander > Pyrenees > Millau > Monaco > Stelvio > Black Forest > Ring > Home a couple of years ago and the only accomodation booked for the entire journey was Monaco and the Ring. Everywhere else we found campsites on the fly - there's loads of them all over the place so you can pretty much pick where to stop.

[rsv gone!]

What I found very effective was to just get on the smartphone and look at tripadvisor. Look for the best rated at the budget you're comfortable with and give them a call or just turn up and ask.

We found some very nice hotels like that.