Driving France in March

[On tour]

Hi - newly registered although I've been reading the forums for a while!

Done a search and there is plenty online but.....

I'm looking to spend a week driving France, or anywhere on the continent in March.

Ferry to Bilbao or Santander or up to Esbjerg (Denmark) unfortunately all out due to timing, plan is leave Sat morning and be back in London the following Friday.

So given the constraints and the time of year where to go? Assume the alps are out due to snow

Will be myself and the missus in the Z4C. Not afraid to do a few good long days to get south for good weather but would rather not.

Thoughts welcome!

P.s waiting till later year unfortunately not an option

[On tour]

anyone?

On tour said:

Hi - newly registered although I've been reading the forums for a while!

Done a search and there is plenty online but.....

I'm looking to spend a week driving France, or anywhere on the continent in March.

Ferry to Bilbao or Santander or up to Esbjerg (Denmark) unfortunately all out due to timing, plan is leave Sat morning and be back in London the following Friday.

So given the constraints and the time of year where to go? Assume the alps are out due to snow

Will be myself and the missus in the Z4C. Not afraid to do a few good long days to get south for good weather but would rather not.

Thoughts welcome!

P.s waiting till later year unfortunately not an option

[HumbleJim]

The weather @ that time of yr can be variable. Nice is nice so channel tunnel and nail it down there. (Or do what I do and take a couple of days)

[Jacobyte]

One possibility over a week or two (e.g. driving from Santander to Denmark):
Head up over the mountains then past Biarritz and North East across Les Landes (beautiful long, flat, straight, tree-lined roads). Then up past Bergerac along the Dordogne for a while, past Perigeux and then through the Perigord national park towards Limoges. Stunning scenery and great roads and hotels/chateaux/restaurants. From Limoges you can go up to the pretty city of Tours, before going underneath Paris to the old Reims Gueux racetrack for a photo stop. Then whizz around Epernay for some Champagne and pop over into Belgium to stop off at Spa, possibly a day at the Nurburgring too. Then head North (someone else can carry on with the Holland/Denmark bit as I've never been that way).

[Bill]

What he said. Last Easter we ended up on the med before the weather settled.

[entropy]

I'm hoping to do Rouen, Le Mans, Reims, Spa and Assen in the next week or so.

Only thing putting me off is the exchange rate.

[ColinM50]

Once did Calais to Nice in one eleven hour hit. Arrived Calais at 01:00 mid March and just drove in his big AMG Beemer. Boy could my mate drive, never dropped below 100 in rain for most of the way.

So go on, belt it down there then have a leisurely few days driving back on the RN's

[HumbleJim]

ColinM50 said:

big AMG Beemer.

Interesting.

[silverthorn2151]

If heading to France, get a Sanef Telepeage doofah. (Threads on the Le Mans pages for info).

Makes using the toll motorways easy and cheaper.

And you can't belt from Calais to Nice any more. Speed limits are now enforced with vigour and on the spot fines.

As a result they don't speed in the same way as they used to in France. For instance, I drove back from near Biarittz in August with the cruise control at 86mph, so only just over the limit. Less than 10 cars overtook me in 2days.

[ColinM50]

HumbleJim said:

Interesting.

Your inference is indeed correct. It was a Mercedes estate but I've no idea of the model number. This was 91 ish and it had every possible extra and cost him £98k at the time, he was a bit gutted he couldn't get it over the £100k. All I know is he got it up to 160 on the clock at one stage and over the whole journey we averaged around 12 mpg.

[JCKST1]

Do the sanef talepeage actually save you money or do they just make your journey easier?
I will be driving to Spain next month so might come in handy..

[HumbleJim]

ColinM50 said:

This was 91 ish and it had every possible extra and cost him £98k at the time, he was a bit gutted he couldn't get it over the £100k.

Sounds perfect, perhaps he should have added some mud flaps and a boot liner.

[C Lee Farquar]

I would avoid the long ferry.

Portsmouth to St Malo overnight ferry is good. Arrive in France @ 7.00am and you'll be in Biarritz mid to late afternoon on quiet motorways. I found the motorway from Santander to France narrow and busy, not at all relaxing.

[silverthorn2151]

JCKST1 said:

Do the sanef talepeage actually save you money or do they just make your journey easier?
I will be driving to Spain next month so might come in handy..

I think so, but it might just be what I am remembering rather than checking. They have an excellent UK arm.

One of the big advantages is that you get billed a month after using it. I went in July and into August. I got billed end of Aug and end of Sep. that's £200 that didn't come directly out of holiday quids.

And the feeling of superiority as you drive past the queues is almost priceless.

Costs me £6.00 odd per annum to have the account.

[Dblue]

silverthorn2151 said:

JCKST1 said:

Do the sanef talepeage actually save you money or do they just make your journey easier?
I will be driving to Spain next month so might come in handy..

I think so, but it might just be what I am remembering rather than checking. They have an excellent UK arm.

One of the big advantages is that you get billed a month after using it. I went in July and into August. I got billed end of Aug and end of Sep. that's £200 that didn't come directly out of holiday quids.

And the feeling of superiority as you drive past the queues is almost priceless.

Costs me £6.00 odd per annum to have the account.

Its not any cheaper I'm afraid but don't let that put you off, its a wonderful thing. Get one if your doing any miles on french autoroutes

[Magic919]

You pay full price to Sanef. Plus the annual fee and a charge for each month you use it (but this is capped).

[silverthorn2151]

See, told you I was re bearing what I wanted to hear, rather than the facts.

Worth every penny though in my view.