Driving from UK to Portugal

[Jasandjules]

Anyone done it? Any tips? Kit needed etc?

Also travel insurance to bring the car home?

[Willy Nilly]

You can get the kits in Halfords for European driving. The little bit I'd done on my bike was the best riding I've done. I'd say plan your route to have plenty of breaks and enjoy the trip.

[Robert Elise]

i do it every year. are you driving through france or taking ferry to Spain?
Ferry is a good option, not cheap but pleasant enough.
Spanish roads are mostly toll-free, empty and a delight to drive.
Spain mandates TWO triangles.
Portugal has a stupid electronic toll system that's inconvenient for tourist (google it)

[Motorrad]

Used to do it all the time via the place I lived in southern France.

Personally if I hadn't lived there I'd have used the ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao/Santander to cut out driving through France. The tolls are expensive, it's boring and you can't even drive fast on the empty autoroutes any more without risking a hefty fine or your car.

Great driving roads- I'd usually go via Burgos, Valladolid,Salamanca, Badajoz, Evora and down to the Algarve avoiding toll roads almost all the way other than Bilbao to Burgos because it's got some fecking dangerous spots on it that I thought were worth paying to avoid.

Lots of cheap motels to stay at on the way and some interesting establishments called 'Clubs' which will rent you a room and a companion for short periods of time....... Or you could just go in for a gawp and an overpriced beer like I used to do.

Re: Portuguese toll roads I know of plenty of foreigners who just ignore them assuming they don't return regularly in the 'dirty' vehicle.

Edited by Motorrad on Monday 4th November 17:55

[Jasandjules]

Robert Elise said:

i do it every year. are you driving through france or taking ferry to Spain?

Driving through France. Ferry only seems to run twice a week and we won't be able to plan that well, it will be a just get up and go situation.

Will have a dog with me so am looking to find mutt friendly hotels en route too.

Have bought the Tom Tom Start with EU so aiming to use that.

Have two triangles. Also two pairs of glasses for Spain.

Do we need to adjust the car lights?

[gtidriver]

Don't forget your yellow vest as well one for each person. Probably best to include the dog as well. Tolls through France is around £100. Look at getting a toll card first, ill be doing this next year on our trip to Spain.

[22Rgt]

leave as early as you can as the Tunnel is cheaper during early hours and further savings can be made doing it in one hit avoiding overnight stops, four to six 20 minute breaks should be enough even if youre not used to driving in Europe as the roads are good and the miles quickly munched. A very regular one for me is the Calais to Malaga slog which i usually do in under 20 hrs..

[Jasandjules]

We were aiming to leave here about 7-8am so that we can get halfway through France in the first stint but yes thank you for that tip.

Dog has vest, crash tested harness.

Toll card - will look into that thank you!

[nagsheadwarrior]

Get the Sanef thingy,best 10e youll ever spend.

[Jasandjules]

So,

Toll Card for France
Leave early as Eurotunnel is cheaper
Hi Vis Vests for all of us
Two triangles for Spain
Two pairs of glasses for Spain
Halfords Driving in Europe Pack

What have I missed?

[loafer123]

Best route in France is Calais, Rouen, Le Mans, Nantes, Niort, Bordeaux, Bayonne.

The top bit looks painful, but you'll find it very quick, especially Rouen to Niort.

Less tolls too, although the Sanef thingy is still well worth it.

[gtidriver]

Take a map as well, handy to see where your going in the bigger picture.

Edited by gtidriver on Monday 4th November 22:15

[gtidriver]

Watch out for french police, they love to take your holiday money.

[gtidriver]

Watch out for french police, they love to take your holiday money.

[RESSE]

Jasandjules said:

So,

Toll Card for France
Leave early as Eurotunnel is cheaper
Hi Vis Vests for all of us
Two triangles for Spain
Two pairs of glasses for Spain
Halfords Driving in Europe Pack

What have I missed?

We found this useful:
http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/coun...

We have just returned from 1,350 mile round trip from Shropshire to Costa Blanca via Eurotunnel/Paris/Toulouse/Narbonne/Barcelona/Valencia.

Also took V5, insurance documents (car/travel/Euro 'get you home' + spare GB sticker for rear of car as we didn't have Euro style number plates).

[chrisw666]

Use the via-Michelin site for route planning as they list hotels and tolls so planning is easy, have your wits about you when passing close to French towns and if you leave the Autoroute stick to speedlimits no matter how painful.

Also many 24 hour filling stations in France are card only and some only take a limited range of cards.

[MethylatedSpirit]

Bring some KY jelly to help the french police officer administer the speeding fine(s)

Apparently they are good at foreplay



Being serious now. I done the ferry straight to Spain. It was £375 return for two adults and a car. Good refreshing (albeit rocky). Good for giving moany passengers a break.

Fuel would have been around £300(return) for getting from north of France to Santander in Spain. You then have your toll and ferry costs on top of that.

Edited by MethylatedSpirit on Monday 4th November 23:45

[Jasandjules]

I'd heard about some French petrol stations not taking cards.

Do I need shiny new license plates?

[DocArbathnot]

Jasandjules said:

I'd heard about some French petrol stations not taking cards.

Do I need shiny new license plates?

The only problem used to be the unmanned stations rejecting UK cards (usually rural supermarket) I think it's been resolved now. All the autoroutes are okay.

When stuck once on a Sunday in the sticks, I offered a local cash and he put some on his card for me (nice bloke)

[SteellFJ]

My old man does it every year for a golf trip with his buddies in the Algarve, he leaves two/three days before they fly (he refuses to board planes after years of travelling for work and missing a flight once that went on to crash when landing) and collects them at the airport after checking in and dumping all the clubs at the hotel.

He loves the drive and i'm possibly going to join him in 2014.

That is my 2p's worth, but no use for kit etc!