Calais LM, how busy on the Thursday?

[Synchromesh]

Just thinking about what ferries to book, and wondered how busy the road from Calais to Le Mans gets on the Thursday afternoon preceding race weekend. Google reckons 4 hours but with LM traffic is this likely to be much longer?

[gt6]

On Thursday afternoon it will be quiet if you are getting to Calais that late, most of the Le mans people who arrive on thursday will arrive in the morning so by thursday afternoon there will not be many of them around.
The Le mans traffic is well spread out on the way down starting the weekend before and many more each day, however the traffic back is busy on Sunday and Monday. If you expect to make le mans in 4 hours be carefull of the local plod at that time there will be few brits/dutch to pick on so you will be in their sights

[surveyor]

Careful when you arrive. There's usually a practice on the Thursday afternoon that can see traffic a little buggered around Le Mans.

Our lot somehow took - 2.5 hours to get through last year. They were a little agog when I caught up from that far behind by being a little cunning on my final route.

[Printertosh]

Pick your route carefully through Rouen if you're going through before 7pm. Might jam up with the main bridge still closed.

[matboyslim]

All this talk of the problems with bridge closure were a worry to me in 2013 but I went through the tunnel at Rouen and took the first right after ran thru Rouen in the quickest time ive ever done it!
Also we saw 17 cars and 5 lorries on the N138 to Le Mans on the thursday!

[eastsider]

Synchromesh said:

Just thinking about what ferries to book, and wondered how busy the road from Calais to Le Mans gets on the Thursday afternoon preceding race weekend. Google reckons 4 hours but with LM traffic is this likely to be much longer?

Its worth checking out the race week schedule - practice and quali weds and thurs, no track running friday. Plenty of other things to do on friday (mad friday, great british welcome, drivers parade in town) but if you arrive thursday evening you miss the track action until raceday. Just a thought.

Traffic down spread out as others have said, 4h autoroute from Calais very doable at a steady 130kph. Its busier heading back, Sunday night in particular.

[E36GUY]

It gets pretty busy on the local approaches to the actual circuit from about 4pm on Thursday but other than that should be reasonably straightforward.

[Rs2oo]

We go every year on a Thursday and have no problem what-so-ever unless you go through Le Mans town centre especially late afternoon. There are as many stupid women picking their kids up from school as there are here. Avoid...........

[andy_vtec]

Thursday late afternoon in LM can be a nightmare. Last year four of our group arrived on the Thursday. 9:30am ferry, arrived at camp in maison blanche at 8:30pm. Took them 3 hours to do the last 3 miles!

Wednesday arrival wins, although less exotica on the journey down.

[Craikeybaby]

We're booked on the 11:36 tunnel, so I imagine we will be getting to Le Mans late afternoon on the Thursday, is there a best route to avoid the town? (We're going to the PH campsite at Bleu Nord)

[FredericRobinson]

Go round Le Mans on the ring road to the east & come in on the motorway which runs right past the track