Trip to the south of France - best route..

[ashrolfe]

Hya. I'm driving the porsche down to south of Bordaeux for a holiday soon. I was wondering, does anyone have any suggesstions for a good route rather than sticking to the toll motorways?

Thanks

[DJC]

It basically depends where you are going from and what time of day.
Calais, Boulougne, St Male, Cherbourg, Caen ? If yer comming from Calais, A-route it out of the region, it just isnt worth doing it any other way.

Give me some more details and Ill tell you the best way, got a house down nr Bordeau so I know the runs from all the northern French ports fairly well.

[I HATE GATSO]

Im doing the same on friday. When you going and where sailing into?

[Mogulboy]

Even if the French are as we all know tougher on speeding these days, there are so many great roads in France you can hardly go wrong - as long as you can afford the time and are happy to make over night stops if required.

My advice would be to get a GPS (if you don't already have one) and set it to stay off the toll roads and see where it takes you! These days, with the high cost of tolls (and fuel on the autoroutes) you might even pay for (most of) your GPS.

P.S. If you are heading down to the real South of France, this is the route to take South of Geneva...

www.routedesgrandesalpes.com/pages/home/index.php

[ashrolfe]

Thanks for your help.. I decided to just take the early tunnel to Calais in the end for the sake of speed. I'm then driving down to Tours, and staying in a nice hotel there for the night. The next day we'll head down to Saint Emilion, so we're not to stressed time wise. We leave blighty on Friday morning. Any help is much appriciated!

[deano400]

ashrolfe said:

Hya. I'm driving the porsche down to south of Bordaeux for a holiday soon. I was wondering, does anyone have any suggesstions for a good route rather than sticking to the toll motorways?

Thanks

A28,N138 to le-mans then a 28 to your destination. From le-mans it is 232kms about a 3 hour drive.

[Gulliver911]

Defo avoid the motorways and go through the National roads.

Slightly longer but truly enjoyable, no (Less) cops and great scenery and villages.

[DJC]

deano400 said:

ashrolfe said:

Hya. I'm driving the porsche down to south of Bordaeux for a holiday soon. I was wondering, does anyone have any suggesstions for a good route rather than sticking to the toll motorways?

Thanks

A28,N138 to le-mans then a 28 to your destination. From le-mans it is 232kms about a 3 hour drive.

That would be the A10 then? Whatsmore, he said he wanted to avoid the tolls.

OK, from Calais, you have a choice of 2 interesting routes.
Both ways, out of Calais on the A16 down to Abbeville and then A28 to Rouen. From there route 1 is:
N138 down to Le Mans. Then N23 out to La Fleche and catch the D308. That merges with the N147 just north of Saumur and then follow the N147 out of Saumur to Montreuil-Bellay and catch the D938 south to Partheney, then it is is the N150/N137 all the way to Bordeau. Alt, from Saumur, you can just follow the N147 all the way to Poitiers and then catch the N10 down to Angouleme and then to Bordeaux.

2nd route is:
From Rouen, catch the N154 down to Chartres and then grab the N10 at Chartres and it will take you all the way to Bordeaux. Alt, at Chartres, you can keep to the N154 and head to Orleans, then drop south on the N20 to Vierzon where it becomes the A20 (but toll free) all the way to Limoges. At Limoges grab the N21 to Perigeuex and then the N89 into Bordeaux.

As a hint though, I will say that the best driving road in Europe is just off the N10 at La Couronne, if you have time you might care to find it.

Happy driving.

[ashrolfe]

Thanks for your help everyone, I'll take your advice.. And also carry a stack of Euros to hand out to the police at various points on the way down.

[deano400]

ashrolfe said:

Thanks for your help everyone, I'll take your advice.. And also carry a stack of Euros to hand out to the police at various points on the way down.

I know i lovely hotel just south of le-mans if you are interested.

[ashrolfe]

Damn.. too late! I've booked a fantastic hotel in Tours - about an hour south of Le Mans. Thanks though.

[maximu5]

Whichever way you go, check this out first : www.radarsfixes.com/.

Mind you, doesn't protect you from mobile radars...

[deano400]

ashrolfe said:

Damn.. too late! I've booked a fantastic hotel in Tours - about an hour south of Le Mans. Thanks though.

On the new road tours is 30 mins from Le-mans.
Just in case you fancy the hotel is at Vaas. Come off at the Chateau Loire junction and turn right to Vaas,about 2 kmdown road you will pull into a small village square called Liberation square. The hotel is on the square.

[DucatiGary]

DJC said:

As a hint though, I will say that the best driving road in Europe is just off the N10 at La Couronne, if you have time you might care to find it.

so thats it, no road name/number or town to head to.. .. .. .. so I go to france, follow your route to La Couronne then travel around for 47 days locally looking for said road, and have to work out if this is the best road in europe? gee thanks, great idea, ill book it now.

N138 is a great road, too many roundabouts now and if your not in a pack the long straights might get tiresome, although there are some nice scenic parts.

Edited by DucatiGary on Thursday 6th July 21:42

[DJC]

DucatiGary said:

DJC said:

As a hint though, I will say that the best driving road in Europe is just off the N10 at La Couronne, if you have time you might care to find it.

so thats it, no road name/number or town to head to.. .. .. .. so I go to france, follow your route to La Couronne then travel around for 47 days locally looking for said road, and have to work out if this is the best road in europe? gee thanks, great idea, ill book it now.

N138 is a great road, too many roundabouts now and if your not in a pack the long straights might get tiresome, although there are some nice scenic parts.

Edited by DucatiGary on Thursday 6th July 21:42

Yep. Its called taking your time learning to appreciate an area.