# Road-Trip to the Costa del Sol - My Experience



## Wibs (Apr 1, 2015)

I have just returned from our road-trip to the Costa del Sol and I thought some of you might be interested in the details of the trip.

I have written a 9 page trip report, with plenty of photos, and uploaded a pdf of the report to my Dropbox.

Here is the link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/62oexyr5kglc9lx/Road%20Trip%20to%20the%20Costa%20del%20Sol.pdf?dl=0

Hope you find it useful,

Wibs


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## Keithtoon (May 7, 2015)

Hi Wibs, must say brilliant story! Your post are so helpful more please!!!!! I hope my dream comes true...El Faro is where we want to be maybe in 3 yrs time.... We are from Ware, Herts...was a Harlow boy...all the best keith n Macy.


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

Great report Wibs, you got a great price on the ferry, I can see us doing that route next year when we move. I was in El Faro in June visiting my sister who lives on an urbanisation just near the bridge to the beach. We ate in a local restaurant up the hill a bit, which although basic was buzzing, friendly and the food was nice. (Forgotten the name)


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Wibs said:


> I have just returned from our road-trip to the Costa del Sol and I thought some of you might be interested in the details of the trip.
> 
> I have written a 9 page trip report, with plenty of photos, and uploaded a pdf of the report to my Dropbox.
> 
> ...


So helpful, interesting and detailed. From the place outside Burgos experience (I can just imagine how you felt when you were taking in those views because I absolutely love Burgos and I love mountain views) to the photo of the tapas (almost every English person's dream of good "pub" food!), sounds like you had a great trip.
Thanks for posting!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Interesting. Having moved ourselves from Essex we did our road trips in earnest - two round trips to move and one round trip a year later to get some things we though we could not do without (we can and do!). However, we used the Tunnel which was only €49, (SWMBO suffers from mal-de-mer.) 

I suffer from mal de mère! (her mother makes me sick!)


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Must say that's a great travel log from the UK to the Costa del Sol - Wibs.
I have only one question and that is how much did it cost you in Toll Charges
traveling down from Dunkirk to Spain by car ?


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## chica escocesa (Jul 23, 2012)

Great pics and report. We are considering driving from Scotland next year as hoping to spend 4 weeks in Estepona and might be better off having our own car. OH is up for it but I'm not so sure!!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

chica escocesa said:


> Great pics and report. We are considering driving from Scotland next year as hoping to spend 4 weeks in Estepona and might be better off having our own car. OH is up for it but I'm not so sure!!


How many times do you propose living on this earth? As you get older will such an adventure be any easier? Start looking at the potential places you could visit on the way. Remember that, in France, HGVs have to do a lot of their travelling at nights and are banned on Sundays.


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## chica escocesa (Jul 23, 2012)

Good point Baldi. I have a bit of trepidation as the wee girl will only be 3 and a half - and a 3 hour flight was brutal yesterday! We'll see - would be good to see a bit of France and Spain along the way!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

chica escocesa said:


> Great pics and report. We are considering driving from Scotland next year as hoping to spend 4 weeks in Estepona and might be better off having our own car. OH is up for it but I'm not so sure!!


Remember that you can use the Via Michelin website to work out the cost of such journeys. Just plug in your preferences. For example Edinburgh to Estepona via France:




> Costs
> 467.80 € with a Petrol vehicle
> Toll 132.81 € | Petrol 334.99 €
> 
> ...


This doesn't include the ferry costs.

Personally I'd rather fly and pick up a hire car when I wanted to go somewhere - if you're staying in Estepona you probably wouldn't need one for the whole four weeks.


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## chica escocesa (Jul 23, 2012)

We find it handy having the car - taxis to and from airport are v expensive, and it's likely we will have parents and step-children flying over who will need picked up and dropped off. The ideal would maybe be to hire a car for the first few days from the airport then drop it off in Estepona - not sure if this is really possible with any hire car companies? We could then just hire a car as and when for a couple of days at a time, then for going to the airport on the way home.


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## Wibs (Apr 1, 2015)

Williams2 said:


> Must say that's a great travel log from the UK to the Costa del Sol - Wibs.
> I have only one question and that is how much did it cost you in Toll Charges
> traveling down from Dunkirk to Spain by car ?


It came to about €25 euros in France, and €5 in Spain.

You can do it totally free, but at the cost of time. I think what we paid was the optimum charge/time compromise.

Wibs


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Wibs said:


> It came to about €25 euros in France, and €5 in Spain.
> 
> You can do it totally free, but at the cost of time. I think what we paid was the optimum charge/time compromise.
> 
> Wibs


I don't recall how much we paid but it didn't seem much as I recall.


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## smitty5668 (Feb 25, 2015)

really good report wibs. the mountains look beautiful


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

We did a road trip from Prague to Western Andalucia but I didn't keep a log. Wish I had. 
We drove in a convoy of two vehicles, son and partner with dog in our Disco and me and daughter-in-law in a Merc I bought in Prague from Mercedes Nuremberg but quickly sold as totally impractical after we'd been settled in Spain for a while.
The trip took three days, two nights in hotels. We passed through the southern Czech Republic, Germany, France then into Spain, across to Granada and down to the coast. We passed from snow and fog in Spain to warmer temperatures in France to even warmer northern Spain then snow in Granada region and back again to warm evening sunshine when we arrived at our destination.
It was a great trip, well planned by my son and dil and was surprisingly inexpensive, even ater taking into account that we decided to spoil ourselves by staying in nice hotels with good restaurants. We used toll roads much of the way too.
Our large dog had plenty of space in the Disco with his toys and bed and we stopped for coffee, lunch and tea to give us and him a loo break.
I thoroughly recommend this method of coming to Spain if you have a pet dog or cat. No way would I hand our dog over to strangers to be carried in a car or put in a crate and into the noisy hold of a plane.


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## Maureen47 (Mar 27, 2014)

Really enjoyed reading your report and I plan to do the same myself on our roadtrip planned for Nov this year. My son and his girlfriend are travelling with us to help with the driving as we have a car , 2 dogs and a 7.5 tonne truck on our journey. You have given me much reassurance , thank you  We are on the Bilboa ferry with 428 miles to do in Spain. I hope as Baldi would say we have no 'mal de mer ' !


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

maureen47 said:


> Really enjoyed reading your report and I plan to do the same myself on our roadtrip planned for Nov this year. My son and his girlfriend are travelling with us to help with the driving as we have a car , 2 dogs and a 7.5 tonne truck on our journey. You have given me much reassurance , thank you  We are on the Bilboa ferry with 428 miles to do in Spain. I hope as Baldi would say we have no 'mal de mer ' !


and given the human composition of your party, no "mal de mère", except, of course, you are "la mère."


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> and given the human composition of your party, no "mal de mère", except, of course, you are "la mère."


My son would no doubt bemoan that for his entire life he has been prone to bouts of mal de mere.


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

maureen47 said:


> Really enjoyed reading your report and I plan to do the same myself on our roadtrip planned for Nov this year. My son and his girlfriend are travelling with us to help with the driving as we have a car , 2 dogs and a 7.5 tonne truck on our journey. You have given me much reassurance , thank you  We are on the Bilboa ferry with 428 miles to do in Spain. I hope as Baldi would say we have no 'mal de mer ' !


I hope you're lucky, Maureen!
My hubby & I booked a Brittany Ferries return crossing from Portsmouth to Santander years ago. He was so ill that we had to cancel the return voyage and drive home instead. He did have history, though, having been taken to Canterbury Hospital once after being extremely unwell on a Calais-Dover crossing! November isn't the best time for a smooth sailing. The water in the Bay of Biscay is very deep and makes for large swells at times. Sea Bands, which work on acupressure points of the wrist, can help sea sickness and take some medication from the chemist, just in case.


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