# Driving to spain



## Hamilton59 (Feb 18, 2018)

Looking for advice.

I have plans to drive to Spain, (Almeria) as I have done this drive before, Can anyone give advice on the best routes to take. ie Lancashire via channel tunnel & drive, Lancashire to Dover via Calais then drive or Lancashire to Portsmouth / Plymouth via Bilbao then drive. 

I am looking at advice on cost and difficulty of routes.

Any advice greatfully accepted.

Thanks 

Hamilton59.


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## emlyn (Oct 26, 2012)

Get the Michelin app on your I pad or computer and put in your start and end places and it will give you times,kilometres and cost for various routes. I have found it helpful.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Hamilton59 said:


> Looking for advice.
> 
> I have plans to drive to Spain, (Almeria) as I have done this drive before, Can anyone give advice on the best routes to take. ie Lancashire via channel tunnel & drive, Lancashire to Dover via Calais then drive or Lancashire to Portsmouth / Plymouth via Bilbao then drive.
> 
> ...



My choice would be Lancashire to Portsmouth / Plymouth to Santander or Bilbao and let the car
ferry take the strain, no doubt you will wake up refreshed and relaxed once you land in Spain.


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## Hamilton59 (Feb 18, 2018)

Thank you, I will try the app.


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## Hamilton59 (Feb 18, 2018)

My question was - I have NOT done this drive before. 

So many thanks for your advice, it is most helpful, I was thinking that the ferry to Bilbao, would be my preferred option. Thanks


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## tebo53 (Sep 18, 2014)

Yes I did the bilbao route. Get yourself a satnav and that will take away any driving stress. Don't forget to add in any toll fees.


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## cermignano (Feb 9, 2017)

Ithought you posted that you had done it 'as i have done this before'


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## tebo53 (Sep 18, 2014)

cermignano said:


> Ithought you posted that you had done it 'as i have done this before'


Check post #5


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

tebo53 said:


> Yes I did the bilbao route. Get yourself a satnav and that will take away any driving stress. Don't forget to add in any toll fees.


Alternatively, depending on your satnav, you may find that it greatly increases your driving stress, our one would - it gets lost, takes you into prohibited areas, etc. and, even if you are able to define your actual location, directing the police to where you are so that they can rescue you, is a nightmare, because it has taken you to somewhere where there is no mobile signal (9 months ago, it took the police five hours to find us when we were only 17½ km from the provincial capital.)


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## tebo53 (Sep 18, 2014)

baldilocks said:


> Alternatively, depending on your satnav, you may find that it greatly increases your driving stress, our one would - it gets lost, takes you into prohibited areas, etc. and, even if you are able to define your actual location, directing the police to where you are so that they can rescue you, is a nightmare, because it has taken you to somewhere where there is no mobile signal (9 months ago, it took the police five hours to find us when we were only 17½ km from the provincial capital.)


Before we came to live in Spain we did a 3 week tour on a motorbike and pre-planned all the routes using a motorcycle satnav. Never had a problem. I use tomtom satnav for all journeys in Spain and UK. If you program them correctly they are a godsend.


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## emlyn (Oct 26, 2012)

I avoid Bilbao,exit from Santander port simpler ,avoids town. 
Economy ferry which only sails at W/end better value than the others if you don’t mind doing without entertainment,bigger shop etc also cheaper,however due to its popularity you need to book months in advance.


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## emlyn (Oct 26, 2012)

baldilocks said:


> Alternatively, depending on your satnav, you may find that it greatly increases your driving stress, our one would - it gets lost, takes you into prohibited areas, etc. and, even if you are able to define your actual location, directing the police to where you are so that they can rescue you, is a nightmare, because it has taken you to somewhere where there is no mobile signal (9 months ago, it took the police five hours to find us when we were only 17½ km from the provincial capital.)


That’s worrying,had you broken down?


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

emlyn said:


> That’s worrying,had you broken down?


We had got into a patch where the rains had washed most of the binding material away and we were left with just loose material under three wheels and fresh air under the fourth. When Guardia arrived they had to tow us onto firm ground - good job we had some rope because they hadn't anything.


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## Tom1957 (May 1, 2016)

I used the Newhaven-Dieppe route as a compromise between ferry time and driving time, it's a fair bit shorter than Dover-Calais.

As for navigation, lately I have been using my smart phone with Google maps rather than a dedicated satnav. It's been pretty reliable and it's convenient to plan my route on a laptop and then send it to my phone (or tablet).


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## trotter58 (Feb 8, 2017)

Hamilton59 said:


> Looking for advice.
> 
> I have plans to drive to Spain, (Almeria) as I have done this drive before, Can anyone give advice on the best routes to take. ie Lancashire via channel tunnel & drive, Lancashire to Dover via Calais then drive or Lancashire to Portsmouth / Plymouth via Bilbao then drive.
> 
> ...


Hi, 
We've been driving to Spain for around 5 years but only done the Lancashire - Portsmouth - Bilbao - Alicante route so far. 

Our preferred Brittany ferry is the Sunday sailing on the "cap Finistere". This is a 2 night crossing which departs from Portsmouth at 10:30pm, plenty of time to get there from Bolton. There's a pub near the ferry terminal that does decent beer & bar meals (Ship & Castle?). You arrive at Bilbao at approx 07:45 Tuesday morning, which gives you time to get to your destination without any overnight stops. This route is quite an expensive option but you do save on overnight stops, fuel and time at the wheel.
I do recommend that you take the toll road from Bilbao, it's about €20 but saves a lot of time & fuel....other than that no tolls needed.

We are going to try the Portsmouth - Cherbourg - Bordeux - San Sebastion - zaragosa - Alicante route this year. :fingerscrossed: 

Good luck with your trip.


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## jtuohy (Feb 21, 2018)

IPrice out the ferry from Plymouth to Santander. The north of Spain is stunning. Also you save on petrol, mileage and tolls by dropping into Spain rather than France


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