10 Day trip from scotland to spain

[robbie boy]

Hi all,
Im planning a trip from 29 August down to folkstone, through tunnel then france and down into spain
never done it before but testing the water to see how many are up for it.

Any sugestions, tips , opinions, would all be very welcome.

Have a great new year every one

 

[ghiribizzo]

A suggestion would be to go to Newcastle and take the Ferry. There after 3.30, bike on board, beer on the top deck as you sail away after 5.00. As long as no one sets fire to their cabin you're ok...
The tunnel is fine but you have the boredom of the motorways or dual carriageways to get down there and it's a long road back after the holiday.
Add in the cost of the extra fuel, meals, B&B/Hotel... Nope.

 

[polecat]

Hi all,
Im planning a trip from 29 August down to folkstone, through tunnel then france and down into spain
never done it before but testing the water to see how many are up for it.

Any sugestions, tips , opinions, would all be very welcome.

Have a great new year every one

Calling Wapping

 

[Posh Pete]

Have you considered one of the southern ferries such as Portsmouth - Santander? The trip through France there and back adds a lot of miles and fatigue in only 10 days?

 

[robbie boy]

Not ruled anything out yet, just looking for the best advice from fellow tossers, who have done the trip,
open to all information , ie best routes, costs, where to stay over, what to avoid, everything helps.
also would look to tag along to anyone elses trip , ive been looking at some guided tours they seem
ok but i can do the same thing without paying high fees to follow someone around. all welcome.

 

[WEE BOAB]

I was toying with doing Europe next year, not mentioned it to the Mrs as yet....doh....I'll be interested in getting the views from our experienced European travellers.

 

[gerarddwatts]

Go somewhere every year, French Alps this year, Austria next. Just can't face English motorways, so always go Newcastle-Amsterdam. BUT avoid going out Fri/Sat, and coming back Sun....miss all/some of the drunks/stag parties etc. Go out Sun, come back Thurs/Fri. Always enjoy the journey, but accept it may not be practical for Spain, if you want to get there quick.

 

[Schtum]

Much depends on how far South in Spain you want to go. I've never done it on the bike but I have in the car. Edinburgh > Channel Tunnel > France > Andorra > Spain (las Alpujarras) > Pamplona > West Coast of France > Chunnel > back up across Albion's flat and featureless plain. It took us three weeks, moving on every day apart from a a three day stopover in a hotel in Carataunas, near Orgiva. Whatever, you do, I'd avoid the route up or down the West Coast of France. I remember it being as boring as hell with the only point of interest being the ferry crossing across the mouth of the Gironde from Le-Verdon-sur-Mer to Royan.

 

[Timpo]

A busy 10 days from Scotland.
It's bad enough from Cheshire, 26 (ish) hours from door to the quayside at Santander via Plymouth/Santander ferry. You probably need another 2 or 3 hours from Santander to get to the better bits.
Braganca in Portugal is 4 hours from Santander, which is where I usually head to for the trail riding trips.

 

[SteveT]

Riding to Spain

Did a trip to the Alicante area of Spain several years ago. Took 14 days in all, travelling down to Dover from the north east of Scotland, via a couple of stop overs on route. From Calais I took 3 days to travel down through France to Cascasonne, using only back roads, then 2 days down to the Alicante area via the Med coast road, hitting the coast near Perpignan.
Spent a couple of days with my sister, then headed north for freinds just north of the Pyrenees, near Pau, via Cuenca & Jaca.
Spent some time with freinds in France then headed for the ferry at Santander. From Plymouth I visited family in South Wales, then headed for the Highlands, doing 540 miles in a day from Cardiff to Elgin.

Give yourself a little more time, to allow sight seeing and photo taking opportunities

Going it alone lets you decide where you go, when you go and when you stop. My only two dead lines were the ferries out & back.

Do it, you'll not regret the ride

SteveT

 

[pedro]

I've taken a few of the options mentioned- Newcastle ferry, Santander ferry and the long haul through the tunnel and across France. The Santander route has always been my favourite. Last time, left Edinburgh at 4 in the morning, straight down to Portsmouth in one, then the overnight to Santander. The tunnel route is fine if you plan a few stops in France but otherwise you really do have to put in some big miles. Planned to go to Italy summer past so took the ferry to Amsterdam from Newcastle. Unfortunately the weather forecast was pretty grim for Germany and Italy so we decided to go to Spain instead did about 700 miles the first day, then made it to Pamplona the second day. So three days travelling if you include the ferry.

 

[Giles]

I would seriously consider cutting out as much of the UK and France as possible and getting a ferry straight to the northern Spanish coast.
(For twenty odd years I've been touring Europe )

Whilst I tend to ride down there, I normally make it a two week trip, I live 20 minutes from the tunnel and will only really do a big (500m +) day on the first and last of my 14. You are potentially looking at three days there, three days back giving you only four days in Spain. Whilst some will come along and tell you to man up and that they can happily do 14 hour days and 800 miles in a sitting, into the mix you've got to add petrol costs, overnight accommodation, and the fact that you'll murder your tyres sitting at 85 on a motorway for 6 days.

For the money you spend on all of the above, take a ferry to Santander or Bilbao, arrive fresh and relaxed and then hit the picos et al.

I've always had an excellent service with Direct ferries.co.uk http://www.directferries.co.uk/ and have often phoned them on the move and got what I want with 24 hours notice.

 

[pedro]

I've taken a few of the options mentioned- Newcastle ferry, Santander ferry and the long haul through the tunnel and across France. The Santander route has always been my favourite. Last time, left Edinburgh at 4 in the morning, straight down to Portsmouth in one, then the overnight to Santander. The tunnel route is fine if you plan a few stops in France but otherwise you really do have to put in some big miles. Planned to go to Italy summer past so took the ferry to Amsterdam from Newcastle. Unfortunately the weather forecast was pretty grim for Germany and Italy so we decided to go to Spain instead did about 700 miles the first day, then made it to Pamplona the second day. So three days travelling if you include the ferry.

 

[sven]

Not sure where you are in Scotland, but from the Glasgow/Edinburgh area you can reach North Wales in about 4 hours using fast A/B roads as far as Kendal, so only a short motorway stretch, then take the A483 all the way to Builth Wells, before nipping around Bristol on the motorway and over Exmoor and Dartmoor to Plymouth for the Sunday night ferry. This avoids most of the boring/congested areas and makes the journey south tolerable. You'd just need to factor in a Saturday night somewhere in the Bristol area (we stopped in Burnham-on-Sea last year and will probably do the same this year)

 

[Blackal]

I'd ask to move this to a more appropriate forum - after all........ even if you live in Inverness - of your 10 days - you'll only have 3 hours in Scotland?

If the purpose is to get to Spain - I'd consider a ferry direct to Spain.

If the purpose is to travel down through France - I'd give some thought to:

Newcastle-Amsterdam

Or Hull - Zebrugge.

Choose the UK departure port dependant upon which you can reach in the first day.

From Glasgow/Edinburgh area - Hull is a nice easy ride, but not from Inverness. Zebrugge gets you a bit further south for the next day.

Al

 

[boatman]

Done all of these options on the bike at various times,

If you want to enjoy your time , get the ferry to Santander / Bilbao
Motorway riding is Crap at the best of times

 

[gerarddwatts]

I think Al's probably right about Hull - Zeebrugge. Zeebrugge is far better if you are heading central/west....the shite roads for 4 hours out of Ijmuiden are pretty nasty. I did suggest Hull to our little team but they weren't keen. Might try again next year. I think the Channel ports from most of Scotland, although easily do-able....well....do-able, probably need an overnight stop. One of the only things I regret about living here! Apart from trying to stop the nutters from taking over!!

I quite see why the OP posted here...he wanted opinions from guys in Scotland who have done this trip. Where better to find them?

 

[robbie boy]

Thank you folks for all your informative information and tips. it does look like the ferry from hull would be the
easier option. 10 days was just a rough figure to gauge, i can extend to the fort night if desired.

as for posting this on a different forum, WHY?. i wanted opinions from people who live near me in scotland.
well anyway thank you for all the input. Have a great new year.

 

[John Armstrong]

Aberdeen to Hull is 7 hours riding, to Newcastle it's 5 hours.

Newcastle ferry loading / unloading at both ends is much less professional than the Zeebrugge option.

Zeebrugge gets you about an hour south compared to Ijmuiden.

Aberdeen to Plymouth will be about two 5 hour days on the motorway, but then you have a rest on the boat to Santander, and get off the boat without more flogging the motorway. One option I'd look at is getting the bikes couried to Exeter, and then flying down there. More expensive for sure, but no squaring off the tyres / having the pleasure of the M6 & M5.

Edit, I see you're south of Edinburgh, so Hull - Zeebrugge would be the better ferry option, IMO.

 

[Grizzly]

Why Spain?

Hi Robbie boy,
Do you have a special reason to head for Spain? - and if so, where are you heading? Picos? If you only have 10 days and are fancying a Euro trip on the bike with great roads etc there are loads of options better suited to starting/finishing in Scotland - and using the Newcastle ferry would be the best bet for planning a trip like that.
If it must be Spain then reaching the south Englandshire ferry ports from up here is perfectly do-able in one day - we have done the trip fairly often, leaving early morning and sailing early evening from Portsmouth/Poole/Plymouth etc. We have often used Brittany Ferries "slow boat" from Portsmouth to St.Malo sailing in the evening and arriving 07:30-ish in St.Malo after a good meal and a good nights sleep on the ferry.
You can, of course, use the long-haul ferries direct to Spain from these south coast ports- but although I've used them one-way a few times I'm not a fan of spending over 24 hours on a ferry - overnight with a cabin is my preferred limit!
If you did use the "slow boat" to St Malo it is fairly easy to plan a nice scenic route though France to the Pyrenees. without using much in the way of motorways.
Happy to help with any info/advice but would need to know if it "must" be Spain, and if so where?

Cheers...............Grizzly