Calais to Cadiz August 2010

[steve1]

Calais to Cadiz. Sounds simple enough, me and swmbo are camping all the way (I think) in August.
Just need to ask a few questions of ye wise old folk who've been there and done that.
How much time do i need? (Not looking to break any records)
How much (roughly) for fuel?
How much (roughly for tolls? Are the avoidable.
Is it possible to camp all the way or does it get a bit chilly around the pyrenees?

Any other advice gladly accepted.

 

[Surrey Yeoman]

I can't give you anything exactly specific to your route (I guess you're going inland), but I recently got back from my first "Euro Expedition" where I popped over to Le Havre from Portsmouth and then essentially followed the coast of western France, Northern Spain, coast of Portugal, back along the south coast of Spain to Gibraltar and on along the Spanish coast to southern France and back up the middle via the Millau Viaduct (astounding!) to Le Havre and home. I used a mixture of A roads, B roads and a little bit of motorway.

All I can say is that:

Petrol is only a little bit cheaper out there than it is in the UK, so for working out an approximate fuel cost, use UK prices and you won't go far wrong (and may have a bit left over from the petrol budget for a treat).

Tolls didn't seem too expensive in France, but the Spanish ones seemed a bit dearer. Tolls are almost always avoidable, but avoiding them may add a fair bit to your mileage. I just set my TomTom to "always avoid tolls" on the days when I was happy to just bimble along on the minor roads, although it has to be said that when I did use them, the toll roads were a pleasure to ride in terms of road surface and relative lack of traffic.

I don’t know about the Pyrenees as I skirted the edges of them at the coasts.

Camping was seldom a problem along the coast and always quite cheap, at eight to fifteen euros for me, a small tent and the bike. I guess if there's two of you could add on another five to ten euros per night for the extra person. Campsite facilities were always good and I never found a dirty / smelly loo or a cold / dirty shower block. Many of the larger villages / small towns have municipal campsites run by the council and these are pretty good and clean and not far from shops and restaurants.

I never had a set destination for the end of each day, just a rough approximation of where I wanted to end up and when it got to about 5.30 or 6.00 o’clock in the evening I’d start looking out for a campsite or a cheap hotel or B&B. I was generally on the road by about 8.30 or 9.00 o’clock each morning, so had a good days riding under my belt by then.

By the way - It's obvious but don't forget it's going to be HOT, especially in Spain, so make sure you have plenty of water with you to drink!

Enjoy!

 

[Glyno]

The coastal toll road in Spain, on the eastern side i.e. the A7 is to be avoided at all costs in August, in particular the first and last weekends. The whole populations of France Italy and elsewhere are trundling to the Costas Made that mistake couple of years ago and it was mile upon mile of stationary traffic. They even lifted the barriers on the toll booths and just waved everyone through only to queue up again straight after. IMHO by far the best place to cross from France to Spain is via the Somport tunnel south of Pau and then head on down to Zaragoza or wherever takes your fancy.Hope this is of help. Enjoy your hols

 

[Corp.Clinger!]

Camping in Aug in or close to the mountains will be warm at night(expect 25-33c) Bear in mind that most French dudes take their holidays en mass in August...no big deal really...it lets you see that camp sites can cater for big numbers and that there'll be plenty of them to use....all that to say you can camp all the way down...
Another,better and much more scenic route into Spain IMHO would be skip the tunnel(sorry Glyno ) .....it's more of a direct route for boring slower commercial traffic as they don't use the twisties....and come over via Col du Poutalet,if you've time......

...Just leave Pau and head to Laruns and on over the mountains toward Zaragoza if this is where you want to be.....great flowing roads into Spain after high scenic mountain twisties on my side.....

 

[steve1]

Thanks guys, certainly a lot to think about.
Its the time scale I'm most concerned about. We've got 3 weeks in August- i live in Stockport (close to Manchester) Is Cadiz (and back!) a realistic destination in 3 weeks? I don't really want to ride my sox off every day!

 

[Pathologic]

Time is of the essence

Thanks guys, certainly a lot to think about.
Its the time scale I'm most concerned about. We've got 3 weeks in August- i live in Stockport (close to Manchester) Is Cadiz (and back!) a realistic destination in 3 weeks? I don't really want to ride my sox off every day!

It never easy to judgetimings. Driving to the South East for the ferry to go South West is going to add to the journey time without adding a lot of scenic bits Have you ruled out Portmouth or Plymouth crossings to North West France?

We did Cherbourg to Bayonne in a long day (eight hours), which is not too bad if you start early. Motorcyling slowly in high temps is not fun, so get the miles done early and then you can explore where you stop. I took three weeks to go to Syria this year (7k round trip) so three weeks should be quite relaxed.

regards,

Path.

 

[Giles]

Thanks guys, certainly a lot to think about.
Its the time scale I'm most concerned about. We've got 3 weeks in August- i live in Stockport (close to Manchester) Is Cadiz (and back!) a realistic destination in 3 weeks? I don't really want to ride my sox off every day!

Is Cadiz an important destination for you? (Are you meeting somebody there or such like?)
My experience of long tours, is that you can get very tired if you're pounding mile after mile every day. (Having said that i think 3 weeks by the scenic route is more than enough time...).
Depending on how 'bike fit' you and in particular your pillion are, will dictate how often you take a day off. You may well find that every fourth day or so you will want a rest day. Food for thought as well, is that if you're camping all the way you're going to be spending at least two hours a day packing and unpacking! which will eat into your daily allotted riding time.
This is why I ask about cadiz. My personal opinion (and we'll all differ here - so very much just my opinion!) is that remaining really flexible is the key to an enjoyable tour. If you're constantly up against a time table, the pressure of pounding those miles, and getting tired as a result, can spoil your holiday. This is when little niggly arguments can start!! 'I want to stop..' 'I think we should press on...'!!! If your mindset is one of 'point south and just ride, stop when I or her indoors wants to, and for as long as we want as well', You'll (again, in my opinion!) not go wrong that way.

+1 on the heat. You will roast your knees and thighs in heavy traffic in spain in August!! make sure your jackets are well ventilated, and you have plenty of water.

Enjoy.


*edit ... On the discussion of which way to enter Spain ... I've often used the Bielsa Tunnel which I've found to be a good route in. *

 

[steve1]

Cadiz just happens to be a place that swmbo wants to visit. We did Northern Spain and Portugal last year but we took the ferry to Santander and so was many riding miles less.

So I suppose that Cadiz is just a point on the map and if push comes to shove it could be shelved.

 

[Giles]

Hurrah,

Just got back from a couple of weeks in Europe. We only booked one hotel for the entire trip (Siena) and the rest was all done on the hoof.
I can't recomend this way of touring enough. We were tired in Annecy so stayed an extra night, it rained very heavily for a couple of days so we hit the motorway and got somewhere early, drove through Langres (SE France) and decided to stop early and explore 'cos we liked the look of the place ......
Don't plan. Its the best way to travel! .