Route advice needed ... Cheshire to Valencia?

[Bobbin-Man]

Okay where to start? This summer's family holiday is going to be with friends at their place between Barcelona and Valencia, and the suggestion has been that we (the blokes) take the opportunity to travel down on the bikes a few days early and meet the rest of the family there ... realistically the "few days" is fairly flexible though Although I've been to the area a couple of time before I've not been elsewhere in Spain and most of my travel through France has usually been further east so possibly a chance to see some new areas, but certainly no fan of long days spent on French autoroutes!

I've already picked up some useful advice from this thread regarding making the trip from Scotland and the consensus seems to be that the Portmouth-Santander/Bilbao ferry is really the only/best way to get to Spain with limited time available. But is there mileage ('scuse the pun!) in using a shorter ferry or the tunnel and taking in central/western France and sections north of the Pyrenees? Certainly crossing the Pyrenees via the more minor routes does look appealing. Or is it better to spend most of our time in the Picos?

The goal is simply to get from Cheshire to the place in Spain and there's currently no set agenda on how to do it. It's also a one way trip ... we're planning to leave the bikes (R1200GS and K1200LT) in Spain and go back maybe in September with the ladies, then return via a route across the south of France, maybe drop the girls in Nice or Geneva to fly home.

So blank canvas ... any suggestions?

Stu.

 

[Peirre O`Bollox]

The Answer to your question is ............................How long is a piece of string?
you obviously need to know the maximum / minimum number of days each way that you can allow to get from A to B that way your choices of crossing, route etc will fall into place.
Likewise, what is the maximum number of miles is each rider willing to cover before they start to moan/complain, Once you decide all that, more specific answers will follow.

 

[stolzy]

Personally, I wouldn't start from Cheshire.

 

[Boxed-in]

Turn right onto the M6 and keep going........

 

[Timpo]

French motorways bore me to death, so Plymouth to Santander ferry, 20hrs on the boat.
Depending how much time you have, there are several great roads into Spain, and also a motorway or two, yawn!

 

[Wreford Miles]

I'd be picking a route via the Millau Viaduct

 

[Simon W]

Go to www.ride.co.uk/routes and keep scrolling down to find seven routes to Millau - ranging from one day to many... Most are two or three day routes so one of those might work for you.

From there to Spain is a half-day of motorway or a full day of interesting roads. Crossing the Pyrenees through Andora is a good ride, but the coast road from Banyuls sur Mer to LLanca is pretty special.

Getting across Spain to Valencia can be done fast (dull) or steady (50% dull) or slow (interesting).

Given your time constraints, though, you'll probably have to do a fast/motorway route. Certainly, it's unlikely to be practical to head to the west or central Pyrenees, even though the riding there is awesome.

 

[Flipfly]

I live in Stoke and rode down to Almeria last summer in 2 days.
The thing to consider is how long you want in the saddle every day. To avoid the motorways you will need to add significant time to you daily ride schedule, but you will benefit from seeing more of the local wildlife.
I hate motorways and did the whole trip on 70c of peage (wrong turn).

To do it in 2 days is 700 miles a day roughly, averaging 50mph that's 14hrs in the saddle (you'll do well to average 50mph) cross country.

I enjoyed it, but I was on my own and could stop as I wanted, it would be different as a group. I know in the past I have only wanted to do 400 miles a day, so just be aware of the distances involved and the people you are riding with.
France is huge and slow to traverse, Spain is relatively quick to get from north to south.

Personally I'd ride through France, it's a fantastic country. Don't be fooled that Northern France is shit. People dismiss it to get the first part of the journey underway, but if you plan time, Northern France has some wonderful scenery and excellent GS ing roads, lots of twisty cross country roads

The best advice I can give is give yourself more time to enjoy it.