Route from Calais

I've used the following route - Calais > Rouen > Le Mans > Tours > Bourges > Clermont-Ferrand > Narbonne. This was about 10 hours drive and then we stayed in an Ibis Hotel In Narbonne.

The next day was Narbonne > border > then the E15 right down the coast - Girona > Barcelona > Tarragona> Valencia > Alicante > Murcia. This was another 10 hours.

Almost all of this route avoids toll roads, which saves about £150. If you use 'viaMichelin', you can plan your route, avoid tolls, calculate mileage, etc. which is quite handy.

Hope this helps!

Hi Patzy, similar route to Rich. Calais to Rouen, down to Bordeaux then on to Pau. Through the Somport tunnel, down to Zaragoza on to Valencia and then the same route. We stopped overnight at Rouen and Pau, but we left in the evening. A morning departure would get you down to Bordeaux on day 1 and you can decide how many nights to stop over. Definitely agree about viaMichelin. Good luck

I have driven from Calais southwards via Paris. I’m sure some of you might be groaning, I did when I first mooted the possibility, however, it was pretty painless if you avoid rush hours. Take the A1 and then the périphérique following signs to Bordeaux. Then you can either go via Toulouse or Clermont Ferrand. I think the latter is cheaper.

Die route nemen wij ook altijd , en rond Bordeaux ergens overnachten

Either through Paris or Rouen can be a pain if you catch. rush hour traffic. Ive done it loads of times.

I tend to time it for early hours of the morning. And depending on what you are driving you may need a crit aire sticker, similar to our clean air zones in the uk.

I like to do it quick as possible to take the toll roads, spain is pretty painless but france have a lot of them, so I have an emovis tag (france) which allows you to drive through without having to stop and fiddle with credit card machines on the wrong side of the car etc etc.

"Bip and go" for spain, or fuli do a combined tag

If you go via Rouen, remember to get one of these.  Do it ahead of time (unlike me) as they send the sticker to you from France.

https://urbanaccessregulations.eu/countries-mainmenu-147/france/rouen