Driving from the U.K. to Camposol

I wonder if you have compared the price of taking the ferry over to Spain ...against paying for fuel and toll road's...apparently it works out around the same cost....I am planing the same thing for next summer and have decided to take the ferry as I could not cope with the 30 hour's of driving from my home in the UK...  apparently it only takes around 7 hours from the ferry port to Camposol.

Thank you - much appreciated. We have considered using the ferry but cannot find a cabin that allows dogs - they are already booked up.

Hi done drive few times try get to bordeaux then to zaragoza not many tolls this way 

We used to drive over to Spain & Portugal quite a lot years ago.

We stayed in Formule 1 motels.

Cheap basic accommodation & they allowed dogs in the rooms.

There are hundreds of these motels in France but not as many in Spain.

Be warned that the popular ones get booked up very quickly during busy times, but you can book in advance.

Things may have changed though.

https://hotelf1.accorhotels.com/map/index.en.shtml

Hi Tony

I have done the route from Calais to Camposol and many other places on the Costa Calida quite a few times.

Have used the Ferry to Santander or Bilbao  and the months you are going it can be very rough seas in the Bay of Biscay and the dog kennels ar on the top deck so not very good for the dog.

The last few years when I have travelled back to the Uk I have taken the Euro tunnel to Calais and driven down normally only taking one stop and I have 2 large German Sheppard's.

People say about the tolls however it is quite easy and indeed a pleasant drive avoiding most of them and normally fuel is cheaper off the motorways.

I would suggest you look at the web site About-France.com  I used on my first trips and they were very useful.

Through France without tolls Route to southwest France, avoiding the tolls

About-France.com - The thematic travel guide to France

From Calais to Southwest France & Spain with no tollsHave sometimes booked hotels in advance but at the time of year you are travelling there should be no problem finding accommodation and you can negotiate a room rate.Hope this helps have a safe trip and don't forget the dog has to be either harnessed in the car or in a secure are both French and Spanish police can be quite hot on this law.Kind regardsEd

I don't have a dog, but I have driven the 1500 miles door to door many times without using any toll roads.......you don't need them as the National roads in France are always improving and the roads in Spain are great! There are plenty of rest areas on the National roads in France with very easy distances between. If you're fussy about overnight stays, I would opt for the more up market hotels,  F1 is very basic!

Hi, yes the ferry “dog cabins” are always booked quickly, there are only 17 on Cap Finistere but if your dog is ok in a “ kennel”— cage type—on the upper deck then they are slightly less popular. We have done the journey from Portsmouth to Bilbao 10 times over the years with our dog in the cabin, but they need to be booked about 12 months in advance so no flexibility of changing dates. 

We usually take 3 or 4 days ( depending on the ferry times/ sailings) from the UK ( North Yorkshire) to Mazarrón/Isla Plana, only driving around 4 1/2 hours a day with a one hour stop.The only Spanish toll is around €23 . 

From Bilbao to south of Madrid is about 4 1/2 hours then another 4 1/2 down from Madrid  to Camposol/Mazarrón area. The Ibis hotel at Arganda Del Rey is dog friendly,very large spacious rooms, great shower, clean & comfortable. Dog charge is very expensive now at €15, breakfast is € 7.99 each, room about € 60.

Don’t forget in Jan/Feb it will be dark early so daylight driving hours will be more limited. ( ps one year we sailed back from Bilbao on 30th December and the sea was flat calm all the way back to Portsmouth- maybe we were just lucky)

Anyway good luck with your trip. Jaz

Always done the toll roads thru France down to camposol. 

If travelling down from either dieppe or Calais to camposol, how much longer does it take avoiding the toll roads and using the national roads?

And which is the best route down on the national roads?

HI

We never take the full toll roads and normally do the journey from Calais with one overnight stop maybe 17 /18 hours driving in total.

You can check the route with this web site

https://about-france.com/tourism/no-tolls-routes

Found it very good indeed with all the information we needed

Safe journey

ED