Spanish road trip early May
Discussion
We are looking at doing a 3 week Spanish road trip starting on 29th April.
Not sure what to do.
1. Fly to northern Spain (Girona) hire a car and set off towards San Sebastián then maybe head south.
2. Fly to Malaga hire a car and tour round southern Spain
3. Drive from northern England through France and into Spain
If I go for option 3 we can do it in either a Tesla model 3 long range or a Mini Cooper S (auto with the 2.0 engine)
We would like some warm weather so southern Spain seems more attractive for the time of year.
Any advice or tips please.
Not sure what to do.
1. Fly to northern Spain (Girona) hire a car and set off towards San Sebastián then maybe head south.
2. Fly to Malaga hire a car and tour round southern Spain
3. Drive from northern England through France and into Spain
If I go for option 3 we can do it in either a Tesla model 3 long range or a Mini Cooper S (auto with the 2.0 engine)
We would like some warm weather so southern Spain seems more attractive for the time of year.
Any advice or tips please.
Option 2 is what I’d recommend having done it regularly.
(I have driven non stop from London to Malaga before, two drivers with one sleeping while the other drove. Took 24 hours but wasn’t really fun.)
I’ve driven southern Spain in April/may. Temperatures aren’t too hot and there are some good mountain roads.
There is a good choice of rental cars from Malaga airport, the usual mini or fiat 500 convertibles as well as mustangs or bmw/Mercedes from the more expensive companies.
Last time I was there I hired a r-line vw t-roc, which was different. Only 150hp but fine for the narrow winding roads.
Malaga to ronda is a good drive, I haven’t done it for a few years.
(I have driven non stop from London to Malaga before, two drivers with one sleeping while the other drove. Took 24 hours but wasn’t really fun.)
I’ve driven southern Spain in April/may. Temperatures aren’t too hot and there are some good mountain roads.
There is a good choice of rental cars from Malaga airport, the usual mini or fiat 500 convertibles as well as mustangs or bmw/Mercedes from the more expensive companies.
Last time I was there I hired a r-line vw t-roc, which was different. Only 150hp but fine for the narrow winding roads.
Malaga to ronda is a good drive, I haven’t done it for a few years.
Many areas in the south are suffering from drought , not being reported by our media. Many think pools will be non operable this year so do a check of local news or FB groups to find out before booking so not disappointed. We are recently back from Estepona.
Local areas : no pools , no street cleaning , fountains dry. Some locations have restrictions 11pm - 6am.
Who knows if beach showers and drink fountains will be working or still wrapped up.
Reservoirs need a months rain fall to replenish.
Local areas : no pools , no street cleaning , fountains dry. Some locations have restrictions 11pm - 6am.
Who knows if beach showers and drink fountains will be working or still wrapped up.
Reservoirs need a months rain fall to replenish.
Ezra said:
If you decide option 3, there's always the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander or Bilbao, which breaks the journey.
This. Avoids 12 hours of driving thru France and you can take your own car which may offset the hire car costs against the ferry tickets. If you’re exploring a lot, with no fixed plan I’d go ICE rather than Tesla. Whistle said:
How choppy is this option as I suffer with sea sickness unfortunately.
So do I !Apparently the crossing I took at the beginning of the month was pretty bad , the stabilizers were deployed but didn't make much difference.
I had taken 2 Stugeron at 6pm and I slept through the lot. I'd also eaten that evening and no sickness.
I've taken Stugeron the last 7 years, I've never been ill on a ship since and a few rough crossings. Before that I would suffer badly or take the chunnel route. May and June are usually calmer sailings.
Definitely take the Ferry if you have no intentions of sightseeing in France , saves miles, tolls and accommodation. If you get a cabin which includes the c-club lounge its ok as works out about £50 a head , I paid £85 this year and I thought it was s
te value. They haven't changed the food choice since it began around 2019. Lots of complaints on the trip but the staff couldn't give a toss. My last bookings cost £430 each way : estate car, roof box and bikes on rear carrier.
Some Cities and towns are introducing emissions stickers in France and Spain so a bit of research needed.
indigostr said:
Some Cities and towns are introducing emissions stickers in France and Spain so a bit of research needed.
I think you need to look into having a Crit'Air sticker for France. It's very cheap, easy to get and worth it even if just driving through.https://www.france.fr/en/holiday-prep/crit-air-ant...
We're ferrying, Plymouth - Santander 1st May, will be down in the South on 3rd after a stop over just South of Burgos, just can't decide if to then head west and take our usual route down via Salamanca and Seville, or just blast it straight down via Madrid.
Going for 3 weeks, see what we can fit in inbetween friends coming down, will be doing the usual Ronda trip, probably Granada for a night, and planning to have a trip into Portugal for a couple of nights at some point during this time also
Going for 3 weeks, see what we can fit in inbetween friends coming down, will be doing the usual Ronda trip, probably Granada for a night, and planning to have a trip into Portugal for a couple of nights at some point during this time also
N Spain (Galicia and Asturias) and into N Portugal in the Mini.
Both fantastic areas, not full of Brits, scenic, good value, good food, scenic, relaxed. Fantastic, rugged Atlantic coast.
The ferry sounds good :ferry to me is a good start to a holiday.
I flew one year to Vigo and once to Porto and rented cars.
Both fantastic areas, not full of Brits, scenic, good value, good food, scenic, relaxed. Fantastic, rugged Atlantic coast.
The ferry sounds good :ferry to me is a good start to a holiday.
I flew one year to Vigo and once to Porto and rented cars.
A few years back I combined Southern Spain with a driving tour to the Monaco Classic. I drove via the tunnel through France to Monaco and spent a few days there with the group. Whilst they went back via France I headed South into Spain to Costa Blanca to meet my wife at the apartment. After spending 3-weeks on the coast we drove back through central Spain to get the ferry from Satander. Really smooth crossing and no issues for me.
The takeaway was the fantastic roads through Spain especially the hills. Not congested at all. I chose the trusty Cooper SD as I knew it would get full of sand from the beaches and had the load capacity for Mrs S to buy the usual crap. This time we ended up with a large rug that took the skill of an Origami master to fold and get it in the back
. Car was faultless throughout. Ferry is bloody expensive though!
The takeaway was the fantastic roads through Spain especially the hills. Not congested at all. I chose the trusty Cooper SD as I knew it would get full of sand from the beaches and had the load capacity for Mrs S to buy the usual crap. This time we ended up with a large rug that took the skill of an Origami master to fold and get it in the back
. Car was faultless throughout. Ferry is bloody expensive though!Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff