France and Spain
August and September 2024

This motorhome trek around France and Spain was our attempt at an alternative way of travelling to Spain because we are sick of Brittany Ferries operating their new ferry ships are reduced speed which means the journey from the UK to Spain takes 33 hours instead of 18 hours.

Our intention was to drive to Folkstone, cross the Channel via Le Shuttle then drive through France to Spain by the fastest route, possibly using the Peage (toll roads) in France. The tour began well, but as so often happens we deviated from our plan to visit some Roman remains in the south east of France and used precious time there.

Spain was excellent, as usual, but we had booked a return crossing from Santander, on the older Brittany Ferries ship the Pont Aven, because it travels so much faster than the new ferries. Green travel is a wonderful aspiration, but when that means spending two nights on the ferry and 33 hours instead of 18 hours, (nearly double) we’re not interested.

Booking a return is not our normal way of organising a holiday, we go then think about coming back when the mood takes us, a return crossing puts a finite end to our travels and we’re reluctant to do that.

We visited San Sebastian in northern Spain by train. We have visited several large cities by train instead of trying to drive into the city in our motorhome. On a recent trek we took the train into Prague. There are several reasons why we take the train into popular cities, the big one is that it’s never easy to park a large vehicle, 6.5m long, 2.35m wide and 3m tall, far too many parking areas only cater for cars, and more than once we have been directed to underground parking lots with headroom of around 2.5m. The roads are often unsuitable too, especially the older cities. There are also risks of vandalism and theft, motorhomes parked in tourist cities are often targeted by thieves. Finally, it’s nice to get out of the motorhome and take the train for a change, in Europe it’s usually very cheap too.

Follow our route and click on the overnight stops for more information about our motorhome travel and opinions.

Summary of our tour through France and Northern Spain 2024