france spain road conditions & septembera good time?

luckyirish

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hi newbie here , were planning our first trip to france & hopefuly spain if things work out alright in early september i have one or two questions if anyone could be so kind to pass on their thaughts on it!
1: its a mazda bongo campervan we have with a aftermarket front bumper (lower than standard bumper) which doesnt hit here in ireland or when i had it in england just wondering are france or spains roads less quality as were planing on driving on the secondary roads to dodge the tolls:)?
2:been reading up on spain and france here in september is it as quiet as some say? do some resorts close?
 
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luckyirish said:
hi newbie here , were planning my first trip to france & hopefuly spain if things work out alright in early september i have one or two questions if anyone could be so kind to pass on their thaughts on it!
1: its a mazda bongo campervan we have with a aftermarket front bumper (lower than standard bumper) which doesnt hit here in ireland or when i had it in england just wondering are france or spains roads less quality as were planing on driving on the secondary roads to dodge the tolls:)?
2:been reading up on spain and france here in september is it as quiet as some say? do some resorts closed?
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roads are better than the uk, have no fear

september still has most things open , quiet as school holidays are finished
 
Our VW had a lowered front end and we had no problems as the roads are better than here.:drive:Have fun
 
The only thing to look out for is the Spanish Sleeping Policeman, Road Hump etc. If you pass through towns you'll come across many of these and there's no set standard height or approach/depart angles, which results in some being comparable to Ben Nevis! Look out for the sign "Banda Sonora".
 
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More chance damaging a bumper getting on/ off the ferry than on French roads.

September is stii in season though things are winding down, good news is a lot of the Aires that charge stop doing so at the beginning of September

Channa
 
spain france roads & travel in September

hi thanks for the replys ! had the same problem with the ferry over just took it easy on&off! was looking at the vw t25 i think allot came with a low front bumper kit so thought they would of had the same problem!
 
Byronic said:
The only thing to look out for is the Spanish Sleeping Policeman, Road Hump etc. If you pass through towns you'll come across many of these and there's no set standard height or approach/depart angles, which results in some being comparable to Ben Nevis! Look out for the sign "Banda Sonora".
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Sounds like some of the ones we have here in UK as well.............:mad2:
 
As others have said the roads are better in France than in UK.

I think it is fair to say that most campsites are open till the end of September with some staying open all year - especially further down south - but hey we are wildcampers and an aire will do if we can't wild !!.

We are on our way south on the 17th September as well - send us a photo of your m/h and we will look out for you.
 
One thing to look out for in Spain when parking up is that in many streets the kerbs are VERY high. Take care if you have to park in tight. Generally speaking though, you'll have no problems.
 
BrianG said:
One thing to look out for in Spain when parking up is that in many streets the kerbs are VERY high. Take care if you have to park in tight. Generally speaking though, you'll have no problems.
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thanks for that brian ill get the co-pilot to help me out :)
 
Ferry Advice needed

Hi we are also planning to travel to Spain in September but have been quoted almost £1000 to cross Portsmouth to Santander any ideas or sites to get this cheaper or should we just pay up ?
 
Why not do the tunnel then have a nice drive down through France lovely drive down no need to rush :wave:
 
We have done that trip on bike in 09 and had rain from home right down to Pyrenees,promised the boss sunshine this trip,were we just unlucky or is that the norm in France in sept?
 
you can get the price down by using plymouth and also not booking cabins on some boats . i never have a cabin . always somewhere to get a kip .dont like the recliners but you have to have one if no cabin . later in the year it drops to about 600 . from plymouth that is . its cheaper for me to get the ferry to santander than drive up to dover for a cheap ferry then all the way through france . plus in 24 hrs you are there .
off the ferry turn right follow the coast its lovely . best part of spain i reckon.
 
You can buy the French equivalent of the ordnance survey road map book, it's called IGN (institut geographique national or something similar) it's about ten squids (or aeros). That has all the motorways shown clearly as either 'peage' or 'free' - really useful if you prefer maps to satnav and great if you want to see the free routes at a glance.

Not sure if your co-pilot satnav has it but on tomtom you can route plan 'Avoid Tolls' but select 'Include Motorways' - that will avoid all the peages.

Either way, staying off toll roads and using the RN's (Route Nationale) or local roads is no problem.
 
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