Spanish French border

[Ferrodo]

Good morning all. This year we will be driving up from Bilbao into France, first stop will be Bordeaux. This will be a first for us so no experience of crossing the border. Would anyone who has done this be so kind as to share any advice.
Best regards
R

 

[Buckman]

Good morning all. This year we will be driving up from Bilbao into France, first stop will be Bordeaux. This will be a first for us so no experience of crossing the border. Would anyone who has done this be so kind as to share any advice.
Best regards
R

There is no advice to give because there is no border control on the roads. It is like driving from London to Southampton except that the road is probably in a better condition. LOL!

Enjoy the trip!

 

[otherclive]

Once in the Schengen area you can drive without border check.

 

[Gafferbill]

......border checks are very unlikely but a border still exists with different rules in each country. You should be aware of different driving regulations if you are not already familiar. Almost certainly petrol and diesel prices will be cheaper in Spain.

 

[Raywood]

The only thing we found on the border was a pay station for the motorway as it changed to a different operator.

 

[Woodentop]

Having driven that road myself the one catch is that as you get nearer and nearer to the border so the signing for the border gets less and less. When you get to Irun it is non existent! Hope you have a good GPS! Also Bilbao to Bordeaux is around 340Km or about 210miles and it is not easy driving.

There are many itinerants around Bordeaux so whilst it is an interesting city you might do well to find a campsite outside its boundaries. There is a very good tram service around the whole Bordeaux area. Don't forget to visit St Emilion - lovely town and superb (mostly red) wine E of the City, and the Medoc wine region on the west bank of the Girande but effectively N or NNW of the city.

 

[Ferrodo]

Thanks all for your valued input. I just wasn’t sure due to that since brexit us Brits are now all foreigners. I have booked a site outside of Bordeaux I stay away from cities when I have the van on the back. When you say not easy driving, would you care to expand that statement.
Regards

 

[audiorob]

If you Google ‘driving in Europe’ you will find complete information of requirements of each country - when I tried the first two were RAC and gov.Uk listed with advice and checklists. Enjoy your grand trip!

 

[Gafferbill]

When you say not easy driving, would you care to expand that statement.
Regards

..........the AP-8 in the border area is a very busy dual carriage motorway. The road is undulating with bends and carries a lot of heavy goods vehicles and they don't hang about.
If it raining the spray doesn't help.
IMO maintaining a good gap is very important on this road.
Basically the road will require a very high level of concentration.

 

[Ferrodo]

..........the AP-8 in the border area is a very busy dual carriage motorway. The road is undulating with bends and carries a lot of heavy goods vehicles and they don't hang about.
If it raining the spray doesn't help.
IMO maintaining a good gap is very important on this road.
Basically the road will require a very high level of concentration.

Okay thanks very much for the heads up. Always good to know what’s in store.
Much appreciated
R