Travelling through France and down to Southern Spain in Winter

[JacquieO]

Hi,
We are planning to head to Alicante during November/December. Does anyone know what the travelling conditions are like then? We are flexible about the travel dates... We are also flexible on the route. Could possibly go down Western side of France and travel over Spain, or head to Perpignan and go along the Spain Costas. Anyone does this during the Winter?

 

[joeby]

we went to Spain in mid December 2009, and soon as we got of the ferry at Dunkerque at 1am we were in a snow blizzard , we just kept to the main motorway and it did start to clear as we approached Paris so just after Paris we stopped in the services for a sleep , when we woke later ,it was a white out , but i could see the traffic still moving on the road , so i put the car into 4 wheel drive and made our way onto the road there was one lane clear , but that didnt stop lorries thundering past in the unclear sections , as we got further along we slowed down to 10 mph for a few hours , there were lorries jacknifed on the other side of the motorway , then we came to the cause of us slowing down a lorry had jacknifed into another lorry ,a transit van had spun around and was facing us but not in our lane ,2 cars were in a ditch , after that we started moving a lot better a lot the of aires were blocked by lorries that couldnt get in beacause of the snow and they couldnt reverse out because there wheels were spinning , we stopped at another service area for the night which said caravans only , but luckily i parked alongside a kerb , i woke later and looked out the window and couldnt see anything , so i opened the door ,it would only open 9 inches , there was a lorry parked 9 inches from our caravan wall , we were trapped , i had a small step ladder under the bed so i lowered the ladder out of the window and climbed out then i had to clean the car off it was looking like an igloo , so pulled forward and let my wife out and continued our journey , now we had a new problem the wiper blades were freezing even with screen blower full on , so we had to stop at every service station and bash the blades against the screen , i was still living in hope that it would when we got to Millau bridge , but it was just as bad , my next fear was the steep hills and twisty bends by the pyrinees , but luckily shortly after the bridge the snow had dissappeared , but it was still minus 8 approaching Barcelona , it was the most horrendouse car journey i have experienced in 45 years of driving , other people who tried to leave the motorway to seek sanctuary in sites got stuck , because the roads after the motorway were not clear , some were held up for a week , but that winter was an exception we have been at the same time before and sailed through , but the french do keep the traffic moving , not like here where it comes to stanstill

 

[JacquieO]

Wow!! If THAT didn't put you (or me) off towing a caravan during the Winter, I don't know what will! That must have been one hell of an adventure! We travelled down that way last October via The Apls (thanks SatNav) but nothing beats your story! How often have you done that journey during those months and how often have you encountered bad weather?

 

[gmcnton]

Hi,
I thought that you had had enough of Spain after last year.
When we go there it is via Rouen and Chartres with 1st stop Poiters, 2nd Zarautz, then down to just north of Valencia cannot remember the site and then to Javea. We do not use the toll road but use the N routes apart from just entering Spain, it is mostly dual carraigeway all the way.

 

[joeby]

we have made that trip several times ,but the last one was the worst ,

 

[JacquieO]

Thanks.... all this information is truly helpful. I'll let you know how we get on (if you don't read about it in the papers first!)

 

[bribes]

Hi we have spent 5 winters in Spain { with a motorhome} and I wouldnt even think..of traveling through France..Reason,weather ,It can be pretty awful,also it is just as expensive as going by ferry ,Portsmouth to Spain .We have had the odd f orce 10 to contend with ,but thats part of the fun.

 

[Gafferbill]

…..if you go the route joeboy used then you are asking for trouble.
The route approaches 2000mtrs in altitude in some places meaning snow is likely in winter.
If using Calais then use Rouen /Chartre/ N10/ Bordeaux then cross the border and down through Spain to your destination.
Even Madrid had light snow during January of this year!

 

[keithp]

I must say the post by joeboy would have put me off travelling through France at that time of year if i hadn't done it.
I took my 2 year old son and wife to the French Alps for Christmas and New year last year.And although the weather was very bad (it was everywhere) we stuck to motorways and main roads and had no trouble at all. We had snow from Calais all the way down to Lyon , but with a little care and planning all was fine.In fact i would say that the closer we got to the Alps and the proper snow the better things were(driving wise).I saw more problems this side of the channel than on the other. We even had to stop an extra day as we awoke to 2.5 foot of snow on the day we were to travel home, but as soon as we got to the main roads there were no problems.
Personally i think the major problem when towing is the wind not snow or rain.

It was that bad last year we are going again in Feb!!!!