Advice on pyrenese at the end of the month
 

Due to a whole bunch of stuff happening, it looks like I may have to move my 12 day trip to Barcelona from next may to this month!

I have a couple of questions;
1 - Will it be miserable weather driving through the pyrenese at the end of sept/begining of oct?
2 - I am planning on using the portsmouth/santander crossing - it seems like the cheapest option (rather than going through france - extra petrol time spent ect). Does it make sense to book a reclining seat and upgrade on the boat to a cabin?
3 - The main reason for the trip (other than visiting my brother in Barcelona) is to do some wild camping en route. How doable is roadside camping in the pyrenese on the way to Barcelona?

Thanks in advance

Marc

The weather should be good. I've been in early November and it varied between winter up on the peaks to autumn on the way down and summer at the bottom, three seasons in the space of a two hour ride.
I've done the Portsmouth to Bilbao crossing and will now always ride through France. It's the same duration, cheaper and far more enjoyable, unless you like being stuck on an over-priced, floating pub.
Don't know about wild-camping but there is a good campsite at Eratzu at the western end of the range. It's quite cheap and you don't have to s*** in the woods, or is that the attraction of wild camping?

what route do you take through France? I'm not a big fan of the motorway.

Marc

You MUST MUST ride the N-152 to the south of Andorra through Ripoll.
Then head to the coast - Sant Feliu De Guixols. Take the coast road through Tossa to Lloret Dr Mar.

2 of the most superb roads in Europe....honest!

Look at the LD lines Portsmouth/Le Havre route. It's overnight and you get to France at 8am. This gives you a full day to head south. Head to Le Mans and Tours then pick up the N10 to Bordeaux and Biarritz. The N10 is mainly dual carriage but it's not too boring and gets you south to the good stuff quickly. An easy 2 days, which is the same as the Santander ferry. Fuel is currently 1.30-1.40 Euro's which makes it a bit pricey for us Brits but Hey, C'est la vie!

I've just come back up from the Pyrenees using this route avoiding the toll sections. If you only use D roads it will take an extra day.

I don't know what the weather will be like next month but it was in the 90's 2 weeks ago.:Beach:

Good luck. :scooter:

i think Dover ->Boulogne makes more sense to me - I live in Kent. Its £39 return, and the day or two travel is probably worth it, in retrospect.

Where did you camp BTW? Did you have any problems finding places in the mountains?

Marc

a possible route
 

Hi
from boulogne, take the rn1 to abbeville. on teh periphique pick up onto the a28 to Rouen, Follow the signs a13 louviers paris, get off at louviers (80 cents) follow the A54/n154 to evereux and past. atthe end there is a roundabout. turn left towards Dreux (rn12) at dreux on the periphique pick up teh rn 154 again for Chartres, on teh periphique there pick up teh rn10 south, and stay on that to bordeaux. From bordeaux periphique pick up the A63 biarritz. At junction 9 not far from biaritz get off teh a63 onto teh d12. follow the road south through urt to cambo les baines an on towards st jean de pied por there is a good campsite on this bit, they have a pool and are on the right as you go around a left hand bend. From st jean is only a couple miles to goover the border to spain, just after auritz/burguete turn left onto the n140..
enjoy.............just follow the foothills of the pyrenees east. Is wonderful riding.

Thanks for that - very detailed.
I may be able to use a friend's flat in Biaritz, so that could work out quite well.

Would you say that the Boulogne -> Biaritz step could be done with one stop over?

Two days would be about right for the trip through France. You're lucky having somewhere to stay in Biaritz, it's a lovely place but bloody expensive to camp in the area.

Marc. If you find you need some B&B around Parthenay give OldBMW a PM (once you've got 8 posts) I'm sure he'll be able to help you out!

As for camping I just find somewhere at the end of the day. If I like the area or the site I may stay a week. I've found a few good places like this. The mountains are good for camping because people walk there in the summer and ski in the winter. Your problem will be that it's the end of the season and a lot of places will be closed. Try this website for sites open all year...

Campsites and Caravan Parks Open All Year - UK Camp Site Articles

Most towns will have a municipal site some of which are exellent. I stayed on the municipal site in Beaumont sur Sarthe (25 kms north of Le Mans) and it was a good 3 star site and only 5 Euro's a night. Most places were 8 to 12 Euro's a night.

Good luck.

It is another reason I sent him to cambo les bains, was 10 euros a night. Also the entire route only uses 80 cents worth of peage, coming out of Rouen, it saves nearly an hour going through the town and side roads though and in my view is worth it.
It is possible to come via my place, by Taking the rn12 west after Evereux to mortagne sur peche, then down to Le mans to Arnage, following the d road to Samur, pretty country. From Samur to me is an hour or less down the D938. From here you can pick up on the Rn10 south to Bordeaux as before. Is a long day to us, and a short day to The pyrenees after.

There's my first problem - on google maps, I can't even see the RN1!

As the french build more motorways many of the old A class roads (RN Route national) are being reclassified. Often they become a 'd' for Departmental road with a bigger number that incorporates the old RN number
At that point, the RN1 has been redesignated D1001. Note departmental roads change their numbers as they change departments. This can be very confusing. Luckliy most of these changes occur out in the country on a straight bit.
sometimes as you change departments, the road reverts to its old rn designation, sometimes to a different departmental number.

Life is so much easier with a GPS. But you really need a map as well so you know where you're heading. The good news is that if you just read the road signs and head to the next big town on your route it will work out. The road signs are very good IMHO. So a simple list of towns should be enough along with a decent map. Usually the D road numbers change the first digit but the second two remain the same. The 727 will become the 927 as it goes into another department, you soon get the hang of it.

yep, will be taking my GPS60cx - but I find that if you let it tell you where to go, you end up taking some very odd routes.

Hopefully I can get through France quickly and get on with the business of being in the Pyreneese. I've only got 11 days, so dont want to spend to long messing around on french roads.

Marc