Planning my first major road trip to Salou, but have no idea what on earth i'm doing? Please help!

kp64zl · Mar 15, 2019

Ksar-el-kebir said:
If you take the ferry, Economie is not a good idea with children. Great crew and cabin staff but nothing to do.

Hi @Ksar-el-kebir -- I'm thinking of this too -- what is there 'to do' on the normal (non-economie) ferry's please? (for children)

Ksar-el-kebir · Mar 15, 2019

kp64zl said:
Hi @Ksar-el-kebir -- I'm thinking of this too -- what is there 'to do' on the normal (non-economie) ferry's please? (for children)

Usually there is a soft play area, cartoons etc and quite often an entertainer on Brittany Ferries.

briwy · Mar 15, 2019

Ksar-el-kebir said:
If you take the ferry, Economie is not a good idea with children. Great crew and cabin staff but nothing to do.

Not just that but your Cali will be open deck so gets plastered on salt.

David Marsh · Mar 15, 2019

I've give up. I'm going through the tunnel tomorrow afternoon and driving down without using toll roads to 12578 Cervera del Maestre in Spain. I'll just take my time, have the odd brew hither and yon plus a few tasty nosebags. Probably use a few Aires. Effie the effin' dog has her coat packed just in case there a touch of snow getting over the hills into Spain.

briwy · Mar 15, 2019

David. No snow over the Pyrenees into Spain. Just driven down to Barcelona from our place at Cauterets through the Bielsa tunnel. Used this a lot and recommend it. Stunning road down on the Spanish side. Check the weather though, no snow at our house today but two weeks ago there was a metre there so it can change rapidly. You can check if the tunnel is open online. 23 degrees here today

David Marsh · Mar 15, 2019

briwy said:
David. No snow over the Pyrenees into Spain. Just driven down to Barcelona from our place at Cauterets through the Bielsa tunnel. Used this a lot and recommend it. Stunning road down on the Spanish side. Check the weather though, no snow at our house today but two weeks ago there was a metre there so it can change rapidly. You can check if the tunnel is open online. 23 degrees here today

Thanks for that, we use the Bielsa sometimes and only once in the last seventeen years have we had to really watch the ice. We've only had snow in our village twice in the last hundred years....so they say.....we've seen it once.....it lasted about twenty minutes. Mind you, we are going this time in an Auto-Sleepers rear wheel drive. Bit more room for slumming it.

LemonDrop · Mar 15, 2019

kp64zl said:
Hi @Ksar-el-kebir -- I'm thinking of this too -- what is there 'to do' on the normal (non-economie) ferry's please? (for children)

Brittany Ferries is brilliant for kids. Ours are 7 and 9 and have grown out of the soft play (thank goodness as it is complete anarchy in there :Nailbiting

). But they do like the entertainer in the bar. Again pretty chaotic and very loud, especially the "disco" bit at the end but hey, if they're happy, we're happy! There is a cinema on-board (never been, tickets sell out straight away; as soon as people board they start queuing and we're not that organised). We find having a wander round the ship exploring all the decks (a fave is going right up to the top deck), watching while we leave port etc. takes up a fair bit of time and once you've had something to eat there is really not that much time left. Top-tip if you can afford it is to get a cabin. We always end up spending an hour or two relaxing with a cup of tea in the cabin to escape the complete mayhem that is a Brittany Ferry in the school holidays.

Tom Rae · Mar 15, 2019

briwy said:
Just one thing. I wouldn't advise driving into Barcelona at that time of year. Better to get on a site a few miles out and get the train orobus in. My daughter lives in Barcelona so we drive down fairly regularly and can vouch that the Catalan drivers are dreadful. Go down or back over the Pyrenees. Lots of fabulous routes. Personally I would keep away from Andorra though, just a concrete jungle nowadays.

Can I suggest Villanova Park at Villanova le Geltru, very nice site, loads of facilities and a bus into Barcelona from the door!

Just back, 3300 miles, the California is superb for just such a jaunt, enjoy.

Tom

Tom Rae · Mar 16, 2019

Can I also suggest the ACSI app? Looking through the ACSI map then books can be a pain to find a site open and with the facilities you want but the app has a filter and you can set the criteria you need and it will show you what is available locally including aires. We found it very useful.

Tom

Esandar#1 · Jul 4, 2023

briwy said:
Just one thing. I wouldn't advise driving into Barcelona at that time of year. Better to get on a site a few miles out and get the train orobus in. My daughter lives in Barcelona so we drive down fairly regularly and can vouch that the Catalan drivers are dreadful. Go down or back over the Pyrenees. Lots of fabulous routes. Personally I would keep away from Andorra though, just a concrete jungle nowadays.

Hi Briwy,
Hoping you may be able to offer us some advice based on the above post and your implied knowledge of the Pyrenees and the surrounding areas...

We are planning a trip this July via Paris (if the riots have stopped) then to Bordeaux, SW coast of France to Biarritz, then onto to Barcelona via a night in the Pyrenees and maybe via Gulf of Roses. We then plan to take a ferry to Majorca for a week, before coming back via Santander to the UK.

We have 21 days and have done 2x 21 trips to Europe before, but further to the East into Italy etc. My wife and I have been to Barcelona before but our boys (18 &16) have not, so I completely get your suggestion of staying outside and using public transport to go into the city.

Any suggestions or pointers would be most appreciated!
Thanks in anticipation
Ian

Barbara · Jul 4, 2023

Esandar#1 said:
Hi Briwy,
Hoping you may be able to offer us some advice based on the above post and your implied knowledge of the Pyrenees and the surrounding areas...

We are planning a trip this July via Paris (if the riots have stopped) then to Bordeaux, SW coast of France to Biarritz, then onto to Barcelona via a night in the Pyrenees and maybe via Gulf of Roses. We then plan to take a ferry to Majorca for a week, before coming back via Santander to the UK.

We have 21 days and have done 2x 21 trips to Europe before, but further to the East into Italy etc. My wife and I have been to Barcelona before but our boys (18 &16) have not, so I completely get your suggestion of staying outside and using public transport to go into the city.

Any suggestions or pointers would be most appreciated!
Thanks in anticipation
Ian

Be aware of Barcelona Clean air zone:

What is the Barcelona Ring Roads Low Emission Zone?

The Low Emission Zone (LEZ) of Barcelona is a protected area that includes the entire municipal area of Barcelona, except for the Vallvidrera, Tibidabo, and Les Planes neighborhoods, as well as the industrial Free Zone.

ajuntament.barcelona.cat

briwy · Jul 4, 2023

Hi Esandar.
Sounds like a nice trip. Bordeaux is a very nice stop for a day before Biarritz.

Bielsa tunnel entrance, French side. We are the dark Blue Cali. Could overnight here if you wished.

If you want to cross via the high mountains then I would suggest you take the A64 towards Toulouse and turn off south at Sortie16 towards Saint Lary (there is an Aire here in the town centre which might be handy for an overnight, or you could drive up to the ski area here and stay in the car park) and on up into the mountains. This will lead to the Bielsa tunnel and then on down through some lovely scenery to join the A22 motorway west of Lleida and then the motorway to Barcelona.
I can't help with campsites around Barcelona as we always stay with my daughter but there are plenty to choose from. Roses is a way up the coast and woud add quite a bit of mileage. Sitges is a very nice seaside place west of Barcelona and is on the railway line to Barcelona.
I asked my daughter about the LEZ and she said no one seems to bother with it. She has lived there for about five years and never registered without any problems.
Hope you have a good time.

Esandar#1 · Jul 5, 2023

briwy said:
Hi Esandar.
Sounds like a nice trip. Bordeaux is a very nice stop for a day before Biarritz.

Bielsa tunnel entrance, French side. We are the dark Blue Cali. Could overnight here if you wished.
View attachment 110622If you want to cross via the high mountains then I would suggest you take the A64 towards Toulouse and turn off south at Sortie16 towards Saint Lary (there is an Aire here in the town centre which might be handy for an overnight, or you could drive up to the ski area here and stay in the car park) and on up into the mountains. This will lead to the Bielsa tunnel and then on down through some lovely scenery to join the A22 motorway west of Lleida and then the motorway to Barcelona.
I can't help with campsites around Barcelona as we always stay with my daughter but there are plenty to choose from. Roses is a way up the coast and woud add quite a bit of mileage. Sitges is a very nice seaside place west of Barcelona and is on the railway line to Barcelona.
I asked my daughter about the LEZ and she said no one seems to bother with it. She has lived there for about five years and never registered without any problems.
Hope you have a good time.

Thanks Briwy,

That's great advice, as we had actually found (and were contemplating) a stop over at Col Cap De Long, which is just off that high mountain pass. We did a night at Tre Cime in the Dolomites and it was spectacular seeing the sun sink and feeling the temperature drop, and we did a stunning walk next day, so this would be similar!

Tre Cime link: https://www.thecommonwanderer.com/blog/tre-cime-di-lavaredo-guide

I tried to register for the Barcelona LEZ yesterday but they don't make it easy!!!!