Euro road trip – looking for advice please
#22
Oddly enough, you will see a lot of the same toll portals as in Portugal over French motorways and big highways. They were installed to collect tolls from international trucks, but they were never activated because they were too controversial. Maybe some day...
#25
Join Date: Dec 2008
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While I too love to drive, you're trying to visit too many places and drive way too far in fifteen days IMO. I'd take the train to Lyon, if not to Marseilles--as Bilbo says, Monaco is not all that great and is VERY difficult to drive in.
Another idea would be to train to Nice, then backtrack east to a smaller town like Villefranche-sur-Mer. Then drive along the coast--lots of beautiful towns, drive is not difficult, etc. You might want to detour to Arles and Nimes and Carcasonne on the way west.
That way, you can go a bit slower and enjoy the drive, perhaps get an app (Late Rooms, for example) that will let you book lodging for the nite when you get in the area rather than having to make all your reservations far in advance and then race or dawdle to the next lodging.
Another idea would be to train to Nice, then backtrack east to a smaller town like Villefranche-sur-Mer. Then drive along the coast--lots of beautiful towns, drive is not difficult, etc. You might want to detour to Arles and Nimes and Carcasonne on the way west.
That way, you can go a bit slower and enjoy the drive, perhaps get an app (Late Rooms, for example) that will let you book lodging for the nite when you get in the area rather than having to make all your reservations far in advance and then race or dawdle to the next lodging.
#26
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We've changed out route and are now looking for places to stop between Lisbon and Barcelona. According to google maps we can go one of 3 ways (all similar drive times):
1- Head north east on the E-80 through Salamanca and Valladolid, then at Miranda de Ebro take the AP-68 south east to Zaragoza, then on to Barcelona from there.
2- Go through Madrid to Zaragoza then on to Barcelona from there.
3- Go south of Madrid through Tomelloso, on to Valencia, then up the coastline to Barcelona.
We've decided we want to see Zaragoza so that rules out option 3.
Can anyone recommend which out of the fist 2 routes has the nicest places to stop over for a couple of days? And can anyone recommend the actual places along these routes which are worth seeing?
We have both seen Madrid already, so if we end up going with option 2, we would be looking for places to stop other than Madrid.
1- Head north east on the E-80 through Salamanca and Valladolid, then at Miranda de Ebro take the AP-68 south east to Zaragoza, then on to Barcelona from there.
2- Go through Madrid to Zaragoza then on to Barcelona from there.
3- Go south of Madrid through Tomelloso, on to Valencia, then up the coastline to Barcelona.
We've decided we want to see Zaragoza so that rules out option 3.
Can anyone recommend which out of the fist 2 routes has the nicest places to stop over for a couple of days? And can anyone recommend the actual places along these routes which are worth seeing?
We have both seen Madrid already, so if we end up going with option 2, we would be looking for places to stop other than Madrid.
#27
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After Montpellier is Carcassonne -- an old walled town:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcassonne
It seems you are trying to cover too much ground in too little time, but I do agree about the car vs. train argument. I really hate dragging my luggage around with me. Then once you get to your destination, you have to stuff it into a cab anyway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcassonne
It seems you are trying to cover too much ground in too little time, but I do agree about the car vs. train argument. I really hate dragging my luggage around with me. Then once you get to your destination, you have to stuff it into a cab anyway.