Driving to Spain, - Stopover etc

Hi,

Im driving to Spain (near Barcelona) from Kent in UK in a couple of weeks & was just wondering what would be the preferred route to take? I've heard that driving down to the west of Paris is a good route but have also heard Paris can be a nightmare with the traffic at times so is it best to avoid that? I am looking to do the journey over two days, - a Friday afternoon and Saturday but also want to get there as quick as possible so not looking for scenic or toll avoiding routes or anything like that

I will also be looking fro a stopover somewhere & was wondering if anyone had any recommendations, - we will probably be leaving on a Friday afternoon so getting the ferry at around 3-4ish, & then drive down from there probably for around 3-4 hours so I guess we will be looking to stop somewhere near Paris, - does anyone know of any nice places where we can stop & maybe go for a meal somewhere? (We are on a fairly tight budget so not looking for expensive accomodation, just somewhere cheapish & easily accessible from motorway, - ive heard of ETAP hotels but not sure what these are like?)

Any info/help/advice is much appreciated.

Hi Lee

I can recommed using Campaniles excellent value for money.

Thanks Roddy, - I will have a look into those. I am now looking at stopping over in the Chartres area so does anyone know anywhere around there that would make for a good cheap overnight stay?

As for the route, I was thinking of driving from Boulogne on Friday afternoon, down through Rouen and on to Chartres for an overnight stop so as to avoid Paris.

From there on Saturday, I would carry on down through Orleans, Bourges & Clermont Ferrand etc, - has anyone taken this route who can tell me if its any good?

Thanks for any help/info

Hi Lee

Have a look at this.

http://webbooking.louvre-hotels.fr/CA/default.aspx?t=bc3d1c40fb3b9&s=CA&l=en-GB

Hi, we drove down to the Costa del Sol last xmas, loved it soooooo much, doing it again this year. Wouldnt reccomend Etap, we stayed in 2, and only ventured into the second one because we'd already booked. Have a look at the IBIS chain, theyre much better and not much in it pricewise. We also got a fantastic deal at Holiday Inn Express, these are very nice and we stopped in Madrid for 49 euros including all you can eat breakfast, that was for the two of us. Have a great trip

hi lee i have done the trip 3 times to my mate daves place just outside llorett,I am also from kent first time we left home in dartford at 6pm on friday afternoon got the ferry to calais and drove the e15 route past reims and on down to lyon then droped down the coast and was sitting on the beach in llorett at 11am .I prefered this route to the via-duct route mainly because it is an easier drive without the stint done the mountain which slows you down.the via duct route does have some really nice views.

 Hi Lee

The route you have chosen is a good route.  www.hotels.com is good for choice or google the route and then insert hotels in the search button and hey presto you can see what hotels are on the route!

You can checkout the revues on trip advisor.

Hope this helps. KP