driving from the uk

Hi all, i know this has been asked before so hear goes, me and my son are going to drive our transit van from the uk to murcia spain via the channel tunnel, as we now have an appartment on hasienda riqulma, wich we got without any probs due i am sure to all the great advice given on this forum (thanks) i would just like to get an idea of the best route, the cost of the tolls and maybe the fuel cost it is a 2 litre transit, also  the best times of the day to travel and any other hints would be great as this is the first time for us to do this but we will be making a good saving on the cost of furniture but above all we can get the job done instead of flying back and forward and not getting anywere because of one thing or another.

                                                                  regards john

Hi John, there are a lot of different routes that have been posted up previously and I'll link to one of my own soon as I can find it. but before you jump in I'm going to say I'm not totally convinced you'll be "making a good saving on the cost of furniture"?

As far as I understand, the average transit can (theoretically) takes around 5 cubic metres of storage, but in practical terms with random sizes etc I would think you'll be lucky to get much over 3 cubic metres in.

I know for a fact you can get 3 cubic metres shipped door to door (with one of the larger arctic carriers) for less than £300 and each additional cubic metre is about £75 (so 5 cubic metres would cost you around £450).

I've only driven once myself and although that was in reasonable comfort I certainly wouldn't be busting a gut to do it again! And the thought of driving a transit - no way!! 

I don't know your route but for me it would be approx 1800 miles and with diesel at £1.40 a litre (if you're lucky) thats £6.36 a gallon so at 50mpg I'd get through 36 gallons (36 x £6.36 = £228.96) .. and of course same again to get home!

Transit with a full load would cost at least twice as much so you'll be close to a £1000 before you even get your toll money out! 

Courier with an artic - it's a no-brainer. I have my own mileages/costs saved on a pdf document (aint I sad), if you'd care to pm me an email address be happy to send it to you.

 hi john i take the ferry to santander get on the motorway and away they are great not much traffic except at rush hour around 8pm so stop for a meal.

there are cafes and petrol stations about every ten miles they are dead straight so hardley have to do anything no tolls great sign posting and is much shorter distance than through france a quite a bit cheaper

i am near malaga and takes 2 days easy driving

Hi Growler,

Who are these couriers you use? Everyone was trying to charge me double that for 5 cubic metres.

much appreciated if you could send me the contacts. Cheers.

Don't want to be accused of promotion etc rodders so to be on safe side I've just pm'd you the details.

I've used them twice now and all's gone like clockwork.

There is a company who will hire a transit van one way from Uk to Spain from they claim from £115 per day.  I can PM details if you want.

Hi John,

For the transport of this van many operators will class it as ''freight'' because of the dimensions/weight and content.

Providing the conent is not commercial/ for bussiness use (which doesn;t seem to be as you mentioned trasporting home goods), it should be fine. Now for the dimensions, each ferry operator has different restrictions, it might be worth contacting them and asking what the height/length limit is. If it does exceed this maybe look into a different route with one that doesn't (might end up being more of an adventure too!)

I hope this has helped!

Kind Regards,

Gina

Hi DonLochnager

Could you pm me the details of this company please? Many thanks.