thought about it last year..ran it through route finder and discovered that with an 8hr driving day at average speeds it was going to take two and a half days booked a flight i have herd of people driving straight through in 18 hrs to my mind extremely dangerous without sufficient rest and you need to maintain max speed all the way

18 hours is going some thats for sure!

Sept. 1985 I drove a Transit minibus with 5 of us aboard from Santander to Fuengirola with one meal stop just south of Madrid. It took 15 hrs and that was before there were any motorways.

Husband and I drove from Northern England to Torremolinos about 6 years ago. For us, it was never a race against time but time well spent. We managed to elongate the best posted time of 18 hours into 9 days in France and Spain, stopping a couple of nights apiece in places of interest. Unless the journey is part of the holiday, I'd rather spend an extra few quid on a charter flight than put ourselves through a marhathon road runner experience,

hi

Thanks for your advice, when I attempt this journey! I will be driving with another driver and I will be using tolls, I just wondered if it will be realistic to do the journey with on stop over?

Used to know someone who did Basingstoke to Malaga couple of times a year. Two drivers, no stops other than petrol stops, toll motorways wherever possible and they told me it never took more than 24 hours.

Driving hours 19-23 depending whether you are in hurry.From London area that is.Dont know where you are.Once through Eurotunnel it is about 9 thro France and 9 from Northern Spain down to Malaga.Know lots of people who do it regularly and can do 18 hours and only have wee breaks.But an overnight stop better.Fuel one third cheaper since i done it last year so cheaper.Lots of tolls but they are cheaper out of peak summer season.It is about 1500 miles.Hope this helps.Bill D.

yes thats very encouraging

Have driven Gibraltar-Bilbao.

One stopover (nite) south of Madrid.

Roads on the autostrada are generally good and not always busy (and I dont remember but I think the tolls were very reasonable) - in fact much less stressful that driving ANYWHERE in the UK in my opinion.

Would not hesitate in doing the journey.

Nivsy

Drive this every year and do it in 2 - 12 hours stints with one driver and one back seat passenger. Sticking to the speed limits, always, as the fines are horrendous. Impossible in 18 hours to do Malaga to Northern French ports if you stick to them.
We are able to sleep in the vehicle so don't have to bother about finding hotels and stopping early. Take all our food in car fridge and have a kettle and supply of water etc. Both these plug into the cigarette lighter with an adaptor.
It is a brilliant drive - can go for miles sometimes without seeing anybody else - good roads in Spain - thank you EEC. We do do tolls from Burgos upto Bordeaux then back onto the local roads until we get nearer the port.
Not at home at the mo so don't have more detailed info.

Hi did this journey this year august 09. A huge journey but achievable we drove from st helens to Mollina (antequera 30 mins from malaga inland) from door to door it wa 1606 miles i did this in my 08 vauxhall astra 1.4 sxi with air con much needed when driving through madrid as it was 47 degrees driving through madrid.Outward journey we left st helens merseyside at 8pm at night sunday and arrived in mollina (malaga) on tuesday morning 6 am. 34 hours total that included a 7 hour sleep in bordeaux. Also we didnt use a toll road in france until halfway down HUGE MISTAKE when we entered calais we put tom tom to avoid tolls by accident this easily put 3 to 4 hours on total journey time.Another mistake was leaving at night 8pm because we had been up all day by the time we got to bordeaux we had been up nearly 30 hrs hence we needed sleep. After leaving bordeaux we joined a motorway which was 267 km long which put you into northern spain san sebastian.For me the longest part of the journey was calais to the border around 12 hrs although i found it very easy driving through france.Be very careful lots of speed cameras which flash you from the front so be careful i got flashed 3 times.Once in northern spain you feel like you are a million miles away from anywhere.We then headed for bilbao,castilla y leons,ultimately heading for madrid we did most of our spanish driving through the night to get there so the roads were empty once arriving in madrid we used the outer ring road from madrid we found signs for Cordoba head for cordoba you will be fine once in cordoba we headed for granada big mistake for us there is a brand new road in cordoba which takes you directly into antequera but if you want malaga head for Granada /Malaga.1606 MILES LATER WE WERE THERE very tired took a day or 2 to get over that journey but a good achievement by the way me and my dad 2 drivers in total sharing it.
RETURN LEG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Briar,

I have had a place in Benalmadena for almost five years now and use it a couple of times each year. However, if all goes to plan, my wife and I hope to retire in a couple of years and move there permanently.

I have been giving a lot of thought to te idea of buying a motor home when we sell the house in the UK. The idea of driving back to visit family and friends in the British summer really appeals to me. Taking as long as we like, staying a few days in places that we really like, taking different routes over the years and having the freedom to move from place to place when we get back to the UK without worrying about accommodation, all make it seem like a great idea.

I'd be really grateful for any insight or tips you can give me regarding any of the above aspects of owning a motor home - plusses and minuses both welcome.

JJ

Hi Jay Jay

Briar hasn't been on the forums for a few months due to other commitments.

You may get a better response if you post in our Camping and Caravanning forum HERE

You can read Briar's trip report in the motorhome HERE

luci

Thanks Luci.

just make sure your covered with either rac or aa or any good breakdown company.well worth paying a bit extra for.i know a couple who did italy.they broke down on way back.all covered with rac.would have cost £1.500.

I actually ended up doing the journey by train but was very expensive so I am thinking of driving this year in a 2001 VW automatic Golf ! 80.000 miles on the clock, I suppose that will be ok ???? Hiring a vehicle was 490 pounds for 16 days.......

What do ya think !!

Thanks for all the replies

well I will be driving down from Calais to Malaga in June !!

I am planning the trip again.. when I first put this post on I ended up travelling by train ! This time I will be driving to Bordeaux for one night then Madrid one night and from there make my way to Malaga

I have driven from Glasgow to Estepona on CDS and back for the last 15 years. I have taken ferries to Northern Spain, to France and to Belgium. There are pros and cons for all routes. The most interesting was to Zeebrugge and then through Belgium, France and Spain without using tolls. 9 hours driving per day with 2 over night stops and the roads are quiet and straight.