Cherbourg to Malaga-route via Madrid?

[a892374923874]

We're driving to see a friend near Malaga, from Cherbourg. We're familiar with France, but 1st time in Spain. Not sure on best route. Via Michelin is suggesting through Madrid. Is that all motorway and easyish driving? If not, I'd prefer another route?

Anything else we should know? Will the Emovis tag just work for the toll roads in Spain?

 

[Azteccamper]

Hi.
You will need a tag for France and a different one for Spain if you use e-movis - we have done for years just swop them over in the cab window as you cross the border.
The route will depend on if you want to go the most direct way or fancy taking a more scenic tour. Enjoy

 

[a892374923874]

ah thanks for that. We’ll get a Spanish one for next time.

Definitely direct route. We’re going on a Friday and getting ferry back from Cherbourg the next Thursday evening. All for various good but dull reasons. So only a few days in Spain.

This is a road trip rather than a camping trip, we’ll see if we can do it by taking turns with the driving and a few hours kip in an aire.

 

[calicasas]

Anything

Going through Pamplona is a much slower road if you want to take it easier - this aapears to take you thru Soria, where there is a slow mountain pass - plus side is there are far fewer tolls. The darker blue route through Burgos has larger sections of motorway & a little more expensive on tolls… dont know where google maps gets those times & costs as they don’t appear to be bourne out if reality..ahh yes… Madrid… the M40 around Madrid was constructed piecemeal & as such there are a number of exits to take & which come up quickly on you, so stay alert. The west side is better than the east side to drive along in my own humble opinion…

 

[a892374923874]

Should we avoid Madrid? I’m looking for the quickest and easiest driving route to get to Malaga? Motorways preferred. Happy to pay the tolls on this occasion. We’re going tomorrow.

 

[turnitdown]

Going through Pamplona is a much slower road if you want to take it easier - this aapears to take you thru Soria, where there is a slow mountain pass - plus side is there are far fewer tolls. The darker blue route through Burgos has larger sections of motorway & a little more expensive on tolls… dont know where google maps gets those times & costs as they don’t appear to be bourne out if reality..ahh yes… Madrid… the M40 around Madrid was constructed piecemeal & as such there are a number of exits to take & which come up quickly on you, so stay alert. The west side is better than the east side to drive along in my own humble opinion…

I assume you mean in reality it will take longer? Do you know a realistic driving time for this route? I was thinking of doing it over the Christmas holidays.

 

[a892374923874]

Thanks for all the replies. All much appreciated, as I've left this a bit late to plan...

If we stick to the West of Madrid, how about this route?





Zoomed in a bit around Madrid gives this.

 

[Azteccamper]

ah thanks for that. We’ll get a Spanish one for next time.

Definitely direct route. We’re going on a Friday and getting ferry back from Cherbourg the next Thursday evening. All for various good but dull reasons. So only a few days in Spain.

This is a road trip rather than a camping trip, we’ll see if we can do it by taking turns with the driving and a few hours kip in an aire.

E-movis will send you one and add it to your monthly bills - arrives in a couple of days and looks identical to the French tag.

 

[a892374923874]

To update: This route worked fine for us, although we went from Burgos to Valladolid then to Madrid.

Easy route past Madrid with not much traffic at 4pm on Saturday. No problems at all.

Starting back home on Tuesday probably hitting Madrid around 6pm. Thinking of going anticlockwise East bound M50 then the A1 this time. Is this a good idea? Or stick to the route we used coming here?

 

[Parkinjm]

I travelled down via Zaragoza and Valencia - good route and probably more interesting.

 

[a892374923874]

Another update: We hit the M50 from the R4 at 8:45am on Tuesday and went eastbound up to the A1.

No problems at all. No worse than weekday mid morning on the M25 on a good day. Busy but flowing.

We’re now on the way to the ferry from Cherbourg to go back home this evening. We had planned a few more days in Spain, but changed our plans to avoid the storms yesterday and today.

A bit of an ode to the Cali follows…

It has been said many times on this forum but the Cali has been excellent for this road trip. 2500 miles in 6 days including a couple of days at our destination near Malaga. 2 kids kept comfortable and entertained in the back with films, puzzles, and e-readers. None of us complained once about comfort.

On our driving days, 5 hours excluding stops was comfortable, 8 hours was ok, and one long 12 hour driving day was possible but not fun.

All our driving was on motorways and toll routes where possible so majority was at 75 to 85 mph. The Cali soaked up the miles. The fridge was kept full of snacks.

5 nights camping, 2 on a driveway, 1 ACSI in Spain, 2 camping-car park in France, all decided upon a few hours before we got there.

3 hot dinners, 3 breakfasts, 4 lunches, plenty of cups of tea and coffee.

We did this trip because our friends in Spain didn’t have enough room to host us, so we stayed in the van. They live halfway up a mountain track so a bigger vehicle wouldn’t have got to them.

Don’t think we could have done this any other way.

Having said that I’m not in a hurry to do another 12 hour plus stops driving day.

 

[willwander]

That’s a long drive. Well done.