Hargreaves

Heading down to Barcelona for a couple of weeks. Any recommendations on what to take, accommodation along the way, things to see or anything that would be of interest. Leaving on Sunday and have a decent plan in place

Stevo071077

I'm assuming you've never driven onto the continent before so apologies if my recommendations sound a bit obvious/basic.

I think it's worth a stop at any of the 1st and 2nd World War battle sites in France. You've got Normandy, Oradour Su Glan, Fort Douamont etc. all are which interconnected by excellent and empty driving roads if you want a break from the motorway.

Switzerland is going to be too far out on limb I think but there are all the mountain passes (google will provide) to have go at, but be prepared to face some snow even in July. There are plenty of decent lakeside hotels and it's a good place to stay the night as a good day's driving will land you thereabout anyway.

Give yourself plenty of time otherwise you can end up piling boring, stressful motorway miles on your poor S2k.

Favourite driving country is Czech Republic but I doubt that's accessible for you.

Santenay

I'm on a 4 week trip at the moment, we have been doing this for many years. I have found that taking your time and not doing large milages is best, keeping off the Autoroute works for us as you see more of the country and find little village restaurants to eat at. Plan to eat between 12:00 and 13:30 you will struggle to find anywhere to eat out of these times and it will be 19:30 before you will be able to get a meal. Have a credit card that doesn't charge extra when not in the UK, a lot of petrol stations are going unmanned or not manned at lunch time.
I don't know what your plans for overnight stays are but depending on your budget, from Formula 1, Premier Class, Campanile, Ibis, Mecure, Best Western and many more, don't use Formula 1 unless you are on tight budget. We tend to breakfast as you can get a menu du jour plus a glass of wine for the same price at lunchtime. Take some food like breakfast bars for emergencies. We always book the hotels over the in the UK so we know where we are going and have a place to stay rather than searching when you decide to stop.
Places to see is a difficult question to answer without knowing your planned route and time scale, France is like 10 different countries. We stopped in Rocamadour on the way down and today we have driven from Beziers through the Camarque to Dome and I can see Mont Ventoux out of the window. We always try a different way down and back, we are coming back via the Alps. I always kept out of Switzerland as you have to buy a vignette to drive on the motorway at €40, we made a mistake a few years ago and ended up buying a vignette, it turned out to be the best €40 that I have ever spent, great roads with fantastic scenery and no traffic. I hope that you have a great holiday.

GC84

I second switzerland and the mountain passes, predominantly furka, grimsel and susten, it will be the best 40 euros you will spend, but as said it's probably out of your way. France is a great country to drive in, the autoroutes are a breath of fresh air after our motorways, but like above, it's best to plan in extra time to venture onto the smaller roads, as rural france is beautiful and peaceful with good quiet roads.
1. Don't put SP95-E10 in your car under any circumstances, as it will run like a bag of poo.
2. Be aware that if you get caught by a european speed camera, you will now get the fine to your door, which never used to be the case as EU countries didn't used to have access to the DVLA database, so you got away with it.
3. Bring back lots of wine in the roof void.

kw_21

Have you got your Crit'Air Certificate?

https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/en/

Santenay

I have my Crit Air as I am going to Grenoble, you only need one for certain cities not to drive in France in general, e.g. Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, check on the internet. I think that I paid €5 for it, very easy to get one on line.
using the roof void and buying 5litre boxes you can bring back at least 45litres of wine

GC84

Is that a new thing? I've never heard of or obtained one of those before...

I have a sanef tag as well which I love, you get through the peage stops a lot faster, don't have to worry about getting cash or cards out, and pay the whole trip's toll in a lump sum up to a month after your trip depending on direct debit dates.

Santenay

The CRIT Air is fàirly new, you must display one in the windscreen to be able too go into certain cities or face a fine. There are 5 categories depending on the emissions of the car, older cars with high emissions can't get one so aren't allowed in the cities. The aim is to bring down air pollution in the designated cities.
I also have a tag, ends up costing a few € more a year but far more convenient, I was using the same Autoroute as the Ferraris, Astons etc as they were going to Le Mans, they would pass me until the peage when I would re-pass them. It would take them another 20 minutes to catch me up again.