Road conditions driving down to spain Forums

jupeter

We've had a caravan for years but have now changed over to a Rapido 770 which we've been very pleased with. Although we have driven in France quite extensively, we've not much experience of travelling further afield in Europe.

We are planning to drive down into Spain around late November time after having visited our daughter who presently lives in the Vosges area of France. We are a bit concerned as to what the road conditions might be crossing the border from France into Spain. Can anyone with experience of this offer any hints or tips. Also we plan to come back to this country in February so presumably there is more of a possibility of snow at that time of year.

Also does anyone know how far in advance you can renew the road tax, ours runs out at the end of February (which is why we are coming back home then). We've conflicting advice - you can renew 42 days in advance, or there is no limit!!

autostratus · Moderator

[quote:01b8656796="jupeter"]

... does anyone know how far in advance you can renew the road tax, ours runs out at the end of February (which is why we are coming back home then). We've conflicting advice - you can renew 42 days in advance, or there is no limit!![/quote:01b8656796]

Hi jupeter, welcome to the forums.

You don't say when you propose to start your trip but the easy way to take pressure off the expiry date on your tax is to hand in the license the month before you go and to retax it immediately. This will then give you a full year to play with.

HTH

autostratus · Moderator

[quote:caed0fcb9c="jupeter"]
We are planning to drive down into Spain around late November time after having visited our daughter who presently lives in the Vosges area of France. We are a bit concerned as to what the road conditions might be crossing the border from France into Spain. Can anyone with experience of this offer any hints or tips. Also we plan to come back to this country in February so presumably there is more of a possibility of snow at that time of year.[/quote:caed0fcb9c]

Quoting from our own experiences knowing that things can change from year to year:
On 13th October 2000 we drove north from Spain into Andorra intending to cross into France. As we drove northwards rain turned to sleet which in turn changed to heavy snow and we were forced to retreat back into Spain. We then went east and crossed into France at Bourg-Madame where we spent the night. We saw no more snow at road level.

In January 2001 we went down to La Manga, Spain to join a C&CC rally returning in February.
We travelled down to Spain using the route Calais, Rouen, Vierzon, A20 to Toulouse and then Perpignan before crossing into Spain and on via Barcelona and Valencia. We used the same route back. We saw no snow on either leg.
We were advised to use this west of central route by a frequent winter traveller to SW France on the basis that should the weather turn bad we could head west and pick up the coast where the snow was likely to be less and use a border crossing south of Biarritz.

Be aware that the number of daylight hours are much reduced at that time of the year so you will need to plan your likely overnights on that basis. Also motorhomes can be cold beasts when travelling in winter unlike cars which can be kept very warm and some preparation for that fact is advised.

I hope this helps a little. Enjoy your Rapido.

BillD

We have travelled fairly extensively in France, Spain and Portugal over the last several winters and my advice is don't worry and go.
Mostly the roads are as good as or better than here with less traffic.
Of course in and around big towns they can get busy and some of the main through routes carry a lot of traffic but certainly no worse than here.
If you are crossing high passes in winter look out for the signs saying whether the road is open or not. Last Feb we had fun following a snowplough up and over but no trouble.
BillD

nukeadmin · Site Admin

[quote:771be430d0]Also does anyone know how far in advance you can renew the road tax, [/quote:771be430d0]

Here is a question I am going to throw to you Lions Wink

Do you actually have to come back to UK to tax your vehicle ? I know officially you do, but what would stop you hypothetically of course Wink

sending your insurance and tax renewal documentation home to a friend who would then go to the post office and pay for the new tax disc sticker and send it out to wherever you may be in Europe

autostratus · Moderator

If you could stay put in one place and not drive the vehicle for the time it takes the postal service to get your documents to the UK and back I might be tempted.
My worry would be to be without the insurance documents. Worse case scenario being you have an accident the day you send off your docs and have nothing to produce to local fuzz.

Just my thoughts.

PJKRacing

If you are really worried about having road tax on the continent, why not park up at an airport, jump on a low cost airline flight to blighty, tax the van and return on the next flight.

Bet you could do it for under £60 pre-booking from abroad.

Just a thought.

Pete

Anonymous

Is it a legal requirement to have UK road tax abroad and do the european police give a monkeys anyway. If that were the case then you could declare the vehicle off the road for the duration until you get back whenever.

This is not so much a suggestion but rather a question.

Boff

[quote:cbadb930bf="jupeter"]We are a bit concerned as to what the road conditions might be crossing the border from France into Spain. Can anyone with experience of this offer any hints or tips. Also we plan to come back to this country in February so presumably there is more of a possibility of snow at that time of year.[/quote:cbadb930bf]

When travelling in mountainous areas in Winter you should always have snow chains with you. Especially with a motorhome. And even more especially if your motorhome has front-wheel drive.

If a pass is really closed due to road conditions then at least on the French side (don't know about the Spaniards) this is clearly signposted already at the bottom end and normally a deviation is indicated.

Best Regards,
Gerhard

crissy

Straight from the DVLC's mouth (well, website):

What if my vehicle licence is due to expire while I am abroad?
If you are going to be abroad when your tax disc is due to expire you may apply to relicense it up to 2 calenda