driving to Zeebrugge

[sunshinegirl]

I'm going to be driving to Zeebrugge from Dordogne soon and I wondered if anyone had a route they knew was good -and avoids Paris! Yes, I know I should just bite the bullet and go through/round but I don't want to so... would it be best to avoid it to the east or the west?

[Théière]

Go to the East! passed Epernay and fill the boot with Champagne darling everybody does [kiss][kiss]

[united]

Just to give the counter view. We live in Edinburgh and our local ferry is Rosyth- Zeebrugge. Our house is south of Nantes. We take the car for 3 of our annual visits ie (6 trips) and have tried a few routes.

We think Nantes, Angers, Le Mans, Rouen, Calais is best. Its all pretty fast except the road around Rouen.

I allow 7.5 hours for the trip, its better for us than going through the UK after a south of England crossing.

The other factor is how easy is it to get to Nantes from your starting place.

In our case we dont have room for champagne with our dogs taking the whole of the back of my estate car.

If you want more detail please pm me.

[Weegie]

For what it's worth if you avoid Paris going from Dordogne to Zeebrugge you do add quite a bit to the journey.  Personally, I would use A20, A71, A10 then follow signs for Lille around Paris to the A1 and north.

However, you say you don't want to do that so I would go round to the west via Chartres and Rouen.  If you go via Rambouillet and Mantes La Jolie you are getting close enough to Paris anyway.

My own view. Others will probably have different opinions.[:)]

[Sydney and Huggy]

We have travelled many times from Zeebrugge to Allier and tried several routes.  Our preferred option now is to come off the A1 just south of Charles de Gaulle towards Meaux on to the A104 (La Francelienne) towards Evry then the A6 and down to the A77.  Its about 15 miles longer but moves much quicker and easier than continuing on the A1 and using the Peripherique. [:D]

[sunshinegirl]

Thanks to you all for your suggestions-I'll get my atlas out...