Travel distance/time by car

[quintain]

 Hello

This is my first post in the forum and hopefully I have put my question in the correct place.

I wish to consider buying in France but as it has ben almost 20years since our last visit and I am v. rusty.

From the French Northern ports of Calais, Cherbourg etc what today is considered a days drivable distance.

My wife and I always liked the  Atlantic coast La Rochelle and inland towards Limoge is this a comfortable drive in a single day.

How far without doing a "Strirling Moss' (which sort of gives my era/age) could I consider travelling.

We wish to consider car only journeys rather than flying.

Your answers will assist my wife and me in deciding where to purchase.

Best Regards

quintain

[BJSLIV]

why not play around with www.viamichelin.fr  ?. It gives a pretty realistic estimation of driving times,  and toll costs, in normal conditions.

[Bugsy]

Draw a horizontal line from La Rochelle, Poitiers, Limoge etc. (the pedantics will say thats not possible) That will give you a good idea of what I would consider a nice (comfortable) days driving from the ferry ports. Calais, is a bit of an exception, being the furthest north.

Enjoy...................................

edit: In my younger days, of course, I would do much greater distances.

I personally learned my lesson by driving from Alicante to Poitiers, a couple of years ago, in one hit. Fifteen hours and it nearly killed me....................[:)]

[Renaud]

The journey from Calais to the La Rochelle area, via Rouen, has been greatly improved recently by the new motorway past Alencon.

Concensus on this forum agrees with the Michellin estimates of time - 7 or so hours - but I am significantly slower over this distance due no doubt to by having been date-stamped. Also the fact that I still get derailled in Rouen (despite travelling with a download of the excellent advice recently offered on this forum).

How far you can comfortably drive in a day depends on how prepared you are to bash the motorways and many people share the driving. Also you will have done quite a bit of travelling to arrive at Calais.

Have you considered taking the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo which should cut the the driving time down to 4 to 4.5 hours to La Rochelle?

 

[Russethouse]

We have previously traveled Portsmouth - St Malo and gone on to a resort about 45 mins north of La Rochelle and arrived in time lunch - road improvements have helped a lot.............

[quintain]

Thanks everyone; you certainly appear to be an excellent forum.

Michelin is marvellous; it is now a tool I will use. It gives me 5hrs from Cherbourg and 3hrs from St Malo.

Now I will start researching ferry availability but I expect to use either/both of those routes, my long-long-time ago memory tells me the St Malo was an infrequent service.

I will put my 'naive' questions into other parts of the forum until I build up my information (getting the little & very slow grey cells working).

Thanks again

Quintain

[AnOther]

[quote user="Bugbear"]Calais, is a bit of an exception, being the furthest north.[/quote]Not so BB, don't forget Dunkerque, a good 30m further N of Calais.

Gluttons for punishment that we are with only essential pit stops and observing speed limits we can do Dunkerque to Cahors in under 10 hours.

Viamichelin claims that going right through the middle of Paris the trip can be done in a tad over 8 hours but personally you wouldn't catch me dead within 50 miles of that place at any time of day or night so it's the Western route via Rouen for me.

[Hotspur]

Hi,

I travel to Rouillac - Charente using the tunnel (best for the dog) several times a year, and I can drive it in about 6.5 hours from unloading to arrival at my front door.  This includes 2 stops (Baie de Somme and Alencon) which take about 45 mins in total.  I would admit to doing 140 kph on the autoroutes and 120 kph on the N10 and I always go through Rouen (this is a doddle and I can't understand where the problem is - just follow the signs).

Previously I used to use Brittany Ferries to either St. Malo or Caen.  St Malo is about 4.5 hours to Rouillac and Caen about 5 hours but this will reduce with the progressive opening of the A88.

[lacote0_0]

[quote user="Hotspur"]

Hi,

I travel to Rouillac - Charente using the tunnel (best for the dog) several times a year, and I can drive it in about 6.5 hours from unloading to arrival at my front door.  This includes 2 stops (Baie de Somme and Alencon) which take about 45 mins in total.  I would admit to doing 140 kph on the autoroutes and 120 kph on the N10 and I always go through Rouen (this is a doddle and I can't understand where the problem is - just follow the signs).

Previously I used to use Brittany Ferries to either St. Malo or Caen.  St Malo is about 4.5 hours to Rouillac and Caen about 5 hours but this will reduce with the progressive opening of the A88.

[/quote]

Beware, the number of cameras is set to double in the next 2 years, and there is talk of reducing the autoroute speeed limit to 120 kph!

[Anton Redman]

The split of the journey between autoroute (boring but quick) and actual route can make a large difference in how tiring it feels. Although the journey is half an hour longer I find our current trip to Bolougne from the Northern tip of the Gironde a lot less tyring than out run down to Rochechouart. Even a bad run through Rouen only adds ten minutes whereas Paris can easily add two hours.

[Iceni]

[quote user="quintain"] 

My wife and I always liked the  Atlantic coast La Rochelle and inland towards Limoge is this a comfortable drive in a single day.
How far without doing a "Strirling Moss' (which sort of gives my era/age) could I consider travelling.

[/quote]

In the bad old days we lived near Colchester, Essex but saw the light and now live in the N Lot, 2 hours S of Limoges. Have made the trip a few times and (when travelling without caravan or trailer) do it comfortably in 12/13 hours door to door either via Calais or Boulogne. I realise that this info may be of little use to you but it is an indication as to what can be done.

John

not

 

[Bugsy]

[quote user="ErnieY"]

[quote user="Bugbear"]Calais, is a bit of an exception, being the furthest north.[/quote]Not so BB, don't forget Dunkerque, a good 30m further N of Calais.

[/quote]

Sorry Ernie, I forgot Dunkerque, were you there in the war then?

[:D][:D][:D][:D]

 

 

 

only joking

[Hoddy]

Welcome to the forum Quintain.

No-one has mentioned your travelling time in the UK. You don't say where you are starting from. We find the drive to Calais or Boulogne is always the worst part of the journey.

 

Hoddy

[AnOther]

[quote user="Bugbear"]Sorry Ernie, I forgot Dunkerque, were you there in the war then?

[:D][:D][:D][:D]only joking

[/quote]Yes, I was a mine in a former existence, not all it was cracked up to be though, blown out of all proportion actually......[:D]

[Marym2]

Hi Quintain

We trvel from London to Brittany, all in all, it take approx 12 hours for our journey door to door. I had a look at Mappy.com  for a route for you, and looking at the results (Boulogne Speedferries to La Rochelle, via Rouen) it came up with 6.50 hrs. We find that travelling through the night (last ferry) to our house is the best way that we go, but I know that this is not for all. We also now have a french bank card for petrol, so no wandering for a 24/7 rip off site. Try playing around with the site (mappy) and areas and i'm sure that your answers are out there.

[sharkhunter]

I am from Sw Scotland and often take the whole day travelling back. We leave aroung 10pm to hit Paris around 2.30 to 3 am when its quiet, once clear of Paris its head down in the car for a few hours till its time to move to Boulogne (max 2 hrs drive ) in time for the first ferry. After that its downhill all the way [:(] the traffic from dover in the morning is hell on wheels, M25 next and then m6 north, by this time frustration takes over and i have to stop or i'll kill someone for cutting me up.......the downside is i am almost 24 hrs door to door. Fly Fly Fly all the way for me, except at xmas when the big shop takes over and the car is stuffed with all sorts to see us through till summer visitors arrive stiffed with more goodies for us.

[Hotspur]

[quote user="lacote0_0"][quote user="Hotspur"]

Hi,

I travel to Rouillac - Charente using the tunnel (best for the dog) several times a year, and I can drive it in about 6.5 hours from unloading to arrival at my front door.  This includes 2 stops (Baie de Somme and Alencon) which take about 45 mins in total.  I would admit to doing 140 kph on the autoroutes and 120 kph on the N10 and I always go through Rouen (this is a doddle and I can't understand where the problem is - just follow the signs).

Previously I used to use Brittany Ferries to either St. Malo or Caen.  St Malo is about 4.5 hours to Rouillac and Caen about 5 hours but this will reduce with the progressive opening of the A88.

[/quote]

Beware, the number of cameras is set to double in the next 2 years, and there is talk of reducing the autoroute speeed limit to 120 kph!
[/quote]

Yeah, but they're the size of a wardrobe and are well announced!  I too, read an article about lowering the speed limit but it was only proposed by the Green party. I don't think it would be a very popular move for the main line politicians, if the letters page in the Charente Libre is any thing to go by.  A French colleague tells me that the police are only interested if you exceed the speed limit by 20 kph and knowing how car speedometers generally overestimate speed, I feel 140 kph is probably nearer 130 kph anyway. 

[Anton Redman]

" knowing how car speedometers generally overestimate speed, I feel 140 kph is probably nearer 130 kph anyway "

Not sure they do anymore I thought the reason Autocar and Motor gave up including spedometer accuracy in their roadtests was that they became accurate.

[Baz]

[quote user="Anton Redman"]

" knowing how car speedometers generally overestimate speed, I feel 140 kph is probably nearer 130 kph anyway "

Not sure they do anymore I thought the reason Autocar and Motor gave up including spedometer accuracy in their roadtests was that they became accurate.

[/quote]

I have a Sat Nav device that displays my speed and I can confirm that my car speedometer over estimates my speed by about 8% and it is a new car.

Baz

[sharkhunter]

Sat navs are not an exact science is producing exact speeds either. I have used two in one car when my mate and i used to travel a lot when fishing and they often gave different readings also we used them on our boats to see if it was a fluke and they gave out the same differences at sea !!!

[AnOther]

The science behind GPS and Sat-Nav is absolutely exact but there are many factors to do with the design of individual devices which can produce different readings, such as receiver sensitivity and refresh rate for instance.

If 2 different devices are mounted together and compared then differences will likely be down to one of those 2 factors.

[dave21478]

Sharkhunter, I used to have the same problem, travelling from Aberdeen.

In the end I sacked off almost the whole UK leg by using the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry.

Aberdeen to Dover uses £40-£50 of fuel, plus the Speedferry costing £20-£40 depending on the season, plus a hotel either in Dover or France for £30-£50 plus an over-priced lunch in some service station on the M6, plus a load of triangular service-station sandwiches, its not that cheap. Then there is the hassle of the 600 mile drive, the poor roads, the worse driving, the worry of traffic jams, the M25, over-zealous use of speed cameras  etc etc.

By comparison, the rosyth ferry costs £130 each way (I slum it in "aircraft style" seating rather than a cabin which is £90 or so more) which gives me an easy drive from aberdeen to rosyth and the rest of the time spent sipping G&T`s in the lounge listening to the cheesy cabaret act. Zeebrugge is only at most an extra 40 minutes or so more ontop of my French journeys leg.

 

On the down-side boredom is an issue on the boat - its an 18 hour trip ( I read 2 paperbacks cover to cover last week on it!) and if the weather is bad it can turn into an 18 hour vom-fest where you get closely aquainted with the toilet bowl (I dont travel well at sea) Also, arriving in zeebrugge at mid-day lands you in Paris just as traffic is starting to build up, but you could instead take the coastal route past calais then onto rouen etc, bypassing paris without loosing much more time.

[phylisbide]

Last week I travelled from Le Havre to 24 - about an hour and a half south of Limoges - and despite having only short coffee stops (2) the journey was 8.5 hours. Michelin reckons I can do it in less than 7 - not sure I could have increased my speed as managed to do a steady 130 on motorways, and there isn't much 110 kph driving left on the route now - roads down through have improved hugely.  I do the Rouen, Evreux, Chartres, Orleans, Vierzon Limoges route and often do it alone. The ferry now docks at 8 am local time (whereas it used to be an hour earlier - it seems to park out in the Channel in the dark for a while - perhaps for staffing or freight costs if early arrival?) Anyway could not have gone any quicker and arrived at 4.30; But - it is easier if there are two of you; The more expensive route to St Malo is a bit quicker with the new motorway links; and of course if you use the cheaper Dover crossings you have an extra 1.5 hours from Boulogne, more from Calais.  Also don't forget the journey this side - for me it is 1.5 hours to Portsmouth and nearer three to Dover - not factoring in any delays on the M25. Tend to prefer the overnight Le Havre route as I can get a bit of sleep - but it depends on where you are in UK. Good luck with the search. PB

[andyh4]

I have to say I am appalled by some of the answers here that say, we do x to y in 12 hours with just pee stops or the like.

Professional drivers are permitted to drive for 8 hours max and with fully prescribed breaks.  So what makes you think you are a better (for that read safer when tired) driver than a professional?

 

The original poster is to be commended for realising that there are limits to how far one should drive in a comfortable day.

[AnOther]

Easy on the outrage m8 [:P]

When we travel we are usually two so one can rest whilst the other drives although it's usually me who does the lions share.

Given a decent night's kip and a reasonably early start I can, have, and will continue, to drive for 10 or 12 hours at a stint and I feel no shame in admitting it.

Just a couple of weeks ago for instance I drove myself from France to Munich, a distance of about 1200km, completing the journey in about 13 hours. Of course I was weary towards the end but certainly not in any danger of falling asleep. If I had been that tired I would have stopped - simple.

Recognise that everybody is different. Some can only manage an hour or two before having to stop whilst others have more stamina. Dare I also say that I am an aware driver, that is to say, unlike many, I do not go into "auto pilot" mode but maintain concentration which helps ward off drowsiness.

The important thing is to know your limits and not push yourself beyond them so please allow me to edit your last line:

[quote user="andyh4"]The original poster is to be commended for realising that there are limits to how far HE should drive in a comfortable day.[/quote]

Comparisons with lorry drivers are a bit meaningless BTW. Firstly all such rules are dumbed down to the lowest denominator and secondly, droning along at 56mph for hours on end and 20mph up hills would probably send even me to sleep in short order !