Hi I'm travelling to Turre with my dog by car, never driven abroad before would appreciate some tips.

Hi Angela

I can’t comment on the drive from Calais as we get the ferry to Santander. We use the Satnav on the car which is pretty spot on. We do the drive from Santander to Turre in one go with a couple of stops. Normally takes about 10 hours. We use RAC European breakdown cover and Saga for the travel insurance.

Hope this helps

Mark

Last time I drove down with my wife who didn't want to take her turn driving, I took 2 overnight stops and had a nice leisurely drive down. I did the Newhaven Dieppe crossing and stopped near Tours in France, then again near Zaragoza. I used the AA for my European breakdown cover. I've done the same trip with my brother taking his turn driving and only did the one stop near Bordeaux.

Thank you Mark. Santander was our preferred route but unable to book pet cabin for when we want to travel.

Thank you for your response. We are now looking at alternative routes since your post, Santander was the preferred option but we require a pet cabin and those are as rare as rocking horse poo  😆 we have come to realise.

We used a pet cabin for the first couple of trips but then we tried the kennels. The dogs were fine in the kennels and it worked out a bit cheaper as well.

Depends where you live in the country of course, but I found the Newhaven Dieppe crossing to be a great option for me. Very reasonable price, the French customs weren't in the slightest interested once the found out my destination was Spain and it gets you a good distance towards your final destination than a Chunnel crossing. If I have to drive down again, it will be my preferred route.

I arrived in Carboneras a week ago. Came from Rosslare in Ireland to Bilbao (lots of Uk people on our crossing). Went from Bilbao to Madrid and stayed in NH Ventas which is dog friendly- spent a little extra for a junior suite which had a huge terrace and was ideal for my dog. I believe all NH hotels are dog friendly so maybe they’d be useful for your stops