Driving to Mallorca - Help & Advice please.

[clinkham]

Originally Posted by whaleywanderer

As much as I am excited, I am also quite apprehensive as we are not experienced in continental driving. There will be plenty to write about I'm sure!

Good to know about the Pont Aven, bit of R & R before the journey sounds great.

A good quality Satnav is indispensible for worry free continental driving. Never missed a beat on our French trip. Except in Bordeaux where a bridge was unexpectedly closed and the satnav couldn't find a way out of the redlight district at the back of the railstation. Luckily it was mid afternoon, but even so business was brisk -apparently.

[Belladonna]

I was going to tick the Like for this clinkham - but then I worried about what I was liking! But your comment did make me smile!

[Sparky]

Originally Posted by whaleywanderer

As much as I am excited, I am also quite apprehensive as we are not experienced in continental driving. There will be plenty to write about I'm sure!

Good to know about the Pont Aven, bit of R & R before the journey sounds great.

Whaley you might find this useful About.com: http://driving.drive-alive.co.uk/driving-in-spain.htm

[lollipop]

Stop panicking whaleywanderer. It will all go well,but I agree about the sat Nav. Good Luck with the planning.

[whaleywanderer]

Originally Posted by sparky

Whaley you might find this useful About.com: http://driving.drive-alive.co.uk/driving-in-spain.htm

Thanks Sparky, loads of helpful info, have bookmarked this site.

Lollipop, Looking forward to the planning.

[Mark]

As already mentioned above, with a decent Sat Nav such as Tom Tom or Garmin with Europe maps the navigating will be easy.
Choose one with 'lane guidance' so it shows you which lane to be in on approach to junctions etc.

Remember that a satnav is only a guide, always use common sense as well as the sat nav or you may go on a few mystery tours.

Always helps if your front seat passenger reminds you which way to look at junctions etc and reminds you which side of the road to drive on

I always find the hardest part is when arriving back in England and remembering which side of the road to drive on when leaving car parks etc, Especially at night if the roads are really quiet and there is no one to follow

Some links to make you aware of some of the tricks the criminals get up to, if you now what to look out for you wont get caught out.

How To Beat Car Crime in Barcelona

Spain: Car crime in Spain, How to protect yourself, All European countries have a problem with car theft and

This business of car jacking


Spain travel advice

[whaleywanderer]

Wow Mark, that all makes rather scary reading but as you say it's better to be aware of the threat of possible scams. Thanks

[cumberland8]

Me & my son were mugged in a very busy Barcelona underground station, no one offered help.
My best friend works for Interpol, Barcelona has the worst crime rate in Europe triple any where else & that's the crimes that are reported, only Prague comes close.

[Sparky]

Originally Posted by whaleywanderer

Wow Mark, that all makes rather scary reading but as you say it's better to be aware of the threat of possible scams. Thanks

We need to keep this in perspective, of course you must be on your guard but i think that goes for most big cities, ferryports and airports, after all thousands make the journey with no problems. While i was booking the ferry someone did try to lift hubbies laptop from the car while he was sat in it , do park the car in the security area as soon as you can, there is a cafe/bar next to this area so you can leave the car without worrying. We had about 9 hours to kill so take something to read or a pack of cards, anything to keep you occupied.
I honestly would not want to do the trip again but am still glad we had the experience and all the stress just melted away as we drove around the bay in PP. You and hubby will be fine Whaley .

[Nick]

Common sense, common sense and common sense and you should be fine.

[Sparky]

Whaley the Barcelona/Alcudia ferry starts sailings in March .

[med777]

Hiya whaley,

if my comedy duo could make it from Scotland to PP then u can !
And ohhhh, the luxury of a proper satnav... well that pair managed with only Richard's blackberry ! ( and that included him driving and reading the blackberry satnav thru paris so they could stop there for lunch ! ) ( and I never said that...... right ! )
Enjoy every minute of it and make sure we get all the details !

Miriam

[whaleywanderer]

Thanks Miriam

You will certainly be with us every step of the way. Hopefully it will read as a journey travelog and not a black thriller!

[Jilly]

Originally Posted by sparky

Whaley the Barcelona/Alcudia ferry starts sailings in March .

Thanks Sparky, looks like a shorter ferry crossing as well.

Got an outline plan now, think we can do early morning Eurotunnel (so much cheaper than the ferry to Cherbourg or Santander) , then get south of Paris for evening time for an overnight stay. Next day we can have a leisurely 400 -500 mile drive to Barcelona for the midnight sailing to Alcudia.

Just a few queries if anyone can help

- any recommended stop overs south of Paris, somewhere south of Orleans and north of Clermont-Ferrand
- there is a discount on the Balearia ferry for those with a NIE number, does anyone know what paperwork they ask for at the port ?
- does anyone know what the ferrys are like, look fairly reasonable Irish Sea type, failrly functional ?


Out of interest, there are 5 of us travelling, but only 4 can book a cabin, so one adult has to get out of the car and walk onto the ferry as a foot passenger, then bunk in later on, not the most flexible booking system.

Excellent thread, full of so much useful information

Thanks

[Sparky]

Hi Jilly we used Acciona so i can't comment on Balearia. The ferry itself had good facilities and very comfortable cabins but i must say embarking and disembarking was pretty chaotic .
When i was in the terminal booking office the guy (who spoke good English) asked if i had a Residencia number/NIE, which i didn't at that time, so not sure if you need to show a certificate as proof or if just being able to give the number is enough.
As for the situation with only 4 being able to book a cabin, is that just because they only sleep 4?, i assume you would have to either book 2 cabins or 1 cabin and a seat for the 5th person. Hope this helps and good luck with your trip, do keep us informed on how you are getting on .