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Toll-free
from the French border to southern Spain
The
shortest route..... Compare:
- Calais -
Alicante almost
toll-free, via
Rouen Vendôme, Tours,
N10,
Angoulême, Bordeaux, Bayonne
Pamplona and Saragossa...
About 1733
km and about 25
€ of recommended tolls in France. See
Through
France without tolls.
- Calais-Alicante
via Paris Clermont Ferrand then Perpignan and the coastal
AP7
1861
km and about 147 € in
tolls (over 200€ in a camper van or motorhome).
NEWS : The
Spanish
authorities have (for the time being) removed the tolls from the AP7
motorway
between the French border and Alicante. But in spite of
this, the toll-free route presented on this page remains advantageous
in distance and cost.
► Few tolls or no tolls
at all
The About-Spain.net
recommended toll-saving route: Bayonne (France) - Pamplona - Saragossa
- Teruel - Valencia - Elche - Almeria .
Hotels
along the route - all very easy to find
Coloured markers on the map indicate handy hotels close to
the
road. Click any marker for details. Direction indications for reaching
hotels are for southbound traffic.
To
book a hotel click link in the
info window that opens up on the map.
For more choice visit
Booking.com
This
hassle-free route through Spain offers a combination of no tolls (or
minimal tolls,
if you prefer a few stretches of toll motorway), together with fairly
easy driving conditions,
avoiding the major urban areas, and difficult driving conditions, of
both Madrid and Barcelona. It also avoids taking any of the crossings
between France and Spain across the Pyrenees, which are very
attractive, but generally rather slow, specially on the French side.
The essential part of this route follows the free
Spanish
A23 motorway, the Autovia Mudéjar, from Saragossa (Zaragoza)
via Teruel to Valencia, then the free A7 just inland from the
Mediterranean coast.
Route
guide:
The route starts from the French border crossing on
the A64
motorway or D810 (ex French
N10 route) at Behobie / Irun, in the
southwest corner of France, near Bayonne.
Immediately
after
the Spanish border crossing on the motorway or after crossing the border if coming from the French D810 , leave
the motorway at Biriatou, at Spanish Exit 1 (not French exit 1 before
the border) clearly marked as the exit for
N121a
for
Pamplona.
The N121a is a good modern Spanish main road, avoiding towns and sharp
bends. It winds gently and easily up through the Spanish
Basque country
to Pamplona, the capal of
Navarre,
a distance of just over 70 km.
Skirt round Pamplona to the east, following the signs for
Zaragoza. Briefly join a free section of the toll
AP15
motorway at the exit from Pamplona, before leaving at exit 81,
signed
N121
for Tudela,
Zaragoza
and Madrid.
Don't
miss....
Olite (►
hotels)
, between Pamplona and Tudela. Delightfull little Spanish town with the
magnificent former palace of the Kings of Navarre and a fine Romanesque
church. 25 miles further south, the Bardenas Reales wilderness area
offers spectacular desert landscapes more akin to Arizona than to
Europe. See
Navarre
Follow the N121 for 34 kms, before rejoining another free section of
the AP15, shortly after an exit to the village of Pueyo. Leave the AP15
again at Exit 50 after bypassing Tafalla, and return to the N121 at exit 50.
Keep following
Zaragoza
on the N121, which after 36 km becomes the
N113 .
It's all clearly signed.
The
N113 soon meets the N232. Turn left at the roundabout to follow the
N232 which soon becomes the
A68 signposted Tudela.
You are now in
Aragon,
and will follow a route which alternates between
A68
(free autovia) and
N232 ,
as far as Saragossa. This free route runs parallel to the
toll A68., which it joins just short of the Saragossa ring road.
On approaching Saragossa, follow signs for
A23 Teruel.
Keep following signs for Teruel, leaving the
Saragossa southern ring road (Z40) at exit 29, marked A23
Cariñena and
Teruel.
Wine-buffs may like to go off at exit 240 and
visit the small town of Cariñena, a reputed wine-growing
town with wine museum. If stopping off, stay at the
Hotel
del Vino, a wine themed hotel surrounded by
vineyards. Rejoin A23 at exit 232, south of the town.
From now on, it is hassle free driving for almost 300 km
along the A23 Autovia Mudéjar motorway, a modern free
motorway with relatively little traffic. This motorway crosses the
heart of Spain, and between Saragossa and Valencia there is only one
small city, which is Teruel, capital of the province of this name.
The A23 meets the free Mediterranean coastal
motorway, the
A7 , at
Sagunt,
just northeast of
Valencia.
From here on, follow the A7, then
A77 , then
A70 , after which the A7 again following signs for
Murcia. The free A7 continues to Almeria and beyond.
For Granada, Sevilla and the Costa del Luz, take the free A92N at
Puerto Lumbreras.
Continue to see
Free motorways
in Spain