Santander to Vera

We normally fly to Spain and hire a car  but unfortunately my daughter is not well and unable to fly at the moment (due to the pressure in the plane).  We are looking to take our car across thyew ferry from either Santander or Bilbao in August.  I am a little nervous about driving a UK car in Spain and also about how busy the roads would be as I believe you go close to Madrid.  Can anyone give me any  advice as to the best route and places to stay ove for 1 night.  Thanks

Hello Nigela

I was a bit nervous many years ago about travelling by car from UK to Alicante. I bought a SAT NAV and found it quite easy. SAT NAVs are quite cheap now, loads on EBAY. Use it in the UK first to get used to it, even if you know where you are going.

Staying on the ring road around Madrid avoids the heavy traffic.

You can avoid Madrid entirely by going via Zaragoza but the Madrid one is easy as it's just the A1 from Bilbao, R2/3 around Madrid and then the A30. Also about an hour and a half shorter than the Zaragoza route.

The only bit of traffic on the Madrid route would be around Burgos, Madrid, Albacete and Murcia for short distances. The rest is pretty empty motorway all the way.

Do the trip many times

You can plan the route uising Google Maps and avoid Tolls Roads or use a Sat Nav 

They take you down the A67 from Santander 

at Osorno go on to A231 to Burgos where you pick up the AP1 E5 to Madrid

at Madrid you go round the East side on M50 and then South of Madrid you join the R3 which takes you down in the direction of Murcia where you follow the signs to Almeria 

Close to the junction of M50 and R3 and just off M50 we stay at the Ibis Madrid Arganda which is convenient and relatively cheap-about 4 1/2 hours from Santander and the same to Vera

Most of the journey is very easy but one or two parts can be a little tricky so I would advise using Sat Nav

Can be busy around Madrid but otherwise no problem-generally driving on Sundays are quieter but not sure about August as many Spanish travel south at weekends 

Thanks everyone for your advice.  We are waiting for  medical advice to see if it is advisable for our daughter to travel this far - if we are happy with the advie then we will probably do this as long as the ferries are not fully booked.