Six of one, half a dozen of the other. I've done both methods. Aiming for Barcelona a few years ago on a Pan, Dover-Calais and first stop at Samur, again down near Flourence, then Barca next afternoon. Cruising at 80mph on the motorways and tolls and two nights hotels.

We've just come back from the World 2CV Meeting in Alcaniz, Spain, where the temps often were 38C. In the 2CV we cruise at 60mph with the roof back. Very little buffeting but the engine is a noisy little thing and doesn't excel in hilly country. My wife refuses to spend two and a half days of French motorways so we caught the Portsmouth-Santander ferry leaving at 1430 and taking 24hrs for the trip. The sailing was excellent and the food and drink great. Typical English prices for food/drink. Cabin minute but hey ho. The fly-in-the-ointment was the cost - £900+ but for two people, a car, a cabin, return, not so bad, and no wear & tear on the car or the passengers.

We spent two days in Santander and visited the incredible Picos de Europa, drove and stopped overnight on the outskirts of Madrid (E32 for a plush room minus breakfast) then on to a white village, Chulilla. After visiting Valencia and the World Meeting the heat caused us to leave a day earlier and head north for San Sebastian, a beautiful seaside resort we'd ridden through on the earlier Pan trip and promised to return to. 10degrees cooler, semi-circular curved beaches, a tremendous old town was hundreds of tapas bars and excellent street entertainers. Spain was great (and my wife was delighted too ;-)