Stopover hotels on the way South
When traveling from The Netherlands to Mid-, Southern France or Spain, a stopover hotel comes in handy to break up the long drive. People swear by different options in driving to Southern France or Spain. Some people drive it in one take, others mostly drive at night (less traffic and kids are asleep). We usually opt to drive a small part on the first evening and the rest the next day, or when it’s Spain a second stopover hotel in the South of France. Here’s a list of hotels we’ve tested and liked.
A stopover hotel is ideally located close to the highway you’re driving South on. They’re not that expensive, but clean. There are parking spaces available, they have wifi, 24 hour reception and have 3 person or family rooms when traveling with kids, or children are allowed in a 2 person room. All hotels on this blog fulfill these options, except for 2. I will tell later on why these are still good stopover hotels going South and perfect on road trips.
Stopover hotels South: Belgium
When driving from The Netherlands to France or Spain, you always drive through Belgium. Antwerp is a good place to stop if your first leg of the journey needs to be short.
Ibis Budget Antwerpen Port
We had a good experience in this one star hotel. A small, simple room, but clean and large enough for one night. We liked that it was bunk bed style, but with a queen bed. Above the queen bed there was a single bunk bed. Ibis has many hotels and is part of the Accor chain. We stayed in this hotel in 2018 en route to Brittany in France.
We picked this hotel since it’s close to the A12, the highway that took us to Antwerp. Next to that they had a good price for us 3 and free parking. Other important things the hotel offers are free wifi and airconditioning. We usually bring our own breakfast and eat this in the car for an early start, but if you don’t have that with you, breakfast is an option at the hotel.
Address:
Luithagen-Haven 6A
2030 Antwerpen
+32 3 544 97 81
Stopover hotels South: Luxembourg
When driving South there are several routes, one is roughly over Antwerp and Brussels/Lille, another one is over Maastricht and Luxembourg. For Luxembourg we have a luxurious hotel that we’ve stayed in 3 times.
Doubletree by Hilton Luxembourg
This isn’t a cheap hotel, but when you pay attention you can book this 4 star hotel with a discount, which brings it in the good price category. It’s Yuri’s favorite hotel, ever since we first slept here in 2016. We’ve been back in 2017 and 2019. Yuri loves the hotel because of the good wifi and the swimming pool. He loves that it’s a luxurious hotel. According to him it’s a luxurious hotel since it’s in Luxembourg.
The hotel isn’t directly next tot he highway, but it’s easy to get there. This is a hotel you take when you want a bit of luxury on your stopover. A fine bed and you can go for a swim. The hotel is surrounded by forest and green trees, a welcome variation on the highway and traffic jams you had during the day.
Up on arrival you get a chocolate chip cookie, which is large and delicious. It’s a signature cookie from Doubletree. The hotel offers an indoor pool, sauna and fitness center. There’s free wifi and an 24 hour reception. In your room you can get roomservice, they have a laundry service and there’s airconditioning.
The hotel has 345 rooms and 24 deluxe suites. A parking lot with 250 places, which in 2016 was free, but not anymore. It’s now 13,50 euros per 24 hours. They offer a shuttleride to the airport (for a fee). The Green Restaurant & Bar is there to cater you and in the morning they offer an optional breakfast buffet.
The city center of Luxembourg is a 15 minute car ride and the hotel is 10 minutes from LuxAirport.
Adress:
12 rue Jean Engling
Luxembourg
L-1466
352–43-781
https://www.hiltonhotels.com/nl_NL/luxemburg/doubletree-by-hilton-hotel-luxembourg/
Stopover hotels South: France
The most of our stopover hotels going South are in France, especially in Paris. But other places are sometimes more convenient like Lille, Orleans, Nancy and Bordeaux. The hotels in France from the France Spain Portugal road trip are also perfect as a stopover.
Campanile Hotel Lille Euralille
The first stopover hotel South in France is just over the border. It’s a hotel in Lille, we stopped here in 2019 on our way to Northern Spain. We liked this modern 3 star hotel, which was close to the highway. We had a room with an extra bed, which was fine for the 3 of us. They have 180 rooms and offer free wifi and parking at the back of the hotel.
The rooms have airconditioning and coffee/tea facilities with cookies. There’s an 24 hour reception and optional breakfast. On 10 minute walking distance is the mall Euralille and just a few minutes away on foot is the city center. A tramstation is in front of the hotel.
Address:
23 Allée Vauban
59110 La Madeleine
+33 3 62 14 52 81
https://www.campanile.com/nl/hotels/campanile-lille-euralille
Hotel Revotel
If your route South isn’t through Paris, but in the East of France, this hotel in Nancy is a good stopover hotel. We stayed here in 2015 on our way back from the Gorges du Verdon.
They’re located close to the highway, have parking space (for a fee) and a 24 hour reception. There was one strange thing, that was that when they realised Yuri would be sleeping in our bed, they placed a cot in pour room. We told them it wasn’t necessary, but they were determined. We didn’t use the cot, since Yuri was too old for it. It just cramped our room.
The 2 star hotel has free wifi, a breakfast buffet, is close to the city center and has 78 rooms.
Address:
43 Rue Raymond Poincaré
54000 Nancy
+33 3 83 28 02 13
https://www.revotel-hotel.com/fr/
Ibis Budget Bordeaux le lac
A stopover hotel en route to Spain. Bordeaux was our second stop on our roadtrip to Northern Spain. Close to the highway down South, with a parking garage. The rooms of this 2 star hotel have free wifi and airconditioning. Breakfast is optional. The hotel is 5 kilometres from the city center.
Address:
Rue du Petit Barail
Centre hôteliere du Lac
33300
Bordeaux
+33 892683249
Premiere Classe Orleans Ouest
This 2 star hotel in La Chapelle St. Mesmin was just off the highway. We stopped here on our way home from Aquitaine in 2018. The hotel is close to the A10 and A71. So the location is ideal for a stopover hotel. Further more the hotel has free parking available.
The hotel has free wifi and offers a breakfast buffet. The location is also suitable for a longer stay, since it’s only 4 kilometres from the city center and 45 kilometres from the castles in the Loire valley: Blois and Chambord.
The hotel has 67 rooms and we had one for 3 persons. A queen bed with a bunk bed above it.
Address:
9 Rue D’Aquitaine
45380 La Chapelle St Mesmin
+33 2 38 61 78 92
https://www.premiereclasse.com/nl/hotels/premiere-classe-orleans-ouest-la-chapelle-saint-mesmin
Stopover hotels South: Paris
If you have 2 days to drive to Southern France from The Netherlands, Paris is nicely halfway. Paris is (almost) always full of traffic jams, so it takes a long time to pass while driving South or home. However if you drive here early in the morning the traffic jams aren’t there yet. So win, win. Paris is one of the Best Cities in Europe to Visit!
Hôtel Kyriad Paris Bercy Village
On our way to the Vendee in 2012 we stayed in a Kyriad hotel in Paris. It was near the highway and we had just crossed Paris. I think we slept in this specific 3 star hotel, but am not a hundred procent sure.
We liked our stay here back then with a 2 year old. The hotel offers a breakfast, has 201 rooms, free wifi and paid parking.
Address:
19 Rue Baron le Roy
Paris
75012
01 44 67 75 75
https://www.bercykyriad.com/en/
Ibis Saint-Denis Stade Ouest
We opted fort his 3 star hotel on our way to the Gorges du Verdon in 2015. It’s close to highway A1 so easy for a stopover. It has free parking and free wifi. Both ideal for stopover hotels when going South.
For sports fans this hotel is close to Stade de France, the largest stadium in France. The rooms have airconditioning. Breakfast is available and there’s a bar and restaurant inside the hotel. The hotel also offers roomservice.
Address:
20 Rue Jules Saulnier
La plaine Saulnier
93200
Saint Denis
+33 14809 4810
Ibis Style Antony Paris Sud
A 3 star hotel very close to the A10 and A6 which is convenient. We stayed here on our way home from the Dordogne in 2016. We loved chilling in their bar after an afternoon of driving and a visit to Lascaux in the morning.
It’s a design budgethotel, the rooms aren’t expensive however the hotel has some overall flair. Next to a bar they also have a restaurant, play area and gaming consoles. They offer free wifi and have a 24 hour reception. Breakfast is included in the price.
The hotel is close to Orly Airport. The rooms have airconditioning and offer special family rooms.
Address:
1 Rue Alexis De Tocqueville
92160
Antony
+33 1555 99 846
Stopover hotels South: Spain
When driving all the way to southern Spain (or the North) a stopover just over the border in Spain can come in handy.
Pensión San Vicente
The pension is in the old town of San Sebastian. This pension isn’t close to the highway and has no parking space. However if you want to experience some last or first city life in Basque country, this pension is ideally located.
We stayed here on our way back home from Asturias in 2019. The rooms have free wifi and are close to the beach and right in the middle of the old city. There’s no parking in the street itself. We opted for a parking garage somewhat further away, at about 5 minutes walking distance.
There are 2 and 3 person rooms. Mind you no elevator, so you have to walk some stairs. It’s on the third floor. Next to the pension are several restaurants. We loved one particular, Maiatza, we had takeaway dinner here and our breakfast the next morning.
Address:
San Vicente
7 – 3°
San Sebastian
20003
+34 629 4337 44
Stopover hotels South: Netherlands
The last stopover hotel isn’t an actual hotel, it’s my parents house. So not an option for other travelers, sorry. We have stayed a few times at my parents en route or when coming home from France. They live in Uden, so it’s easy to build in to our route down South.
If you’ve got friends or family on the route South then this is a good time to visit them and possibly stayover.
So these are the stopover hotels we have stayed at and liked while driving South. We have slept at one more, but had not a good experience with them, so won’t mention them here.
Want to have Money Saving Tips for your road trips? You can find them here.
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4 Comments
Francesca
These all look like great budget hotels! I like that at the Ibis Budget Antwerpen Port, There is bunk bed. Very family friendly. The Ibis Style Antony Paris Sud looks awesome too!
Cosette
Yes, that bunk bed was really family friendly.
Taylor
What a great idea for a blog post. This is super helpful for those looking to do a road trip in Europe. 🙂
Cosette
Thanks.