Book the crossing first, build the route around the passes second, do the paperwork third. Only one of those three sells out, and only one of them can stop the route existing at all.
The crossing is the fixed point
Operators sell a long way ahead. Brittany Ferries put its whole 2027 season on sale on April 15, 2026, covering sailings from November 2, 2026 to November 7, 2027 on its routes from Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth to Normandy, Brittany and northern Spain, and from Rosslare and Cork to France and Spain (brittanyferriesnewsroom.com, checked August 13, 2026). Its own argument for booking early is “the best choice of sailings, fares, and the first pick of cabins”. Treat the fare half as a sales line and the availability half as a fact: a spring 2027 crossing is bookable today.
Measure the vehicle before you open the booking form. You are priced by a length and height band, not by how many people are in the back, so book the band the vehicle actually measures rather than the one in the brochure. Ferries with a motorhome or van has what three operators publish.
The passes decide whether the route exists
An Alpine route in April or early May is frequently not a route. These are the dates the Savoie department reopened its big passes in 2026 (savoie.fr, checked August 13, 2026):
| Pass | Reopened in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Col du Mont-Cenis | May 22 |
| Cormet de Roselend | May 22 |
| Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard | May 24, single-lane working |
| Col de la Croix de Fer | May 29, single-lane working |
| Col de la Madeleine, Galibier tunnel | May 29 |
| Col du Galibier | June 5 |
| Col de l’Iseran | June 12 |
| Col du Glandon | June 19 |
Snow clearing sets those dates, not the calendar, so use them as the earliest plausible week rather than something to book against. If your trip is in May, draw the route so it works with the Galibier shut, and treat the pass as a bonus if it opens.
Austria’s Grossglockner Hochalpenstraße is a gated toll road with a season and opening hours, which catches people who plan it as a through route for the evening. It runs early May to early November, 6:00 to 20:00 until May 31 with last entry at 19:15, then 5:30 to 21:00 from June 1. The 2026 day ticket is 46.50 euros in the car class, where a motorhome up to 3,500 kg sits, and 56.50 euros in the LKW 1 (truck) class from 3,500 to 7,500 kg (grossglockner.at, checked August 13, 2026).
The paperwork moved this year
The EU’s Entry/Exit System has been fully operational since April 10, 2026. Entries and exits of non-EU nationals are recorded digitally instead of stamped, with a facial image, fingerprints and the data from the travel document (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu, checked August 13, 2026). Allow extra time at the first crossing: taking a photo and fingerprints is not a stamp.
ETIAS is not in force yet. The EU says the system “is not yet operational and no applications are collected at this point”, that it will start operations in the last quarter of 2026, that it costs 7 euros through the official site, and that it lasts up to three years or until the passport expires (eeas.europa.eu, checked August 13, 2026). For a spring 2027 trip that means one calendar entry: check the official EU page a few weeks out, and apply on no other site.
On a British plate, you need a UK sticker unless the plate already carries the UK identifier with the Union flag, and you need one in Spain whatever the plate says (gov.uk, checked August 13, 2026). You do not need a green card in the EU, because all UK vehicle insurance provides the minimum third party cover there, though it is worth asking your insurer what else the policy actually covers abroad (gov.uk, checked August 13, 2026). Carry the V5C, your licence and the insurance certificate, and check each country on your route for whether it wants an international driving permit. Driving rules that catch out visitors covers the equipment each one requires.
What is actually switched on when you arrive
In March and April the parking usually works and the water often does not. Pont de Larn describes its aire as open all year and says the water is cut off during freezing periods (pontdelarn.fr, checked August 13, 2026). That is the shape of early spring rather than an unlucky exception, and a fair number of aires run a stated season instead, commonly April 1 to October 31. So fill up wherever you find water running, carry more than you think you need, and do not build a route that depends on the next borne (the French service terminal) working.
Check the map for the region you are heading into, and read when to go if the dates are still movable. Then, at the entrance, the posted sign and whatever the mairie says today beat every website, this one included.
Sources
- Brittany Ferries sets sail for 2027, Brittany Ferries newsroom
- Déneigement des grands cols de Savoie, Département de la Savoie
- Preise und Öffnungszeiten, Großglockner Hochalpenstraßen AG
- The Entry/Exit System will become fully operational on 10 April 2026, European Commission
- Information on the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), EEAS
- Displaying number plates: flags, identifiers and stickers, GOV.UK
- Vehicle insurance: driving abroad, GOV.UK
- Aire camping-car, Mairie de Pont de Larn
When a source is not in English, follow the link for the official wording.