Can anyone recommend a great route to take from London to Barcelona (avoiding those boring Motorways/peage) and recommend good places to stay on the way?
Depends on how long you’ve got to do it, and what you want to see.
Rode London – Barcelona last summer in 3 days riding. Took Portsmouth – Cherbourg ferry day 1 and stayed over night with family near the bay of le Mont St. Michelle in Normandy. Took D roads pretty much all the way down and fairly traffic free.
Next day rode Avranches – Biarritz keeping on route Nationales & D roads. I’ve a tomtom rider and if you configure it to go fastest route, but avoid tolls, it’ll take you on fast dual and single carriage ways avoiding most towns but keeping off large and boring motorways. (saving you loads in tolls, as well as reducing hassel of digging out change!)
If you keep to the west, outside Bordeaux it’s rather dull, but you just need to go faster. This day took me about 6 hours fast riding, not taking the p1ss speeding too much, but certainly making progress. Was on a VFR, so can sit around 100 where safe for most of the way, slowing down for towns & traffic.
Stayed with relatives near Biarritz for a few days, then spent ¾ a day from Biarritz going over and along the Pyrenees to Barcelona. Again used tomtom to get fastest but nice route, although if had more time I’d have definitely spent more time going up and over the Pyrenees, but spectacular riding all the same.
As for places to stay I was with family so not much help there. But there are loads of hotels en route, from small Logis to chain motels, so I’d suggest just start riding and work out where you’ll stay en route. More fun that way too.
I also rode down through France to Barca in Feb this year en route to North Africa, but in a group and making time on 650GS’s so went down Calais, Paris to the south west (Fois) via payages. V boring, but fast way to do it. Absolutely freezing, and not recommended.
Take plenty of wet wipes for your visor as insec-tastic, and vented clothing as over Pyrenees in Spain gets v v hot.
PM me if you’ve any questions. Have a great trip!
I took the London-Calais-Reims-Dijon-Lyon-Nimes-Montpellier-Perpignan-Barcalona, It was a nice ride down, I hit barcalona on the third day having camped overnight in Dijon and Montpellier.
You could take the Ferry to Bilbao and ride west->east across the pyrnese following the amazing N260/N240 Road of heaven to barcalona…
Not sure about riding there. But actually IN Barcelona is a total nightmare! I would seriously advise buying a map BEFORE you go which shows all the one-way systems, because the maps that they sell there are pants, if, indeed, you can find anywhere that sells a map…
Went there for a weekend a couple of years ago and spent the first day driving round in circles!
You could take the Ferry to Bilbao and ride west->east across the pyrnese following the amazing N260/N240 Road of heaven to barcalona…
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We did this last year but did not go as far as Barcelona, stayed on the French side of the Pyrenees. Depending on when you go you must book accom in advance as there will not be any if it is in French summer hols.
+1 central Barcelona is a one way pain in the backside
even with sat nav we had to go round twice to work the ramblas area out 
but once you get that sorted in your mind the rest of the roads arent too bad (but the sat nav helps :))
highly recommend Hotel 1898 (right on north end of the ramblas) if you want to splash out a little for a night or two
Went to barcelona by car from dover-calis-paris-barcelona…was very long journey by car…best of luck on a bike…
I’ve been down to the Spanish Pyrenees from Le Harve using D roads all the way from the south of Le Mans.
I will try to find my route notes from that trip. 2 and a half days down there.