French / Swiss Alps summer trip.
Hi everyone ,hope your all well. This time last year I asked for tips on Scotland , thanks to everyone who responded, the tips were very useful . This year were looking at doing French Alps. Two sites , 6 nights on each with 2 one night stops each way. Travelling end August ,early September . With 2 dogs. So I'm looking for tips/ advice on pet passports, campsites on way from Calais, 3 to 4 hours drive between each. Areas in Alps were considering are:- Bourgeois d'Oisans, Annecy, Le Grand Bornand, or Neydens. We're looking in caravan club overseas book and select sites book. We've done France many times but only down west coast so this area is all new , also it will be furthest we've gone down. And first time with the dogs. Looking forward to hearing from anyone who can help.
Neil, Julie, Alfie and Mollie. (The two chocolate cockers.)
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Driving only 3 or 4 hours a day from Calais might mean overnights at Chalons en Champagne and Macon on the way south - but there are lots of others listed in your ACSI Camping Card guide and the Club's TouringFrance guide. We take them both and choose stops as we go along.
All the places you listed in the Alps are worth visiting, though we would rate Chamonix as more spectacular than those four, but I'm afraid your dogs will prevent you riding on the big cable cars there unless you can organise day care for them in the town.
Taking dogs means reading up on line about the PETS scheme, seeing your vet and sorting out pet passports and injections at the proper time, and checking out with a vet before you come back.
I hope that helps.
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Hi, we've stayed in all the areas you've mentioned, and you really can't go wrong. Plenty of good campsites, stunning scenery, and if you time it right, Le Tour de France.
Problem is, dogs are not allowed in French national parks, so that means for the best walking areas in the Alpes, the dogs can't come with you, not even on a lead. Plenty of good walking in the unrestricted areas, but you'll miss out on the most spectacular parts.
Plenty of info on line, worth checking out before you decide.
Have a great trip, whatever.
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We started our 'overseas' caravanning with a trip to the Swiss alps at Interlaken back in 1993 and whilst it was a fantastic holiday it was very pricey. It was suggested that we tried the French Alps which we did a couple of years later staying at Le Grand Bornand. What a fabulous location. The site that we stopped at, L'Escale, was very good but it is the location that made it. It is a five minute walk from the village which is surrounded by mountains and which has just about everything that you would want. There is so much to see in the immediate vicinity that a lot of our time has been spent within about a 20 mile radius of the site. During the summer months there is (was) free entertainment in the village every night ranging from jazz bands to puppet shows to, when we were there, a full blown French version of Hello Dolly complete with about a 20 piece orchestra. On two occasions when we have been there and completely by chance, the Tour de France came through the village but this is, of course, late June early July. There is always something going on either in the village or in the immediate vicinity. If you want to know more about the village / area then let me know. There are lots of places that I could suggest you go to see.
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Stayed at Grand Bornand. Nice scenery, site ok but pool was rubbish. Try and get a larger pitch as some were very tight. Make sure you have a credit card as it was very expensive with mediocre food in Bornand. Annacy was lovely but lunch in the town for four?..2 small salads, 2 sandwiches and 8 soft drinks. £75!
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If restaurants at Grand Bornand really are "mediocre" then drive round to the Chalet du Lac beside the Lac des Confins. Their tartiflette certainly isn't mediocre. And the photo of the restaurant on their website is glorious.
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We went to M08 : Camping la Colombière in July 2013, they had just opened a new field with larger pitches which was lovely, mostly sunny pitches. Geneva is only 6 miles away, Annecy about 30 mins plus traffic and Chamonix about an hour plus traffic. En route we stayed at Camping Lac de la Liez in both directions, we got a terribly sloping pitch both nights at the bottom of the site, we have a large outfit so could not get the van level due to the slope.
We're going back this year to Camping la Colombière but not until August so we're expecting it to be a bit busier on the site and in the region. This year we're stopping over at different sites, pushing on South for a long first France day heading to L12 : Le Château de l'Epervière, probably around 7 hrs from Calais but a lovely site leaving just over 2 hrs the next day to the main site. The return route we are stopping at J07 : Le Lac d'Orient which is around halfway from Neydens to Calais, never been to this site but it looks nice.
Hope this is of some help in your planning. I'm sure you'll enjoy it, its a stunning region.
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And for those who would like to look at sites closer to Mont Blanc, but outside the Club booking scheme, I suggest Camping les Domes de Miage at St Gervais les Bains, and Camping les Deux Glaciers in Chamonix itself. Google will give photos and reviews.
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Regarding Le Lac de Liez we have also used this site several times and actually four times last year. Our experience is that if you stay one night and use acsi discount you can get a very poor pitch at the bottom of the site, vans are extremely close together and this area floods badly after heavy rain. However, when we booked through the club's foreign touring service we had a suberb pitch. We like this site as a stopover very much, lake is scenic for an evening stroll, the pool is good and convenient for the motorway in either direction. But we will in future always book and pay a bit more to get a better pitch. Agree that Chateau de l'Eperviere is a lovely site!
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Thanks everyone for your replies. After doing a bit of research and considering the replies about the dogs not being able to go into the national parks etc we've decided to change our plans. It didn't seem fair to drag them all that way and not let them have a good run and swim etc. So we've decided on either 2 weeks east coast of Scotland and highlands, or 1 week Devon , 1 week Cornwall . So any tips for either would be appreciated . Thanks again Neil.
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Hi Weekendgypsy, ( like the name)
I'm sure we all have our own ideas when it comes to the perfect site but we have been to the Treamble site just outside Truro twice ...no complaints at all and dogs loved the beaches ,( where allowed) . Both times we had perfect weather. I cannot see how one could be dissapointed with this lovely site.Tony
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Hi Weekendgypsy
I took the caravan and 2 dogs to north east France (Alsasce) at Christmas and didn't have any problems - i wasn't aware that dogs weren't allowed in national parks and there was no evidence to suggest that they weren't allowed and there were plenty of dogs about too. My dogs LOVED it (see photo).
Regarding PETS scheme, it does work out quite pricey - i paid 40 euros each dog this time (have paid up to 80 euros each!!!) and I always feel like i'm getting ripped off as the worming tablets only cost £10 . this being said, i still wouldn't hesitate taking them.
Have fun where ever you end up
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We are planning (my wife and I and two dogs) a trip to France staying for six or seven days at the Le Mas De Reilhe (Sommieres Nr Montpelier) followed by another six or seven days at Le Champ De Moulin (not far from Grenoble).
We would if possible like advice on which route to the first (from Calais) and route back from the second (to Calais). We are probably going to drive down to the Eurotunnel overnight so will be staying overnight within a hundred or so miles of Calais and do not want to do much more than 300/350 miles per day so will probably have another overnight stay on the way down.
On the way back we will probably (again) stay overnight near Calais and the same daily mileage as outward means another overnighter on the way back.
We live on the Wirral near Chester BTW and any advice on any subject would be very gratefully received as this will be our first overseas trip with a caravan.
Thanks
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Do you want a cheap route or an expensive one using toll roads? Are you willing to skirt round the edge of Paris or do you want to steer clear of it? How much of a hurry are you in to get there? And will it be an August weekend or a quieter time?
In short there are all sorts of possibilities. You may get recommendations for all of them ! Stand by!
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Thanks for the response eurotraveller and sorry to have entered my questions 3 times not very techy me. I am looking for advice as to whether I should steer clear of Paris or is it OK to skirt round it as you said. How much do the toll roads cost I have no idea, if its a couple of quid here and there I don't mind but if its a couple of hundred I do. We will be going at the end of June/ beginning of July. We are not in any great hurry to get anywhere, quite happy to take our time. I have driven abroad before but not with a caravan. We will be going for about 18 days and wanted to stay near Montpelier for about six days and near to Grenoble for about the same period and were wondering how best we could plan the trip to and from (Calais) without tiring ourselves out.
Cheers
Ron
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Ron, take a look at Michelin route finder https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/Routes
it will not only show you the different routes you can choose but also how much it will cost in tolls and, if you set up the options, fuel.
I certainly wouldn't go anywhere near Paris and as hubby doesn't really like towing we always opt for toll roads which usually means you can keep up a steady speed and every fifteen miles there is an off road aire that you can pull off on for a break. But that of course is purely personal choice.
Calais to Grenoble it suggests would cost anything between E153 and E190. Avoiding tolls the cost comes down to E53 but the journey time almost doubles.
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Ron, That last answer points you in the right direction to check times and costs.
It's about 650 miles from Calais to your first site at Crespian. The motorway route via Reims and Troyes is quick but will cost €132 each way in tolls. The non motorway route via Rouen and Clermont Ferrand is toll free but means about 8 hours more driving.
When we have time to spare we just pick the chateaux, museums, cathedrals and gardens we want to visit on the way and hop from one to another - we have been known make the journey last a week.
I hope you have a great holiday whichever way you do it.
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Thanks everyone for the tips the cost of tolls allied to the fact that we will not be in any hurry makes me aware that we will have to choose our route quite carefully. I am thinking that staying away from Paris is probably a good idea so there will need to be a lot of route planning before we go.
Take care everyone and ENJOY!!!!
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