New trip plans

beverley12
beverley12 Forum Participant Posts: 87
edited December 2019 in Overseas Campsites & Touring #1

I think we have almost mapped out a plan for this years trip abroad starting May 31 for 6 weeks.

However as some areas are new to us and as we have now got a new caravan, which at 7.3 metres is much longer than our previous van, we would appreciate any advice/ comments re sites or routes we have chosen mainly in relation to towing a longer van. 

We hope to get the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo.

- first stop Le Moulin Fort near Tours

- then  a few nights at Ordour sur Glane

- a week(ish) at Beaulieu sur Dordogne ( bit worried about the drive to this site)

- onto area near Albi and Toulouse - possible a sight at Lagrave Les pommiers D' Aigueleze - again not sure about narrow roads???

- maybe a couple of weeks chillaxing by the seaside near Perpignan before we then return. 

Appreciate any advice if others have gone to any of these site or areas.

 

Comments

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,860 ✭✭✭
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    edited December 2019 #2

    We have stayed at Le Moulin Fort, albeit ten years ago. A handy site for visiting Chenonceaux which is a must. 

    David

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2019 #3

    It was about 10 yrs since we went there too ... I found Chenonceaux fascinating due to it having a single door at the end of the gallery between the Allied forces & Germany 

  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,829 ✭✭✭
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    edited December 2019 #4

    Beverley12,  it's a good plan - far better than any of mine embarassed. 

    My own thoughts after an early morning arrival at St Malo are on the lines of "if it's sunny we stay, if it.'s raining we leave". So please don't feel you absolutely must drive 200miles to the Loire on day one when it's only 20 miles to the headland at St Jacut - and when the tide goes out you can take your shoes off and paddle out to the island. 

    And Camping Moulin Fort gets very mixed reviews. 

  • TomSue
    TomSue Forum Participant Posts: 76
    edited December 2019 #5

    Hi, we travel down to the Dordogne, stopping off at various places. We take the Portsmouth Caen crossing & have stopped off at Le Moulin Fort campsite, which was fine for 1 night, but the pitches where we were pitched were small & the pool was poor. However worth a one nighter for Chenonceau chateau & it’s very near. Further down we stop off at chateau Leychoisiez near Limoges & have visited the martyr village at Oradour sur Glane. Again we’ll worth a visit. We had no idea this sort of thing happened after the D day landings.

    Hope this is some help.

  • InaD
    InaD Club Member Posts: 1,701 ✭✭
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    edited December 2019 #6

    I agree with eurortraveller in that there is no need to book sites; we never do and do the same: if the weather's nice, we stay, if not, we move.

    We've stayed at Le Moulin Fort, not for long, as we were evacuated on the same day that we arrived there to meet up with friends, due to the river expecting to burst its banks, but that's another story - it's owned by Brits, so there are many Brits there, it doesn't feel like a typical French site at all.  Some of the pitches aren't very big, but as said it's handy for the nearby chateau.

    Oradour is worth a visit, very thought-provoking.

    We've stayed at Beaulieu some years ago, pretty village, site by the river, but had lots and lots of trees, which we weren't that keen on.

     

     

  • Longtimecaravanner
    Longtimecaravanner Forum Participant Posts: 642
    edited December 2019 #7

    We loved Beaulieu and had a river side pitch. Yes, the road in is narrow but it isn't more than a few yards and we managed it with a 7.5m van after going the wrong way down a one way street in Beaulieu and having to turn round!

    InaD says there are a lot of trees and I would agree with that but that is my opinion of the Dordogne region which is why isn't one of my favourite areas.

    I haven't got a photo of the entrance road handy to put on here but there is one in my site reviews on my blog if you want to see it.

    https://jennyandjohngocaravanning.wordpress.com/site-reviews/

     

  • lagerorwine
    lagerorwine Forum Participant Posts: 310
    edited December 2019 #8

    6 weeks from end of May and you are finishing into French school hols (July) I think, so not sure about not needing to book sites for that period at least.

    I have stopped at the Castels site near Limoges, and wouldn't recommend it for several reasons - uneven sloping pitches, ancient shower block, being the main 2.

     

  • Jed 1966
    Jed 1966 Forum Participant Posts: 8
    edited January 2020 #9

    Hi,

    We visited Oradour sur Glane last August on our own trip around France. For that visit we stayed at Camping Des Alouettes in Cognac-la-Foret. It's a small 3 star site run by a friendly Dutch family. I cannot praise this site or its owners enough. It's close to Oradour sur Glane, Limoges as well as other places of interest in the area. Getting in and out was easy and like yourselves we have a van that is 7.31m long. During our trip this was one of the best sites we stayed on and would quite happily go there again.

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