Late Night Arrivals
Hello all,
I am after a bit of advice.
We are arriving in Calais for the start of our summer holidays at 10.10pm on a Friday end of July. We were originally intending to drive the best part of our journey south during the night, there is only the two of us this year. We would get as far as we could, but before fatigue sets in, pull over and use an aired for 4+ hours.
However now considering going straight from the tunnel to Le Bien Asise. We would arrive hopefully if there are no delays between 10.30-10.45pm. I know they make arrangements for late arrivals, but have no experience of arriving very late to this site.
Anyone out there ever managed a late arrival at this site? Are there any other sites nearby that are easy to access if pre-arranged late arrivals are agreed? Or would I be just as well, at that time of night, push on and maybe stop at aire-Baie de Somme,or would that be to crowded?
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. 
Comments
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I think all your ideas are valid - pushing on for a few hours, phoning Bien Assise to warn them about late arrival, or stopping at Baie de Somme services. Nothing wrong with any of them. Other options include arranging a late arrival at Gandspette Camping, parking at the Cite d'Europe shopping mall, or the Auchan hypermarket just off junction 31 of the autoroute southbound. Regards.
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There's a brand new caravan/motorhome park next to the Aire de Camping-car site in the Rue d'Asfeld in Calais. I believe the overnight price for a caravan is 17 euros.
We've stayed on the Aire next to the site twice this year and it's been extremely quiet and handy for the motorway. The Aire and caravan site are run by the local authority. I'm sure if you email or ring them they will be accommodating.
I'm afraid I don't rate Le Bien Asise site.
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Thanks for the replies.
Have decided to move on during the night , at least as far as I can go before fatigue sets in.
Looking at other posts, I found a useful link (from the sticky - useful info websites) which was provided by Val da. It shows a prediction of the traffic volume on the roads during the year. Looking at the date we are travelling, we maybe better off completing as much of the journey as we can through the night.
Have gone through the night before, but not with a caravan in tow. Should be an experience . 😁☀️
Happy holidays 🏖
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If you are arriving on Friday 28 July and travelling overnight into Saturday 29th beware this is probably the busiest day of the year and even at 3 in the morning motorways near any city will be very very busy as most of France goes on holiday this weekend. If you can keep off the motorways on that Saturday do so. N roads will be less bad but if you are on a motorway expect hours of delays!
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where is it that youre actually trying to get to?
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Our first stop is in Saintes.
An overnight stop and then onto Bidart.
We are arriving in Calais, hopefully 10.15pm Friday 21 July. The information regarding traffic on that day is 'difficult'. Will it stil be as bad during the night?
The route is:
A16
A28
A10 - Saintes
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Bien Assis reception closes at about 7 pm so I don't know what they do about late arrivals. I would stop at an Autoroute Aire. The biggest problem will be lorries parked in the caravan bays but sometimes we have parked up overnight in the lorry area.
Baie de Somme is very good but I am not sure what space would be available at all that time of year.
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finding suitable stopping places is a different proposition for those using a caravan, to those using a MH....we just dont even think about planning specific stops (just a general overview, perhaps) as there will always be a suitable aire.
however, i dont care much for motorway service stations (would i do it in the uk, no....) so, is there any chance of choosing a different ferry time so that you would be doing your travel in the daytime and would then be able to arrive at Saintes within their opening times?
travelling through the night might be good for 'traffic levels' but finding a campsite open way after dark is obviously proving tricky.
good luck.
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Traffic will be busier than normal that weekend, at any time, but not so much during the night that you would notice any difference. If you are able to, then I would drive for as long as you feel able, and then find somewhere you can park up and stop for an hour or two. We have stayed on supermarket car parks, warehouse frontages, and even the forecourt of a disused railway station in the long-distant past. These days, with no chldren and no rush to get anywhere, we travel during the day and find campsites at night.
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Thanks for all the replies. 😁
We originally booked the tunnel for a late evening crossing on Friday 21 July as we wanted to get away as quickly as possible. This was the earliest time that we could logistically achieve getting to Folkestone for the passage to France.I had the opportunity of changing times, but there was almost an £80.00 surcharge and on a day later, so we therefore decided to stick with our original plan.
I was going to pull in at the Baie De Somme rest area, however, as has been mentioned, that will more than likely be crowded with the rest of Europe heading south. Have research rest area's en route and have found various aires that hopefully will be suitable. Will go as far as I can and then rest for a very early start, moving on to our first overnight stop.
Considered a late arrival at La Bien Assise as it appeared through the club that they could accommodate this if requested at the time of booking. However having stayed on this site for an early return crossing in the past, I have seen 'late arrivals' pitched up outside the gate and wouldn't fancy that, hence my posting on this forum.
Will post back on here to let you know how we progressed with the traffic, rest areas and if we would do it again.
🏖☀️😁
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Good luck! The Saturday is your main problem - its a Black code for travel ( = Circulation tres difficile - very difficult driving conditions) towards the coast. On your planned route you should expect major holdups at points where autoroutes join - Le Mans, Tours, and the A10 towards Saintes will be nose to tail. Once you get to Saintes its a nice site and you can walk in to the town to recover in any number of nice bars and restaurants
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We stayed at Bien Assis coming back this year (ACSI rates) and they do like to take you to a specific pitch so I cannot see how a late arrival will work. There will be nobody on duty except possibly in the bar.
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