Cherbourg to Colmar - where to break?

mountainmini
mountainmini Forum Participant Posts: 8
edited June 2018 in Overseas Campsites & Touring #1

Hello everyone

we are travelling from Ireland to Cherbourg with our caravan and 2 kids aged 10 and 13. Ultimate destination Colmar in Alsace for about 8 nights - so we can daytrip to Germany and Switzerland too!

Thought Reims might be a nice stop over for a couple of nights (mmmm champagne! tongue-out) but AA routeplanner says it`s at least a 5 hour drive from the port, add another hour or two with a caravan, too far to do in one day on arrival

Any suggestions where we might break our journey? Should we perhaps do 2 stop overs?

Has anyone done this journey and what did they do?

any suggestions or advice gratefully appreciated

Thank you

Comments

  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,830 ✭✭✭
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments
    edited June 2018 #2

    For your route from Cherbourg I would think your children are old enough to enjoy two or three days in Paris staying at  Camping International at Maisons Laffittes, and then you might need another night on the way at somewhere like Langres. That's the most direct route, but still over 500 miles in all. 

  • Longtimecaravanner
    Longtimecaravanner Forum Participant Posts: 642
    edited June 2018 #3

    If you do take ET's advice, we are staying at Langres at the moment on Le Lac Le Liez site with direct access to the lake where there is a sailing school which the children might like and a swimming pool on site.

    If you follow the Reims route I assume you will be following the A29 which goes right through the heart of the Somme battlegrounds of the First World War if your children have covered that in history. We stayed at  Les Puits Tournants, at Sailley Le Sec which again had a lake but no swimming pool.

  • mountainmini
    mountainmini Forum Participant Posts: 8
    edited June 2018 #4

    Thank you for the replies!

    A little bit apprehensive about going near Paris eurotraveller - though maybe someday we`ll be brave enough!

    Your suggestions are interesting longtimecaravanner - I`ll investigate those further, yes the A29 looks like the route we`d prefer, definitely the WW1 battlefields would be interesting

     

    thanks again to you both

  • Longtimecaravanner
    Longtimecaravanner Forum Participant Posts: 642
    edited June 2018 #5

    If you do decide to stop off in the Somme area my blog will give you a couple of ideas on what to see

    https://jennyandjohngocaravanning.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/somme/

  • mountainmini
    mountainmini Forum Participant Posts: 8
    edited June 2018 #6

    thanks so much - I had a wee nosey at your blog, looks great, you are certainly well travelled and have lots of experience.

    We have driven many times in France and also up through Denmark, Norway and Sweden but never with a caravan. We`ve had it for a year now, but previous to that we would have borrowed a family members caravan, so we aren`t complete novices but are no experts either!

    Before we even get to France we have a 5 hour drive from home to the ferry in Ireland... so we are thinking now perhaps a one night stop off in Rouen (approx 4 hours drive with a caravan from Cherbourg) simply to rest and acclimatise

    then on another few hours to Reims for 2 nights (I am determined to have my champers!) and then basing ourselves in Strasbourg for a week rather than Colmar, to save that extra hour each way on our journey, we can do a day trip to Colmar. Trying to keep each days driving to around 4 hours maximum.

    We really like the idea of getting to that corner of France because Germany and Luxembourg are near enough to visit too - 3 countries for the price of 1 so to speak!

    Now to work on the return journey, would prefer a loop route but perhaps it makes sense to return the same way, might be easier. 

    Always exciting planning the trip, but time consuming and frustrating too 

    Thanks again for your advice

Categories