Crossing to France & the continent
Hi everyone
New to the club having enjoyed 7 years in a static, we ended up with itchy feet after the children grew up so sampled a touring caravan for 2 years and loved the freedom.
Now we have proudly taken possession of our new motor home to offer more flexibility (in between demonic work commitments), we would appreciate any good tips for travelling to the continent through France.
We have driven on the continent in cars before and not too worried about that. We would appreciate any advice on getting over the channel - Is the Ferry the best option ?
Also if our plan is to travel to Southern France, would 1 stop over be advised en-route or 2 once once we are on the main land?
Thank-you in advance
Comments
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Don't be put off by the name (it's not an adult website
) but when we owned a motorhome, we used these places extensively. We stayed on some amazing vineyards and on more than one occasion, helped with the grape harvesting (and tasting
).Highly recommended.
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From the Channel to the Med. is about 600 miles. Sometimes I do that in two days, sometimes I take a week. Sometimes I pay €100 + for the toll roads, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I have a firm plan of where I will stop overnight, but usually I fail, so I never book anywhere. Sometimes I get lost. Enjoy your new Motorhome.
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Travelling to the South can be done with one stopover if starting from France early but its bit of a flog, we take the minimum of two stops on the way up plus a night at Ouistreham. Ferry of Tunnel chiefly depends on distances either side, also on average you might have more delays at Dover/Calais especially at busy times.
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in winter, using the Western Route (as many do) we can do Nantes in four hours from Cnerbourg and then Irun (Spanish border) in another (long, toll) day...but only when it's a means to an end.....destination Costas...
when 'exploring' France, rather than passing through it, it can take forever......we love it.
so, don't rush (unless avoiding a cold, wintery France) and enjoy.
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Excellent advise from everyone but can I just add
Camping car infos which is an excellent French website for touring most of Europe but specially France which gives you the locations of every Aire for motorhome's where you can stay for a small fee or free. You dont need to speak French to use and it also has a free POI download for most GPS's like Tom Tom.
Enjoy
Phil
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Living in Lancashire the Hull Zeebruggee crossing is a good option. We prefer travelling on the continental roads rather than the the heavy traffic in UK. Recommend via Michelin website for route planning ( find putting caravan option gives accurate timings for motorhome travel).
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Other than temperature and weather reliability( south of the Loire to get reasonable certainty), there is much to commend more northern parts of France rather than slogging down to the Med. Had a delightful three weeks meandering around Normandy & Brittany last year. 'Le monde ce'st vote huitre'.
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The pace of your journey often depends on how long you intend staying in France.
A quick dash south gives you more time to explore one area but taking your time going down, or back, lets you see places you've never heard of that often tick your boxes and you're happy to stop and explore there.
A Motorhome can be used to stay in towns and villages well off the direct route but gives you a better idea of what France has to offer once you are away from the more 'touristy' sites.
We usually head into France using the Motorways and then meander around for a few weeks before returning to the Tunnel.
Using Aires, France Passion and occasional Campsites we stop overnight wherever we land – no plans or booking required.
The South of France and the West coast will be very busy in July and August and the prices rise accordingly – out of that time slot you should not have any difficulty stopping anywhere overnight.
We all have different likes and dislikes and you may want a more regimented itinerary but if you go with the flow you may find it becomes addictive and you need to return to the Continent on a more regular basis.
Videos of some of the Aires we've used - www.youtube.com/user/keithchesterfield
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Been there, done it, loved it. We even lived in France for a number of years. In the 70's we once drove through France on a compass bearing, we were not towing and had a brilliant trip; not sure I would try it in a camper and certainly not with a caravan behind! As you say your children have now left the nest so I would strongly recommend avoiding July and August for your trip to France. End of May/June is an excellent time of the year to go. At this time you will enjoy light evenings (up to 11pm in N France) and there is no need to pre book sites so you can just go as you please - last May we went to inland Provence and had no problems finding sites. As explained your choice of ferry depends on where in France you propose visiting. It makes no sence to go Dover - Calais if you are going to west France (or Spain) but it is a good route if heading to Alsace, Germany and Italy. From Lancashire I would look at the ferries from Portsmouth as it is a fairly straightforward drive and avoids the dreaded M25. Lots of sound advice in the earlier posts. The new speed limits on French roads (none autoroute) will have an affect on your daily distance but why rush through this lovely country. These new speed limits are being enforced rigidly as you can see from reading other posts in this section!
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a further note, there is an Android version of their app which might be useful, but sadly not (yet?) an IOS version.....I just keep the webpage open.
id say this was perry much the 'definitive' reference for Aires all over Europe...
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Like us you drive from the North. i used to drive to Kent, park up and get an early morning ferry/tunnel....now I try to drive down to Dover in one go, get a mid afternoon ferry/train and then stop up to 50 miles or so inland from Calais.
Why? Even when catching an early morning ferry the time difference means plus an hour, then you've got to get off the ferry/train and onto the roads which all takes time. If you stop France for the first night then you can be off and away in good time and the worlds your oyster.
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Quickest way to the south is by the Tunnel then Reims, Lyon, Marseille. We don't use aires to stop over but many do. Many also use the ferries or alternative routes. Plenty of choice.
The one thing we wouldn't be without is the ACSI card and app. assuming you are out of season.
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