First time abroad - advice on everything
Hi all,
As a bit of background info, we are relatively new to caravanning, having bought our twin axle in January 2019. We only managed to get 4 short weekend trips around the UK over the summer this year (just 12 nights in total) but plan to get much more use of it in 2020 as my wife is on maternity leave and I am quite flexible with my work.
So far we have 6 trips planned for next year, totalling approx 45 nights. The trip that’s causing me most headache is our longest (both in distance and duration) - we want to go abroad; originally thinking of the likes of France (West or South coasts), or Northern Italy. The trip would be 2.5-3 weeks depending on how much time I can get off work in June/July.
Im wondering whether Italy will be a bit far with an 8 month old and a 2.5 year old. That being said, can anyone recommend me an itinerary for West or South France in June/July, including a couple of campsites?
Any other recommendations for driving or caravanning abroad would also be useful.
Thanks in advance. Rob
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Sorry, just to add a few things that we would like;
- Scenery - mountains, coast, rivers, chateaus,
- Clean sites, ideally with swimming pool (not essential though)
- Our caravan is twin axle and 7.98m (not sure if this matters but thought I’d add it). We also have a large-ish awning.
- Would like to be close to beaches, walking, quaint/pretty towns with restaurants etc. Just the usual stuff that you would do with a young family I guess...
Ive been doing a bit of preliminary research and seen a few recommendations for the Loire and Dordoigne areas. Also some for the South Coast around Nice...
thanks again, Rob
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I’m not the most experienced caravanner (7-8 years) but we’ve been to Europe about 5 times. Based on those experiences, a few thoughts.
1. Timing is critical - June you probably wouldn’t have to book in advance whereas getting into July, you may be advised to.
2. I’d be tempted to avoid Italy or south of France if only 2.5-3 weeks, otherwise there’s an imbalance between driving/packing up/setting up versus relaxation. Taking a western crossing (eg Portsmouth-Caen) would make West France a better idea. (Brittany?)
3. There’s quite a number of sites in Europe where twin axles are not accepted, either because pitches are smaller or internal site roadways are too tight.
4. Get an ACSI card to both use their sites directory and use the low season discount scheme.
you will get lots of advice on here, but remember, for a first time, you can take it easy!
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Many sites on the Adriatic coast in Northern Italy are wonderful for young children with their own beaches and baby pools etc. Another big attraction is the weather that is almost guaranteed. However, they are approx. 18 hours drive from Calais with a caravan. When our children were young (although not quite as young as yours) we used to go to Italy for 16 days at a time which would give us about 10 days on the coast. We used to drive through the night whilst the children were asleep but I was a lot younger then too. Don’t be put off by some who will tell you that pitches in Italy are small, it depends where you are and the quality of the site. Many pitches are far bigger than those in the UK.
However, if this is your first time abroad perhaps France or Holland would be more practical. It depends how adventurous you feel but if you’re like me, when I was your age, I’d head for Italy. If you go in June or early July there will be no need to pre-book sites on route or even on the Adriatic coast.
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I’ve been to Italy and back in just over 2 weeks but I was by myself so didn’t have to consider anyone else. With very young children I just wouldn’t consider it at all. With our grandtwins 4 hours a day in the car is the limit.
It would be helpful to know how far you have to travel in the UK and which ferry port you intend to use
Whatever you choose have a great trip
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Rob
Whilst you say that you are relatively new to caravanning you don't mention whether you have previous experience of driving in Europe? If not perhaps it might be an idea to test the water with a shorter trip initially? I would have thought the west of France would have been ideal with lots of excellent beaches, although being on the Atlantic they won't be as sheltered as some on the Med. You could mix it with a stay in the Dordogne. Italy is a lovely destination and one of our favourites and whilst the time you have will allow a visit you are going to spend a lot more time on the road. Lake Garda might be worth thinking about as that is not too far and you will get to see some of Germany and Austria en route. Whatever you decide to do I am sure you will find it interesting and exciting in equal measure.
David
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We owned a large twin-axle for a number of years and have made several 3 week trips to France - mostly in summer school holidays until last year. I personally would not make a trip to southern France or Italy for my first trip abroad - especially with such young children. Having been in southern France twice in the last couple of years in June, it was way too hot - heatwave of 40 degrees was unbearable in a caravan.
When we first bought our twinnie, we got really excited at the notion of roaming - staying one night somewhere then upping and moving seemed really adventurous. The reality was very different! Our twinnie was a hulk to move and organise - even with a mover. The awning itself (and you mention that you have a large awning) was enough to render us to quivering wrecks at the thought of having to knock another round of pegs into rock-hard French pitches! Factor in the intense heat and......well......it put paid to our roaming notions after that.
Our best trips were the ones where we stayed at least 7 nights on main sites before moving to another. We live in north-west England so depending on where in France we went, we would spend at least one night (sometimes 2) en-route staying in municipal sites. We have never spent over-nights in Aires because we felt the risks to be too great.
Travelling with kids, I would always pre-book sites. I found it easier to do homework and planning research during the horrible cold winter months rather than trying to find suitable sites whilst already on holiday!
I would certainly recommend the Dordogne and also the Vendee and this year was the first time we ventured into northern France and found Brittany to be truly lovely with glorious weather in June. One of our earlier trips was Portsmouth/Caen and then a stay in the Vendee before moving to the Dordogne. A days drive to Caen before an overnight crossing back to Portsmouth meant that we had plenty of time to spend in each of the sites we picked.
My last little bit of advice would be to always, always notify the size of your van and the fact it is a twin-axle whenever you make a booking. It helps the sites plan where to put you. Our very first ever trip and we didn’t mention we had a big van - we just assumed (wrongly) that the pitches were the same as in England. They aren’t! They are quirky and different shapes and sizes and many continental vans are much smaller than UK ones and can turn easier. We spent a very long evening finding different ways to say “non” to the teeny, tiny pitch they wanted to give us!
Have fun researching.
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JapanRed, good morning.
I am afraid your ambitions - maybe dreams - of mountains, rivers, chateaux, restaurants, walking, and quaint pretty towns don't match the reality of taking a toddler and an eight month old baby on holiday. Your time will come, and those things will come, but not yet.
For the time being I'm afraid you will have to set your sights lower - a decent campsite no more than a day's drive from a French ferry port, a paddling pool for the children as well as a swimming pool for you, and a safe sandy beach.
And when you have picked that destination you might even choose to leave the big caravan and awning at home and rent a good quality cabin or a chalet on site. It would be easier.
Happy days. Good wishes to you and your family.
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Recommending a site is always fraught with difficulties as we are all different. Camping Larrouleta is one we did not particularly like and would not visit again. Yes the location is quite good and is ideal as a stop over on your way to Spain but I definitely wouldn't travel hundreds of miles to stay there as my holiday "destination".
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I agree with Eurotraveller, a nice Eurocamp static (or similar) on a site (or sites) in France would be much more relaxing until the children are older.
If you do decide to take the caravan abroad the "full awning" would not be required, either just take the roof section or buy a sun canopy (check on Ebay). A full awning would be far too hot.
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I am another one who wouldn't subject my children to being in the car for so long as to go to the south of France. I still remember the cries of 'Are we nearly there yet?' with my two although they were older than yours.
If it were me I would do a western crossing and go to south Brittany for a coastal holiday and then onto the Loire for the chateaux. Our rule used to be we did something we wanted to do in the morning and then the afternoon was by the pool or on the beach for the children.
The ACSI website will give you a good idea of what is available as a site.
Its a wonderful experience. Enjoy.
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Our son and OH decided it would be great to take their very young children ( 2 boys 2yrs and 4yrs) to the south of france with their caravan, and as others have posted they found it far to much travelling and stopping overnight with the children,they found after speaking to other young families (we tried to advise them) that it was far easier and not much more expensive to use Eurocamp and did so for several years,before as now flying every where for their holidays,
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no experience towing but probably more than most just driving around. Don't expect drivers in Italy to be like over here, they can be more, well everything really, it can take some getting used to especially in cities and it does get worse as you go further south so just take care.
Also one important point make sure your air con in the car is working. Opening the window just won't do anything and impossible to drive like that on motorways.
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Hi all, firstly can I say thank you for all of your replies and the wealth of information provided. I will reply to some of the posts below;
MollysMummy - Hi, yes Ive got my towing licence. Passed the test the week before we collected our caravan.
DavidKlyne - Hi, I'm quite confident in driving abroad, having driven in France, Belgium, Spain, USA and South Africa in the past couple of years (albeit not with a caravan). I'm also reasonably confident towing the caravan; our last trip was to the narrow roads in The Lake District which was fine - I'm guessing towing abroad is fine as long as one takes their time?
LancashireLou - Thanks very much. I am tempted to agree that Italy and The South of France are probably a bit too far for this first trip. We've now decided to stick with Northern/Western France for this trip.
DorestDiver and Deleted User User - Thanks so much for the advice, Ill check out those links this evening.
Eurortraveller - Thanks for the advice. We bought the caravan to supplement our traditional 'flying' holidays. We've taken the 2 year old to Lake Garda, Tenerife, Barcelona, Venice, Dubrovnik and Portugal so far. These were all traditional flying holidays and I appreciate that caravanning is a little more work. That being said, we bought the caravan to supplement our traditional 'flight' holidays and will be going back to Tenerife in March and also to Greece in Sept/Oct next year. I cant see us wanting to go away in a static caravan when we have our own sat at home.
To summarise - I think our thoughts have now changed to 2.5 or 3 weeks in Northern or Western France. 2.5 weeks is very doable but I am not sure I will be able to take 3 weeks off work. So I will start with a plan for 18 nights, allowing 1 night either side for travelling (coming down from Yorkshire I anticipate approx. 12 hours driving to somewhere like La Rochelle). This leaves us with 16 nights. I'd prefer to stick to just 2 sites of approx. 8 nights each, as this will give us time to settle in and explore the region. Ive been recommended Loire Valley which we could do alongside somewhere else such as Normandy or Brittany or Dordogne.
Does this sound doable? Any other recommendations?
Thanks again, Rob
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Don't take notice of the doom mongers above regarding travelling. So long as you do not try and do 10 hour days and plan your overnight stays you should be fine. When we first went over with our caravan and 2 kids (older but still not as patient as us with driving) we headed for the Ceze and did it in 2 days. For you I would suggest as the Loire followed by the west coast vendee. Not sure where you are starting from but you can get to say La Mans area easily in less then a day from all ports and can reccomend le castels sites such as this one https://www.camping-castels.co.uk/campsite/chanteloup#acces or start the other end at this one https://www.camping-castels.co.uk/campsite/bardelet#hebergements then once there the world is your lobster.
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Your looking at a fairly long day just to get over/under the channel, i would be looking at a first night stop soon after ,do both of you share driving while towing?,it is much better if you can share, My OH does not drive, so when we went it was quite tiring, especially if not used to driving on the "wrong side" of the road
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in a similar thread i suggested the Vendee....the St Jean de Monts area has fantastic beaches, terrific cycling, loads of top class sites (with pools) near the beach and loads for the family to do when not chilling out....
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Something that I don't think has been already mentioned is good travel insurance (health and motoring). Red Pennant from the club is very popular as it is very comprehensive. It's not cheap but should you need to use it it is absolutely brilliant, (having had to use it twice in the last 20 years). It's possible that the UK EHIC health card won't be of use any more after December so, again, health cover will be a must.
A smattering of the French language will be useful. Whilst many staff on sites will speak some English don't rely on it but it is things like signage en-route that could catch you out. I recall many years ago passing a big sign on a main road but didn't understand it. I wish I had done as it was apparently advising drivers that the road was closed 30km further on with no diversion route available. Oops. A French / English dictionary, easily accessible in the car, is a good idea.
Everyone like different things for their holiday so to suggest sites / places is perhaps not a good idea but other tips especially using ACSI and the possible problem with twin axle vans on some sites are very valid wherever you go. As it's your first time towing 'over there' maybe use the autoroutes for the first day or so might be a good idea. Very easy driving, albeit possibly boring, a bit expensive but with rest areas on average about every 10 to 15 km and with dedicated caravan bays that aren't usually filled with cars and vans unlike the UK.
In June we have never found a need to book which gives you complete freedom to either move on or stay for a few days as the whim takes you. Sometimes a change of planned route just to follow the decent weather (it does rain in France, especially the further north you are).
Wherever you get to, have a great time. I'm sure you will.
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Possibly our impressions of the site were distorted by the weather we had during our stay (Mid June 2018). I don't remember any rain but it was overcast for much of the time. The site was very quiet with little going on - I don't remember seeing anyone in the swimming pool -infact it may well. have been closed
Again maybe dislike is too harsh a word but having been on some truly great sites abroad I would consider it no better than average. If you have cycles then it is a nice easy ride to St Jean. Due to the weather I never got any urge to swim in the lake!
On leaving the site we travelled further North and stayed at a fantastic site just below the town of Rauzan, the weather was hot, the site was beautiful and in such a picturesque setting. The swimming pool was tucked away in a corner but so nice. Put simply this was one of the best, if not the best, site we have stayed on. I admit though the showers were not up to "caravan club standard" but it didn't matter as the site itself far exceeded any caravan club site.
As I said previously we are all different and the Rauzan site probably wouldn't appeal to everybody.
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