Driving from calais to Monaco as a NEWBY
Hi all
Recently bought a motorhome and loving trips away in it. Fancy a 25 day trip down to Monaco and across to Spain. What are your thoughts regarding the best route down and nice sites to stop in.. Fancy a possible 2 stop break with 2-3 days stop at a time
Comments
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Think we at least need to know the size of your motorhome and your attitude to paying road tolls before making recommendations? I think with only 2 stop overs to complete a journey of over 800 miles is pushing it a bit. I took 8 days to get to Cannes with an early morning start from Calais. I avoided toll roads and had 6 stop overs one of them being a 3 night stop over at Lake Annecy and a detour to tour the Gorge du Verdun. You need to be aware that entering Monaco in a motorhome might be very restrictive especially if you have a larger vehicle. While I have driven down that way, I have not been to Monaco, most seem to go to a nearby site and use public transport to visit the principality.
The above is my route, click on the map to enlarge in a new tab.
peedee
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@Fozdog_71 Can I ask, is your wish to go to Monaco just to see the place or to attend the Grand Prix? Just a thought if you are going for the Race then perhaps better to stay further out and get the train in? When we went to the Grand Prix we stayed at Biot and used the train. Monaco is a fairly packed place and as Peedee suggests it might not be so easy with a motorhome. However there are bound to be sites or Aires in the area where you could stay.
Going out to Monaco and then across to Spain (given you only have 25 days) seems a bit counter intuitive. Had you thought just exploring the Med Coast of France and perhaps heading for Spain another time? Or maybe continuing the other way into Italy?
David
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If you head don the eastern side of France using the Motorway system it is about 750-780 miles. Obviously the quickest way if you are time restricted but also the most expensive. See the thread under discussions on Autoroute Tags.
Have you travelled abroad before? Do you know about Aires? Do you just want recommendations about actual campsites?
With regard to Monaco Peedee is correct about driving a motorhome through it. We've been on a day trip from Nice using public transport and there are plenty of buses and trains that you could use from Nice or nearby. Monaco itself is walkable, albeit a bit hilly.
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Sorry for my poor post... I am thinking of a 2-3 stop whilst in France for a 2 day stop over each time. I am driving a 7.4m motorhome and would stop in an area close to Monaco but not in Monaco.. Haven't driven in France before and haven't used aires so. Advice would be great. Sorry for the questions... I have recently bought it and have been bitten by the bug already
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camping car park Aires.There are several different types of Aires, some free, some at minimal cost with just a charge for water and others costing between €6 and €16. Most provide drinking water, plus grey and black disposal, some a 6 amp EHU connection. searchforsites is a very good resource for locating Aires and reading reviews about them. We particularly like the camping car park Aires. These are barrier controlled and accessed using a card that you charge up online. This can be purchased either before leaving or at the entrance to a site. They have about 500 locations in France, most with EHU and some with facilities at certain times of the year. These are mainly X municipal sites they have taken over. If you click or touch on the red link at the start of my post it will take you to the camping car park site. For some reason using an iPad it sticks it there rather than within the text.
I should have said one of the reasons we like them is the fact you can check live availability on the web site or App. Although beware those close to autoroute exits can fill up rapidly. We checked a 20 space Aire when an hour away and it had 10 spaces, when we arrived we took one of the last two spaces.
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Didn't think it was a poor post @Fozdog_71, just that a bit more information would help with replies. I support @SteveL views. You can find Search4Sites >here<, I use their App on both my phone and tablet and find it very useful. On my trips on the Continent I like to be on a site for the night no later than 4p.m. It usually guarantees a spot and gives plenty of time to unwind and have a quick look around if so desired. With a 7.4 meter motor home it sounds like you could be over 3.5 tons or possibly have a tag axle. Either of these will put you into a higher cost toll bracket. You should find >this site< useful with respect to tolls etc. Its a while since I made the trip to Cannes but you can read my notes >here< It maybe of use to you. If I recall correctly, the train station from the site I stayed at in Cannes wasn't that far away and you can get the train from Cannes into Monaco. From Cannes I went into Italy.
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In June of this year we visited Monaco and stayed at Camping Por la Mar Ventimiglia just over the border in Italy. Not cheap but they run a bus service to the railway station at Menton for 6 euros. From there you can easily travel into the city and not worry about parking. If you use bicycles for getting about I believe that you could take them on the train as well, but please check up on this as we don't cycle.
Regarding traveling to the "Med" we took 4 weeks to get there and 3 weeks to return from Hook of Holland! So cannot help with that part.
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