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Has anyone used Motorail to get to the south of France?

26 replies

MissisBoot · 26/10/2008 15:08

We're thinking about venturing further down south but can't bear the thought of the journey so are thinking about doing the Motorail.

Has anyone done it and would you recommend it?

I can't seem to get any idea of cost so if you went last year would you mind giving me a rough idea of how much it cost so I can compare to flight + car hire?

Thanks

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Grammaticus · 26/10/2008 15:11

We did it 9 years ago, 4 adults and a 6 month old and it was good - easy way to get to Toulouse.

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childrenofthecornsilk · 26/10/2008 15:17

hmmm interesting. How much is it?

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PuppyMonkey · 26/10/2008 15:19

We did it two years ago and I think it cost us about £600 in peak time. Two adults, one child and normal size car.

Was ok, if you don't mind not sleeping at all on the train and arriving at your destination feeling like a zombie thinking it would have been much nicer and a lot cheaper to have stayed at a nice hotel en route...

But that's just my experience!

There's a French Motorail website somewhere... google it...

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Grammaticus · 26/10/2008 15:20

I slept ok - we had a cabin for 4

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childrenofthecornsilk · 26/10/2008 15:20

can you take your car on then?

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CatMandu · 26/10/2008 15:20

We looked into it this year, I think it was about £800 each way whatever the amount it was a lot and enough to put us off doing it.

We're also thinking of going further south, have you looked into good sites yet?

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MissisBoot · 26/10/2008 15:22

Ooh - thanks!

I've looked on the motorail website but they don't seem to publish prices til tickets go on sale.

Ouch - £600 - we'll be travelling end of June so just outside peak time, but I'm still tempted just as we'd get there quicker and with petrol costs it might not be much more expensive?

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PuppyMonkey · 26/10/2008 15:24

We had a cabin too and nice beds. Still didn't sleep a wink as thought I was gonna fall out of bed all the time... The train does go very fast...

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MissisBoot · 26/10/2008 15:25

No, haven't started looking at sites yet - I just thought the weather would be nicer further down...am tempted back to the Vendee though!

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Milliways · 26/10/2008 15:53

We always drive. I wanted a break the other year so we costed the Motorail and I nearly passed out! We ended up flying with BA and hiring a car for the same price.

The joy of a car is taking bikes/roof box etc which you can't do on motor rail. Also, we were worried about only 1 or 2 trips scheduled each week. At least if you miss the Dover/Calais ferry there is another one in half an hout.

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Milliways · 26/10/2008 15:55

It was

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tuesdayafternoon · 26/10/2008 15:56

We are thinking of driving to Perpignan in June/July, from NW England, & the Michelin website costed the one-way trip from Calais as:

Costs 167.79 EUR
Toll 64.40 EUR Petrol 103.39 EUR
(Time 10h16 - 09h44 on motorways)
(Distance 1137km - 1110km on motorways)

So Motorail would actually be way more expensive.

Of course you could get a different ferry crossing, & start out from a bit nearer, but then you'd be paying more for the ferry.

(My family doesn't want to drive but I'm going to have to put my foot down - in terms of total time door-to-door it's not that much worse than flying, it's £100s cheaper than fly-drive, and we can bring loads of edible goodies back with us )

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CatMandu · 26/10/2008 17:31

MissisBoot - we've done the Vendee for a few years and love it, but the weather is hit and miss, which is why we're also planning to go further south. I haven't done any research yet about sites, but I really ought to as we might get a good pitch if we book now. We're planning to take our tent rather than Eurocamp style this time as we bought a new Wolf Lake 7 and it has to pay for itself now!

If I come across any good sites I'll post.

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tuesdayafternoon · 26/10/2008 18:36

Oo-er - MissisBoot, read this

£576 one way & appalling conditions - don't do it!

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PuppyMonkey · 26/10/2008 19:01

Oh yes, we had the cloudy windows problem, I'd forgotten - we moved couchet to get a better view in the end...

And when we arrived in Avignon, we were told we would get breakfast (while they unloaded the cars), but they ran out of food. We were blardy starving too.

We only went one way - we drove back. Much nicer. Flying not an option for me as I don't do planes, too scared.

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hf128219 · 26/10/2008 19:04

The way to do it is to get the Eurostar to Avignon (it only runs once a week in summer on a Saturday). Under 6 hours direct from Ashford.

Then hire a cheap car!

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ladytophamhatt · 26/10/2008 19:06

Many moons ago I used to book these when I worked for the AA.
Cheapest route then was £500+ and it was over 10 years ago.

I would never take my car on one.

EVER.

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PuppyMonkey · 26/10/2008 19:08

Yep hf - but quite tricky when you're camping like we were and have to bring tents, luggage and lord knows what else.

Ooh yes, good campsite: Camping Bagatelle at Avignon - very cool.

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hf128219 · 26/10/2008 19:10

It's doable though if people really can't stand the drive.

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tuesdayafternoon · 26/10/2008 19:17

How much is Eurostar to Avignon, hf? Do they have any weight restrictions on luggage?

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hf128219 · 26/10/2008 19:30

It can be as little as £99 per person return. Children under 4 free. Under 11's £49.

You may carry with you on Eurostar trains 2 items of baggage per person, plus 1 small item of hand luggage. This does not include large items (for example trunks, bicycles etc).

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PuppyMonkey · 26/10/2008 19:31

Great idea if you are staying in a hotel I do agree...

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hf128219 · 26/10/2008 19:35

Where's your sense of adventure? Or are you all posh campers?!

All you need is a tent and sleeping bags after all.

My dh is military after all so I've been on some hard core camping trips!

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tuesdayafternoon · 26/10/2008 19:40

We are going self-catering; baggage restrictions are 1 bag each, max 20kg, & flights (bmibaby, including lavish extras like airport check-in ) will cost a minimum of £550 for 4, so if Eurostar could match or beat that it would def be worth considering.

No under-11s though - 2 adults & 2 teenagers. The website only shows fares up to the end of December atm, I will watch for updates

(Also we would have to get down to St Pancras. It is complicated!)

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PuppyMonkey · 26/10/2008 19:40

...and clothes and things to cook with and eat out and drink out of and cuddly toys and I need a comfy chair otherwise my back plays up and we do like to sit round a table and eat and all my make up..... and all the alcohol we usually bring... you can see how it mounts up.

We are very posh campers - especially when we go in our 1967 VW campervan called Bobby.

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