Where is nice in France, that we can drive to from Calais?

[TeaspoonPocket]

I'm planning a family holiday to France, we want to take the car on the ferry. Worked out a plan involving overnight sailing, then drive to Loire valley, but autistic ds has just said he's not happy with having to sleep on a ferry, so now I'm having to rethink.

I think the best option is maybe to go Dover-Calais? It's a bit out of our way but would be a quick crossing. But I don't know France at all! Is there anywhere within 2-3 hours of Calais that you would recommend as a good holiday spot?

Could you do Newhaven to Dieppe (4 hours)? That would open up a few more options.

Honfleur, Dauville beautiful and a couple of hours from Calais

3 hour crossing from Portsmouth to Cherbourg will take you to Normandy and closer to Brittany and the Loire-Atlantique. La Rochelle is lovely

Is that the max you want to drive in a day? We drive to the Loire in a day from London - early start, break for breakfast at the Eurotunnel and on the train, then stop for decent lunch break then get to the Loire late afternoon. Helps if two of you can share the driving though.

We did 5 days in Normandy last year though and it was lovely and was about 3 hours back to the tunnel. We've liked Brittany as well, and to get to the bit round St Malo was from memory 5 hours.

We went to the Loire Valley years ago and certainly didn't overnight anywhere. Is crossing over in the morning not an option for you? We were starting off not that far from Dover though.

Normandy's quite nice. We stayed more recently in Seine-Maritime, went for the day to Rouen and Dieppe, otherwise went around more locally. Not a very long drive from Calais (3 hours??). You can get nice houses on Gites de France if you're not trying to stay in a city.

We're trying to keep driving to a minimum, as same child also isn't keen on long car journeys. (Determined to get to France though as we've never been and other child is about to do French GCSE!)

We're in the Midlands so already a good 3 hours to the south coast. So I think we either have to stay overnight in the south, or immediately we get to France, or overnight on the ferry.

We will probably only be going for a week, as ds doesn't like being away from home for too long. So didn't want to 'waste' nights staying in hotels along the way.

Where are you coming from? Normandy is easier (though a longer crossing) from the south coast than Dover and is lovely for a holiday.

You can do day crossing from Portsmouth to Caen which is less likely to have disruption on the British side than Dover, particularly in school holidays, and it's a good jumping off point for the Loire as well. Poole to Cherbourg is an even shorter crossing I think - about 4h30 from memory.

West Midlands.

Sorry, cross post! From most places in the Midlands, Poole is probably a similar driving distance to Dover? And less likely to get caught up in a horrible M20 nightmare and then huge tailbacks at the port itself due to passport control.

I'd avoid Dover like the plague until they get new immigration infrastructure sorted. And Cherbourg/Caen are a better starting point for the Loire too.

Can you do day crossings there and back and a short drive on the French side? Our first family holiday abroad we did Plymouth - Roscoff and stayed at Les Mouettes holiday park half an hour from the ferry. There are holiday parks near St Malo and the Normandy ports that look good too.

Cool, yeah I was trying to avoid Dover as it's furthest from us and every school holidays there seems to be reports of awful delays. Maybe I will revisit those other routes. I've already spent hours working out what I thought was an excellent plan, only to have it foiled by a child... 😆

Holidays a bit complicated to plan for our family, it's like a big logic puzzle!

What sort of holiday do you want? We had a lovely holiday in Normandy driving from Calais. We stayed near Bayeux and it was about 3.5 hours but there is lots to do round there - loads of WW2 history, nice beaches etc. Bayeux is a beautiful town. Honfleur/Deauville area is also nice and a shorter drive.

If you want to keep it really short Le Touquet is great and only around 45 minutes from Calais. Not a great deal else to do round there although you can visit Boulogne which has a lovely old town and huge aquarium. There are some WW1 cemeteries.

Or if interested in history some of the WW1 sites around Arras/Albert/Amiens is an easy drive? Lots of medieval towns/cities in North-Eastern France.

I have to say though, we do the overnight crossing every year and it's the best way. My DDs are both ND and enjoy it. Can your DS explain what he is worried about?

My big holiday stress is always getting to the port/airport on time so I'd be inclined to spend the night before at a Premier Inn or similar and get the early ferry, then drive down to the Loire in the afternoon. Poole/Bournemouth are pretty easy places to spend an evening.

From what you've said it would be a lot to do both the drives + the ferry in one day and you'd be one motorway accident from it going wrong.

It does sound like a very complicated puzzle for you but hopefully doable! Where in the Loire are you planning to go? It's so beautiful, you'll have a lovely time.

He has a lot of rituals around bedtime, which wouldn't be possible on the ferry. He's anxious about staying away from home anyway - holidays have been quite an issue at times - so normally we just stay in the UK and get a house where he can have his own room.

I have asked him to think about it and I will talk to him again in a couple of days.

It's one of those, where I think if he went in with a positive attitude he'd be fine. There are always workarounds. I presented it as a fun thing and offered alternative solutions but he got more and more stressed out, and it's just not worth it if he's going to be really anxious. Pushing/pressuring him once he's decided against sth is just not worth it, he gets so distressed and it's supposed to be a fun holiday.

Perhaps if we go on a day ferry this time, he'd be more willing to consider sleeping on one another, but I guess there are so many aspects that are really unfamiliar to him.

I would vote Cherbourg and then just stay in that part of Normandy which is lovely.

I don't know where in the Loire, I am not at all familiar with France so just had a couple of regions I was looking at based on a) friends having recommended and b) not too far of a drive.

We would get a gite/Airbnb or similar, just looking for somewhere rural or small town/village where we can chill out, go for some scenic walks, visit a castle, a beach, a zoo, that sort of thing. Low key and not too many Other People 🤣

I agree on staying locally near Bournemouth, Poole or Portsmouth and catching the boat in the morning if your child is against sleeping on the boat.
We live on the IoW and my ND feel differently about ferries - one loves them, one hates them and would certainly never sleep on one!
Dover is a LOOONG way and there’s often lots of waiting. If we go that way, we stop in Calais for lunch then drive wherever to arrive by dinner.
Our ND children prefer gite-type holidays but we find holiday parks easier as we can leave the teenagers in the lodge and there’s plenty for the younger NT child to get involved in which means the older ones can cope when we insist on going off-site in the afternoons to explore different places.

it’s hard finding something to suit you all but worth it. I’ve currently left it to DD15 to plan the holiday she thinks she can cope with…would your DS get involved in the planning?

I’d go Newhaven - Dieppe. It’s 4 hours which can be quite dull, but Dieppe is a nice town. No point doing Chunnel/Dover crossing if it’s out of your way and you’re headed to the Loire. I love France and hope you have fun.

The Pas de Calais just beyond Le Touquet is nice. About an hour's drive. Nature reserves(Baie de Somme) sandy beaches, coastal trains etc. We stayed at a p and v site at Belle Dune which was with a sort walk of the beach and village shops over the dunes.

Leave home morning, midday crossimg to Cherbourg you couid easily be in a gîte by evening.

Le touquet- upmarket, short drive

I don't think he's that interested in the details of the planning, but I'm kind of checking in at each stage - I came up with a shortlist of countries with DH and DD and then discussed it with him, all agreed on France, then I'm figuring out how to get there, and then I'll find a few options for places to stay and he can help choose.

Le Touquet is lovely, we've stayed there a few times, easy short drive from Calais.

Ferry to Caen - St Malo is lovely. Mont St Michel, and as PP say, you can drive from Caen to the Loire Valley very easily which is absolutely stunning.