Vendee - Help! First Timer Travel Options

[messmonster]

Hoping some of you experienced French campers could help me out please with some travel advice.

We are booked on a site in the Vendee mid August. This is our first time in France and we don't speak the lingo.

Current options being considered are:

Option 1

Dover-Calais or Tunnel on Day 1 (Friday), drive for 3 hours ish, overnight in a hotel then arrive on site middle of Day 2. Stay on site for 6 nights only. Travel home on Day 8 (Friday), maybe Caen to Portsmouth rather then drive all way back to Calais. Overnight stay on route on the return isn't an option (have to be back in UK on specific date). Would consider Fastcraft from Caen or slower ferry later in the day.

Option 2 - costs between £100 and £200 more than Option 1

Portsmouth - Caen Fastcraft and drive straight to site on Day 1. Concerns are sea-sickness on Fastcraft (having read previous threads ). Caen - Portsmouth for the return journey, again on Fastcraft or slow ferry with cabin.

So I think my Qs are: Which option would you recommend with kids who aren't great in the car (my DD has SN) but who equally get travel sick and who have never been on a ferry before? If you recommend Option 1, where between Calais and the Vendee would you recommend we stop overnight. Would be fab to have somewhere with lovely outdoor space for us to exercise the kids!

Who's been on the Fastcraft in August and if so will we look like this

Thank you very much in advance. May not be back to thread till tonight cos am at work.

we went on a catameran once and wouldn't do it again - though there had been a storm the previous night. very rough and lots of people (over half) being sick. on the way back one of the engines had broken so it arrived late and was very slow. we always did slow ferry plus cabin.

do not travel to vendee on a sat in august as lots of traffic and queues at tolls.

we went to north vendee and it was really cold a night. rep said it had been same all season - so take fleece and lots of blankets. we had gas fire on one morning.

most people speak english

Thanks dreamingofsun. Your catamaran trip doesn't sound like much fun . Good tip about the traffic jams. Would the tag thingy save time at the tolls?

Thanks for tip on fleeces too (I've no idea whether we're north or south vendee - our friends have booked the site!)

tag thingy may save a tiny bit of time, but main problem was long queues up to the tolls and it wouldn't make any difference to that. mind you travelling back up at 4am ish in the morning on a sat was very quiet - so you could just leave really early.

I see what you mean about the tag not making much difference. Need to discuss options with DH but since he's snoring on the sofa not much chance at present .

I've just got back from a trip to the Vendee! We did Poole - Cherbourg on the way out and cherbourg to portsmouth on the way back. Both times on the Fast Ferry, it was a very smooth ride on the way out - possibly because it was rammed full?! The way back was a bit choppy (the ferry was half empty) but we were all fine (I have a 7, 5 and 2 year old) and I didn't see anyone else being sick. Driving from Cherbourg to St Jean De Monts in the Vendee took about 5 hours which was a bit of a trek but very doable in a day. Only thing I will say is that the weather was appalling...wet, windy and cold. Although August would hopefully be better for you.

Thanks LingDiLong. Found out this morning that we're going near to St Jeans De Monts too! Well if your theory about the fullness of the ferry helping is anything to go by then in August we should be fine!

I don't know what to do - I suffer with sea-sickness usually too so I'm worried about taking a risk on the fast ferry but at least it would be over quicker .

Just can't decide what's best - take the risk of sea sickness but get all the travelling over in one day or take our time, save a few quid and do it over 2 days through the Tunnel with an overnight stay

We are going to the south Vendee on 20/7 and travelling back on 5/8. We do Portsmouth - Caen on the fast ferry out and slow ferry back. It's not too bad, I get very sea/travel sick so I dose up to the eyeballs with travel sickness tablets and sit somewhere quiet.

It takes about 4.5 hours without stops to get down.

Have fun!

There's not much difference time-wise arriving in Cherbourg or Caen, so if you're doing that route choose the most convenient UK port. If Dover is most convenient, though, the channel tunnel is an option.

Fastcraft can be vile, but do-able if you take effective sea-sick pills (stugeron is good) and as you say, is over quite quickly.

Tag is good, and you sail past the queues once on the toll plaza, which is very satisfying

Have a look at bison-fute to see what traffic conditions are likely for the weekends you are travelling. Mid-August lots of French are heading home after the holidays.

Thanks so much All and Chippy. Have just got in from the pub where a friend was telling me there's a website which tells ou the predicted traffic density etc and that must be the one you linked to Chippy. Luckily we're not on the worst dates.

I think I'm now erring on the side of getting it all over and done with and doing all our travelling on Fridays and perhaps doing as All says and getting fast ferry to France and slower one back, later in the day and with a cabin so hopefully if the kids will sleep which I doubt I can sleep through the worst of it. Tbh if it was just me with sea sickness it would be fine but I'm worried about my DC cos my DS gets car sick and my DD doesn't have the language to tell us she's feeling poorly.

Thanks for all the advice.

Just dropping in as I missed this earlier as I was away (in France!) :)
As above really, would never sail on the Condor again and none of the Bannana family get sea-sick (though we were pretty darn close on that crossing)

We have just used the Tunnel for the first time and would heartily recommend it, I doubt we would ever use the ferry again (but thats mostly because DH will not allow his Ginger Dog to stay in the car on the car deck alone!) Anyway we drive to the South and find the driving much less stressful than this side of the Channel. There are innumerable rest stops, look for the ones with the little playground sign as they are set back from the motorway and are normally really well maintained apart from the toilets which will only add to your memories of your first French holiday

We now plan to stop for breakfast and take a disposable BBQ or camping stove. Then its bacon sandwiches and hot tea, a run for the dog and a burn out on the playground for DS before we trot on.

As for the tag, we used ours for the first time and were so thrilled with it but then we really need to get out more though we now have to wait for the bill to arrive I see what people mean by the queues up to the toll booths but the tag lanes tend to be on the edges so traffic should be able to filter through quicker.

Thanks topbannana and sorry for the delay in seeing your post

We've decided on Tunnel outbound, Caen/Portsmouth slow ferry on the way back.

Now I need to find somewhere to stay overnight between Calais and St Jean de Monts. Alencon looks to be about the right sort of distance along the route but would really appreciate any suggestions...

Thanks

Not sure if you planning to camp on your overnight stop. If so I would recommend a site called Forest View. It is about 4 hours iirc from Calais but so worth it. Very relaxing and lots of room for kids to run about. We spent 2 nights there on way to coast and loved it.

We've done vendee a few times with small DS too
Most cost effective is tunnel and drive down but since DS have always stopped in Rouen area to break journey
Hth?

Try the BB hotels, any of the accor hotel group to suit your budget (personally I'd avoid formule 1). Or ibis budget or etap which we used successfully last year - lots of them have had a refurb and are being rebranded from etap to ibis budget.

more family friendly hotel info here

Or you could look for an Alan Rogers recommended B&B.

We can recommend Forest View (but mind the ants if youre in the bottom corner near the trees) or you might try a bed and breakfast in Giverny? We stayed in one on Rue de Juifs for E70 for 3 of us and you get to see Monets gardens as well. some good places to eat there also.

We've stayed at Mr Bed in le mans. Basic, but very cheap and clean. Easy to find and just off the route. Also rooms for 4, which we found were rare. Supermarket on the other side of the road good for snacks and breakfast options. Bookable through booking.com or hotels.com, depending on which offered best quidco cashback at the time.

Wow - thanks all so much for your suggestions. We're not planning to camp so looking for cheapy hotel or B&B.

Will follow up all the suggestions. I fancy the detour to Giverny and Monet's gardens and my DH is off to Le Mans next weekend so he may some ideas when he gets back.

Thanks v much all