Advice on going to the south of france

[treadonthecracks]

I am looking at camping in the summer holidays, in the South of France next year.

I've never camped outside UK before.

Is it wise to book?

Could anyone say roughly how much 2 weeks in the south of France costs them:
Petrol, tolls, camping fees? Spending money? We are also thinking we'll have a stop over in a b & B half way, each way.

Any other advice for a newbie?

I have searched for a guide but can't find anything.

TIA

Also, how long does it take you to get there?

Do you go on Euro tunnel? Ferry?

we are going to the Dordoyne, so mid South rather than far South but aside from Dover - Calais ferry - we are doing one night stop in campsite in The Loire and we'll take the toll roads whenever we can.
It will be about £60 in tolls I reckon, plus a couple of tanks of petrol (from our home in London to the Dordoyne) so another £120-£140. That is one way, so double for a return journey.

The night in the campsite is part of the deal (going with Canvas) , holiday of 12 nights in their tent plus Dover-Calais ferry is about £1000.
We'll bring about £1200 spending money aswell and expect to spend it all - £120 per day budget but we bring lots of food with us in the car.

so approx £2400-£2600 all in, for a family of 4.

It will take about 5-6 hours to get to the Loire from Calais and then another 4 -5 hours the next day to get to The Dordoyne.

if you are going further south, then add 3-4 more hours to your journey.

I think a stop in the Loire is a good break for the first day as the ferry can be tiring - plus you may have long drive in UK to get to ferry/eurostar.

When we were children, my dad use to do the journey overnight without stopping , but I think that madness and not really necessary if your make the overnight stop a part of the holiday.

We have used both ferry and tunnel, personally I prefer the ferry as it seems more exciting and pert of the trip than sitting on the train. I did not like the tunnel!
I cant think how much the tolls and petrol cost off hand but will try to remember. Mind you we have a Landrover Defender so not many miles to the gallon.
We camp overnight on way down and the return, staying in cheap municipal sites rather than b and b. My parents used to do it in one go when we were kids but I wouldn't fancy that myself.
As for camping fees it would depend on where you stayed but generally I found the sites to be cheaper than sites in uk. Food and drink were slightly cheaper too.

Have you been on ukcampsite too? There is lots of info on there about travelling in France.

Thanks both that's very helpful.

Do you think the weather is always better? Usually better?

This idea came up after a very wet and windy half term camping in the Isle of Wight...

Camping fees... most expensive (i.e. Yelloh Serignan Plage - great site btw - with top notch facilities on lovely beach) estimate around £700 for two weeks high season in your own tent or a lot more with Eurocamp/Canvas etc. Least expensive but still nice smaller site, less facilities, not on coast, maybe £450.

If you can go outside main season, campsite fees will be a lot less.

Petrol & tolls - £350ish.

Spending money - how long is a piece of string? Depends on your spending habits and what you want to do re eating in/out etc. If you want to eat out, plenty. France is not the cheap country it once was. I would say £1200 was generous but then I'm a complete tightwad and for someone who doesn't like to count the pennies when on hols it might not be enough.

UKcampsite is a great resource for money saving tips re camping in France and camping tips in general.

Much of France can be unreliable weatherwise although it can also be alot better than UK so there is more risk than going to, say, Greece or Turkey. That said, Languedoc, Cote d'Azur, Provence, Ardeche are generally reliable June-Sept give or take a few thunderstorms (but if it does rain/flood don't blame me - I did say generally!!!)

You def need to book high season - July & first two weeks Aug - but only for the most popular sites and if you want to guarantee a certain site/pitch otherwise. If you don't book you can be more flexible re the weather.

www.viamichelin.co.uk/

The above website is great for routes in France and will tell you total toll cost also.

We have eurocamped in north France and in Loire but never further south as the drive is already very long from north east Scotland.

Ferry significantly cheaper than eurotunnel and more comfortable.

Last summer we drove to Hyeres, via Paris both ways which was about 850 miles each way.

I reckon tolls were around £150-160, and £200 on diesel - so £350 sounds about right.

Hotels were about £40 a room, and dinner on overnights about £15-20pp, so that can add up. I would allow at least one overnight. For Provence/Cote d'Azur somewhere along the autoroute de soleil like Beaune is achievable with an early Channel crossing.

Or overnight on a municipal site - most towns have them and they can be charming .

Campsite was 40 euro a night, and pre-booked by February, but it's a small beachfront site, with clientele returning every year, so not sure how typical that is.

If you don't want beaches, then there's plenty of inland places or the Alps (Lake Annecy for instance) that are less of a drive.

We have just returned from France and have used our brand new, shiny toll tag for the first time. We normally struggle as one of us drives and the other sleeps and the sleeping body has to be roused at the tolls. The inevitable confused, groping for cash means a crisp 20 is handed over every time, resulting in a small mountain of change and depressingly few notes by the time we arrive :o

Not so anymore though, as we glide serenely up to the priority lane and wait for the tag to go "beep". We then sweep off majestically leaving queues behind us and the sleeping co-driver still snoozing tragically DH and I never slept as we were so intrigued with the tag that we did not want to miss it working

I also like the fact that you are invoiced monthly so theoretically you gain a little extra spending money while you are away as you do not pay for the tolls until the following month :)

Errr, toll tag?! Sorry to hijack but please, please enlighten me topbannana - I need one!

Off to the Alps in 3 weeks and will be doing toll roads all the way - the fact I could pay for them afterwards sounds marvellous! How do I get hold of one before we go? Thank you.

toll tag

Thats it chippy the most fun I have had with my clothes on they are great :o

Hi there,

I live in SW France (Nr Biarritz) and although I can't advise you about prices etc having never camped myself here, I can tell you that in July and August are very popular months with tourists and so it would be essential that you book in advance. We have campervans parked all over the place (despite not being allowed) as the campsites get very full.

There are many campsites in this region, and I believe that there are different standards and therefore different tarifs. In any case, it depends on whether you'll be camping in a tent you'll bring with you, or renting one of the mobile-homes, as the campsites offer different options of accommodation. I'm certain there are lots of options to suit all budgets.

As for the weather, yes, it's more unpredictable than the SE Mediterranean coast but still heaps better than the UK. At least several degrees ºC warmer, even when it's cold! But have no fear, we always get a real summer and can hit the beach most days between June and end of September. Just this weekend, I've been on the beach in 28ºC weather and will be heading back for a bit this afternoon for another sunny swim

Sorry I can't offer any real facts and figures. However, have you looked at this website www.campingfrance.com/UK as it seems to have info on loads of French campsites.

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a great holiday.

P.S. I'm a huge fan of the Channel Tunnel by the way; it's only 20 minutes long and pretty quick to get on and off. And the BEST bit, is that you don't have to get the train you're booked on!! If you get in early, or late, they'll put you on the next train with availability. Brilliant! (But then I'm not a great sailor!)..

Thank you chippy and topbannana!

We came back from the Loire not long ago and spent 4 days at the Moulin Fort at Chenonceaux-I can recommend it but its a long drive from Dover! We found that site charges were lower than the UK, and the price of food was a little lower too-eating out was expensive though so we just did it a couple of times as a treat. A couple of unexpected things we found; you cant get gas cylinders for campinggaz lanterns in france, and there are very few places to eat on the autoroutes that arent utterly foul. We found it difficult to find anywhere for lunch on the move strangely-all the bars that you used to find in every village that would do you a cheese baguette or somesuch appear to have closed down so feeding kids on a long journey was quite tricky. Cool Camping do a french version of their guides which is very useful.

twattock we have a cool box (though DH has finally caved and we will have an Icey-Tek next year :o) and a small plastic box that we keep in the car. We stop at one of the roadside aires where there is nothing but skanky, filthy, piss in a hole toilets and a play area. Out comes the portable gas stove and/or the disposable BBQ while DS and the dog are dispatched for burning off energy.
Then the cups etc come out to make a drink while the bacon/ sausages/ burgers etc are cooked. A box of tomatoes, a french stick and a piece of cheese and everyone dives in and helps themselves.
Afters is a melon or something similar, then copious wet wipes to clean up the bodies and take the worst off the crockery, everything is loaded back into the boxes and off we go :o
We love it, the French look at us with every ounce of incredulity they can muster and I have not had to frequent a roadside service station once this year.
Funny though, as a child I viewed people who did this as desperately tragic. Now it is one of my greatest pleasures when driving I may start wearing Dr Scholl sandals next....

All very interesting!

Definatley getting toll tag and picnicking along the way too.

Thank you all.