France/ Italy- how far realistically can you travel in 2 weeks?

[TheFantasticMrsFox]

DH has agreed we can camp again!!! The proviso being we have to go somewhere where we are unlikely to succumb to trench foot again so we are going to France
It needs to be in the summer holidays (2015) and we can scrape together enough holiday for 2 weeks and possibly a few days.
We need to hire a vehicle as our old Landy will not make that sort of distance so will have a brand new and comfortable van so long drives no problem. Both DH and I happy and willing to drive, me overnight and him in the daytime. Also have a toll tag to speed up time spent at toll gates (which I believe can be ferocious in August)
We need to start and end at Calais as we will take the dogs with us and would prefer to stay with them on the crossing so use the tunnel.
Realistically how far could we expect to travel? DH is of the opinion (and I agree) that we would find it more enjoyable to peg it as far south as we can manage initially and then meander our way back up. If possible I would like to take DS to Rome for the day but acknowledge the distance could be too great. We would also like to fit in a visit to the WW1 battlefields if there was time on the way back.
Ideally at least two nights on each site as otherwise the bulk of our holiday would be spent putting up and taking down the tent (apart from the final leg, we will have space to just chuck the tent in the van rather than have to cram it back in its tiny tiny bag)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

We drove from Brussels to the Tuscan coast a few years back - it was a bloody long way and we did it over 3 weeks. I am not sure I would brave it all the way Rome, personally - especially not in August. On the way out we stopped along the Rhine Valley, then Bavaria, then drove through Austria and the Dolomites to Valpolicella. This is close to Lake Garda. Then drove on past Pisa to the coast.

On the way back, we went to Lake Como, near Interlaken in Switzerland, then Alsace.

For the last few years we've left central Scotland in our Landy with a trailer on the back and headed around France. We get to Calais lunchtime on the tunnel then stay there one night. Head 4/5 hrs the next day, either Tours area or Troyes. Stay there two nights then head 5/6 hrs the next trip and stay there for about a week, then some other area for a week then start heading north again in the same way. We've managed circular routes that have gone along the south but it's sooooooo busy I'd avoid the coast road from Nimes to Carcassonne like the plague!!
Have friends who just blitz it with one very long 12hr drive to Biarritz area each year! They're in a proper car with air on though....not a Landy with boiling footwells!!!
Get a large map and pinpoint areas of interest then google the time/distance thing to see if it's achievable!
Enjoy....

Oh...if you're heading to WW1 battlefields... the town of Verdun is beautiful! Great Kawan site on a lake near Troyes but maybe not close enough for them ... Had a lovely few nights there last year and would def go back.
We stayed in small one near Reims but wouldn't recommend it...it was neither wild enough nor cultivated enough to be either thing!!

Thanks :)
I know what you mean about the Landy being an, erm.... interesting drive claire :o Sadly ours is worth so little now that if we were to break down there's little chance of recovery to UK as they only pay upto the value of the car :( It's also not a car you would want to spend many hours in IME!
porto I really fancy the Dolomites so may look into that instead. Rome would be great as DS is very interested in Roman history but DH would need to stay behind with the dogs so perhaps that's one to save for a weekend break. I have never visited Rome in high summer either but I guess it could be oppressively hot for scrambling round ruins.
I am unfeasibly excited by the prospect TBH :o

It'll be so exciting!! I've always fancied going down through Luxembourg, Switzerland into Italy and back through France but think you'd need at least a month for this. We normally do 3ish weeks and feel to get to Italy I'd want longer! Our DD desperate to see Rome and leaning tower of Pisa so saving lots and holidaying UK this summer with a view to the mega trip next year (while she's still young enough to want to holiday with us and not her friends)!!
The research for the trip is half the fun I think!!

Having poked about with my trusty map this afternoon I think we will give Rome a miss
We fancy the Pyrenees so the very rough plan is that we will peg it there from Calais after a midnight(ish) crossing. 9 hours between the two of us is easily doable, tent set up, BBQ lit and beer in hand by 3pm :o
From there we are headed to the Auvergne to a site that is an absolute favourite of ours. Banking on 3-4 nights at each, depending on where we choose for the return leg :)

We stayed near Amiens for WW1 visits. In a Chateau orchard (bertangles). Was lovely small site. Amiens is a gorgeous place and the cathedral is fantastic.

In a stark change of plan we are hoping to go during May half term next year to do the Ardeche bit, then again in July/ August to the Loire and across to the battlefields. The theory being that it will be two lots of holiday to look forward to and the weather will not be so severe in May/June in the South and DH can be gently broken back into camping properly :o

OP, which is your fave site in the auvergne? Where in the Loire will you stay?

milli we love Val de Cantobre, about 15 miles from the Millau viaduct. It's not too big but it's location is just perfect for us and we have been a couple of times over the years. Sadly RCN who own the site have come up with a "one dog per pitch" rule this year which rules it out of the running for us :(

As for the Loire, I'm not too sure. We've been several times as an overnight stopover and have really enjoyed it so wanted to explore the area further. They have always been generic Eurocamp type campsites for ease and I haven't really investigated yet where we might enjoy. More planning to do I see :)

I want to do Italy too, I don't think we'd be able to get 3 weeks off work - which is a shame. We're driving from South Yorkshire - is it REALLY too far?

I'm not sure if it's too far in terms of distance, more that the time it would take would preclude any real holidaying on the way IYSWIM? We would want a bare minimum of two nights per site and I reckon it could therefore take a week or more to get there so the time actually in Italy would be very short. Constant packing and unpacking (or "striking camp" as DS would call it :o) leaves not much time for relaxing or exploring on the way.
We are either going to do a weekend break to Rome or try a Eurocamp type site with ready pitched tents and a hire car to do Italy instead.