How far do you have to go for summer sun?

[Daisybell1]

I'm reading all your trip to France threads with envy.

How far south do you have to drive to be assured of sun/warmth in July? I'm asking because I'm in north west England and so any trip involves an additional day each way to/from Dover

I've looked at ferry prices from hull/Newcastle but it's £500... but if it's possible to get warmth not far from Amsterdam/zeebrugge then I'd definitely consider it.

We're in same position - sorry I don't think you'll get any joy from Amsterdam, as far as i understand it's similar climate to ours.

Could you do Dover-Calais, then drive down to south of france with overnight stops along the way?

Hmm, will forget the Holland idea then!

I could maybe face the drive down France but there's just me and little one so it's a lot of driving.

What are the channel islands like for weather? Although if I've driven to the south coast I may as well get the ferry to France. ..

Maybe you could get the 24hr ferry from Portsmouth to Northern Spain? God knows how much that costs though.

I would say Lyon and beyond for a good chance of warm and dry. The Vendee in the west has a good climate but that's almost as far.

Even though we're trying Southern Brittany for the first time this year, we usually opt for the south east because the south west, Dordogne etc, can be wet.

We are also in the north west. The worst drive by far is tho Dover and back. Driving in France is a breeze. We did the hull - zebrugge ferry once and it was great, a little adventure on its own. The cost has risen though. Les drinking in France would be Portsmouth- caen or st malo? Still expensive crossings though.
We had beautiful weather in the Loire one year but went further south the next year and it was cold, so very hard to determine.
I do agree if you're driving to the south coast you may as well do France rather than the channel islands. The cost of living in France is also much cheaper.

Les drinking?!!! *less DRIVING!!!

I've just booked a sun holiday to a eurocamp site in the Vendee. 7 nights plus ferry from Portsmouth to Caen was only £400ish. Brittany ferries quoted more than this for the ferry alone.
This will be our 5th time in France, 4th time in Vendee. We did Brittany once and it was cloudy/overcast/dull the whole week! Every time we've gone that bit further to vendee, weather has been brilliant (mid 20's). Usually we go end of May/beginning of June but we're going August this year so hoping for even better weather!

The Channel Islands weather is similar to Cornwall, it can be lovely but not guaranteed.

Also the ferrys to the CI are very expensive its cheaper to fly!!

The Charente Maritime area is doable in a day and has a great climate, but we opted for a 2 day drive (Dover-Calais ferry) to the South of France and into Spain (covered most of that coastline over the years!)
We always gave the kids the choice and they always picked a 2 day journey for the Med over the Vendee or Brittany, having done all those areas in previous years.
Furthest we drive was just south of Barcelona.

We went to the Dordogne last year thinking it would be better than the Loire valley the year before. Still haven't recovered from that decision.

I think Southern Brittany, which is a 7 hour drive from Calais.

Charente is about 6/7 hours from calais, or 4 hours from the brittany ports and has nearly as much sunshine as provence. Apart from last year which was a relatively crap summer all over france, its consistently hot most summers

Don't say that poorbuthappy we're off this year to the Dordogne.
Tbh last year all of France had pretty awful weather. Don't think last years weather is indicative of usual France.

We went to the southern border of France and Spain (ie. south of Perpignan) in August last year and the weather was not endless sunshine by any stretch of the imagination.

I imagine you have to go to the far south of Europe or Turkey/Greece for guaranteed sunshine.

we had better weather in may last year than we did in august in most parts of france

Thank you for your replies! It looks like being able to guarantee the sun would mean a long trip. Too far to drive by myself I think.

Thank you for helping me!

When I was a teenager (many moons ago!) we went to France every year for about 8 years on the trot.

Started in Brittany, then the Vendee/Loire, then Biarritz, then finally Perpignan where we then went for the next 5 years in a row. Basically chasing the sunshine.

We had a very hot week in the Dordogne 2 summers ago. And it was almost too hot in Charente Maritime a few years ago. But I don't think it's guaranteed.

Brittany is roughly similar to Cornwall. You can cut the driving down by taking a longer ferry crossing if you can face it. Tbh if you can go off season and you really want sun, I'd fly somewhere and get a cheap apartment

Yes, you're right, flying is the probably the best option. I'd had camping dreams though - do companies other than Eurocamp offer pre-pitched tents?

I've seen campsites that offer pitched tents themselves OP.