How long do you reckon it takes to get to the Loire from London by car?

[OhGood]

Friend 1 says 13 hours after he got off the ferry (hell and not going) but friend 2 says 7 hours (possible, might go.)

Please note I am utterly crap at this and have no idea what ferry / which way he went. I don't live in London either but that's where friend 2 lives.

Thank you!

If you go via Calais there's no way it would be 13 hours from the ferry - unless you are on a bicycle!

I would say it would be more like 5 hours (depends on route, traffic, if you stop for lunch etc). Why font you check on Google Maps?

Why DON'T you check..

In the olden days, before I had a satnav (actually almost 10 years ago) we ended up driving to Valencia fir a wedding as DS developed chickenpox and we couldn't fly.

We printed a route off the AA website, try that, it gives you an approximate journey time

If you go Portsmouth - Caen on the ferry the Channel crossing is longer but the driving is much shorter.

The Loire is just about doable in one day for youngish adults willing to take the night ferry and share the driving.

Once children are factored in definitely a two day journey.

I used to rather enjoy choosing a different town in Normandy for a stopover each time. Bayeux was good, no photo of the tapestry can show how amazingly textured the embroidery is.

We drive down to Loire from Dieppe. That's 5 - 6 hours as we tend to stop at an Aire for a picnic and let the kids run off some steam.

Add on your channel crossing time. For us it's another 4 hours on the ferry, but obviously that changes depending how you're travelling.

Should have said - all in all from where we live in Sussex we are travelling for about 11ish hours and we do it with children without much hassle.

Caen to Tours will only take 2h30 to drive.

About 7/8 hours from London
4/5 from Calais.
Obviously no idea where you are starting from so we can't really help.
Or you could just go on route planner, it will take you all of sixty seconds.

No but that's the thing - route planner seems totally un-associated in terms of time with any of the things people have said. So it lies, or they do

We got down to south of Tours in about 6 hours including stops. Got the ferry first thing so arrived early/mid afternoon.

Was lovely arriving so quickly after slogging it over to the vendee in one go.

So where are you starting from? The times I gave were actual driving times roughly, not including sat on the ferry

And if it took your friend 13 hours from the ferry, there must have been an accident or that mad weekend in August when the world and his wife are on the roads.

Goggle maps says Invetween 7 and 13 hours

Drive 2 hours to Portsmouth.
5 hours on ferry to Caen.
About 2 hours' drive the other side.

The via michellin website gives a pretty fair estimate. Then add in time for stops, I usually factor in 20 mins for every 2 to 2.5 hours driving, then longer if a meal break is needed. It is usually an over estimate but there's always someone who needs the toilet! Avoid weekend travelling in August if you can, setting off from Calais at 9am on the 2nd weekend in August could make it 13 hours. If you stick to the autoroutes it's an easy drive.

We go usually go Portsmouth for the west coast of France but it's a quick drive for us to get there. If you are limited to driving on weekends in August I would try to play around with your times. Maybe ferry or tunnel over late afternoon to late evening on the Friday, motel, get up very early the next day and get moving, stop for breakfast an hour into the journey.

If you are in easy reach of Portsmouth then its far quicker by Brittany Ferries, you can make it cheaper by getting one of the morning ferries. Not as convinient as the overnighters but still feasible. I have got on at Portsmouth in the morning and been near Spain around midnight. Wouldn't recomend it but the Loire would be possible.

From Calais we did it in about 6 hours, to Blois, obeying all speed limits. (And that included the Paris ring road)Further along would be more obviously!

Look on the via Michelin site

13 hours is entirely possible if you were stuck in a traffic jam for 5 hours?

About 8 hours from London as people have said. It takes us 10 hours door to door to our mates in the Gironde which is a bit further on

Is about 7 hours or so from recollection

About 6 hours using the tunnel rather than ferry.

Depends where abouts in the Loire too surely?! We're in south Brittany and twenty minutes down the road is technically the Loire..

Google says 7.5 hours from north London to Angers. 8.5 if you go via Paris.

Hi
I live in the Loire Valley, about 25km north of Saumur. If we travel via the tunnel it's about a 5 hour journey, plus time for stops. That's along the motorways, tolls are about 40-50€. From Caen it's about 2.5 hours plus stops, tolls are about 20-25€.