Las vallades question

[rainydogday]

If any of you have driven from Cherbourg to the campsite, do you do a stop over? Looks like 7 hour drive in total ish. Thinking of using a budget hotel for a stop over. Any ideas? X

Not from Cherbourg, but we've driven from Caen. We stopped over in Poiters, but if I was doing it again I would try and go about 1 hour further south/along than Poitiers to divide the journey more 65%/35% than 50-50. It was super quick to Poitiers but the next bit had less motorway sections, so we were slower.

Our hotel in Poitiers wasn't very budget, but we needed a room for 5. It was lovely though- it was more of a suite, with a sitting/eating area, a double room and mezzanine, plus the hotel had a pool which made for a welcome afternoon treat after all the travelling.

Do you have to go into Cherbourg, it does add an hour onto that bit?

Cherbourg is the easiest ferry crossing to where we live. I reckon by splitting the journey it should be fine. 12 nights at the campsite and one each way. Is the weather reasonable? Hoping as heading further down we should be lucky?!

Ooh I'm jealous as I need to go back there soon ! We drove down from calais and stopped overnight near Orleans.
It was lovely weather when we went in August time.

rainydog that makes sense with the crossing then. You could try stopping near Puy du Fou on the way although I would suggest more than a night.

We've been twice and the weather has been reasonable-good but not wall to wall hot every day. We've also had a few hours of downpours and a freak wind storm one year.

Poitiers has 'futurescope' a science-themed park place which is apparently ace!! We always stop in tours (ibis hotel) but agree with you the second day journey always seems longer!!

We went to futuroscope. Hated it
Evening was in French, huge queues for everything and the 'thrill' rides weren't worth the wait. We left very early.

Looking at the dates we've booked and realised we are landing by ferry on a Sunday 😱 bad experience before with everything closed. We are hoping to drive a good 4 hours down and stay in a B and B hotel booked in advance. Have never stayed in B&B hotel (budget hotel). Hope they don't have Sunday go slow or closed like everything else 😬 thinking somewhere like Poiters. Have I made a terrible mistake traveling on Sunday?

Sunday is go fast in France, as lorries aren't on the roads. You may find you can get further/faster. We have stopped at Poitiers for LV. It does look over half way, but there are fewer motorways from then on so can still take about 4 hours. However, there aren't as many hotel options further on. Use booking.com or similar to search for a budget hotel.

However, you may want to think ahead about food and take a bit with you, especially if you just want to press on and drive in the morning. There will be supermarkets etc open, but bakeries etc will only be for a few hours.