Tips for travelling to France with kids and trailer tent

[Spottybotty20]

Looking to go next summer but so many variables (ferries, euro tunnel, sites)
I’ll have a 5 year old and 2 year old and heading from Bristol area. Want to break up the journey as much as possible to make it fair for the kids.

any tips? Which ferry, when to book?

thank you!

We always use aferry.co.uk as it seems to have the biggest choice of routes and companies and allows you to compare prices. The earlier you book, particularly for the high season, the better the deal.
Regarding which ferry to book, that depends on where you’re going to. From Bristol, probably your best options are Poole to Cherbourg (just over 4 hours), Plymouth to Roscoff (6 hours) and Portsmouth to Le Havre or Caen (5 and a half hours) which are all with Brittany ferries, or Newhaven to Dieppe (4 hours) with DFDS.
DFDS is usually the more affordable option but the ferries seem to have fewer amenities than Brittany. Still, you are not going to have a difficult time finding something to do - last time we went out DFDS ferry had two restaurants and a cafe, a children’s area, a shopping area and a private lounge. That said, Dieppe doesn’t get you very far south.

Get a Sanef tag for the motorway tolls. Don’t leave it until the last minute to apply, they had a bit of a backlog this year.

If you use Calor gas, you need to bear in mind that it isn’t available in France.

Obviously depends on your kids and I know a trailer moves slower but mine are a very similar age (5 and 18 months) and were very happy to do London to St Tropez-ish area in one day fuelled mainly by biscuits and ipad! Then we could relax and were on holiday. Dragging it out with loads of stops wouldn’t have been anyone’s interest. Unless the point is to visit different places en route of course!

Re the toll tag, I don’t think it’s necessary unless you don’t have a passenger. We found the payage were really infrequent, there were no long queues and they all take contactless now so it’s still quick.

We're in France now - you'll love it, it's a perfect holiday for younger families. We've always used Brittany Ferries, a few different routes, but the 'best' for travelling over is Portsmouth-St Malo as you leave at 8pm, have a couple of hours to explore the ferry and watch the entertainment, and then sleep, ready for the onward journey when you dock at about 7am. Costs a bit more, but well worth it!

@TheGracelessAged we tried the overnight crossing when ours were 7 9 and 11 and it was a nightmare!! None of them wanted to go to bed - then H had too much to drink and was hungover driving us next day (he didn't admit this to me for five years) - I had my period so went to bed at normal time, didn't sleep until H brought kids in at about midnight. Journey next day was awful as kids were cranky and tired and when we got the tent up, H took to his bed for two days convincing me he had flu! I was SO sympathetic and took the kids out, made sure he was looked after etc etc.
I was so angry years later when I discovered it was a hangover! Was much better staying at a Premier inn in Southampton and catching the 7am crossing. Kids ran off a lot of energy exploring the ferry so even slept a little on the drive down to the Il du Re region.

Always done Dover to Calais.stopped for a night oer two going downwards. on to the Loire region which was fab every time.

The tunnel is easier but if you get a ferry get a cabin even on a day one as it gives you a place to hang out and is quiet. There are economy crossings and more lux ones. Cabins on day economy can be cheap. But they all book up a long way in advance.
The seating areas for 5 hours areHellidon with kids IMHO.
We then just had food in restaurant (really nice and worth expense) and then watched a film on laptop in cabin..
Overnight is noisy and hard to sleep but also quite convenient.
Or you can get a ferry that arrives late..but then use a cheap hotel near the port for the night. The carparks will accommodate a trailer

most normal sized towns have a big carrefour or leclerc supermarket which often has a restaurant and huge carpark so no issues parking.

The roads in France as amazing

Just avoid travelling during the French peak weekends as traffic can be bad on main routes. French peak time is Jul14- August ish. Campsites are cheaper after then too.

We always do the overnight crossing. St Malo is best as it leaves at 8 so time to explore etc and not have to get straight to bed. Have never found it noisy (although there is a but of an engine hum) and we all get a reasonable night's sleep including DH who is a terrible sleeper. St Malo is the furthest South of all the ports so the best fir an onwards drive I've found. It is pricy though. We have never been further than about a 5-6 hour onward drive as my DC are unbearable on long journeys and we camp so need time to set-up on arrival but lots of people do 8-10 hours.

Also recommend the toll tag, unless you are going to Brittany which doesn't have toll roads.

Journeys south do take a lot longer on N roads instead of A.

as your in Bristol you could sail from Plymouth, or Poole.

what you spend on ferry and cabin, you'll save in fuelled stopover for the night.

You're also close to Poole for a ferry crossing

Don't forget you'll need bethinking about with you need a visa for FRANCE and the biometrics and fingerprints will be coming into force - so i'd avoid dover (assist chaotic enough in the summer months anyway without the added extras

wherever you thinking of camping?

We’ve just got back from 2 weeks. This time (been several times in past, as well as Germany & Netherlands) we did Portsmouth to St Malo out, staying in Brittany for a week, then up to Normandy (DH desperate to revisit D Day beaches he visited as a teenager), so came home via tunnel with an overnight in Calais before 10am crossing yesterday.

We tow a large tourer so it’s slow progress anywhere. DH was cursing the traffic up from Folkestone to the M1 (we live in west mids) yesterday and says he won’t go the short crossing routes again. We do prefer a ferry as it feels more of an adventure, but tunnel is convenient and cheaper and where you cross all depends where you’re heading to in France. We had a cabin on a day ferry once which was a godsend for some peace and for DS to have a nap. I don’t sleep well at all on overnights so lie there listening to engine noises and my DS and DH snoring.

I’m keen to go further south for better sun and different environment next year or do more of Germany. That’s if we keep our tourer, we fell out of love with it this holiday as nothing seemed to work right and I had holiday envy for friends on a cruise who were catered for and relaxed.

As for entertaining DS (8) we load him up with films on his iPad and ration sweets. We try and stop every 2hrs to stretch legs and have a wee.

We found France very expensive this year, but it’s the first time we’ve taken the caravan abroad since summer 19 so the pound is pants since then. The one thing that was cheaper was fuel, so that was a relief. Think the visa thing kicks in from next November so try and get away before then.

enjoy planning. I’ll start to explore options soon once we’ve decided whether to keep plodding on with the caravan or go the package route for a bit.