The Vendee - last two weeks of July or August?

[DrSpechemin]

Back off to the Vendee again this year but this is the first year going in school holidays.

Due to childcare we can either go the first two weeks of the school hols or last two weeks of august.

Any benefits for either - is late August going to be heaving? What about the weather?

Will the journey be longer? We'll be driving from Calais.

do not do it on a saturday - queues are awful and that was mid july which i always thought was better than aug

I've been in both over the years and seem to remember things start to go v quiet at the end of August (one of our campsite wash blocks was closed due to fewer campers). My parents always do the drive on a Sunday as lorries aren't allowed on the roads until the evening but I've never had a problem. I'd avoid travelling near Bastille Day though.

I think French children go back to school earlier than ours do, so last two weeks of August might be quieter?

Actually that's not true, but this chart would suggest that it's quieter at the end of August

Thanks - we'll be travelling on a thursday so hopefully won't have weekend madness - I'm erring towards end of July - not sure if I can get through the whole of the school holidays with overexcited children looking forward to going camping!

We usually do the start of the holidays and have found the weather is generally better then - friends who go away at the end of August are always complaining of rain, etc on holiday. Or maybe we are more glass half-full than them?

We always travel on weekdays and find the motorways are usually empty, campsites are full but not unpleasant.