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Driving to South of France for first time this summer - any tips?

41 replies

pinkteddy · 31/03/2012 16:41

Although we have flown to the South of France, we've never driven. We're going to a Siblu site near Beziers (Montpelier biggest town nearby). I'd be grateful for any tips eg: best routes, any info on tolls (whether its worth getting one of those toll cards), best places to stop (services and hotels) etc.

Many thanks

OP posts:
harrassedswlondonmum · 02/04/2012 19:05

Can't help adding my two penny-worth! We are going to Serignan for the 6th year in a row (boring, I know, but we have made some lovely friends who also go year after year and the kids won't let us do anything else!).

We have a telepeage gadget and it does save quite a lot of time. You also have the added bonus of annoying the French people who think you have made a mistake going in that lane, who think the Engleesh can't possibly have telepeage. It costs 2 Euros a month in the months that you use it, plus the usual tolls. The tolls rack up on an account and the balance is charged to your credit card the following month. We got ours in France by pulling off the motorway in an APPR section of autoroute (at the time they were the only one who didn't require a French bank account).

Also look at Etap hotels - cheaper than Novotel (also part of the Accor group like Novotel) but lots of them around. Rooms sleep three which suits us perfectly as a party of 6.

We also take food with us for breakfast/lunch on day one of the journey. We have dinner out as part of the holiday.

We did come back the Millau way a couple of years ago and it seemed to take forever. We usually go and come back the Reims/Lyon route from Calais.

Best wishes.

angelinterceptor · 02/04/2012 19:28

We did the drive last year with 2 DC (aged 7 and 11). We drove the whole way from N Ireland, left there on the Saurday morning, then Dublin, Holyhead, down to the Eurotunnel, and then straight down near Carcassone in the south. We arrived Sunday morning, was about 28 hours in total i think. We only stopped for fuel (car and occupants) - most of our driving in France was at night, which was really easy.
Planning to do it again this year, only DH wants to do in a landrover, which might not be as comfortable!

angelinterceptor · 02/04/2012 19:29

Sorry, forgot to add that we had the Saneg thing for the tolls, found it very very useful and glad someone recommended it here last summer.

DialMforMummy · 02/04/2012 19:48

I have not read the thread so apologies if I repeat what has been said.
It is likely to be roastingly hot so if you don't have air con, it could be an idea to take an ice box for drinks.
My last experience of motorway food was awful AND expensive. Avoid at all costs.

Amateurish · 03/04/2012 09:26

I've bought an APRR toll thingy from their website. It was 10 Euro inc delivery and then you pay the normal tolls plus 1.6 Euro for every month in which you use it. It turned up about a week after I ordered it online, here:

www.telepeagepourtous.fr

I haven't used it yet, but hopefully it will make journeys easier and stop the kids waking up whenever we pay at a booth.

Ccsgold · 03/04/2012 11:35

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Portofino · 03/04/2012 21:18

If staying in a Mobile Home - I always pack everything in those big reusuable shopping bags (think Ikea bags) rather than cases. You can squeeze them in to the car as they are more flexible than suitcases - and they fold flat and can be stuck in a cupboard when you get there. There is rarely much room for cases in a MH. Plus you can then use them for shopping and trips to the beach.

Though if we are staying in a hotel en route I do pack a small overnight bag/case so that I don't look like a bag lady.....

Portofino · 03/04/2012 21:19

We have the telepeage doodah too. It is excellent.

Portofino · 03/04/2012 21:21

I can highly recommend the Novotels at Lyon Nord, Macon Nord and Rouen Sud - but the one in Dijon is shit.

pinkteddy · 03/04/2012 22:15

I really appreciate all the help and advice on this thread - thanks all. Happy for others to add their two penny worth though! Grin

OP posts:
juneau · 04/04/2012 10:38

Thanks for this thread - you've spurred me to book the Eurotunnel and hotels for our holiday in June! I love the Eurotunnel - so quick and convenient - and we'll be trying out the B&B hotels. We only need one night each way, so hopefully it will work out alright.

Jenstar21 · 07/04/2012 01:48

We went down to near Beziers last Easter break. We took a couple of days, as we are travelling from Central Scotland, so a longer drive this side too.... Our way of doing it was - leave here late afternoon to drive to Dover and get on the 1am ferry to Calais; Bit of a sleep on the ferry, and the passenger gets to sleep in the car as much as possible. We stopped the first night at Chartres, and then a second night near Volvic - largely in each case because we wanted to see a bit of the areas round about. Also, DD was 2.4, and we didn't really want her getting too grouchy in the car (hence the overnight on this side.) We use the peage as much as possible for the long stretches, and meant that you get cracking on a bit on the miles.

We've been down in that region a fair bit (before we had DD as well), and yes, I'd also agree with avoiding weekend travel in the summer if you can. It can be mental. Also, remember you will struggle in some places to find anywhere open on a Sunday for food/shopping. We found this out the hard way the first time!

The route via Millau is pretty impressive with the viaduct too - I'd definitely go that way in at least one direction. :) Loads of the service stations/peage stops have picnic areas too - we used them quite a bit. Watch out for 'Aire de....', and they usually have a bit for leg stretching - invaluable for a toddler, we found. Also, we tended to stay in Ibis hotels, purely because they had bigger rooms for families in most cases. The Campanile's are fine, but there is a certain amount of 'dancing' to be done around the child bed... I did find myself on it more than once, as once DD climbed into bed with us, there wasn't enough room, and DP was never going to fit into the 'free child bed for under 7s' - but, to be fair, I didn't exactly fit it either!

It's a beautiful part of the country - you'll have a great time, I'm sure. :)

Thumbbunny · 07/04/2012 02:04

Since this is your first time driving through France, I would strongly recommend you check out about-france.com/travel.htm this website for the legal side of things. You may have already been pointed to it, but just in case you haven't - it's interesting the things that French laws require you to carry in your car!

I expect many people don't bother to comply with it but I'm a bit of a worry wort and always think that the worst will happen if I don't have the stuff to hand. Last time I drove to France, we went via ferry and the ferry terminal shop had all the necessary bits in, as well as the list of things you should have; but it might be cheaper to get them ahead of time (if you think you should). I got most of them except the fire extinguisher - I didn't get one of those, although probably should have.

Can't help with routes etc. but I hope you have a lovely time!

Thumbbunny · 07/04/2012 02:07

about-france.com/driving-checklist.htm this is one of the more important pages to read.

juliewulie123 · 24/08/2015 12:04

Hi we as a couple are driving to s Agay in South france from calais and welcome any tips etc. We don't mind sticking to toll roads but have never done this before

Hackersschmakers · 24/08/2015 13:23

Definitley stick to the toll roads - we have just got out bill through and it was €52 to Ronce Les Bain which is an hour south of La Rochelle. We always pack a picnic and stop at the Aires instead of the main service stations unless we need fuel. The Aires are less busy but have no shops. The main services can be horrendously busy and the food is quite frankly crap. It also adds more time to the overall drive.

Before people shout at me I reaslise this is a zombie thread but think the op deserved a reply!

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