driving from calais to charente maritime-where to stop,and hotel recommendations please

[lu9months]

hi, we are driving through france for the first time this summer with our three kids. we have booked the eurostar to calais but will probably move it to the evening before, i think the long drive after the train will be too much for us in one day. can you recommend anywhere a little way (30 mins to 2 hours) from calais for an overnight stop? thanks

We drove Calais to Charente Maritime two years ago. We stayed at a b&b www.lalunelake.co.uk.. about 3 hours from Calais. It was lovely, it had a splash pool to cool off after the journey. And... they provided a lovely evening meal with wine!!! Highly recommended.

Where abouts are you staying. We are in Charente Maritime, near St Jean d'Angley, for 2 weeks in August. A warning.. traffic on Saturdays in August is very heavy.

We drove from Calais to near Carcassonne in a day (Dc 6 and 3). Once past Paris, roads are very easy; coming back we went via Rouen to bypass the Paris ring road). My best tip is get a tag for the toll booths so that you don't have to stop and pay (it direct debits from your UK bank account)
www.saneftolling.co.uk/?gclid=CM3nzfrb2LACFU4lfAodBEpV0g
Saved a significant amount of time on such a long trip and, in August when the roads are busier, will probably save a lot more!
ViaMichelin website good for journey planning

thanks thats really helpful

We do the drive in a day, how close are you to Dover?

I would also go via Rouen, it takes the stress out of the journey as the Paris ring road is something else! Would also agree that Saturdays and Friday after work are mad on the roads - if you can do avoid it!

Charente Maritime is lovely - spent many childhood holidays on Ile D'Oleron.

does anyone know if amiens is a detour or a reasonable place to stop over?? thanks

We used to stay at the Novotel there on thevway back from Oleron to East Anglia. Not a bad place to stop :-)

When we did a similar drive we stayed in a B&B chain hotel near Le Mans. I thought the family room was great, as it had a little first floor mezanine where my two DDs slept, so DH and I were able to drink wine and play cards in our room below.

We are doing similar this year.

We set off from W Yorks at about 2am! Eurotunnel crossing at 7am. We have booked in at Etap in Chartres. It is about 2 hours drive from Calais iirc.

Probably could do the whole drive in one day - but don't want to. Our DC are 14 and 15 - so it is nice to stay over in a different town. Spend the afternoon having a little poke around and have anice dinner. The Etap places are nothing fancy, but we hhave used them a few times before - and they are clean and easy to find(usually with their own parking).

Our destination is inland from you - the total drive time from Calais is aboiut 7 hours, but after such an early morning start we don't want to push it.

Also - factor in some time for a supermarket shop. A lot of supermarkets are closedon Sundays - in the main tourist areas there are some open, but last year we were fortunate that we had stopped off en route to stock up as nothing was open on the Sunday (in the Dordogne region, v popular with tourists).

Two years ago we stayed in Rouen, nice place to spend an afternoon. that is not too far a drive from Calais. Again, we stayed in an Etap just on the outskirts of town - which meant it had parking and we didn't have to drive trhough the town centre.

wearymum You drove all that way in one day1!
We went to Carcassone a couple of years ago - and we made our j ourney last three days. We stayed off in Rouen, and then Limoges - to break up the driving! You must be good at concentrating on the road!

We shared the driving, swapping about every 2hrs. Once past Paris, the roads were so easy it was a pleasure. As we only had a week, we didn't want to waste time. I would definitely do it again.

dh is now suggesting that we drive all the way to charente maritime from calais in one go, overnight! i think he has gone crazy - what do you think? it also happens to be the busiest weekend on the roads in france , so perhaps he is right, but i'm not sure i fancy it. almost wishing we were doing a fortnight in the isle of wight as usual :(

I know people that do it in one go, but it is a long way. Of course overnight would be much quicker, as Saturdays in the summer are so busy.

If you think kids would sleep it would be an option.

I would go for it, I've done that drive several times and find it fine. Whereabouts in the CM are you staying? We can do Calais to Oleron in 8 hours (plus two stops).

Blimey i came on here to post the same question but to ask re a campsite we can stop at between Calais and Renne,sorry for hijack any ideas?