Ideas and advice please - driving to the S. of France with kids!

[Legacy]

OK, yes we're mad, but we' ve decided to drive this year rather than fly (mostly cost related).

Kids are 6.5 and 4. Good travellers (e.g. don't get car sick etc) but WILL get bored, and we've never done such a long journey with them.

Decided against the 'through the night' approach as they don't sleep very well in car seats any more, and DH and I like our sleep too!
It will probably be about 5 hours for 2 days, as we're going to break the journey half way.

Soooooo - all tips, tricks and advice from experienced MN-ers welcome!

We've thought of some of the obvious stuff:

• DVD player
• drinks / snacks
• toys, books, drawing etc
• Gameboy for 6 year old

????????

We drive to Spain 1400 miles its such fun LOL

That was sarcastic by the way

You have hit the nail on the head with the DVD player, a life saver. I have driven to/from Austria 3 times, when ds was 5 months, 2 years & 3 years respectively. When he was 2 we bought the DVD player.......

If you buy a specific connection cable you can use your DVD player on a normal TV once you reach your destination.

service stations on the autoroute are really good so its worth planning regular stops.. 90% of the service areas have really good play areas for the kids and they are all lovely and clean and 100% better than the uk ones..
The problem is though that you cant get them to get back in the car again!

how far in the south

DVD player saw us from Yorkshire to northern Italy at Easter with two kids the same age as yours. OK, it did offend my sensibilities somewhat to be driving through stunning scenery in the Alps with them glued to Cinderella in the back, BUT it offended me less than 'Are we there yet?' for two days!

go to the Quick & MacD fastfood areas on the way - clean loos plus play area.

Have creditcard handy for toll roads. Get ticket from the booth, keep safely!, don't speed, pay at exit of the toll road. Most of the autoroute is toll but some parts are free.

Have cool drinks & snacks for traffic jams. If the road has a black warning; just before you join the autoroute there are jams if green it will be ok.

Watch for drivers changing lane with no indication, overtaking you on the right, driving right behind you at full speed & general dangerous driving. Also check what the lorries are doing, keep out of the way when a lorry overtakes a lorry. Watch caravans if it's windy.

Good luck

required to have a breakdown triangle......

Stop at the picnic area type rest stops on the autoroute - no shops but usually a loo and often play equipment and picnic tables. They are often quite pleasant, wooded and shady with space for a run around - bizarre right by the motorway.

leave really early in the morning and hit the ferry for breakfast. Then they gives a good break halfway and you shouldn't have to make any other stops.
Personally I don't do toys in the car, and they are used to chatting etc. Our essential is a fridge for cold drinks and snacks.

don't forget headlight deflectors, gb sticker.

Would it not be better to grit your teeth & do it all in 1 go? I think 2 days of med-long journeys harder than 1 long one. Then you've arrived & it's over & done with. I've done 13 hour journey alone with 3 kids recently and it was ok. Just let them know what they're in for. Can the 4 yr old not have a game boy too?

I find setting off very early (5am ish) works best for us. Meal & plenty running round on ferry.

I also find the french roads much much easier to drive on than uk roads. but another word re speeding, 1stly, warnings arn't as clear as in uk for cameras. 2ndly, if you're caught more than 24 kph over limit you can have licence confiscated on spot which would be a real pain in the arse so be careful.

I've always found that a cassette walkman (with headphones)and story tapes work for this age group.

driving.drive-alive.co.uk/driving-in-france.htm

This is a good website to read re driving regulations.

We all listed to harry potter on CD.

Has taken us to France and Holland many a time!

Gameboys are great

Echo what has been said about the service stateions, they make a good break

Make a list of the places you are driving past and get them to tick them off as you go past.

Not sure our 4 year old is ready for a gameboy - he's only just 4 and I don't think he's got the dexterity for it yet?

Sorry but don't go to Quick (quick, get me a bucket!) as food is foul and v over-priced. We did drive from North Holland to S.O.France in May with 3 kids (10, 8 and 4) Story tapes good idea as are decent music cds and dvd player. We bought some new stuff to listen to on way down. I'll be fine - set out early, stop just before you get completely knackered and loose it with the kids! Have a great holiday

The anticipation is almost always worse than the reality..

Sorry oxo - got to disagree with you on Quick! It's clean, quick service! and has something for everyone. The ones I've been to have always been a welcome break during a journey.

milward, each to their own It would be very boring if we all had the same taste!