has anynoe ever driven to the south of france? If so how long did it tkae , where did you stop off etc?

[lisalisa]

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We went a few years ago when DD was 6m -we took a few days to drive down to the south and a few days to drive back, spending a week in a villa in the south in between. On the travel days we stayed in pre-booked chambre d'hotes (B&Bs) so had planned the route beforehand (can't remember it now I'm afraid!). You can buy (or get from library?) a guide with all the chambre d'hotes in which is a godsend as they let you know what facilities they have eg. one had a pool.

Last year we went to Ile de Re so nowhere near as far and just did the drive in one go on arrival and one overnight stay on the way back as the ferry was an awkward time. (DD was 5 and DS nearly 1)

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We have been to Gascony twice, right on the Spanish border on the Atlantic side,and we went Dover/Calais with overnight stop in Tours. Arrived about 4pm on next day.

Have also been to the Med, & Spain, again with overnight stop in Novotel.

This year we are going to Perpignon and will stop in Bourges for one night (always in Novotels).

My DH would rather drive than spend hours in an airport. Plus it's cheaper, you can take so much more luggage and have your car to fill up with wine on the way home.

We have been as far as Charente Maritime in a day, but we live in Berks so not too far to get to the ports.

We used to go down in one day, changing drivers and taking a couple of hours for lunch. Usually took 10 - 11 hours. I think my parents always used to stop near Macon. I agree about taking the car - you'll certainly want to use it when you're there, though the coast roads are so busy at this time of year. Haven't done the journey slowly - find the kids get bored and restless and just prefer to know they haven't got to get in the car every day. It's not a bad motorway journey - did it without dh once. (My mum and dad used to live near St Raphael so we've done the route a lot!) Take a portable dvd player or laptop - it's a lifesaver if your kids are anything like ours on long journeys.

We drive to spain twice a year (oh what joy ) We can get to Barcelona in one go . 940 miles . We always and I mean always go via Reims .It looks longer on the map but it is actually a shorter time because it is all motorway . We have stayed in Lyon befor now and Reims .Have fun . Our Ds was 18 months when we first did it and he is now 7 he prefers driving there than flying .

For family holidays when I was a moody teen, we used to drive down to the Bordeaux area - and take two days, stopping over at somewhere like Chartres for the night.

It would be a leisurely drive with stops/picnics along the way, so depending on which way you look at it, either a nice bookened to the holiday or an awful lot of time spent travelling

We've done it twice to different southern regions and stopped over, but for 2 weeks. Although in the very very hot summer of 2003 we drove all the way back from Frejus in one hit, DH just kept on driving!

Dh drove back from Bordeaux to the port of Le Harve I think, he did it in about 5 hours non-stop. It took him another 6 hours to get from Portsmouth to Lancashire.

Not a drive I think he recommends!

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I wouldn't fancy doing it for just a week. We drove from Frejus back up towards Disneyland Paris, but did it over a couple of days driving about 3-4 hours or so a day through the hills. Probably quicker on the toll roads though. But still a long time.

We actually only did that as part of our holiday though in a hire car. We got a cheap flight to Nice airport, hired a car there for the duration. Probably not much dearer once you add up ferry, petrol, etc.