Euotunnel to France with a 6 year old.

[BloddersMum]

Good morning. We are thinking of going to France for a summer holiday end Aug. We are looking at Huttopia Sennonches which would be a total 8h drive and tunnel time. Thinking this is a little long for DD (6) we thought we would stop overnight by the tunnel, either side... Does anyone have any good recommendations please?

Also if you have been to Huttopia I would love to hear your experiences before we click 'book'. Thanks!

We do Surrey to the Alps easily in a day, catch an early train, and stop off mid afternoon French side of Alps, with a second day drive into Italy. Total drive time, about 8 hours! I am assuming you are not that close to the tunnel, your drive in France looks short..... I would say 8 hours total is not too bad. We have done this drive when the children were babies, and right through to teenagers, ipods/ipads/films and music all help, as do stops for picnic lunches, and wee breaks.

Re-reading that..... first day is 8 hours..... obviously !! Total trip about 14 hours in the car.

Not familiar with Sennonches (or with that precise route tbh) but Saint-Saens might be a good place to stop?

here

Yup, we are in the East Midlands. Thanks for the reply. Looks like keeping on going maybe the best option... Just have to convince DH!

You'll be fine doing it in one go. Calais-Senonches is under 4 hours. Have a stop along the way; you can get out of your car in the tunnel too. You can use Tesco clubcard vouchers to pay for (part of) the tunnel cost.

Also take some things to keep DD occupied; books, toys, music, (dare I say it) iPad with films.

Le Touquet

We always stop there if we need to break up a long drive to France
20 mins from Calais, lovely little seaside resort and a stunning beach

There are nice hotels in the town but we stay at the Ibis on the beach and can usually get a family room for around €100

It's a 15 min walk into the town, and there are nice little beach cafes 5 mins from the hotel

We do an 11-12 hour journey to France every year. Stop every 3-4 hours at a service station. When children were tiny the stops took a bit longer as it involved breastfeeding baby + nappy change. These days with all children out of nappies and fairly self sufficient (youngest is the same age as yours) our stops are 20 mins or less. (We swap drivers at this stage too) It's really easier than you would think.

You can all have a good leg-stretch in the Eurotunnel btw. You don't have to sit in the car.

(Oh and I don't allow screens in the car, just music or audio books)

Oh sorry, didn't grasp you were driving from E Mids

Have you considered the ferry as an alternative? You could do Portsmouth to Caen I think on your route and my children love the ferry! It breaks up the drive nicely.

Thanks again for all the replies. I think we will try and go straight through, although I will let DH research Le Touquet tenbob just to keep him busy .

We have done the tunnel before (pre DD) so know that will be a break out of the car, which will help. It has taken is a week to convince DD that she won't see fish! So now she is telling everyone she is going under rocks to go on holiday to France!

Ishouldntbesolucky neither me or DH on a ferry is ever a good idea! Just going to the Isle of White with sickness tablets I just about coped but DH was very green!

Unfortunately no Tesco near so no clubcard ISeeTheLight.

I regularly take 14+ hour flights with 2 boys of the same age as we live overseas and while it's not my favourite thing to do, it's fine. Stock up tablet/ipad with books/series/movies, take snacks and play a few silly games in the car, and it will be fine. If you let it become a big deal, then it will be, but I think the benefits of travelling far outweigh the tediousness of the journey.