Driving from Manchester to south of France with a 2 year old, is this possible?

[starberryhortcak]

We will be going to Cannes for 10 days in July. DD will be 2 1/2 at the time. We would rather drive than fly for several reasons, one being we will def need a car while we are there.I know it's a way off yet but we're wanting to start booking everything now. Me and DH will be sharing the driving but we're wanting to avoid driving through the night as neither of us have driven on the continent before. We live in Manchester so we'll have a good few hours driving in the UK.

My plan is:

Get everything packed at ready to go the day before we leave, go to bed. Spend a good part of the day resting. Then around 5pm set off for Dover. It's a four and a half hour drive so we'd probably book the last ferry (23:45). Get on ferry, stretch our legs for the 90 minute cross over. Probably try and wear DD out a bit due to the long drive. Once in Calais head straight for a hotel. Go straight to bed, get up around 8. Back in car and straight driving down, with stops for food and for DD. It's an 11 hour drive from Calais to Cannes but let's add on another 90 minutes to account for stops and traffic etc. Get to cottage 9/10pm.

Does this sound doable? Does anybody have any advice? Thank you

Why are you setting off so late? I would leave earlier and have dinner in France and a full night's sleep. That way you could also travel a few hours into France and cut down your journey time the next day and have a few more breaks. It really is two full days of travelling so I think it would be much easier to accept that rather than waste the first day?

Completely depends on the kid.

I have known kids I could not be in the same car with for ten minutes

That's a crazy plan. Rent a car there. It won't be a holiday for anybody.
You are talking about endless hours in the car. Try that when the baby is older.
Even flying can be challenging with a baby but at least will be over sooner.

It's doable, but won't be an enjoyable experience. I certainly wouldn't want to do it but it depends how much you dislike flying. Personally would opt for the flight and hire a car when you get there.

I think you’re wasting the first day ‘resting’ aim to get a lunchtime ferry and 3-4 hours driving done in France before stopping Calais -Cannes is too far for one day for a 2year old in the car.
Don’t forget to factor in tolls - think it’s about £300 return.

Or just fly and hire a car - far easier with a toddler.

We're in the midlands and have driven to the south of France many times with our kids. Def leave earlier and get further into France on the first day. We've even split it into three days stay in Dover area, then do the crossing early next day, drive 5/6 hours stop again do the last stint on the third day. Taking the tunnel wound save you about an hour too and is super easy.

My family have done this for decades although London to Carcasssone. When we were younger we always stopped for a night at least on the way down. I've done the same with my dc & again stop. However we go for a minimum of 3 wks. For that amount of time, I'd fly & rent a car. Having said it's great to chuck stuff in & go on a ferry, hate the faff & waiting re flying.

What about a night crossing to Le Havre or a ferry to Bilbao?

We drove to the dordoigne with a 2.5 year old last year from a similar northern city! It's totally doable but you need to give yourselves more time to to so far safe, and a 90mjn buffer is probably not long enough. Roads in France are smaller but less busy, but if you get stuck in an accident it can take a long time to clear. Also note the amount in tolls you'll need to pay as it isn't insignificant. We did it by driving to Folkestone for about 7pm, sleep there then 8am train out so we were fresh for the drive the next day. You'll need plenty of stops, think nappy change / toilet stops plus realistically a toddler needs to stretch every couple hours at most. If we were driving to Cannes we would definitely stop at another hotel on the way to not rush and make it more enjoyable, it would be part of our adventure!

I live nearby Bordeaux and drive from 30 mins north of Manchester (home town). If we HAVE to drive then we leave as early as possible and drive at least 3-4 hours in France before stopping over.

Honestly if I was you with a little one, I’d fly. The tolls and fuel are expensive plus the roads are busy in the summer. Always delays on the tunnel and ferries too. Take a flight and hire a car!

Get an earlier ferry and drive as far as is feasible before your overnight stop.

For an 11 hour journey id count more than 90 minutes of stops!!!

Are you going early July or late?

If its late then you ll be travelling with all the French people and trust me, traffic will be heavy. On the busiest days you often cant even find a parking space at the picnic areas at lunchtime

The tunnel is quicker and more flexible most of the time than ferries. Definitely travel a few hours into France rather than stopping at Calais so travel across earlier in the day. The Accor chain of hotels - Ibis, Novotel, F1 etc are fairly widespread and can be quite reasonable or the B&B chain of hotels. Also recommend getting the toll tag as then you don't stop or queue at each peage but get the bill after you travel. bipandgo.com

We drove to Dordogne from South Wales when my youngest was 3yo.

We've driven further south since, we leave in the morning, drive to Dover and get on eurotunnel, its a shorter crossing than the ferry we also take our dog so I prefer the tunnel.

We eat on the train (buy our food in sainsburys at junction 12), then drive to Orleans where we stay in a novotel for the night. Next morning push on south.

We've done this towing our camping trailer.

I'd leave Manchester about 11am, to avoid the worst of the traffic heading to Dover. I'd also book the flexi ticket so you can just get on the first boat rather than waiting for a specific boat (I think you can do 4 hour flexi or fully flexi). Book a hotel about an hour from calais. The next day get up early and drive for 2 hours, stop for breakfast, then another 3 hours and stop for lunch then just get there. The rest stops on French motorways are either just picnic benches and toilets around every 10km or full services every 40km. To stretch your legs the little ones are great and take no time at all but make sure you've got loo roll with you.

We drove from Manchester to the Dordogne in 2017 with a 2 and a bit year old and 2 older siblings. It was nightmarish. The journey time was much longer than Google maps suggested and we had to stop fairly frequently (and did an overnight stop). If you can avoid it by flying, do. We can't avoid driving completely as we camp and so need the kit.

In 2019, with an additional child (about 20 months at the time) I flew there and back with 3 of the children whilst DH drove with the 2nd eldest. On the way back, DH drove with the eldest and again, I flew with 3 children. So much nicer. However, whilst the drive for DH was quicker, it still a long way.

We’ve driven from Glasgow to the Dordogne lots of times from when our kids were very young, so it’s certainly doable.

I’d do it differently. I’d leave early and get a much earlier ferry and then drive to somewhere like Rouen and overnight there.

I’d maybe also consider the longer crossings but they are not cheap.

Or even better Orleans as a PP has suggested

Also it’s a lot of driving for 10 days. 2 days travelling each way . So yes it’s doable but whether it’s a great idea is less clear

I drive to France from W Yorkshire every summer. Just me and DH now but we did take DSs (they were older than yours though).

I wouldn't do it all in one day. 11 hours - even if you're sharing - is very tiring. Me and D H will do a couple of stints of 2/3 hours each at most per day. So depending on which region on France we will stop overnight once or twice. This means that we need 10 days for a weeks stay, to allow travel time.

If I were you I'd fly and rent a car. The tolls are very pricey. I use an automated tag so get billed afterwards. Itcan be 150 euros or more. Fuel isn't cheap atm either. For a week's holiday save the time and fly.

I like to get the overnight ferry (for example Portsmouth-Caen/St Malo/Le Havre. Crossing costs a bomb but it means you can kill two birds with one stone and get a little further down France whilst sleeping on the boat so saving the faff of staying in a hotel.

DD has traveled long car journeys from being a young baby so is accustomed to it. She is now 2.5 and her max capacity comfortably in the car during one day is 6 hours and that includes a really good break where she can run around.

I do prefer to do long drives overnight as then that long stop isn’t necessary. Her car seat reclines a lot so she is comfortable and sleeps soundly for 5 hours when we drive at night (without stopping).

Why don't you want to fly? The journey there might be ok (although you are leaving way too late) but the journey back will be shit

You couldn’t pay me to do that. I would fly and rent a car.

Another option if you really want your own car - there are fast trains from Paris to south of France which you can put your car on. That way you all get to stretch your legs, relax etc and the journey is faster. Expect they are pricey though, and possibly booked up early.

I'd definitely fly

We did this, although probably from about an hour closer to the channel than you with a 4 and 2 year old. I genuinely loved the drive but I am weird. We booked an afternoon ferry, missed it due to traffic bug got on a later one- key tip book a flexible ferry. Drove around 2.5 hours into France to around Leon, got there around 10pm. Night in comfy hotel then down to Frejus. Mind tells me was around 8.5 hours driving, but took around 11 with stops. Get a tag for the toll beforehand. In truth, probably around the same cost as flying and hiring a car if well planned, however it was an adventure! Kids were fine in the car, had a DVD player, but by no means was it on all journey