Driving through France

[Tiredandtorn]

Hi,
Dh and I are trying to plan what we might do for a holiday next summer (covid pending of course) and have decided to drive to south west France. We haven't done if before so I'm hoping to get some advice on how many over night stops we should need. Kids will be 6 & 8. Planning on going to Arcachon. Google maps says around 12 hours total travel time. But with loo stops and breaks I'm imagining a lot longer. Any tips on breaking up the journey, how many overnight stop overs etc would be really appreciated, thank you

12 hours seems a long time to get to Arcachon (which is lovely).

Presumably you are looking at a short crossing or the tunnel. It might be worth looking at a longer crossing (eg Caen) with less driving in France, although obviously this depends on your UK starting point.

Motorway driving in France is usually very straightfoward and there are plenty of services plus "aires" which are basically little lay bys where you can stop to stretch your legs.

You have to pay tolls on most motorways so you also need to factor in the cost of this too.

ViaMichelin is quite a useful site to look at route options/tolls etc

If you did decide to take the long drive option then I would seriously advise avoiding the Paris peripherique at all costs!

Also worth knowing that particular weekends (usually beginning and end of August) can be very crowded as many French people head to/from the coast. Again, these dates are best avoided.

I reaise this hasn't addressed your specific questions but hope it is of some help.

Thank you - I'm glad that 12 hours seems to be an over estimate! That's reassuring in itself. We don't mind a long drive and often drive to Cornwall from near Chelmsford.

We'd get the Eurostar as I can't do boats as am horrendously sea sick, even on a smooth crossing. So we'll have to do the longer drive.

Thanks for the tip avoiding the area around Paris.

Look at the emovis tab for french tolls - means you don't need to stop and pay with cash or card - you just drive through. Which is a lot easier than trying to get the car lined up for you partner to dangle out of the window.

I have made that journey many times, with children as young as 4, 8 & 12.

Only once did we book an overnight stop which was a total waste of time. It was hot and no one could sleep.

My tips would be a very early start (think 2-3 am), use the Autoroutes unless there is something / somewhere you really want to see on the journey south, masses of fluid in the car (it can get very warm), share the driving if you can, stop when you need a break and dont break the rules. We once wasted three hours being pulled over because my stupid DH was 5mph over the speed limit !!

Agree with all the above..

I would have thought 9'ish hours, give or take, actual driving from Calais, using the autoroutes. If you want to actually get there I'd soak up the tolls for the sake of the convenience. Using viaMichelin is a top tip.

Avoid the Paris peripherique if possible...It's not quite the work of the devil some people describe, some days it's not too bad, but it's often a PITA. If you do decide to use it then at least try to schedule the journey to avoid the Paris rush hours.

If you go on the A28 via Le Mans (rather than the A1), you'll avoid Paris. We go via Caen but we tend to break the journey up / add a day or so to the holiday around Tours. We've stayed somewhere which is close to a lake and park with zipwires if you want a recommendation.

We've spent lots of holidays near Arcachon but I wouldn't want to be in the town itself - we usually go to Biscarrosse which is a tiny bit futher down the coast and has a huge freshwater lake as well as the beach. We're supposed to be going around 20th August and have just heard that the campsite will be open - just the issue of the ferry, FCO advice and quarantine now!!!

PS: I definitely second the suggestion of the Emovis tag. Very satisfying to avoid the huge queues!

This is fab, thank you! Happy to pay a little more to avoid queues and just get there. Sharing the drive isn't a problem so that's good. Just worried about the kids getting bored, but setting off at 2-3am will mean they'll sleep through the UK part of the drive to Dover & hopefully a bit more the other side.

I've been looking at a place in Bissacross - will look more into it, thank you.

We're looking to stay at a campsite in a chalet/caravan. Must be on/walkable to the beach and have a fun pool with slides etc.

I used to holiday like this as a child and am really looking forward to doing it again.

Thanks for all the tips so far x

I don't see the need to drive like a bat out of hell to get there as fast and with as few stops as possible. Have you looked into Normandy? So many lovely chateaux converted to BNBs in that area that would make for a great overnight along the way. And as another poster mentioned, towns like Caen or even Cabourg are cute, have great food, and have interesting local activities like farmer's markets etc.

Avoid travelling on a Saturday if you possibly can. That's changeover day for a lot of holiday homes so people tend to travel to and from their holiday on those days if they're staying for full weeks.

Of course. If you're staying at one then it can't easily be avoided, but be aware that traffic is usually worst at the weekend!

OP, Biscarrosse is where we've been. Feel free to pm me if you want some comments on the various campsites etc!!

That would be great - thank you

Ooh lovely place, South West France. We've stopped in the Loire before, but also the Paris area (maybe a longer stop for a day or two). Les Andeleys or Giverny in Normandy are good places for a short stop, but quite far north so would leave you with a long drive.

Saumur and Tours are both lovely towns in the Loire, but my favourite is a small town called Chinon. There's not a great deal to do there, hence the short stop, but it has a very picturesque medieval village feel and some great restaurants.

If you want to get most of the journey over with you could stay in the Dordogne overnight. Beautiful place but might be a bit far for one day from Chelmsford.

I wouldn’t leave at 2am. You’ll be ragged and not enjoy the travelling - that’s half the fun. I like long drives and hardly ever stop but France is great to explore. I like to get a midday train over drive three or four hours so it doesn’t feel onerous and stop and have a night somewhere.

France is amazing, the weirdest small villages have had an outstanding restaurant and a crappy F1 cheap hotel on an industrial estate had nothing but a single restaurant with a magician that came round and a very popular disco complete with dance floor.

Then you can potter down to the SW the next day and still be in time for late lunch and a swim.