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Original poster

Driving to France

33 replies

MissCalamity · 01/01/2021 14:54

Hi,
Our friends moved out to the Limoges region of France a few years ago and they've repeatedly invited us over and we are looking to go at some point once things are back to some kind of normal!

We were looking at potentially driving as a bit of an adventure more fool me probably

I'm looking for advice more for getting across to France, as Dover - Calais seems to far east and it would be better possibly getting a ferry from Portsmouth but to which French port?

Or is it worth the cheaper eurotunnel to go that way, even though it looks like there's a heck of a lot more driving that way!

Any help would be great! Merci 😁

OP posts:
notimagain · 01/01/2021 22:59

As you've worked out Calais - Limoges pretty much commits you to negotiating Paris, although that has got easier over the years and if you do end up going that way there are some cunning routes that I'm sure those who know that part of the world better than I do will be able to come up with.

As far as ferries go I'm not sure what's going on ATM with ferries because of Covid restrictions etc, but once upon a time I would have suggested something like :

Poole- Cherbourg,
Portsmouth - Cherbourg or Caen.

Done combinations of those over the years to get to places south of Limoges but not recently - whether they're still option or not I don't know.

Toomuchleopard · 01/01/2021 23:03

We drive to France a few times a year and we always go on the eurotunnel because it is way cheaper than the ferries to Brittany. If you book in advance it’s about £85 each way and you can pay with Tesco vouchers. Ferry is several hundred each way depending on the route.

Birdladybird · 01/01/2021 23:08

We always get the tunnel but do it over 2 days. However we start 2 hours south of Limoges and finish in Manchester. It’s a nice drive though.

Jumbojem · 01/01/2021 23:19

We live in SW England and always do Dover Calais, either tunnel or ferry, as it is so much cheaper and crossings so frequent. We never drive around Paris on the periphique. We've driven all over France, and my parents live in SW France, so down past Limoges is regular for us. Head to Rouen, Everoux, Chartres and then pick up the A10 just south of Chartres rather than round Paris.
Most of this journey will be dual carriageway on good roads, well used by other British travellers, and well signed. The advantage of part of your journey being off the motorway is you won't be paying tolls and you can stop of at pleasant villages and supermarkets on the way. Pick up some lunch, find a picnic spot! There are many reasonably priced chain motels if you need to overnight. The journey is part of the fun! French roads are lovely to drive and if you avoid August weekends lovely and quiet mainly (although it can get busy through Rouen, there are a number of tunnels). Hope you get to go!

caringcarer · 01/01/2021 23:27

We go from Plymouth to Roscoff, in Brittany. Our French property is 30 minutes away in Morlaix. We get a good night sleep as we always travel in a cabin with hot drink making and a TV. The food is quite good and if you go overnight you get a voucher to pay for breakfast. They have a cinema and children's entertainment on board. It is quite expensive on Fridays-Sundays but cheaper if you go on a Wednesday. It is not cheap but as we don't have to pay for accommodation in France and we take our two dogs with us it is much better for us to be only 30 mins away from destination from Roscoff. If you pm me I have a 10 percent discount code you could use when booking.

Original poster
MissCalamity · 03/01/2021 16:52

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions, we would definitely do the journey over 2 days as we're in Manchester, so would get down south on a weekday evening and stop overnight and do the crossing first thing the next morning, then split the driving down to Limoges.

I've had a look at the prices and did wince a bit at some of the ferry ones from Portsmouth, but then again we could do that one way rather than both ways.

Fingers crossed we can look to book something soon!

OP posts:
Normalmumandwife · 12/01/2021 13:21

If you are going to do over two days then probably the ferry as if you go overnight it can be a real social event eating in the evening, but be aware of the times as some just will not suit you.

Frankly though depending on kids and ages etc...you could do it in a day if you shared driving and had breaks. The toll roads in France are so different and cars generally burn along at 85 MPH as the limits are higher. We have driven down to Limoge area in a day from Yorkshire and yes it is long but doable if setting of early in the morning.

We left home at 5am, stopped for breakfast and arrived at the tunnel by 12. We crossed at 1pm and arrived circa 9pm U.K. time.

If you can get an overnight ferry then it is easier with kids

Verite1 · 26/01/2021 15:15

I would go Portsmouth to Le Havre, Caen or st malo. The st malo ferry is a fun overnight ferry so can be part of the adventure.

smogsville · 27/01/2021 12:08

Another vote for Eurotunnel. Just so much cheaper than ferries and from my memory of ferry trips as a child, much faster on and off.

Is anyone who goes to France by car regularly thinking it might be possible this summer? Or definitely not? We have something booked end July/ beg August and are wondering if we need to arrange an overpriced UK alternative.

Emmelina · 27/01/2021 12:13

Le Havre or Caen would be good for Limoges. Don’t worry about the French side, their roads are so easy!

Verite1 · 29/01/2021 11:10

We have somewhere in France booked for mid August. Who knows really? We will go if we can - it will be relatively low risk holiday and we may well have been vaccinated by then. Also have somewhere booked for May but that’s looking really unlikely.

smogsville · 29/01/2021 11:59

Same here @Verite1 although I think we have given up on idea of booking UK alternative as we are a three household group (my sis plus fam, us, our parents) and it seems not impossible that this sort of mixing might still not be allowed over the summer. Plus having looked, I've remembered why we don't holiday in the UK - it's really expensive. Worst case scenario we'll go and hang out with the parents in Sussex. They'll have been vaccinated by then even if we haven't.

Bakeachocolatecake2day · 31/01/2021 18:50

Think carefully how far you are prepared to drive.....We found it slightly too much to leave at 6am and arrive at 6pm.... but equally I have friends who happily drive 16hrs plus door to door.

I look on google for small b&b's at the points I want to stop.

EmmanuelleMakro · 31/01/2021 18:54

I often drive to the Alps via the Tunnel about 12h from London) -Limoges easy and you certainly don’t need to drive through Paris, motorway skirts it.
Brittany Ferries is fun though -our DC used to love the excitement of sleeping in a cabin overnight.

Milliways · 31/01/2021 18:55

Have you considered the Newhaven Dieppe crossing? It’s a good compromise between the shortest cheapest Dover Calais and the longer Portsmouth crossing.
DH always rather drives than sit on a ferry, and as we have a Motorhome are used to travelling to and across France, but Newhaven has become one of our favourite overnight crossings. The basic cabins are cheap too.

HilaryThorpe · 31/01/2021 18:59

Don't forget Newhaven to Dieppe. Only a four hour crossing and you can avoid Paris by using the A28. Portsmouth to Ouistreham is just under six hours on the boat, but the shortest route.

HilaryThorpe · 31/01/2021 19:00

Crossed post Milliways. 😊

grenadines · 06/02/2021 19:34

I would do the Brittany Ferries crossing as it will get you to the right part of France and we enjoy the ferry crossing and count it as part of the holiday. If things return anywhere near normal Brittany Ferries lay on entertainment on the day crossings and meals in the restaurant can be enjoyable. I would probably do Portsmouth Caen for Limoges unless you want the longer crossing on the St Malo route (the st malo ferry would give you a longer night's sleep).

AnnaFiveTowns · 06/02/2021 19:38

My dad lives in France and we've tried lots of combinations over the years. We now get the eurotunnel as it's so much cheaper and you're in France in half an hour. Yes, youve got more driving time but it still seems less knackering than getting the 6 hour ferry.

fuzzyduck1 · 18/02/2021 10:19

Watch out for tole roads and there are a lot of them in France.

notimagain · 18/02/2021 11:07

@fuzzyduck1

Watch out for tole roads and there are a lot of them in France.
Fair point, but it's often a choice of taking a toll road or adding a lot of additional time to a possibly already long journey.

FWIW the viaMichelin route planner usually shows the cost of the tolls as part of the cost of an entire journey..

www.viamichelin.com/

LaceyBetty · 18/02/2021 11:16

@fuzzyduck1

Watch out for tole roads and there are a lot of them in France.
You do have to factor the cost into the budget, but I would never avoid them as the alternative it's great. The toll roads in France are a dream to drive. I also would recommend the tunnel 1000 times over the ferry. So easy and quick. You don't have to go al the way into Paris either. It's not that bad.
Standrewsschool · 18/02/2021 11:18

Do you have Tesco clubcard vouchers? You can use these for some channel crossings, ferry and train.

GU24Mum · 18/02/2021 11:28

We live an hour from Portsmouth and 2.5 hours from Dover so we usually use Brittany Ferries. We tend to take an overnight ferry which gets you to Caen about 7 ish so you could get to Limoges easily in a day from there. Personally I find it more tiring having to drive to Dover then not have much of a break before we're in France - and as we usually go to SW France, Calais is the wrong side.

Mummaminnie · 18/02/2021 11:30

We always use the tunnel - we're happy driving the extra distance. If it were us, we'd take two days and try and get to somewhere a little to the north of Rouen. Then we'd stop around Tours for lunch and aim to get to Limoges sometime in the evening.

I can't wait to get back to France - we didn't plan to go last year and this summer we're hopefully heading to Scotland.

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