Driving to Monaco

[Greenhillfaraway]

Next summer, we have the chance of an apartment in Monaco and DP wants to drive down via the Eurotunnel on a 3 night trip (arriving Monaco on 4th night) - but he doesn’t want to do it all on autoroutes or get too close to Paris.

Because of where we live, we are looking at a short trip to Lille on the first night but does anyone have suggestions of a pleasant driving route and recommendations of places to stay on night 2 and 3 please? We would normally spend up to £200 a night for dinner, bed and breakfast and will happily stay in decent budget hotel chains.

When in the summer would you be going? If you go by mid-July, the lavender will be in bloom and is lovely to see. Sault, Luberon, etc are places you could look at for your second stop. You could try somewhere in the Champagne region for your first stop…?

Thanks for the suggestions Misty. We'll be going there end of June but, if we came back the same way, that would work out.

The lavender usually blooms mid-June to mid-July, so actually I think you’d actually be right in prime season there if you go late June!

Take The Slow Road: France might be a book that might help.

Driving in Monaco is a trial! Did a bit 2 years ago. Hope your sat nav doesn’t have fits. Do you have parking?

Thanks for the book recommendation Tizer. We won’t be driving much in Monaco (hopefully) but we do have a garage space.

Avoiding Paris you could cut across country and drive down via Reims, Troyes, Dijon, Beaune which are all nice places to stay. The A6 is called the Autoroute de Soleil and some of the scenery is lovely.

www.lasourcedesfees.fr/ We've stayed in this place not far from the Motorway at Macon a few times and it's lovely with wine tasting and nice set dinner. This place in Beaune was fabulous - but not cheap www.hotel-cep-beaune.com/fr/
www.logishotels.com/en/hotel/logis-hotel-l-enclos-des-lauriers-roses-rest-l-enclos-des-saveurs-3139?layout=site&partid=1466&gclid=CjwKCAjwz5iMBhAEEiwAMEAwGJzoy-edeAoB61dgac9SRrXpjR50h6Mc86r_vyuzzwPwFfLzMSGOaRoCaHUQAvD_BwE Not far from Pont Du Gard and Avignon

Novotels are usually good value for money and generally have a pool (unheated) which is nice after being stuck in the car for hours. Dinner / breakfast is good. I wouldn't touch the one at Dijon Sud with a barge pole though - it was dreadful. Macon Nord or Beaune are nice - good wine.

I have no suggestions to share however had to say that I am totally envious of you. Would love to do road trips through France, Italy et al avoiding the motorways!!

Avoiding Paris makes sense, but not the autoroutes. We have lovely toll autoroutes that are wide, smooth and relatively traffic free that just glide through the countryside and have really nice services stops. The toll booths are automated and will accept any visa/MasterCard credit card.

It’s not at all like the bumpy, twisty, narrow and traffic packed motorways in the UK with dingy services.

You could get from Calais to Monaco easily in two days.

That is a very long drive! In your place, I would take a plane to Nice and then use Monaco as your base to explore the region (France and Italy) with day trips.

Look into getting a French "pass sanitaire" to show that all of you have had 2 Covid vaccines + 10 days. If you don't have these "passes", you will not be able to eat at a restaurant, go to a cinema, or sit at a café in Monaco.

We hired a car in Nice. Flew there. The advantage is the steering wheel is on the “right” side! The train from Monaco is useful for some non driving days but driving from Nice to Monaco is easy.