Driving to the Dordogne with a baby - doable?

[JammyRedRooo]

Hello!

Just after some advice. We have been invited to stay with family in the Dordogne region of France this summer. I have a DD who will be 10 months old and we were thinking of potentially driving/ferry in our own car over a few days.

Just a few questions -

Are we mental to consider doing this with a baby? Flying is an option but the flights aren't hugely convenient for our plans.

Does anyone have any recommendations for places that we could stop on the way?

I was thinking about potentially doing Paris on one of the legs (maybe even Disneyland) but I'd love some suggestions.

TIA 😊

Totally doable! Depending on how near you live to Eurotunnel you could feasibly do it in one day or stop en route for 1 or 2 nights. Also depends if you have 2 drivers etc. Much easier to drive if you have kids- just throw everything in the car.
Assuming the French will let us in by then of course…

Break it up with overnight stops if possible. We did about 9 hours drive with a 7 month old and it was torture - we ended up just persevering with a crying baby for the last leg just to get there.
Totally do-able in the car with realistic stops.
We don't really travel by plane and find that what works for us is a long-ish morning of driving. Set out early (7/8am) and get the miles in while kids are happy, entertained and plenty of snacks, and during naps. (helps that ours are early risers). Stop for a late-ish lunch 1/2pm at our overnight stop off - we get quality family time and the driver gets a good rest, rather than feel like it's drive-sleep-eat-drive for 2 days.

We drove to Spain when DD had just turned 1. Stopped off in the Loire in a fancy chateau- was September so prices much more reasonable. I wouldn’t do Paris is you’re going in proper summer- will ( or could be )boiling.
But- it may depend on how well your child travels in the car etc. you probably won’t know that for a few months!

Totally doable.
We regularly drive from northeast England to the South of France to visit family. We have a 5 and 3yr old as well as a 9m baby. It's a bit trickier for us as we only have a 5 seater and french law says that children must be in the back of the car unless there's no alternative (making bf the 9m old while moving impossible).

A 10m old will be easy. It gets a bit harder when they're old enough to need exercising but the french autoroutes are great for that - loads of play areas etc.

Have done it with a stop off.

It really depends what your baby is like in the car. One of mine loved the car seat and would doze or just be happy to look out the window/keep herself occupied. That sort of trip would be tolerable with that one. My other child screamed blue murder in the car seat and often projectile vomited on journeys longer than about 45 minutes. You couldn’t have paid me to drive that far with that child. I’ve got a friend who did a similar journey and refused to ever do it again as the baby just screamed and it made them so stressed. You’d ideally want to know how they tolerate the car before finalising plans. Could be a doddle or could be horrid depending on the baby you have.

I did this as a dc & with my babies as have family further near Toulouse.

The ferry to Le Havre is a better option than Calais in my opinion.

Ideally avoid Paris.

the Loire is a good place to break up the journey. It's the central part so breaks up journey. Nice sights & foods

Stop every few hours for a rest. France is way more set up for this then the UK

Totally depends on the baby. Once DD1 was mobile she absolutely hated long car journeys unless it was at a sleep time. Our only hope would have been to drive all night. She was a pretty great flyer though.

You could also consider the train, especially if you are can access St Pancras easily. Means you can at least walk up and down with her and let her move around if she is mobile.

If you do decide to drive, I would recommend the ferry Portsmouth-St Malo (can be day or overnight iirc) as it cuts down car time significantly.

Thanks everyone.

@Eileen101 this is my fear. DD is currently 4.5 months and will tolerate the car for short periods but will rarely sleep in it. I'm hoping this will change but it would be hell on earth to drive if it doesn't.

For the Dordogne I would get the Portsmouth-Caen overnight ferry- you can book a cot for your cabin. You board at around 11pm, off the boat at 7ish. Good sleep on the boat, early start and it's easily doable.
Plenty of stops on the way- French motorways are equipped with lots of Aires where you can have a rest- and you will be fine.

To go via Paris/Disney you would really be going out of your way.

Disneyland would be a waste with a 10 month old IMO. Wait till she is 5 and will really love it.

@averylongtimeago

For the Dordogne I would get the Portsmouth-Caen overnight ferry- you can book a cot for your cabin. You board at around 11pm, off the boat at 7ish. Good sleep on the boat, early start and it's easily doable. Plenty of stops on the way- French motorways are equipped with lots of Aires where you can have a rest- and you will be fine.

To go via Paris/Disney you would really be going out of your way.

Agree with this. We did it with an 8 week old a few years ago! Don’t go to Calais, it’s further east and will make your journey longer. If you want an overnight stop, Tours is nice.

I’d avoid Paris with a young baby in summer but also a lot of Paris is closed in August as people go “en vac” (holiday). Portsmouth to Caen ferry is very good, friends with baby did this. Or Eurotunnel via Folkestone, Calais and then dordogne is another way. If you can’t bear car and fancy Eurostar then to Bordeaux (the main train station is hell though unless you fancy staying 1-2 days there, again for me, you could do Bordeaux with a baby but it’s so humid there in summer and big with lots of tram stops) and then via Perigeux to Dordogne was another route friends tried and they stopped in Perigeux which is quite pretty for a stop over.

French motorways are equipped with lots of Aires which are good, also don’t discount truck stops which though for truck drivers do the most delicious and reasonable meals.

You could also stay in hotels or b&bs on trip down.

We’ve done it many times when ours were younger. Portsmouth to Caen either overnight or early morning sailing. Drive a bit stay overnight and finish the journey the next day. Plan on stopping every couple of hours or so in the many picnic areas on the side of the motorway.

We've often driven from north of England to the Loire. Dorgogne should be doable. We always do eurotunnel as it's so easy to drive on and off and is quick. Dh not keen on boats. Also if you have Tesco vouchers you can use those to pay. We often stay in kent before the eurotunnel part and get an early crossing. I think it's so easy to pack whatever you want to take in the car and not faff with hiring.

Is the train a possibility (then hire a car when you get there, if necessary)? Then you can walk around with the baby, feed them when they want etc we always go by train if we, ever since our eldest was 8 weeks. No baggage restrictions like flying either.

You're brave!! I limit our holiday destinations to no more than 3hrs drive away and leave near nap time so the baby sleeps approx 2hrs of it.

I think if you were to break up the trip you could do an hr or two drive in the morning over the first nap then a longer drive over the afternoon nap. Babies at that age need lots of activities/exercise so you'll need to wear them out in the pit stops.

Factor in what happens if baby gets car sick. It could be a really brutal journey if they do.

We drove from NW England to near Geneva to visit friends when my dd was 11 months old. I think it’s a similar distance from Calais. We did the eurotunnel and stayed overnight in Arras which was beautiful but the wrong side of Paris if you’re heading to the Dordogne. We were in the car for roughly 8 hours each day, which was about an hour too long for dd, but otherwise it was absolutely fine. It’s so much easier being able to chuck everything in the car than flying. When I was younger, we drove to France every year, often to the west, and we used to break the journey up in Evreux, just south of Rouen. Enjoy your trip!