Driving to Bordeaux, where to stopover, Le Mans or Orleans?

[shabadab]

We are due to drive from calais to bordeaux campsite in august with 2 kids, 8 and 11.
Planning to break up the journey by stopping in either Le Mans or Orleans for 1 or 2 nights and staying in a hotel as kids quite enjoy the whole hotel breakfast thing and seeing the sites as it will be different to the rural campsite.

Both towns seem about half-way in terms of driving time to bordeaux but have different routes according to google maps.

Does anyone have views on which town is nicer or has more to see?
We will also have to stop off on the way back for a night so could do both towns in theory.

The Orleans route seems to drive almost through Paris - would it be possible to stop off and also show them some Paris sites?
I am thinking in the heat that may be too much with a fully loaded car. Not sure where we would leave it, and worried about it being broken into/vandalised.

(We have a Crit'air sticker.)

Any ideas welcome, even alternative stop offs

I've stopped in Angers me route to Bordeaux before and it was really lovely

How far are you driving before catching the ferry, what time are you arriving in Calais? What time can you get onto site in Bordeaux? Makes a difference. How about Tours?

To be honest we are driving straight through to that area from the ferry (Caen)

Um......do you not watch/read any news?

Thousands of people have been evacuated due to the raging forest fires.

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62206006

Ps ferries are stupid prices this year, paying £260 one way Portsmouth Caen not in the school holidays and only a motorbike!

Having done it twice last week going through Paris is fine as long as you avoid rush hours or Saturdays. It's actually a break from the motorway to go round the periph as it's slower and you can see stuff. Go via stade de France/Boulogne Billancourt/Orsey - anticlockwise - which Google often doesn't recommend but Waze does.

Motorway Paris to Orleans is busy with roadworks though and the service stations are awful. Much better to picnic at an aire or just come off altogether and go to some random town.

Bonne route !

Drove through France today literally witnessed blazing fires with my own eyes 😲 hard to believe. This was the other side of France but lots supposed to be worse in the south west!

Sorry to be a doom monger but Arachon is on fire just south of Bordeaux and what I saw today was dreadful and not on any news. You need to look at local news sources very carefully and maybe change your trip.

Maybe Sail to Caen. Brittany Ferries
Stop over in Bayeux- see the tapestry.
Visit the WW2 landing beaches.

If you are driving from Calais avoid Paris.

Chinon is an interesting place to stop.

I find the last bit of the journey after you leave the autoroute at Bordeaux quite tiring. It’s an attractive route passing through vineyards in places though. It can be quite slow in places depending on traffic. Stop before you leave the autoroute to refresh yourself before the last lap!
In August the service stations will get particularly busy around meal times. We avoid stopping at Lunch time.
Once you are there you will love St Emillion I’m sure.
Incidentally if you shop at local markets and are charged exorbitant amounts for cheese, nougat or olives don’t be afraid to say no- it’s too expensive- so many tourists get caught out.
Have a great time.

I’d do Newhaven-Dieppe ferry and stop in Saumur or Langais. Saumur has excellent wine cave tours, Langais a lovely chateaux.

Both also a reasonable bet if you are coming fromCalais- just check roadworks and routes through Rouen.

I’d avoid the Orleans route like the plague as you’ll end up round Paris.

Your route will be the least of your problems if you are camping in an area where the locals are being evacuated because it’s literally on fire! We travelled in 2020 and changed plans while on holiday due to covid regs you need to rethink this trip. I literally saw flames today. It’s terrifying.

I was aware of the forest fires around Gironde and when I called the campsite this morning to discuss our booking I asked about it. The lady told me that the fires were 2 hours away and St Emillion was completely fine.

I don't know what to think. It is a worry. Our trip is 4 weeks away.

Also worried that the heat may be too intense anyway. We could pull out and just lose a minimum amount

We have stopped off in Macon but we were staying near Montpellier.

Bit further, but there's a lovely Logis at Verneuil sur Avre.

This time last week we were leaving Arcachon so we just missed the fires. Bordeaux was so hot but we dealt with it by getting up early, going to bed late and having a sleep during the day (no air come but staying in a big old stone building and kept the curtains closed while we were out). Mornings and evenings were lovely.

We should be there now, close to St Emillion I have deferred the trip. I was there last month when the temperatures were just over 40. It was insufferable for me (middle aged woman) so we returned home early.
It just depends how you cope with the heat. Do you have access to a pool? Is the pool shaded? Etc.
Someone mentioned the fires at Arcachon- that’s a few hours away.
It is unusual to have such high temperatures so early in the season- my family have lived there for 40 years and have been surprised by it. In June we had high temperatures and fierce storms. Hailstorms with massive hail stones(like golf balls) which damaged the vines.
If only we could predict the August weather for you. Holiday times are so precious.
Good luck with your decision- strange times.

I live in the area - over 30,000 evacuated, and when the wind blows we can smell the smoke. The nearest fire is 10 kms from me but at night we can also see the flames/smoke from the bassin (80kms). There's another fire today in Bordeaux itself and people are being evacuated from a new fire in Les Landes.

I would check carefully before you come.

If anyone currently over here needs help- please pm me.

We have stayed at Novotel in Le Mans a couple of times and always had a decent stay, their breakfast is definitely better than their dinner service though, I’d go into Le Mans for that, they have a small pool that looks nice, but we’ve never managed to actually use, we tend to arrive late and leave early.

ive got a trip booked to a site about an hour outside Bordeaux mid August, really hoping the weather cools by then.

We are an hour from Folkestone (normally get a 6.30am train) and go another 2 and a half hours beyond Le Mans in one hit. Normally get to the in laws by about 2.30pm!

The French Motorways are lovely to drive (empty and speedy).

We go round Le Mans (ringroad) but that route down is quicker than Orleans. We did that route once and it was a bit of a 'mare to be honest.

I do have kids though, who like driving and are keen to get to their final destination!

Op I would keep a look out on local French media - I was recently in France and there was a massive strike that totally affected us only knew because locals told me very there little in the media as it was last minute. So you need precise localised information the bit you are going to might be fine but you need to know if it’s not - particularly if you are travelling with children as the responsibility is totally on you.

ooh yes. I definitely recommend a stop in angers if you want somewhere to look round.

if you just want a basic motel type (but nice) we stay in alencon just south of Le Mans. Cheap ish and clean, with some nice chain type restaurants (on the pizza express sort of level)

I'd have thought that going via le Mans from Boulogne is going too far west.

I live about an hour south of Limoges, and go
Boulogne/Calais
Rouen
Chartres
Dreux
Évreux
Vierzon

and then south down the freebie bit.

Thanks so much for replies , so much great advice.

I'm now more worried about the heat in Bordeaux and the wildfires !

We have to pay the balance tomorrow just don't know what to do

We drive from Suffolk to The Lot, and go this way from Calais to get on the A20 for the never ending drive south. It’s about 16 hours door to door, depending on the tunnel. But we don’t stop anywhere other than to refuel, use the bathroom or eat a sandwich, so it’s a slog.

Had a message from a friend this morning, even Bergerac is affected by the fires, as it's full of smoke and no sun.

Thanks for update .
If it was you and you had a deposit paid for holiday in st emillion in 4 weeks would you continue or abandon ? Part of me is thinking that northern France would have been better