Driving to South of France from Midlands

[Taswama]

We are thinking of having 2 weeks in France this summer - Dordogne /Lot, eg Rocamadour.
Driving looks a lot cheaper than flying and hiring a car but I'm trying to work out the logistics of getting there.
Is it best to drive to Kent (about 4 hours), stay there and then get an early ferry and then drive in one go. Seems too far to me.
Or try and get an afternoon ferry and stay in North France? (But worried about traffic on the way and queues at the port)
Or 2 overnights, one in Kent, one in France which will be expensive.

Any thoughts?

We did it come years ago.

We drove to Dover, got an early ferry then stopped overnight in Dijon, then onto Frejus the next day.

On the way back we drove back to Paris in one day, then drove home from there. That was a hellish drive though.

I'd leave early morning in UK, ferry or tunnel and then an overnight in France, about and hour or two once off the boat. Which crossing are you thinking of?

Or do Portsmouth - St Malo overnight then won't need another overnight.

We did it many years ago and used the Motorail but sadly that no longer exists.

What about an overnight ferry from (say) Southampton/Portsmouth to (say) Caen then driving down from there? Quite a bit shorter distance than driving from Calais.

Brittany ferry's crossing we do often- Portsmouth to st malo, it's always been an evening crossing (when we have been), drive on, then we have cabins overnight, and drive off the next morning. We have driven straight down to where we are staying (destinations varies, I think it's the lot valley we have booked this year)and also done it with a stay overnight somewhere on the way. On the way back it is a day ferry, we still have one cabin as a base, but have left wherever we stayed in france, to stay in a hotel nearer to the port on the night before sailing back. I like the ferry for lots of reasons- but mainly the ease of taking what we need to stay in a villa (bikes and scooters etc)

We drove many years ago from Cheshire and caught the overnight ferry from Southampton or Portsmouth (can't remember which now). Had a cabin on the boat buy got off at 6.00 am having not had much sleep. We drove all day (through a thunderstorm for a large part of the journey). We swore we wouldn't do it again.

Many years later we returned to the Dordogne (with DS in tow this time). We got cheap Ryannair flights from Liverpool to Bergerac and hired a car from the airport. So much more relaxing in our opinion.

We have mostly taken the boat to Caen overnight with a cabin, then driven down in one go from there (about 10hrs with stops to Bordeaux if travelling with DCs). Be aware this won't give you much more than 5hrs sleep, however. St Malo is a bit longer (so potentially more sleep), but is also pricier without knocking much off the drive to the south.
One year, we took the boat that arrived late at night, then took it in shifts to drive down through the night whilst DCs snored in the back. DH found this brutal, and it took him a day to recover (I was fine after a bit of a nap). It also had us arriving at our destination at 6am, nothing was open, DCs woke starving and ready to go the moment the car stopped.
A few times, we have built a 2-night city break into the journey there/back. This worked perfectly and we'd happily do it again. We stayed in La Rochelle last year and Angers on another occasion - both I'd recommend! Another year we stayed at a Eurocamp site for a few days nearer the port to break the drive.

I’ve driven there loads of times from Manchester. We always set off about 5/6am get to Channel Tunnel for lunch crossing. Arrive in France about 1pm and is one hour ahead so 2pm then drive about 4 hours further and stop over. Then it’s about 5 hours on the second day. It’s long but totally worth it. Roads are good when you get to France. Also channel tunnel is about £80 if you book in advance. If you arrive within 2 hours early or late you can move onto another crossing subject to availability. I’ve always been able to do this. If you use Tesco vouchers you can transfer them for 3x the value and use for the tunnel.

Lots of good ideas, thank you.
We were thinking Dover - Calais ferry, hence possible Kent stopover en route.
DP isn't keen on an overnight ferry as he doesn't think he'll sleep.
But I will read responses properly and consider options.

We are planning to take kayaks and bikes so car is preferable.

It is a long day - I have done it both as one day and also breaking up the journey with an overnight stay. We were driving from Roscoff - we liked having a longer sea trip to cut down the driving; and Roscoff is a small port and easy to find your way out of.

I also worked out a route that avoided the Bordeaux periferique which is an evocation of hell.

We've done this a few times and do the fast ferry Portsmouth-Cherbourg in summer that leaves about 9am. The ferry is only 3 hours and we share driving and just drive straight down to the dordogne or Gironde.

We have family that do the journey year round who get the overnight ferry to Caen or St Malo

This. We drive from south east England to south west France (further than Rocamadour) regularly.

I’d start early, lunchtime ferry, drive 3-4 hours on the other side (we share the driving!) to get well beyond Paris. Overnight stop then press on next day.

happy travels!

Do you have children? That would make the difference for me. We used to drive from London to the South of France in a day and it was fine, if a lot of driving. Now we have a small child, we fly instead. My DPs still drive although generally split the journey staying somewhere in the middle of France. They'd prefer to do it in one day but my DF is in his 70s now with dodgy knees so can't manage the whole thing in one go so easily.

Oh, I've remembered another way we tried it! (We're veterans now and always trying to find a way to make the drive better!) One year we took the sailing to Bilbao instead and drove back up into France. The crossing was about 36hrs, but the boats are like mini cruise ships so it forms part of your holiday. The drive once docked was wonderfully short. The downsides of this solution was the ferry was much pricier and the roughness of the sea as you pass the bay of Biscay. I get travel sick very easily, and even with the tablets I had to lie down for several hours during the worst of it (DCs and DH were fine).

When we drive down to northern Spain from the midlands we always use the tunnel and stay in Folkestone the night before and get a really early train. That first leg of the journey is by far the worst, driving in France is a breeze in comparison so we do the U.K. bit on its own. We then stay overnight in France to break up the journey but just use a campanile just off the motorway and they are usually pretty cheap.

We have driven all the way through before with us taking it in turns to drive, it’s doable as the French motorways are so easy to drive on.

We've tried just about every crossing, land, sea and air - as we spend part of the year in SW France. Our favourite is Portsmouth - Caen. It gets you further south, but importantly it avoids going anywhere near Paris, with all the driving horrors and delays that can bring.

The morning crossing would probably be a bit early (8.15) , but the afternoon one might work, you arrive in Ouistreham at about 9.30 pm French time (so 8.30 to you). Maybe then drive south for a short while and stop over in somewhere like Falaise (about 45 mins drive and a great castle!). Then you'll be fresh for the rest of the drive south in the morning.

I agree that the U.K. bit will be the hardest. France is brilliant to drive in. I ‘d drive to Folkestone. I’d leave the Midlands at 8.30 ish to avoid the rush hour get to the tunnel for 2 pm . Get to France for 4.00pm. Drive 2 hours to Rouen and stay the night somewhere.
Next day is 3 1/2 hours, lunch, another 3 hours and you’ve arrived in time for dinner.

However you decide OP, don't forget that if you go with Brittany Ferries, ask around your friends to see if anyone has Club Voyage membership. You're allowed to use it and it gives discount on crossings, free daytime cabins and money off food.

@mynameiscalypso Yes we have kids, but they are older -12 and 15. The furthest we've driven with them in the last few years is is Cornwall and they watch TV in the back for that.
Will need to ensure enough food and leg stretching breaks but not as bad as having a toddler who you don't want to sleep in the afternoon because it will ruin their inability to sleep that evening.

No, do not do this. Don't mess about with Dover. Do Portsmouth to Caen, at about 2.30, the afternoon boat. Book into the B&B hotel in Ouistreham. Eat on the ferry in the evening. In the morning, have breakfast at the bakers near the hotel opposite the petrol station. Then drive down to Poitiers and come off the motorway there, it's about 4 hours, and then on to where ever you are going in the Dordogne.

Don't do Cherbourg or St Malo because you are just adding an hour on to your journey. The most stressful part of your trip will be the A34 past Oxford.

Agree about the Portsmouth Caen crossing, it's so easy and the afternoon crossing has good timings. That's the one we always do, several times a year.

We used to do this annually as a family, either arriving into Cherbourg or Calais. Me and my two brothers with only one Walkman between us!

We would leave the Midlands about 3 or 4 am. The usual route from Calais took us down towards Paris, and then past Nantes, with an overnight at some services just south of Bordeaux, then on to Biarritz, arriving lunchtime the following day. We did do it in one day on one memorable trip!

Remember to factor in road tolls when working out costs.

If you don’t fancy the really long drive, an alternative is to catch the ferry to Bilbao and drive up from there.

Yep, thirding Portsmouth/ Caen. Similar driving distance to Portsmouth, got the afternoon ferry, found a cheap family hotel room for £50 on the outskirts of Caen (think it was the Kyriad Direct). Refreshed and ready to go on the next morning (I was solo with 2 kids). I find you never get a good night's sleep on an overnight ferry. Budget hotels in France are great for families.

I can see the sense in staying in Ouistreham (port of Caen) rather than Caen itself though, if you can afford it- the Caen peripherique at night, knackered from a long day, after having not driven abroad for 3 years, under the direction of a 12 year old on Google Maps, was .....challenging 😬

Yep Portsmouth/Caen or Roscoff.

The beauty of Roscoff is that if you finish up having a wait there on the way back, it is a nice place with a beach so killing time is not a problem.