Driving to France - tips?

[franch]

From London - best ways to go, destinations, stopovers etc

Thanks

Where in France are you going? We drove to the South for xmas and stayed in a couple of really nice places. My top tip is to allow yourself PLENTY of time for the journey if you are travelling with babies - ours got very whingey when they'd had enough of being in the car and we had to take it more slowly than we'd planned.

We haven't decided bella that was one of the tips I wanted

We were wondering if the south would be too far (3yo and 4.5yo) - we were thinking of a little stopover on the way, but will prob only go for a week so may not be worth the long journey.

Where did you stay?

We were visiting DH's mum and dad in Valbonne which is near Cannes (but inland) - it's a lovely little town and would be a great base for staying with little ones. Will try and find a link...

We'd originally intended to have ust one night stop-off on way down (DH's mental ambitious idea) but babies were sounding very unhappy by 6pm oday we travelled so we stopped earlier than intended and stopped about same time again the next night, arriving in Valbonne the following lunch time. If you only have a week in total, I'd say it's a bit too far - if you can allow 2 or 3 days travelling each way then it's well worth it.

Valbonne - here

Thanks bella. I think we'd manage a week PLUS travelling time. How old were your babies? Did you stop in hotels?

Last time, we went to a campsite not too far from paris - it was only a couple hours on the other side, and quite easy.

We went to the Vendee another time - good weather, and 5 hours (i think) the other side.

We often go via Cherbourg. Its a longer ferry, but quite alot to do - getting a cabin can be helpful.

Good Luck, and have fun

The Channel Tunnel is the easiest way to cross, and if you are coming from London, it's fairly convenient on this end too.

For stops en route, there are fantastic 2* hotel chains that are great for a family with 2 small children - there are many of them, eg Ibis and Campanile.

The Autoroutes are easy for families - there are lots of rest areas (Aires), often only 5km apart, with playgrounds and toilets. The bigger service areas are very well equipped too.

High chairs can be hard to find, so unless you want a phone directory or two, it may be an idea to have a portable version.

Franch, the babies were 4 and a half months. We stopped in hotels - had our own travel cot for the twins to share so that wasn't an issue although a couple of places said they had an extra cot if we needed it. We drove to Dover and got the ferry to Calais - didn't actually think about whther the tunnel mighthave been easier... I quite liked having chance to stretch legs, have lunch on boat etc.

If you are interested in the South, I can tell you where we stopped (will have to check with DH as have memory like sieve for place names etc). One was WONDERFUL here recommended by friends of DH's parents - they'd found it in Michelin hotel guide called something like "Great Hotels for less than 80 Euros" - am going to buy myself a copy of taht for sure. The rest were just pretty random as I recall!

we have been down to the Loire Valley a couple of times with the kids and are planning to go again this summer not bad for getting to in one day with a stop for lunch (if you get an early eurotunnel train)

very family friendly will try to find link to place we stayed last time in between Tours & Orleans

My top tip is

don't foget to drive on the other side of the road when you get there

found a link we are staying here

If your are travelling all the way to the South Coast the Route from Calais, go through/around Paris (your choice depends on time of day and experience of driving abroad) then down to Orleon, then Bourges, then Clermont-Ferrand then to Montpellier is a good one. Especially as they have now finished the bridge at Millau, we will be doing this as a return trip this year, just so we can see the bridge, it must be a fantastic sight. here

The motel chains are cheap and basic but all you will need. Other names to look for are Formula 1, Etap, Premier Classe etc. They all have food either on site or very close to a restaurant of some kind, ranging from a truck stop, McDonalds up to a 4* restaurant.

If you don't fancy that much driving but still want to go to the South of France or the North of Spain, try travelling with P&O ferries or Brittany Ferries for a long run from Portsmouth or Plymouth to Santander or Bilbao. It costs more and you need a cabin but it is a nice way to start or end a holiday, the travelling is part of the holiday, not just a means to an end (getting there).

in one of these not the hotel.

I wouldnt recommend booking a an overnight stop as the distances and road conditions can be very deceptive and you could be hours out of your estimated time and either arrive at 3 in the afternoon (happened once, we cnacelled our booking and carried on for another 4 hours) or you would get there at way past a civilised time for your kids.

This is good advice unless you are travelling on a French Bank Holiday and had to sleep in your car. (Done that as well)

We've travelled Dover to Calais, heading to the Dordogne with a stopover in Orleans 3 times (with a baby then baby & toddler, then 2 toddlers). We've taken 8 /9 days so that we had a weeks holiday in the Dordogne(beautiful) with an extra night either side for a stopover. Although the journeys long it always seems worth it when you get there!

My advice would be:
Buy/borrow a sat nav system as it takes pressure off navigator (who is also trying to entertain kids).
Buy a childrens nursery rhyme CD (this entertained them much more than DVD's!).
Do not plan on driving thrugh Paris on Friday rush hour as traffic is crazy!
Novotel hotels are reasonably priced and have family rooms.
Chez Nous have good gites often with English owners to offer advice.
If you are interested in the Dorgogne there is a train which takes you & your car from Calais to the Dordogne(sorry can't remember what its called). We've never tried it as its expensive.

Good luck!

Many thanks all

We drove from London to Toulouse and back last year. A week long holiday. Left at 7.30pm on the Tuesday night. Arrived at about 6.30am.
Children in pyjamas in reclinable car seats. Travel cushions and blankets. Big flask of coffee and lost of sandwiches in the front with us. Snacks for the children.
They were both asleep once we left Calais. DS woke once at about 4am. Watched some Monsters Inc on the DVD in the headrests. DD was more wakeful - her seat less reclinable than ds's, and she was older (almost 4 as opposed to ds's 20months). But she slept pretty well.
Arrived, had breakfast and copious amounts of coffee. Swam in the pool and pottered about. Then we all had a lovely afternoon nap.

The journey back was much much easier. Think because was at the end of a relaxing holiday and DH and I both had good long sleep in the afternoon before setting off. Whereas the outward journey was more difficult because dh had been at work and I had been packing, and we didn't take enough food (kind of forgot to eat because we were in night mode and foolishly forgot that needed to keep energy levels up). Also, previous to the outward trip I had never driven in France and not for the distances involved. But the roads were a dream, dead easy.

In terms of impact on the children and stress, the journey was much better than the previous year when we flew, had the whole car hire thing and hanging around at check-in. And meant that we didn't miss any days of holiday at all.

In fact will probably be doing it all again in July!

Definitely second advice of sat nav. It took us through the peripherique in paris at 3am in the morning with minimal fuss, though we still needed both of us awake because all the tunnels meant that the satnav would occasionally drop contact with the satellite.