London to Sarlat - where to break journey?

[MammaDramaLlama]

Hello,

We have a week booked in Sarlat in August and are driving for the first time (usually take the train). Its a long drive so I'm thinking of breaking the journey up with two overnight pitstops in both directions. What are some nice places to stop - beautiful towns and/or something with a theme park for kids.

Thanks!

We stayed here last year doing the same journey, and are staying here again this year. It’s lovely. They are on booking.com as well if you prefer.

www.lalunelake.co.uk

On the way back we stayed in Rouen. Wasn’t impressed with the hotel - Novotel Rouen Sud - but it otherwise seems to get good reviews so perhaps we were unlucky. This year we’re staying outside Rouen in a B&B.

I think the quickest route is the A26 and then the A1 down to Paris. If you plan on doing that, then Parc Asterix is a perfect stopping point not far from the motorway. It’s a brilliant theme park with onsite accommodation.
Further south, ZooParc de Beauval is another great stop over with onsite accommodation.
If you’re going via Rouen, Manoir de Surville is a good family hotel with large grounds, a swing set, outdoor games and a pool. The restaurant at the hotel is fairly casual and the chef will happily cook a child-friendly meal if your dc don’t like anything on the menu.

Rouen is a nightmare it’s like navigating a ball of tangled yarn.

Honfleur and Bayeux are beautiful.

How far do you have to travel once you get to England? Where are you travelling from /
to.?

@Forgottenmyphone Was thinking of avoiding going via Paris as its our first time driving in France. But maybe its not so bad? Parc Asterix sounds awesome.

@boulevardofbrokendreamss - We're traving from SE London to Sarlat and back.

Thanks @ImNotAsThinkAsYouDrunkIAm for that recommendation. Will look into it. Was thinking maybe Ibis/Novotel stop on the way back.

We've done that drive a few times. I don't think you'll need to stop twice TBH, especially if coming from London. Are you arriving in Calais?

Definitely avoid Paris - it's a nightmare.

We've stopped in Le Mans (visited the track which was cool if you're into that sort of thing), Orleans, Tours and Poitiers. Other than Le Mans, when we stopped for 2 nights so we could visit the track, we've stayed in an out of town Novotel or similar with a pool, which has been ideal for the kids after a day in the car.

I'm jealous, I love Sarlat! Have fun.

We stopped off briefly in Orleans on the way to Sarlat a couple of years ago. We stayed at the Ibis Budget. It was fine, nothing special obviously, but cheap and cheerful enough! Literally a quick overnight stop, then continued driving the next day. On the way home, we just went the whole way through in one day, it honestly didn’t feel too bad.

We also stayed in the IBIS budget in Orleans last year on the way down to Sarlat. Very no frills and hot but did the job. On the way back we stayed in Blois for a couple of nights so we could look around a bit. This year we are staying in Le Mans on the way down, Amboise on the way back. Have stayed in Rouen before which we actually
really liked.