Driving Back from French Alps to Cherbourg with kids

[AmIChubby]

We are a family of 4 undertaking a pretty epic two week holiday in France by car. We arrive by ferry in Cherbourg and overnight in Tours. Then its on to Annecy for 3 nights camping in a cabin by the lake, then we have a week in an apartment in Morzine.

The way back planning is proving a bit more difficult. Our boys are 5&6 but trying to see how far we can push North in one day. Have also never been to any of these places so recommendations with energy filled kids would be good. Idea so far is Morzine to Clarmont Ferrand short stop in Aire des Volcans d'Auvergne and then push on to Le Mans, overnight there, then next day drive up to the coast, we'd like to see St Michels Mont one night there but don't know where would be nice to stay and then maybe one night in Cherbourg. Then ferry home. Only Annecy and Morzine is set in stone.

Any help would be great or any suggestions if you've done this trip would be so much appreciated 👍 My husband is driving and wants to avoid Paris or major cities if possible.

We did channel tunnel to Annecy a few years ago with an overnight stop in Troyes, which is an attractive old town. St Malo is handy for Mont St Michel but it the old town is walled and probably impossible to park unless you stay further out in the more modern areas, it's about 30 years since I've been there though.

Le Mans is a good place to stop - the city itself is fairly uninspiring but the Le Mans museum and race track were a great place to visit and a highlight of one of our holidays.

Angers is a beuutiful city to explore and if you really want to make it a holiday to remember then I'd see if you can figure out a way to fit in a visit to Puy du Fou whilst you're in the area.

My DC are older teens now but the trips to Puy du Fou and holidays in Morzine have been some of the best times we've had together. Enjoy!

www.puydufou.com/france/en/must-see-france

Near Tours, there’s ZooParc de Beauval which is one of the best zoos I’ve been to, and it has a couple of excellent hotels onsite too.

The Aire des Volcans d’Auvergne is a great place to stop, fantastic views. It’s worth driving across and parking at the services on the southbound side of the autoroute. The facilities are better and there’s a viewpoint where you can look across at the mountains.

It’s a really long push from Morzine to Le Mans in a day though, especially with little ones. You don’t say if you have driven across France before but I’d be wary of estimated journey times shown on online journey planners. They are often wildly optimistic, assuming that you will be driving at the maximum speed allowed on the roads used. We use Map-France.com for route planning and it is really good. Accurate and easy to follow directions. Time estimates are still best case scenarios though. It’s well worth the relatively small outlay for an Emovis Tag for the autoroute. You benefit from special gates at the peages, no fumbling about for the ticket and your credit card. Makes life really simple.

The Zooparc Beauval is just south of St Aignan and as @Forgottenmyphone says it is really wonderful and has onsite hotels. If you stopped there (A71 north, from Aire de Volcans, A85 east, exit 12) you could spend a couple of nights there and visit the Zoo on the day in between. Then push up to the coast the next day and visit Mont St Michel before heading back to Cherbourg.

Angers, the Loire Valley around Tours and Puy de Fou are all wonderful places to visit…maybe another epic trip to plan!! We live a little west of Tours though so we are definitely biased!

Thank you all for the insight, totally helps.

I had heard about Puy du Fou it'll totally up my street and would make it an unforgettable trip. Will definitely look at the zoo hotels as well.

We've never driven across France before but we did across Scotland two years ago in a camper so it won't be totally new for them. Will definitely look into getting the Emovis Tag. And I'm going to check out the drive time. Lots to think about 🙌 Le Mans is off the itinerary ☺️.