Calling Crunchie or anyone else who has been to the Loire region....

[GrapefruitMoon]

Going to a campsite recommended by you on here in a couple of weeks.... What is the best route down from Calais?

The on-line route finders all seem to prefer going via Paris - is that really the quickest? Has anyone gone via Rouen and how long did it take?

TIA!

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We went last month and we went through rouens, le mans, angers, ending up in vendee and tomtom said 6.5hrs but prob took us more like 8.5 because we stoppped quite a bit.

Did you have it as avoiding toll roads? That is definitly a strange route

We went last year on the route from Calais via Rouen, Angers, Le Mans - all on motorway apart from the section through Rouen. 6.5 hours sounds about right.

Eek at 6.5 hours - I foolishly thought the Loire region would be quicker to get to than the Vendee - so we are doing it all in one day - and we don't get to Calais till after 12....

Calais to Boulogne N1 to Abbeville A 28 to Rouen N 154 to Chartres and N10 to Tours. Doesn't take much longer than motorway, much of the earlier section is basically motorway but without the cost anyway. Motorways are soooo expensive. We did it a few weeks ago. Don't have my timings for the way down but on the way back we left our campsite which was near Amboise (Between Tours and Blois) at 9 and got to our hotel near Boulogne for 3 with a good lunch break on the way.

That's the route I was thinking of Indith - but was worried that it would be slower than the motorways.

Don't go anywhere near Paris. Went to France last month and Paris cost us an extra two hours (always does, we don't learn).

It is very good and in a more direct line than the motorway. Some sections are a little frustrating when you go through towns but mostly it is easy going, also more relaxed than motorways and makes for nicer stops as you just pull up ina village or town somewhere.