Argh! Still can't get my head round the best driving to France schedule...

[GoodWilfToAllMN]

We've gotta get three kids and two adults to Limousin from Midlands in April.

We are definitely going to drive, via Eurotunnel.

Beyond that though, we're really stuck about times...

Factors involve:

• Youngest not very good at really long stretches in the car

• don't want to be doing any mad dashes for anywhere including round the M25 to get to the Tunnel for a deadline... but figure it's going to take us at least 5 hours to Folkestone? And allowing more for stops/jams etc...

• happy to stay over on the way but when? where?

So, best to set off early in morning, do Eurotunnel in evening, stay over just outside Calais, big push south next day?

Do two stops? One in UK even to take the pressure off?

Drive through the night while kids asleep? Neither of us sleep well in the car though and not sure how we'd catch up, or indeed be awake enough after a long day at work etc...

What do you do?

www.viamichelin.com will answer all your questions about the roads/journey times.

What day of the week are you travelling and at what time of day - the midlands to folkstone bit?

We did this last summer and it took way over five hours on a thursday in the afternoon.

Much prefer to do early morning - not as much traffic (usually) and we have done it several times (twice a year for the last 4-5 years) and last summer was the only afternoon trip and will not be repeating

it dodn't matter for us as our ferry was not till 10pm - we have a camper so were planning to eat at port and then sial - we eat on the boat (folkstone we made in around 6 and a half hours from junction 14 of M40

Drive down during the evening, get a late train (those are cheaper) & sleep on the other side; then set off early next morning & stop at lots of aires (assuming you go on autoroutes)

But I have no idea where Limousin is

Calais to Limoges is just over 6h according to Michelin; 680km, almost all on motorway.

I can help you with places to stop (I live in France and often drive around France and to and from UK) but need some idea of where you are starting from in the UK.

Thanks all.

1. Will be midweek, prob tues or weds

1. Anna: UK somewhere very much like and in fact very close to Stoke-on-Trent . Our destination is very near to Tulle

So it sounds like give ourselves whole day to get to Chunnel, late train and sleep in/near Calais, big thrash on other side?

We are also thinking (are we mad?) of avoiding driving through Paris by taking the route through Rouen...

Any suggestions gratefully received.

And Anna, while you're on, if we did detour into Paris on the way back, do you know good hotels that are both child-friendly AND central AND not absolutement cher...?

I just asked Michelin for a route via Abbeville & Rouen - it doesn't look too bad & is another hour or so over the Paris route to Tulle (fancy Tulle being a place, I had no idea ); nearly 8 hours altogether, so a whole day's driving, but not a horrible thrash. If you set off after breakfast & stop for elevenses, lunch & afternoon tea (or equivalent) you'll get there for dinner.

viamichelin's route if MN can hang on to the whole link

Oh bum, it ignored my amendments, sorry.

If you click on "change route" on the LH side, & then on "show stopovers", you can add in the main alternative places en route (you have to tell it they're in France though, it doesn't work it out for itself & tries to find similar spellings in the UK )

Have you consider crossing by ferry from Portsmouth? You'll have a much easier drive from home (no M25) and you don't have to go anywhere near Paris.

You could go for an evening ferry and break the journey that way. The children will love sleeping on the ferry, then you set off early the next morning and you will have cracked the French bit of the journey easily in a day.

I can find you a hotel in Paris for sure, but please give me an idea of your budget . Do you want one family sized room or two rooms? What age are your children?

I think that driving down via Rouen rather than Paris is a very good idea. Although it is technically slightly further, you will avoid the heavily congested and unpleasant motorways around Paris.

You could stop overnight in/around Boulogne-sur-Mer rather than Calais itself. But it is a big bash from Boulogne to Tulle in one day with small children in the car. I think I would not be able to face it and would want another stop.

Have you looked at the Eurotunnel website? I ask because there is some flexibility with timings for the tunnel. (Of course it may vary depending on the ticket type, I can't remember). But IIRC you can arrive up to 2h early or 2h late and they'll put on the next train that has space (and in April I guess there'll be plenty of space).

That might help with regards to some timing worries.

I'm not sure if there's even a time limit on Eurotunnel flexibility? I rang recently to ask what happens if you miss your slot, is there an admin charge to go in the next available space; & all she said was that if the fare is higher you just pay the difference. Admittedly I didn't ask about a time limit but she didn't mention one either! (And you can pay for Eurotunnel with Tesco vouchers, which always seems like getting it for almost nothing )

sor is spot on that a Portsmouth-Caen crossing would save you a lot of time & aggravation this end, & driving time the other side, but it is much more expensive, esp for the cabin on the overnight crossing.

Ah. Very very helpful - thanks.

Having a bit of wiggle room for Chunnel helps. And Tesco vouchers - even better: I have millions (well, not literally...) so will use those up. That is a good reason for doing it this way I think. Lots of people have suggested the ferry but on a previous thread about this I posted my 'ferry from hell' story so I won't be EVER stepping on one again! I'd rather the extra few hours drive and stop twice if necessary...

Hotel budget in Paris... Hmmm. How long is a piece of string? We're not mega loaded but this will be our main holiday and my attitude is I don't stay in hotels very often so willing to pay more if necessary for a good place. So I'm assuming middle quality London prices for somewhere central (or am I miles off?) - say 150-200 pounds a night. If it was somewhere utterly brilliant, would push budget a little. Large family room ideally. If you do have any particular recommendations I'd love to hear them, thanks.

You could try Hotel Thérèse. I haven't stayed there with children, so I don't know what they offer in the way of large rooms, but it is well situated - right near the Jardins du Palais-Royal and the Tuileries.

To get to the Limousin avoiding Paris will take you all day - i.e. from breakfast to nearly dinner time - allowing for a few short stops. It isn't autoroute the whole way - there is a stretch around Rouen where you have to go on an inner city bypass through the industrial area and then beyond Tours you have to cut across country on a fairly slow road (going through towns with speed restrictions, not easy to overtake anywhere) from Tours to Chateauroux. After that it is easy driving down the A20. We did the journey in reverse last year - if any new autoroutes have been completed since then, apologies!

Thanks Lilymaid, that is very helpful info.

Anna, you are right up my street with that one. Looks lovely and great location. I will email them to ask about family possibilities...

Advice on driving with 11 month old...We're planning a holiday to France in May (between La Rochelle and Bordeaux) and wondering how much driving a day / in one stretch is reasonable? Our baby will be 11 months then. We'd probably have 1-2 hr drive to the Tunnel and are thinking we'd be on the Eurotunnel mid-morning - how much driving is realistic for the rest of the day? We've had good and bad experiences in the car with our baby so far - couple of hours fine but after that we've had a couple of big screams. Given he'll be more active / mobile then, how much driving do people comfortably manage?