Brits who have been to the vendee...

[dogonpoints]

How long did it take you drive from St Malo (or wherever) to teh Vendee (around St Jean de Monts I asm thinking) and was it a hellish journey or not?

it was perfect when we had one 1yo

hence next year we go to one on the beach

I'd fly from that distance - several Irish families had .

2 kids, 13 and 11.

Travelodge are very cheap though. And we don't do portable dvd players . The flights are nearly £1000 and car hire £400

get a movie on their ipods

you REALLY will need it if you haev littlies

yes, noah, it is good to load up your own car. And we want to stay for 2 weeks this time

Badge consider La rive
we loved it - lakeside beach on site witht he shallowest warmest lake

we didn;t do dvds in the car either

then my grandma moved to Norfolk

We drove to brittany last time. Bit of a chore but we managed. So I want to know if stretching ourselves to the vendee will kill us off.

We drove Surrey to Dover, crossed to Calais, then drove in one day all the way down to Fontaine- Chalendray (slightly north-east of Saintes). Left home at 3am arrived at 6pm (stopped for luch and a few wee breaks). Kids were fine, shared driving, all in all not a bad experience and one we will repeat. Plenty of entertainment, drinks and snacks.

whereabouts are fontaine Chan. and saintes?

We did Dover-Calais, stopped in a Campanile on the way down, paid 50 Euros for a family room. Drive was fine, no problems at all. We stayed in St Jean de Monts. Kids are aged 7 and 9.

St Malo, I don't think its too far a drive, but can't remember - will try to ask DH later...

here

OK ignore that try this

Don't stay in the real budget formula one - I would rather poke my eye out than stay there again.

I liked the vendee if you just want camping and sea and a pool for swimming.

207 km and 2 hours and 27 minutes drive time between st malo and st jean de mont

The ferry gets in at 7-8am so not a bad trip after a sleep all night.

too far Noah, ds will only be 6m and I can;t face having to stop the car to bf over a 7h journey

so ivy, the vendee not too exciting? It does sound beachy pretty but not much else. Although that very exciting sounding Roman theme park is near by.

Oh I don't know what to do. Is it much warmer in vendee than brittany? We want a warm holiday. Would prefer the south of france but matthews don't do really cheap campsite deals in teh south.

It is noticeably warmer in the Vendee - and I think there are lots of activities for older children there so you'd have a great time.

In your position I would fly and hire a car tbh - it would be worth the extra money to arrive feeling reasonably refreshed and ready to start your holiday.

I am quite tempted now by driving if it's only a 2.5 hrs drive in france.

Go for it, we drove to vannes, just north of nantes. The drive was just under 3 hours I think, we did overnight ferry to st malo and the fast day ferry back. Dd's then aged 3 and 6 say it was the best holiday ever - the reason being the overnight ferry .

"fast day ferry" from where to where. deb?

Puy du Fou is the 'theme' park - it's fabulous.
Would recommend getting an overnight ferry on the way out (Poole-Cherbourg is my favourite because we go and watch the speedway racing first, then straight onto the midnight ferry ).
Allow 5 hours (with a couple of stops) to St Jean de Monts.
On way back, get evening crossing, and stay in a travelodge when you dock. Get breakfast and head home.

I have seen teh websote for puy du fou, menthes, and we are deff going. It looks ace.

I was goingn to go to St Malo then only drive for about 3 hours.

Whast evening crossing do you mean on the way back? Cherbourg to Poole, do you mean? I need to look at the Brittany Ferreis site.

Thanks wondering. I suggested to aberdeen friends that they come with us but they have a dog