help first timers driving to s france/ spain for holiday this year

[trace2]

ideas where to stay, which ferry s and so on please we have never done this before don't know where to start, want to go in end june usually fly but dare not risk getting stuck as we have a disabled dd and on prescription milk at least if we drive we can take as much as we like. i have been watching the south of france thread but i need to know where to start first?

Hi trace2

Whereabouts are you planning to go? We drive to the South of France from SW London several times a year and always take Eurotunnel about 9am, drive to Bourges, stay overnight and then continue to the south the following day.

We drive down through Spain regularly, we get the ferry from Plymouth to Santander (it's a 20 hour journey!) We drive down to South East Spain and tend to stop overnight on the outskirts of Madrid, the motorways always seem to be pretty clear except around Madrid itself so it's easy to navigate your way around.

thanks for replying, not sure where to go tbh i want a warm place / camp site with either chalet or caravan, swimming pool , play area , near beach, friendly my kids are 8 and 3 both sn so would not join in kids clubs, we once best way to get over and least driving either ferry or euro tunnel, we will do stops as dh will be doing the driving. i have been watching other thread about tolls and so on, which camp is best to go too?

We go Dover /Calais (cheapest) early morning 8am ish ferry, stop at Bourges or Vierzon and arrive in Languedoc early to mid afternoon next day.

This year, we are going to Barcelona, so travelling a bit further to Clermont-Ferrand on day one.

We take different crossings (to Caen/Cherbourg) if heading for the Vendee.If an overnight is involved then Dover/Calais works for us.

You could go to Caen and drive to the Charente-Maritime in a day easily. That is normally warm

Hi
We've been to plenty of campsites over the years. There are a number of operators keycamp/eurocamp/canvas are the big ones and probably have the widest choice of campsite. Things to keep in mind (if you havent done this type of holiday before):

• coastal campsites will tend to have smaller pitches and possibly more busy atmosphere (which might mean noisy in the evening)
• inland may mean larger pitches with a quieter atmosphere
• you mention that both children are SN, will the steps up into a mobile home be an issue?
• read campsite details with care. What facilities are there? What is the terrain like? French campsites will normally have their own website - read these as well. Look for the campsite on google earth.
• what sort of journey do you want? Do you enjoy the drive or would you prefer a long ferry crossing. We like to drive and all of us hate ferries so always use the tunnel no matter where we are heading.
• cote d'azur will have great weather but can be busy (we did St Tropez in September and struggled to get out of the gate of the complex)
• Languedoc is less 'smart' but is a bit more relaxed
• What sort of beach do you want? On the SW France coast the waves can be very powerful - my husband lost his glasses in the surf. The waves on the med coast will tend to be quieter. Dont forget that in June the sea or ocean is cold.
• I dont like the sea or beaches so we are heading to inland Provence for the second half of August. The campsite is next to a river.
• Research, research, research. All the companies have websites. Phone them up and explain what you want and they can tell you what is available.
• Whatever you decide share the responsibility so there are no 'why did you book this' discussions.

Enjoy!

Hi
Discussed this further with my husband. We are totally comitted to the tunnel. Others will sing the praises of ferries but here are a my thoughts for the tunnel against the ferry:

• in the tunnel you get to stay in your car for the crossing
• on a ferry you have to leave your car and take everything you will need for the crossing with you
• in the tunnel you can take a packed lunch and are guaranteed a seat
• on a ferry if its busy it might be difficult to find a seat
• the tunnel crossing is quick (around 35 minutes actual crossing time). Time to eat a quick lunch, put the beam benders on the car then you are straight out onto the motorway.
• the ferry crossing barest minimum actual crossing time is around 90 minutes. Once you've had your lunch and not bought anything in the shop there is nothing to do. Disembarkation is slow and tips you out into the back end of the docks area.
• the tunnel is not normally significantly affected by weather in the summer
• a rough ferry crossing can leave you all shattered. My oldest daughter managed to clear an entire deck she was so sick and it wasnt even that rough!

We made a ferry crossing last year as an economy and decided that halfway through the crossing we would have gladly paid the tunnel supplement for the journey to be over.

Now I leave it open for the ferry people!

My DH would feel robbed if he couldn't have the huge (but pricey)Full English brekkie, followed by a snooze on the ferry

I am tempted to try the tunnel one year soon though (already booked ferry for next summer)

wow thank you, dh wants the tunnel, and hes the driver i did the camping bit 18 years ago at south of france with my first h but it was a bus drive, i did love it then yes my two have sn and both with a push could do the steps. i am thinking now going in august and dont like it to busy but now we can look really hard to see how we going to do it? again thank you.