France advice & suggestions.

[The Robbo's]

After some advice please.
Thinking we'll head over to France in a week or so via the tunnel as we will be taking our dog.
Never been to France but all the photos make it look inviting.

1 Are we better to book one way or return price seems to be about £212 ish.

2 We would need our drive away awning so would we have to use camp sites (our preference)
rather than Aires

3 Any areas that we should visit / avoid it's me the wife & Charlie the dog so we are fairly free to do whatever & head wherever with no agenda.

4 Would you suggest anything we must take.

Hopefully with some good advice we can have a brilliant experience not really knowing exactly where we will be heading or who we might bump into.

Thanks very much in advance.

John.

 

[Calicliff]

Hi, We will be going back to Switzerland in a couple of weeks via France, so to help your request.
1, I always book a return via the Camping and Caravan Club, it is a little cheeper.
2, I always use the sites in the ACSI guide, especially out of high season, very good and reasonable.
3, Most areas areas are good, avoid stopping in Calais of course, market days are always very busy but very rewarding. Dordogne is very nice.
4, Take the usual mandatory things, check the RAC site, a Cobb barby is always a good idea.

One tip we have found is to overnight here and take the tunnel in the morning around 7 to 8, gives you plenty of time to find a site in France. The St Quentin area is nice for a first stop.

Chill out and have fun, no rush.

 

[Skylark2.0]

Order an asci card online to get great out of season discounts.
I assume we're still out of season...

 

[Hotel California]

Confirm all the above .
If you plan to set up a awning it is indeed best to look for campsites , but if you just doing one night stops , there ar sooo many beautifull free campspots in France ( guess a few thousend) i would find i a shame if you do not use those.
We only go to a campsite every three - four days using aires and free spots inbetween.
It depends on your needs offcoarse.
Check this out:
http://www.campercontact.com/en/

 

[greenfintry]

Check out this resource...... some great places to stop and eat and....

http://www.france-passion.co.uk/?gclid=CLORiJvpu8wCFfEV0wodt6YH_w

 

[RonB]

Hi, we will be heading off soon to France again for a couple of months, as we have done for the last few years. In response to your queries:

1. We have crossed via well nigh every ferry route, although never used the tunnel, but tend not to book a return as we are never quite sure where we will end up. You can book a return online, either via ferry company or one of the broker websites (DirectFerries, etc) only a few days before you sail, but I'm not sure about the tunnel.

2. You would need to use regular campsites to use an awning and there is no shortage of campsites in France. As others have said, join ACSI and download their app as they will save you money out-of-season (e.g. up to end of June and after August).

3. One thing to consider is that France is a huge land mass compared to UK and distances can be massive to drive. As others have said, take it easy and be realistic in how far/long you want to travel. Don't spoil the experience by only driving and missing out on what you pass by. There are many regions and each is unique. There's a lot to see, whether it's beaches, historic monuments, mountains, vineyards, etc, but don't plan to try and see them all in one day... you can't!

4. Items such as yellow vests for breakdowns, adjusted headlamps, etc, are mandatory, check on AA or RAC for latest info. Forget the breathalyser kits as they don't enforce it.

Good luck and bon voyage!

 

[GrannyJen]

Hi John,

You don't say how long you are going for but a few observations without repeating what has already been said.

The return fare of £212 sounds high to me. It depends on how often you intend to pop over to France but I have a frequent tunneller, £430 for 10 one-way trips, plus an £11 supplement exch time for being over 1.85m so my one way trip is with £54 or £74 if I am going peak.

If you are only stopping for a few days then really I suggest either Northern France or Normandy or else, as others have warned, you are going to be spending all your time driving.

Northern France, especially going towards the Somme and onwards to Champagne can be quiet, peaceful, lovely campsites, Amiens with the biggest Cathedral in France and a gastronomic delight.

Normandy of course has the beaches but also Bayeaux, Rouen, all worth a visit.

Use ACSI, camper contact, even ukcampsites.co.uk list a couple of thousand campsites in France. You will find it very Cali friendly, in fact very friendly full stop. I love France, driving is a delight compared to the crowded jammed roads of the UK, always somewhere to stop and generally be welcomed, not harassed for being in the way, great food and wine and a laissez-faire attitude to life (outside of the big cities) that makes it all very relaxed and civilised.

Your dog will love it as well. Dogs are very welcome in France.

 

[The Robbo's]

Thanks for all your help
Got the ascI card just bought the camper contact app & had a look at the must haves hi viz vests triangle etc not sure about the headlight adjusters? Had a glance on the CCC as suggested which gives a 10% discount.
(Been a busy afternoon)

France Passion looks a great idea will look into this as well.
Not even looked at a map yet but know it's going to be a great experience

 

[Hotel California]

So , we expect a trip review when you'r back home.....

 

[The Robbo's]

So , we expect a trip review when you'r back home.....

It's the least I can do but the wife's a lot better than me on the pc
so she can update it as we go.

Was thinking of about 3 weeks but as said really no plans at all not even a clue
where to head first.
No rush as we have only ourselves to worry about now.

Thanks again
John.

 

[Hotel California]

Just go with the flow , plan the first and maybe the second night from home , point out a few spots as option to stay the night and take it as you pass it if your happy with it at that time.
Then much depends on the wheather , and as others said there's NO way you can see France in a few weeks not even a few months!
Just see how far the trip brings you and the next trip you start off from there...
Gonna be great.
Only thing if you gonna do the toll roads , peage , the passenger needs to pay ( by credidcard no prob) but seems many RHD take a toll tag for easy drive .
I got no experience with that as i am LHD , but there are treads on toll tags.

 

[Calicliff]

VW will sell you headlight protectors which are marked up for adding the beam stickers.

 

[WelshGas]

32,000 campsites in Europe with GPS coordinates, POI files for SatNavs and a lot more.

http://www.archiescampings.eu

 

[hirsty]

We went to Annecy for the first time last year - absolutely stunning scenery around a huge lake in the foothills to the west of the Alps. I knew nothing about the region before other than for skiing but it was really lovely, amazed it's not better known & more popular with Brits.

We had one memorable - if very long - day out in the hire car to have breakfast in France (Chamonix), lunch in Switzerland and dinner in Italy (Courmayer) before a long schlep back via the Mont Blanc tunnel. Highly recommended if you find yourself over that way.

 

[mccp]

It depends on how often you intend to pop over to France but I have a frequent tunneller, £430 for 10 one-way trips, plus an £11 supplement exch time for being over 1.85m so my one way trip is with £54 or £74 if I am going peak.

+1 for Eurotunnel frequent traveler. If you go often enough it's very good value - there have been years where we have only done 8 crossings (4 return trips) and it's still cheap. They are also very flexible - we book 10 crossings at the start of the year so that we can get the crossing times we want even on peak days. You can then change the bookings at any time up to 24 hours before the trip for free (although you pay the difference or get a refund if the crossing is a different price). If you forget a crossing and miss it, you can just re-book from the day after you were supposed to cross (been there, done that, plus we arrived a day late once, but they didn't even blink).

One tip though - if you get the frequent traveler trips, never book them as returns, but as two singles. You then get the flexibility to change either the out or return trips up to 24 hours before. If you book a return, then your return crossing is locked in once you make the outbound crossing.

Back in the olden days, we used all sorts of discount sites and tricks to get cheap ferry crossings, but we've used the frequent traveler since at least 2006 and I can't see us changing back to ferries now - especially as our dogs would go mental if we left them on the car deck.

 

[CYCLOPATH]

Check out this resource...... some great places to stop and eat and....

http://www.france-passion.co.uk/?gclid=CLORiJvpu8wCFfEV0wodt6YH_w

I bought the book and card last year, but never used it, as we were wandering, and seemed to find great places anyway.
Now I have the book, do I really need to pay for another copy, are the places going to turn me away if my sticker is a year out of date?

 

[CALI FATE]

Thanks for all your help
Got the ascI card just bought the camper contact app & had a look at the must haves hi viz vests triangle etc not sure about the headlight adjusters? Had a glance on the CCC as suggested which gives a 10% discount.
(Been a busy afternoon)

France Passion looks a great idea will look into this as well.
Not even looked at a map yet but know it's going to be a great experience

Try www.ferrysavers.co.uk - if you are in no rush, the ferry crossing will save you quite a bit of cash - France has everything - take a north south east west spinner and see where it takes you

 

[jts46]

Avoid travelling in France this weekend, the government have issued a red alert for travel by road
1st May bank holiday
5th may ditto
7th may ditto
8th may ditto
They will almost certainly take 6th may off as well.

John

 

[The Robbo's]

Thanks again.
Fairly certain we can only use the tunnel because of the dog.@CALI FATE
A great tip regarding booking 2 single trips @mccp
Going to have another look at prices now as £212 seems high @GrannyJen

John.

Just done a quick price check with Euro tunnel 19/5 campervan + 1 dog £134 one way.

 

[RichardH]

After some advice please.
Thinking we'll head over to France in a week or so via the tunnel as we will be taking our dog.
Never been to France but all the photos make it look inviting.

1 Are we better to book one way or return price seems to be about £212 ish.

2 We would need our drive away awning so would we have to use camp sites (our preference)
rather than Aires

3 Any areas that we should visit / avoid it's me the wife & Charlie the dog so we are fairly free to do whatever & head wherever with no agenda.

4 Would you suggest anything we must take.

Hopefully with some good advice we can have a brilliant experience not really knowing exactly where we will be heading or who we might bump into.

Thanks very much in advance.

John.

Hi. Just leaving France today, after a very enjoyable 16 days. Off to Spain now, but will be back for another week in June and a full month in August. The Cali is just perfect for comfort for two, easy long distance motoring and exploring narrow mountain roads and little villages, many of which would be impossible in anything bigger. There's a lovely book available - I think it's called "the 100 most beautiful villages in France" - that has taken us to some wonderful locations. One important tip - watch out very carefully for the speed limits and keep to them. The French themselves do now, mostly, as there are lots of fixed and mobile speed traps. They will fine you for as little as 1kph over the limit. As well as the obvious fixed cameras they use a lot of average speed cameras and we've quite often seen gendarmes with speed guns hiding behind trees or under bridges. Be aware that the red rimmed town / village name signs automatically mean that a 50kph limit starts too. There's usually no other indication. Often there's also a 30kph section too, with speed bumps.
France Passion is excellent and all the sites are free (the owners don't seem bothered about whether or not the membership is up to date, although it's best to have a current guide book and you then also get access to the web-map). We've been to some fabulous places in Champagne, Sancerre, Alsace etc. often with a free vineyard tour and wine tasting. Most of them don't have a toilet though, so you'll need your own (see the relevant forum discussions). You need one for many Aires too, some of which are pleasant places to stay although they can be cramped and / or ugly and you are not supposed to use your table and chairs outdoors. The ACSI sites are usually we'll run and the discounts often good. For ACSI sites your card must be up to date, or you won't get the special deals). If you are feeling very bold, maybe try the ones on page 718 of the 2016 part 2 guide book! The ACSI app has more sites listed than the printed guide books.
Have fun in France! There's so much to see and do that we keep coming back again and again.
Richard

 

[DavidofHook]

We have just booked for the 6 June with P&O, £109 return, but it is the ship and not the tunnel. Tunnel charges seem to vary dependant on the time of travel. We don't use them as the best prices seem to be at 2am!

Having camped many times in France and there are some lovely campsites by the side of rivers. They are a bit like the seaside for the parts of France a long way from the sea. We particularly like the Ardeche, which also has a brilliant gorge but there are many others.

David

 

[shudycamps]

We took out Frequent Traveller with Eurotunnel for 10 one way tickets for £400. You can designate one other friend to share but MUST do it within 24hr of paying. We travel with 6 dogs and this is the cheapest way for us. The best app I have found is Archies which will show all campsites in France and beyond. Wonderful campsites in France, we enjoy them very much and are about to return back to the UK via 4 days in the Ebro basin in Spain, then 3 overnights driving through France (western side). I have the ACSI card but discount only available in non peak times. You are going to have a great time!

 

[The Robbo's]

Lol RichardH.
Says I'd have to be a member of a naturist association
So I'll not be able to get in.
Thanks for the advice on speed limits.

 

[The Robbo's]

Thanks David & Shudycamps camp sites by the river sounds brilliant.

 

[CYCLOPATH]

Thanks David & Shudycamps camp sites by the river sounds brilliant.

We drove to the Alps over Christmas, when I got tired, we checked on the net for a free site by a river.....and were never dissapointed