France north coast after Christmas

[G&Ts]

Hi,

We've got some time off work over Christmas and New Year and are hoping to get away in the campervan, perhaps leaving home on Boxing Day. We're thinking about getting the ferry to St Malo and heading east along to Le Havre/Dieppe or Calais, taking in Mont St Michel, D-day beaches, Etretat etc. for a week or so.

Has anyone done this route at this time of year and have a sense of how quiet / busy it's likely to be (as school holidays)? After a manic year at work we're looking for some peace and quiet and don't mind wrapping up for bracing seaside walks. It would though be nice to have the odd meal out so we're wondering if restaurants and cafes are likely to be open.

We're also open to any suggestions. We've considered Cornwall though seems it's particularly busy around new year and some campsites are fully booked already. We'd be looking to stay in a mix of aires (if France) / Britstops (if UK) and the odd campsite for showers.

Thanks!

 

[Jay20cali]

Have done this in the summer and to be honest it was very very busy (half term) so I think this may be a great time of year to go.aires will be open and in all the towns so no probs with eating out I would not think
Sounds Awsome
It would be there or Scotland for me !!
How ever you decide you will make some good memories

 

[Wesel]

Lot of camping will be closed. The aires are always open but there are not always toilets.

 

[calicasas]

Hi,

We've got some time off work over Christmas and New Year and are hoping to get away in the campervan, perhaps leaving home on Boxing Day. We're thinking about getting the ferry to St Malo and heading east along to Le Havre/Dieppe or Calais, taking in Mont St Michel, D-day beaches, Etretat etc. for a week or so.

Has anyone done this route at this time of year and have a sense of how quiet / busy it's likely to be (as school holidays)? After a manic year at work we're looking for some peace and quiet and don't mind wrapping up for bracing seaside walks. It would though be nice to have the odd meal out so we're wondering if restaurants and cafes are likely to be open.

We're also open to any suggestions. We've considered Cornwall though seems it's particularly busy around new year and some campsites are fully booked already. We'd be looking to stay in a mix of aires (if France) / Britstops (if UK) and the odd campsite for showers.

Thanks!

I have done this same route in the October half term and it was a great tour. Very quiet so you should not have any problem finding spaces on sites. We stayed overnight at the Mont St.michel car park (small charge) which allowed us to visit the mount straight after breakfast. Visiting Bayeux on route is a must.
Normandy beaches visit goes without saying...

 

[G&Ts]

Thanks for the feedback, all reassuring

We did the Scottish highlands (far north west) a good few years ago and had the most amazing time. We'll be heading back to Scotland in April next year, though not in the camper as we'll be with family for a river cruise.

Lack of open toilets in France shouldn''t be a problem for us as we have a portaloo. I had a quick look into campsites and though a lot were closed, there seemed to be a few open so hopefully there will be enough to keep us going, though I need to look into this a bit more.

Thanks for the tip about Mont St. Michel car park, we'll definitely check that out as sounds really handy for an overnight stop. Bayeux is on the list too!

 

[Zebedee]

And don’t forget St Malo itself. Lovely walled city area great shops/restaurants/bars and a lovely ice rink, light show on city walls. We camped in the car park next to ferry terminal looking out over the water for a night between Christmas and New Year but have also used an aire about a mile away but it was full of great whites to the point you could hardly open the doors!

 

[Hotel California]

Have you done a search on the forum on existing threads about that region ?
Here's a bit info on our trip in that aera in November 2015

Trip to " Le Mont Saint-Michel "

Planned it a few times but never actually got there , as they say it is the second most visited touristic attraction in France next to the Eifel tower ( don't know the thru numbers). Heard nothing but good about it as beeing magnificent , world heritage , unique ,... We left on sathurday 6/11...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[blakeley]

As mentioned above 99% of campsites will be closed and a lot of the Aires do not have toilets . So porta potti is essential. When we did this in winter we stopped at the odd hotel for showers. It really depends how long you can go go without having a proper wash/shower?

 

[G&Ts]

And don’t forget St Malo itself. Lovely walled city area great shops/restaurants/bars and a lovely ice rink, light show on city walls. We camped in the car park next to ferry terminal looking out over the water for a night between Christmas and New Year but have also used an aire about a mile away but it was full of great whites to the point you could hardly open the doors!

Thanks Zebedee, we went to St Malo a couple of years ago and hope to go back. We'd read somewhere that you can camp near the ferry terminal but we didn't find it as everywhere seemed to have 1.9m height barriers. Looking now on park4night I see there's parking at Rond-point du Naye allowed between 19h and 9h, is that where you stayed?

 

[G&Ts]

Have you done a search on the forum on existing threads about that region ?
Here's a bit info on our trip in that aera in November 2015

Trip to " Le Mont Saint-Michel "

Planned it a few times but never actually got there , as they say it is the second most visited touristic attraction in France next to the Eifel tower ( don't know the thru numbers). Heard nothing but good about it as beeing magnificent , world heritage , unique ,... We left on sathurday 6/11...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Great blog and photos, thanks for sharing. One route we're looking at involves taking the ferry from Cherbourg back to Poole, first exploring the coastline up around Cap de la Hague. The free camping spot at Goury looks like a great find.

 

[G&Ts]

As mentioned above 99% of campsites will be closed and a lot of the Aires do not have toilets . So porta potti is essential. When we did this in winter we stopped at the odd hotel for showers. It really depends how long you can go go without having a proper wash/shower?

I've done a bit more research into campsites and I have to say I'm surprised just how few are actually open - I've found just one so far, though not technically open they've said they'd be happy to welcome us anyway.

It looks like the aires at Mont St Michel, Valognes and Siouville Hague have showers. Do you think these are likely to be open over the Christmas/new year period? I hadn't actually considered booking a hotel for the odd night, that's not such a bad idea.

The only other cause for hesitation, I've read a few reports on here of encounters with immigrants around the north coast ports and towns. Bearing in mind we'd be staying at aires or wild camping in some isolated spots, or at least it'll be off season, I'm wondering if this is something we should be concerned about.

 

[Amarillo]

We camped in southern Europe through the winter, and even there about 90% of campsites are closed, and those which are open are open with limited facilities - no restaurant, no shop, no pool, one small toilet block (in two campsites we were given keys to a static caravan to use the toilet and shower).

On the plus side, other campers are few and far between, and even more friendly than in the summer months. There are far fewer children. And we rarely paid more than 20 Euros per night including hookup if needed.