Two weeks camping in Spain...(first timers) Tips appreciated!!!

[Kano]

Fast approaching is our family holiday, myself, wife and two kids(12 and 5yrs). Using the Euro tunnel and a drive through Fance to North East Spain, staying at Cala Llevado. I have some nagging concerns...

Too hot to sleep for children - Can I buy a fan and use on hook up?

My wife suffers terribly from insect bites. If we have a window/door open at night - Are mosquito nets a necessity? Any cheeper-alternative to Branrup nets, DIY options maybe?

Euro adopters for hook up etc - I have a UK cable?

Route to Spain - Any advice re the route and a campsite? Bearing in mind the kids will just want to get there. Happy to take more time on the return journey.

Should I buy a Popaloo?

Thermal windscreen - Should I buy?

And any other pearls of wisdom that I may need.. What a beginner I am! Don't tell my wife. I think she under the impression that She married Bear Grylls?!!!

 

[andyinluton]

We travel regularly to Pallafrugal - about 50km north of where you are going. We cheat & rent a villa when we get there so can only comment on some things:
1. the drive there - our preferred method is early evening crossing, & get as far past Paris as possible before stopping for the night. We "camp" along with half the population of france in july / august in motorway service stations. Start out again at 9am & we get there for mid - late afternoon depending on traffic. We reckon on total 10-11 hours driving from calais, but does depend on the kids & what the traffic is like - I spend 4-5 hours most days driving in traffic so 10 hours on free running motorways is a pleasure.
2. Get yourself a sanef tag - especially if you don't have a roof box - lets you use the "non stop" outside lane at most toll booths, no waking the passenger up to pay at toll booths, no lost tickets etc etc huge amount of stress removed. Note it doesn't work for the few tolls you need to pay in spain.
3.popaloo - we keep a portapoti in the van and it gets used, peak weekends in summer the toilets get busy - we've found 20 minute queues, & some of them are just hole in the ground type.
We've also had queues after accidents where we literally haven't moved for hours, also useful when your out and about in an emergency.
4. Book later crossing than you need coming home, with eurostar they will put you on the next train with a space - if they do charge you more it will never be more than you would have paid to book that crossing in the first place.
5. the drive home is a lot longer than getting there! when going we get the flat boring bit & paris out of the way at the start, as you get further south the scenery improves & going over the Milau bridge & mountains etc livens it up. Coming home the scenery gets worse, the weather worse etc the kids start moaning etc. Last trip as a treat I chucked the Mrs & 3 kids out at Girona airport to fly back on cheap tickets with just hand luggage whilst our son & I drove back with far less stress. (our youngest hadn't ever flown & was desperate to fly) We got home about 8 hours after them.....
6. Mozzie nets - our local petrol station is doing mozzie nets for house doors at about £5 a go, I'm going to buy one to see if I can make something. If you are on hookup I would have thought a plug in repellent should do the trick.

 

[Volky]

I'd definitely buy the thermal windscreen.

 

[Kano]

We travel regularly to Pallafrugal - about 50km north of where you are going. We cheat & rent a villa when we get there so can only comment on some things:
1. the drive there - our preferred method is early evening crossing, & get as far past Paris as possible before stopping for the night. We "camp" along with half the population of france in july / august in motorway service stations. Start out again at 9am & we get there for mid - late afternoon depending on traffic. We reckon on total 10-11 hours driving from calais, but does depend on the kids & what the traffic is like - I spend 4-5 hours most days driving in traffic so 10 hours on free running motorways is a pleasure.
2. Get yourself a sanef tag - especially if you don't have a roof box - lets you use the "non stop" outside lane at most toll booths, no waking the passenger up to pay at toll booths, no lost tickets etc etc huge amount of stress removed. Note it doesn't work for the few tolls you need to pay in spain.
3.popaloo - we keep a portapoti in the van and it gets used, peak weekends in summer the toilets get busy - we've found 20 minute queues, & some of them are just hole in the ground type.
We've also had queues after accidents where we literally haven't moved for hours, also useful when your out and about in an emergency.
4. Book later crossing than you need coming home, with eurostar they will put you on the next train with a space - if they do charge you more it will never be more than you would have paid to book that crossing in the first place.
5. the drive home is a lot longer than getting there! when going we get the flat boring bit & paris out of the way at the start, as you get further south the scenery improves & going over the Milau bridge & mountains etc livens it up. Coming home the scenery gets worse, the weather worse etc the kids start moaning etc. Last trip as a treat I chucked the Mrs & 3 kids out at Girona airport to fly back on cheap tickets with just hand luggage whilst our son & I drove back with far less stress. (our youngest hadn't ever flown & was desperate to fly) We got home about 8 hours after them.....
6. Mozzie nets - our local petrol station is doing mozzie nets for house doors at about £5 a go, I'm going to buy one to see if I can make something. If you are on hookup I would have thought a plug in repellent should do the trick.

Brilliant.. thank you for taking the time to reply. The sanef tag I had forgot about so will definitely buy that and I maybe a mosquito net and some magnets might do the trick.
Will drive back taking in a bit of what France has to offer, probably staying more to the South by the sounds of it..

Many thanks

 

[Volky]

We are also off to France. We have the VW mozzie screens and were planning on inserting these at night, and we also have the Cali topper from Comfortz that should help keep the heat out up top. I've invested in an Outwell racket fly killer, as someone on the forum said it's great for killing the damn biting creatures. I'm going to buy a plug in repellant too.

 

[Kano]

Okay.. Fly squatter and thermal windscreen to buy.

 

[snowy55]

Okay.. Fly squatter and thermal windscreen to buy.

Get one of those electric tennis raquette type fly swatters , ideal for getting the little blighters that collect at the very high part of the roof.

 

[Volky]

Hi Snowy, yes that's the one! Not scoring highly on clear descriptions today. Also, kids find them fun!

 

[snowy55]

Maplins sell them for £5.

 

[andyinluton]

Route we use, follow A1 to paris then A71 then A75 job done, rather than relying on sat nav apart from through paris just make a list on a post it note for the major places that you are aiming for:

Paris
Orleans
clermont ferrand
Millau Bridge
Perpignan
Girona
All clearly signposted & far easier when as well as the roads being A71 its also I think the E15

I think its just past Orleans that our sat nav always announces bear left in 650KM

Speed wise limit is 130kmh for most of the route & our speedo reads low. Sat nav 130kmh = 88mph on the speedo in our van so tend to set the cruise control at 90mph which still gives reasonable fuel consumption.

 

[Kano]

Route we use, follow A1 to paris then A71 then A75 job done, rather than relying on sat nav apart from through paris just make a list on a post it note for the major places that you are aiming for:

Paris
Orleans
clermont ferrand
Millau Bridge
Perpignan
Girona
All clearly signposted & far easier when as well as the roads being A71 its also I think the E15

I think its just past Orleans that our sat nav always announces bear left in 650KM

Speed wise limit is 130kmh for most of the route & our speedo reads low. Sat nav 130kmh = 88mph on the speedo in our van so tend to set the cruise control at 90mph which still gives reasonable fuel consumption.

Thanks for that. Looks like the most straightforward of routes though I was wondering if we need avoid Paris?

 

[andyinluton]

Depends on your navigator & time of day, my 16 year old son can read a map interpret sat nav instructions etc whilst I concentrate on getting us in the right lane etc which in the rush hour on the periferique is quite an achievement on its own.

I did it once with the Mrs on the map & no sat nav - never again!

Both ways we aim to hit Paris anytime after about 8pm we have done 6pm on a Friday night & its not a lot of fun.

 

[Kano]

Depends on your navigator & time of day, my 16 year old son can read a map interpret sat nav instructions etc whilst I concentrate on getting us in the right lane etc which in the rush hour on the periferique is quite an achievement on its own.

I did it once with the Mrs on the map & no sat nav - never again!

Both ways we aim to hit Paris anytime after about 8pm we have done 6pm on a Friday night & its not a lot of fun.

Should be early Sunday pm in August. Would like to get a couple hours past Paris before settling down for the night..

 

[Keith Smith]

Is it practical to travel down to Spain taking a more scenic route down the west coast, rather than slog down the autoroute?

 

[Loz]

We always avoid Paris and go Portsmouth-Caen overnight, we then hit the road at 7am in Caen and go , Le-mans-Tours-Poiters at which point we either go Bordeaux for West Spain or Limoges, Toulouse for the east..

 

[snowy55]

Is it practical to travel down to Spain taking a more scenic route down the west coast, rather than slog down the autoroute?

A few weeks back we traveled down west coast from Roscoff, France to San Sebastian in northern Spain going through Quimper over a massive bridge at Saint Nazaire, La Rochelle using the ferry at Royan to avoid Bordeaux then onto Arachon finally getting onto toll road near Biarritz, lovely scenery but definitely not a route if you want "get on" it took us 3 nights.
Entering Spain on the toll road there was 5 maybe 10 mile queue of lorries all being stopped and searched at the border/toll booths, all the cars were able to drive straight through.
On the way back the toll road southbound at Bordeaux was stationary for miles and miles but northbound was thank fully moving.
Hope this helps.

 

[DavidofHook]

A blunder we still make is to arrive from the UK and park in that lovely sun. Very very bad!
Try to get a pitch under the trees and in the shade if at all possible. We are on a pitch here in Southern France, it's is about 33C and the family next to us have just moved their tent to a shady area because of the sun. What a faff.

We also have a Fiamma Blocker on our awning which provides shade and increases the area under the awning by about half as much again. In most countries we cook outside, under the awnin/blocker area. You probably won't want to cook inside, too hot.

Hope that this helps

 

[Kano]

A blunder we still make is to arrive from the UK and park in that lovely sun. Very very bad!
Try to get a pitch under the trees and in the shade if at all possible. We are on a pitch here in Southern France, it's is about 33C and the family next to us have just moved their tent to a shady area because of the sun. What a faff.

We also have a Fiamma Blocker on our awning which provides shade and increases the area under the awning by about half as much again. In most countries we cook outside, under the awnin/blocker area. You probably won't want to cook inside, too hot.

Hope that this helps

Good advice. How comfortable is it during the night? Do you sleep with windows open etc...?

 

[DavidofHook]

Good advice. How comfortable is it during the night? Do you sleep with windows open etc...?

It can be hot and we sleep on top of the duvet, but there is only two of us, if I were you I would put the kids in a small tent of their own!
We push the upper bed up and open all the Zips.we do not sleep with Windows and doors open because flies and things get in. And there can be a security risk there so we lock up. Others may know if things have got better now.
On reflection if you had a mosquito net for the kitchen window that may work. We are thinking about getting one.
You will have a good time there, even if it is hot I am sure

 

[Zebedee]

We did Roscoff to Bilbao last August but we cheated and got the ferry back from Bilbao. Guggenheim was a must see at Bilbao and there was a great camp site by a surf beach and a short walk to Metro into city. My just 13 yr old loved it. The Spanish eat really late by our standards even with small children. Barbecues are not allowed peak Summer in a lot of places but too hot to cook inside so had a mini gas burner to use. We got a Vango and a Decathlon tarp which we used to make sides for tha awning to keep the heat off. I would suggest avoiding the coast on the way down as the traffic was bad but by going a bit inland it was much better.

We stayed on an Aire one night on the way down and then one night in the camping car park at Futuroscope near Poitiers which was a really good day out and I think was only about 7euros to camp. We had a bog in the bag, slept under a thin pure cotton sheet. Had mossie rubber wristbands which we wore all the time and seemed to work. Also some nice citronella night lights. We had an airlock thingy but actually didn't use it. Would second the choosing a shady pitch and choosing a site with a pool oh and siesta like the locals....it's only the mad Brits who go out in the midday heat! Hope you enjoy it!

 

[estresao]

LOL, I'd say Britons eat really early even with small children.

 

[shudycamps]

Fast approaching is our family holiday, myself, wife and two kids(12 and 5yrs). Using the Euro tunnel and a drive through Fance to North East Spain, staying at Cala Llevado. I have some nagging concerns...

Too hot to sleep for children - Can I buy a fan and use on hook up?

My wife suffers terribly from insect bites. If we have a window/door open at night - Are mosquito nets a necessity? Any cheeper-alternative to Branrup nets, DIY options maybe?

Euro adopters for hook up etc - I have a UK cable?

Route to Spain - Any advice re the route and a campsite? Bearing in mind the kids will just want to get there. Happy to take more time on the return journey.

Should I buy a Popaloo?

Thermal windscreen - Should I buy?

And any other pearls of wisdom that I may need.. What a beginner I am! Don't tell my wife. I think she under the impression that She married Bear Grylls?!!!

We have a summer home 70ks south of Valencis and travel both the eastern and western side of France. I normally choose the eastern side going down. And I try to avoid Paris unless leaving on the Eurotunnel at 10.30pm and arriving Paris at midnight when nobody is around. This summer, in 17 days, our first overnight is in Loches (Loire chateaux area, la Citadelle campsite); second stop; is Creissels, just before the Millau bridge (husband wanted to drive over it) at Camping Saint Martin. Third overnight is across the border at one of my favourite campsites in Spain; Camping Blanes. On the route home, I choose the western side of France. This is more of a get home journey after two months in Spain, so our last campsite is Château des Tilleus in Abbeville, 1.20 min from Eurotunnel. Also, in late September many campsites are looking to close by 1 Oct.

 

[shudycamps]

Fast approaching is our family holiday, myself, wife and two kids(12 and 5yrs). Using the Euro tunnel and a drive through Fance to North East Spain, staying at Cala Llevado. I have some nagging concerns...

Too hot to sleep for children - Can I buy a fan and use on hook up?

My wife suffers terribly from insect bites. If we have a window/door open at night - Are mosquito nets a necessity? Any cheeper-alternative to Branrup nets, DIY options maybe?

Euro adopters for hook up etc - I have a UK cable?

Route to Spain - Any advice re the route and a campsite? Bearing in mind the kids will just want to get there. Happy to take more time on the return journey.

Should I buy a Popaloo?

Thermal windscreen - Should I buy?

And any other pearls of wisdom that I may need.. What a beginner I am! Don't tell my wife. I think she under the impression that She married Bear Grylls?!!!

The Starship ZuliCampi came with fly screens for side windows and although I have bought the rear mosquito curtain, we have never used it yet. I have a small clip type fan that I use. A pottie inside; well no room for that! I have all types of hookups; won't be beaten there. We have thermal windscreens, but have only used them once. Too much hassle to put up, we pull down the other window shades though. T6 now has pull down blinds. With 6 dogs on board, not much gets by them if someone decides to get exceptionally close to Campi. We don't rough camp when there are such fab campsites to stay in, loaded up with really nice people. You are going to have a really great adventure!

 

[dfps]

Our preferred route.

Newhaven - Dieppe via dfds

Dieppe. Rouen, Evereux, Dreux, Chartres, Orleans,Vierzon,Limoges,Toulouse, Narbonne, Perpignan,Gerona

( More or less the same journey from Rouen if using a port other than Dieppe or using Eurotunnel )

We tend to avoid the autoroute unless they are free and it suits us to use them because we are pressed for time.

We have tried all sorts of permutations of non autoroute. Most French N roads are pretty good and many have or are being upgraded to dual carriageway type roads.

From Chartres to Orleans and down to Vierzon the N roads are great particularly on Sundays when there is far less lorry traffic.
After Vierzon the toll road is free to Brive.

We love to stop in the Dordogne area based around Sarlat for a few nights/days to break up the journey.
and its not too far off track when heading down to Spain.

It all depends whether you see the journey as part of the holiday or just see the journey as getting from A-B as efficiently as possible.
For us the journey is part of the holiday and often throws up some surprising gems.

Maybe not on the way back as everyone has a different mindset on the way back because its the end of the holiday and the journey somehow seems different then : (

Have a great time

 

[Pete M]

+1 for plug in insect repellent.