cdaniel Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Hello seasoned travellers! We need help & advice planning our Main Summer Hoilday 2008 to the south of France. We have a 6 berth motorhome, 3 kids aged 6,4 & 2, and have decided with another family to venture abroad. They also have a motorhome, 3 kids aged 10, 12, 14. Ive only just started investigations, and think we are looking to cross PORTSMOUTH to CAEN, then stop once on our way down to Vendee South [Jard-sur-Mer??] OR, now hubby is suggesting we go as far down as the Med Coast! Dont even know what our final destination is yet! We are looking for a site which is within walking distance of the beach and a small town. A medium sized site with a pool and good amenities, but prehaps not as commercial as some of the Eurocamp sites. preferably grass pitches. I need as many tips as you can muster! Where is nice as a final destination? Is Vendee going to be warm in July or do i need to go to the Med? Can you recommend any sites? Either as stop offs on the route down OR as final destinations? Thanks for looking, and you time and help is much appreciated! Claire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Hi Clare, When we first started out we used to go to the Vendee our children were then 2and5 any of the sites we found we fantastic but then the children were little . It was always very hot in the Vendee but you need to go some where like St jean de monts some where like that because youhave all age of children to please . Nothing like pleasing them in the day as thats the easy part but worse of a night when you have the older ones bored stiff . you need a campsite that caters for all ages and their is many out there but finding the rightone. We used to holiday with friends who's children were older it was a hard job to find a happy medium meaning if the kids are happy then the adults get to relax and have a holiday also. Anyway to cut a long story short we now go to La Yole in the Bezier region of France South Of France Med yes its hot and it caters for ages 1-90 . It has everything you can imagine swimming night life playground resturants everything you can take it or leave it . You dont have to go that far for the wetaher the Vendee is beautiful and they say sun like the south just make sure you get loads to do for all of you ...Have a nice time. As for stop offs on the way down you can use the Aires which dont cost anything . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Hello Claire, I think for starters it would be helpful to know how long you are going to be away for. Each to their own (as ever), but if it's the proverbial 14-15 nights, I wouldn't (and don't) venture that far. It's a lot of driving to the med and with a small army of kids on board... You will get bags of help on here, but use the search facility too, very helpful. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Le Thou Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 HI Claire As the previous post mentioned the S France in two weeks is a lot of driving. France has a lot to offer without driving 1000 miles to get it. The Vendee is hit and miss, there are some good and some bad spots, and I would recomend using the municipal sites on route, every town has one, you can buy the site book from the Caravan Club. The weather in July should be ok but expect some rain, enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 ClaireCaen to Jard-sur-Mer is a little under 300 miles, Caen to Valras-Plage (Med) a little over 650 miles. With small children and the inevitable need for comfort, and other, stops, the former is more than a one day drive unless you can get away fairly early in the morning.Portsmouth-Caen takes a little under 6 hours, and ferries leave at 08:45; 15:15 and 23:15. France is one hour ahead of UK throughout the year, so you "lose" an hour on landing. Thus, it seems you'll probably need to catch the 08:45 (docking around 15:30 French time), or travel overnight on the 23:15 (I think you get chucked off around 07:00 French). (The 15:15 would dock at about 22:00 French). Thus, it seems that to get a full day's driving you'd either have to stop near Caen the first night, and start the drive the following morning, or catch the overnight ferry. Valras-Plage would, on the same basis, take you around two days to travel to, plus two days back, say five days travelling in total. Not really on for a two week holiday, methinks. Hope you've both got cab air-con if you go for the longer trip. Hot, bored, tired, children aren't always the best travelling companions! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Brian , You are like a mind reader how do you know I'm talking Valras ? Anyway it doesnt take us that long if we leave 4 Sat we are there 1 ish sunday ??? and thats with plenty of stops and plenty of no speeding . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 michele - 2008-01-17 7:59 PM Brian , You are like a mind reader how do you know I'm talking Valras ? Anyway it doesnt take us that long if we leave 4 Sat we are there 1 ish sunday ??? and thats with plenty of stops and plenty of no speeding . Not sure I follow you Michele.Unless you drive through the night, leaving Calais (in your case, and not Caen, which would in any case take longer) at 4:00 PM (as you seem to be saying), you couldn't arrive legally in Valras by 13:00 PM (as you also seem to be saying) the next day. At best you'd only get about 8 hours driving (assuming you drive from 4PM till 7PM, and then stop overnight, leaving 08:00 AM Sunday morning), which would require you to maintain a steady 70MPH continually, without any stops. If you leave Calais at 04:00 AM, or arrive Valras at 01:00 AM (i.e. early Monday morning) you might do it with a single overnight stop, but this family has young children! I think you are quoting either the wrong days, or the wrong times. The A7, in the summer holidays, and especially round Lyon, is prone to long tail backs, so that alone blows any chance of maintaining a steady 70MPH. Calais to Valras Plage is 700 miles. Assuming you could maintain a steady 60MPH (highly debatable!), you'd need at least 12 hours driving time - without any stops - to cover the distance. Add stops for the inevitable, plus meals, plus sleeping, and you'd need to plan on a minimum of 22 hours for the whole trip, say two days hard travel? Personally, I think that would be madness. The French still call the A7 the graveyard of the English, just because so many UK registered vehicles, driven by tired drivers who encounter unaccustomed strong light and high temperatures, become drowsy and lose concentration, or just fall asleep, and crash. Better not to join them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josielynne Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 hi claire, had a little giggle at your posting, we are in the same boat, we have 2 kids both 10 years, and we are hoping to go on our first venture abroad, we have no idea what to do either or where to go, we were thinking of going to disney first then travel south. hope your first trip is a success , shall let you know how we get on. lynne ;-s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totallyidle Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 I am not fussed about the Vendee. I would head for the Biarritz area, Camping Royal Pavilion. This place is on a cliff (30 steps) to a fantastic beach, you can surf, fly a kite swim and it is all supervised for the kids, there is a Beach Club restaurant on site and shop. You can even buy an English paper and keep up with the football. You can catch the bus into Biarritz and do some serious shopping, or pop across into Spain. The Sunsets are just fantastic. Dont go to the Med it is Naff. This place is not cheap, and you may have to book, allow a couple of days for the journey, but it is well worth it believe me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carioca Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 hi for first time abroard why not book through a third party first few times we went we booked with either eurocamp independant or select sites. both give a brochure covering most of western europe. the people in both offices are quite helpfull. it is a bit reasuring to have somebody behind you on your first tripshope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNITYJAN Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Hi Claire We were 1st timers last year and did 3000 miles around France and Spain-down the eastern side of France down to Alicante and back up and along the west coast of France. The brilliant thing about motorhoming is how quick you can pitch, and settle into a campsite. Try a few different sites on your journey-the kids will love the adventure, and, although you want site/town/beach all walkable, it becomes less essential if you try a few different options. One site we stayed at on our return leg was a little further down the coast, just south of Bordeaux called Camping La Rive-on a lake-which was as good as the beach with lovely clean sand, loads of watersports for the kids, great facilities(pool,restaurants and entertainment),grass or hardstanding. We could cycle to the town(Biscarrosse) but for one or two nights, you wouldn't need to leave the site. Maybe a little commercial in July/August-we went in June, but it would certainly keep the kids occupied. The camping and caravan carefree brochure was our lifeline being 1st timers and the bookings we made through them were absolutely spot on! Bon voyage Jan Fox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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