Camp sites from Caen to Nantes

[Mickydripin]

Hi Folks,

I am travelling down to portsmouth over to Caen then down to the Vendee soon I have been down that route a few times but never stopped anywhere.

When I get over the water I want to stay at a campsite or nice aire between Caen and Nantes.

I will be rested on the ferry but dont want to go more than three hrs approx so can anyone advise a good place to overnight not too far off road.

[malc d]

Mickydripin - 2013-05-15 2:35 PM

 

Hi Folks,

I am travelling down to portsmouth over to Caen then down to the Vendee soon I have been down that route a few times but never stopped anywhere.

When I get over the water I want to stay at a campsite or nice aire between Caen and Nantes.

I will be rested on the ferry but dont want to go more than three hrs approx so can anyone advise a good place to overnight not too far off road.

 

 

Nice little municipal ( that I mentioned on another thread the other day ) is at Pont Farcy - at junction 39 on the A84 motorway.

It's only an hour from Ouistreham - but very easy access - ( about half a mile ? ) off the motorway.

 

 

 

[sambukashot]

Here are a couple of aires:

http://www.camperstops.co.uk/index.php/en/motorhome-stopover-locations-map/437-saint-brice-en-cogles-aires

http://www.camperstops.co.uk/index.php/en/motorhome-stopover-locations-map/276-nozay-aires 

[Derek Uzzell]

Mike

 

Ouistreham to Nantes is about 190 miles via Rennes. Most of that distance (around 180 miles) involves autoroute (A84 Caen-Rennes) and dual-carriageway (N137 Rennes-Nantes), so you could get pretty close to Nantes in a 3-hour run from the ferry-port.

 

I suspect that the pleasant campsite at Pont Farcy might be a bit too close to Ouistreham for you (though not, perhaps, if you've had a rough ferry-crossing!)

 

Both of sambukashot's 'aires' suggestions would be good choices - another might be the aire at Grand Fougeray

 

http://www.aire-service-camping-car-panoramique.fr/ille-et-vilaine/35-grand-fougeray

 

If you'd prefer campsites, either of these two might suit:

 

http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/france/brittany/ille-et-vilaine/camping-de-l'etang-(municipal)-120259/

http://www.ville-staubinducormier.fr/saint-aubin-du-cormier/spip.php?article40

 

http://www.campinglac.fr/index.html?lghome=gb

 

Plainly, if you don't intend to take the A84 route from Caen, all bets are off. Also, if you are A-framing a car, you'll need to bear that in mind regarding use of aires.

[Mickydripin]

Ouistreham to Nantes is about 190 miles via Rennes. Most of that distance (around 180 miles) involves autoroute (A84 Caen-Rennes) and dual-carriageway (N137 Rennes-Nantes), so you could get pretty close to Nantes in a 3-hour run from the ferry-port.

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Plainly, if you don't intend to take the A84 route from Caen, all bets are off. Also, if you are A-framing a car, you'll need to bear that in mind regarding use of aires.

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We will be using the A84 from Caen.

 

Derik,

What are you driving three hours to Nantes you do not know my wife three hours would just about get us half of that distance.

First we have the fag stops then dog stops then tea or food stops it makes me wonder how we get there sometimes.

But it is not always about getting there it is the enjoyment along the way.

Yes we will have the towcar but we could check out the Aires and if they are looking a bit full we could carry on to a camp site "dont want to cause any problems".

Dont think they will be full as we are going the last week of this month

 

Thanks every body for your help Pont Farcy looks OK.

 

If you can think of one just after Rennes that would help it is always better to get one that is recomended.

 

Mike

[Mickydripin]

Thanks malc.d and sambukashot for your offerings they are noted and we will have a look we can possibley park the car outside if a problem.

 

Mike.

[Derek Uzzell]

Mike

 

Ouistreham to Pont Farcy (according to ViaMichelin) is 47 miles or which 43 are on dual-carriageway/autoroute.

 

Now, despite your wife’s apparent insistence on regular fag/dog/tea/food stops (and even though you’ll be towing a car) you ought to be able to reach Pont Farcy within not much more than an hour of getting clear of the ferry-port. That would leave you another 140 miles to travel to Nantes, plus whatever extra distance it takes to reach your Vendee final destination.

 

To a large extent, how far you might want to travel after leaving Ouistreham will depend on when you arrive there. Presumably you will be taking the 08.15 crossing from Portsmouth that will arrive at Ouistreham at 15:00, which should allow you to then get clear of Caen fairly rapidly.

 

If you want to go a bit further than Pont Farcy, you could ovenight on the aire at Ducey (about 80 miles from Ouistreham).

 

http://www.campingcar-infos.com/Francais/airepda.php?numid=2326&Localit%E9=DUCEY

 

This is just a big public car-park, but it’s OK for an overnight stop, there are public toilets there and no problems with dog-walking or manoeuvring a motorhome+car combination. We stay there occasionally on the way back to the Ouistreham ferry.

 

The only campsite literally “just after Rennes” is probably La Garenne de Pan at Bruz

 

http://www.campng.fr/fr/camping/49282

 

but I believe you’d be better off going on to Bain de Bretagne and Camping du Lac (that I gave a link to) that has a good review in the Caravan Club guide.

 

http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/france/brittany/ille-et-vilaine/camping-du-lac-120813/

[Mickydripin]

Hi Derek ,

Thanks for you post all is noted and will be staying at one "or two" of the sites mentioned I will let you know how we get on.

 

Mike

[Derek Uzzell]

Another possibility for an 'early stop' campsite would be at Villedieu-les-Poeles, a few kilometres further down the A84 from the Pont Farcy exit.

 

http://www.camping-deschevaliers.com/index.html?lg=gb

 

This is more upmarket (and more expensive) than the Pont Farcy campsite, but it's close to the centre of Villedieu that's a popular tourist destination

 

http://www.ot-villedieu.fr/index.htm?lang=en

 

There's also an inexpensive campsite at Ducey close to the town centre

 

http://www.ducey-tourisme.com/camping.htm

 

though some of the pitches are small and sloping, and the electricity-points are few and far between.

[malc d]

Derek Uzzell - 2013-05-19 8:25 AM

 

Another possibility for an 'early stop' campsite would be at Villedieu-les-Poeles, a few kilometres further down the A84 from the Pont Farcy exit.

 

 

 

 

We once decided to use Villedieu instead of Pont Farcy but after wandering around the town in quite a bit of traffic, as the site appears to be near the centre, we turned and went back to Pont Farcy.

Villedieu looked like a nice little town but I wouldn't consider it to be easy access for an overnight stop.

 

I seem to recall It's a centre for the manufacture of copper goods, and may well be a place to stay for a day or two.

 

 

[Derek Uzzell]

malc d - 2013-05-19 8:54 AM

 

Derek Uzzell - 2013-05-19 8:25 AM

 

Another possibility for an 'early stop' campsite would be at Villedieu-les-Poeles, a few kilometres further down the A84 from the Pont Farcy exit.

 

 

 

 

We once decided to use Villedieu instead of Pont Farcy but after wandering around the town in quite a bit of traffic, as the site appears to be near the centre, we turned and went back to Pont Farcy.

Villedieu looked like a nice little town but I wouldn't consider it to be easy access for an overnight stop.

 

I seem to recall It's a centre for the manufacture of copper goods, and may well be a place to stay for a day or two.

 

 

I wouldn't disagree with you that finding the campsite at Villedieu is trickier than finding the one at Pont Farcy.

 

The simplest route should be to take the D924 exit from the A84 and just keep on going until Villedieu's central market-square/car-park (Place des Costls) appears to the left. The road to the campsite is off that car-park. (Best thing is to look at a GOOGLE map of Villedieu, as the location of the campsite and how best to reach it should then be evident.)

 

There's a large Tuesday-morning market that clogs up the town with traffic and it would be wise to take this into account if visiting in a motorhome.

 

http://www.ot-villedieu.fr/tourism-villedieu-market.htm

 

There's also motorhome parkind and a service-point at Villedieu:

 

http://www.ot-villedieu.fr/motor-home-service-area.htm

 

http://www.aire-service-camping-car-panoramique.mobi/panoramique/manche/50-villedieu-les-poeles/

 

http://www.i-campingcar.fr/aire.php?ville=VILLEDIEU%20LES%20POELES

 

The Pont Farcy campsite is fine (and inexpensive), though care needs to be taken if it has rained a lot as the ground can get soft. Pont Farcy itself is a small village and, except during the annual fête de la Saint-Jean in June, very quiet. Unless there has been a change of proprietor since we lunched there a couple of years ago, I suggest eating at the "Restaurant Le Coq Hardi" is best avoided.

[Mickydripin]

Derek malc-d and sambukashot

 

We will be travelling down to portsmouth which is about 200 miles to catch the 08.15 crossing to Caen.

 

We have decided to stop at Pont Farcy now as that will get us away from Caen and a better start then we will only have about 180 miles to go the next day down to the Vendee.

 

Thanks for all your help and we hope you all have a great summer.

 

Mike.

[sambukashot]

Have a great trip!