Pampam Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Could all you veterans of European travel tell me please if you think a guided tour to Normandy for ten days to include all site fees ,ferry fares, and a trip to battle fields, Paris , bayeux and a couple of meals ,is good value for £950 in June .? For a motorhome and two people : it seems really good value to me and I thought it would be an ideal way to go abroad for first time it is with one of the camping clubs. Or could I do that for half price? Because I haven't got a clue : thanks pp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 No, you could do all that yourself for a a much reduced cost. One morning would be enough to do all the research and it's ridiculously easy to be a motorhomer in France. I did 3 weeks motorhoming in Australia including extra excursions to the GB Reef and Fraser Island for quite a bit less than double that cost - including about 2000kms' worth of fuel and all my food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddies104 Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Hi pp It's really more of, do you want to travel as a group with everything already organised, in which case it's not a bad deal. Or do you like to do your own organising and travel where you want to go!! As a rule of thumb, in June, costs would be:- Ferry. £100 Pitches. £200 You do not say what is included in travel to Paris and Battlefields and Bayeux, if you have to pay on top to get into the ?? Bayeux. £20 Battlefields. £20 Paris. Can be anything As you can see it can be cheaper, depends what is included, and if you want to organise it...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 It's really not difficult or in the least bit challenging....just DIY and go! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pampam Posted June 30, 2013 Author Share Posted June 30, 2013 Thanks I just find it a bit daunting and after I'd written that first post I just thought wow a grand!! But it works out at a hundred a day could save up a bit more and jump on a long haul to somewhere exotic: I think I thought it would be a taster for going it alone to sunnier climes: I reckon I have a lack of sun worshipping at the moment .pp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Heavens........How is a trip to France daunting..you just book a ferry crossing and go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 JudgeMental - 2013-06-30 10:59 AMHeavens........How is a trip to France daunting..you just book a ferry crossing and go? Exactly, more scary to go to Cornwall and the roads are better :-) Have a look on Amazon for the Michelin Historical map of the Normandy landings (No 102) and Major Holts pocket guide to the landing beaches, invaluable. and less than £10 all together! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnP Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 I think you could do it for just over half the price in June Does it include insurance and is the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen? You still have to buy food and budget for other days out etc on top of the £950. Parking at most of the well known battlefields/memorials is usually OK for M/H. in Normandy and the Somme. Start research now, you have many months to plan ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 The Normandy beaches are so easy to do and there are aires all along the coast. Bayeux has an aires right in the middle of town or a municipal campsite all within easy walking distance of the tapestries. Paris has a camp site in the city which tends to be very busy and slightly expensive and not modern but they do run a bus into the centre of Paris. £950 would easily last me 2/3 months so yes I would say it is expensive particularly as you can easily do it yourself. Whatever enjoy yourself and you will find France so relaxing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 I'm guessing this is the escorted tour Pampam was referring to: http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/travelabroad/europeantours/motorcaravansection/normandy-tour/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 We've just done a 47 day trip to Germany and France (2 adults and 3 dogs) covering 4,400 miles, staying on aires (some charged for but most were free), and our costs included the channel tunnel crossings, an unexpected €114 vet's bill, an 'expected' vet's bill of €47 (return to UK check etc), food, wine, beer, ice-creams, ice-creams and yet more ice-creams in Germany (yummie and cheap!), fuel, travel insurance - basically everything you would need to pay for. We don't eat out but do like to buy the local food so long as it's not extortionately priced and enjoy it in our van looking at the scenery; we've paid entry fees for a few attractions and have also bought some presents for family and friends too. We've done our costings and it has come in at just under £1100, or £23 a day!!! 8-) which pleasantly surprised me as I thought it would be more! :-> It can be a bit daunting going abroad for the first time on your own but it is much easier than you think it will be especially nowadays as there is so much info on the web/forums etc so you can find things out beforehand - our first trip was in 2005 and we didn't have the advantage of being able to tap into this massive bank of knowledge/info, but we soon got to grips with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Hi Pampam; it may not be brilliant value for money; and you may not get to stay on an aire!! but you may well come home, sit down and look at your "pics" and think I could manage that on my own (now) ! which in my book would make it good value. If it gets you there and back, and you enjoy the company of others, then it will have been well worth it. Let us know how you get on, whichever way you do it. But do it some way, that's the important thing, regards alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pampam Posted July 1, 2013 Author Share Posted July 1, 2013 Yes thanks for all your replies am definitely going to do it but I can't go till next June as have no spare holidays left: so will look and learn on this forum (is it francs in France?lol) pp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pampam Posted July 1, 2013 Author Share Posted July 1, 2013 Yes thanks for all your replies am definitely going to do it but I can't go till next June as have no spare holidays left: so will look and learn on this forum (is it francs in France?lol) pp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Mel B - 2013-07-01 9:54 PM We've done our costings and it has come in at just under £1100, or £23 a day!!! 8-) which pleasantly surprised me as I thought it would be more! :-> You spendthrift :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 I'm not sure I would describe it as 'good value', the total cost including breakdown insurance, personal insurance, fuel, and spending money, might well bring that up to £1500 (or more depending on spending), but you do get a guide and a trip to Paris. You will also be in the company of a group so will probably make friends (or enemies :D ) but you will have to stick to their timetable. If you are very nervous of going to France then maybe it's a good thing to ease your mind, and as Alan says you will be thinking "i'm happy to DIY next time", but believe me France is easy to visit, esp. in June when 99% of campsites are open but it's not booked up solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 pelmetman - 2013-07-01 10:32 PM Mel B - 2013-07-01 9:54 PM We've done our costings and it has come in at just under £1100, or £23 a day!!! 8-) which pleasantly surprised me as I thought it would be more! :-> You spendthrift :D I should say so! 4,400 miles, fuel bill must have been £750, that leaves £7.50 per day for food, drink, sites, and other spending. Not bothered adding it up, but we must have spent £1000 on 16days 2000miles, but that was mainly on sites, which where probably on average 10e per night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugga Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 I know how you feel PamPam. We went to France on our own last year to do the WW2 beaches on our own and we were terrified. We went through the Tunnel and came out on the A16 motorway and headed to Abbeville for our first stop. After 5 minutes we could not believe how easy it was. There was very little traffic compared to UK motorways. We followed the Sat Nav that took us straight to the campsite entrance. Neither of us speak very muc French and I was terrified as I was elected to go and pay. I was very pleased to note that the owners spoke very good English and were lovely. They explained everything we needed to know. We pitched and met some Brits and we chilled with a cuppa. We did all the Beaches and Pont du Hoc (well worth going to) and came across the Pegasus Bridge by going the wrong way. That was interesting too. We visited the Museums and the Grand Camp Maisie town and Batterie (also worth viewing). I didn't feel able to go to any cemetries as all that loss of young lives upsets me. We only spent a fraction of your costs, about £200 including campsites, entries and a couple of Menu de Jours (lunchtime bargain 2 or 3 course meal). We had a brilliant time and had no problem from then on. If you want name of campsites, pm me and I will happily share the details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Mel B - 2013-07-01 10:54 PM We've just done a 47 day trip to Germany and France (2 adults and 3 dogs) covering 4,400 miles, staying on aires (some charged for but most were free), and our costs included the channel tunnel crossings, an unexpected €114 vet's bill, an 'expected' vet's bill of €47 (return to UK check etc), food, wine, beer, ice-creams, ice-creams and yet more ice-creams in Germany (yummie and cheap!), fuel, travel insurance - basically everything you would need to pay for. We don't eat out but do like to buy the local food so long as it's not extortionately priced and enjoy it in our van looking at the scenery; we've paid entry fees for a few attractions and have also bought some presents for family and friends too. We've done our costings and it has come in at just under £1100, or £23 a day!!! 8-) which pleasantly surprised me as I thought it would be more! :-> It can be a bit daunting going abroad for the first time on your own but it is much easier than you think it will be especially nowadays as there is so much info on the web/forums etc so you can find things out beforehand - our first trip was in 2005 and we didn't have the advantage of being able to tap into this massive bank of knowledge/info, but we soon got to grips with it. Mel - just checking, but are you quite sure about that total cost of less than £1,100? If you drove 4,400 miles, then the cost of diesel alone (at say 30mpg, at say £1.20 per litre) would be about 670 litres, so over £800. So I reckon that leaves a less than £300 for ALL other expenses. Surely your £100 vet bill, return channel crossings, and just a few Aires fees would use all of that up for sure, before you've spent anything at all on any food, any drinks or anything else in that whole 47 days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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