# Planning a trip?



## badger (May 9, 2005)

So....If I do succumb to the pressure of 'er indoors..and we do.....eventually get to go over the channel (one way or the other)....here's a few questions.........

We will have to visit a cousin........she's in St Gonnery (brittany)...now.....the cousin says its 2 hrs drive to her from Roscoff.

We would have liked to go to loir vally...but..and here are the limitations.....I will not consider driving for more than 1.1/2 to 2 hrs in a day........and prefer to stay put for a minimum of 2 nights......otherwise I just wouldn't be able to relax, and after all thats what holidays are for.

So should I ignore Loir and just do Brittany? How much (on average) would a van conversion cost on the ferry. plymouth Roscoff.....or maybe StMalo/

Would I be able to do dover/ calais and drive or is that out of my range.

And what sites (camp/municiples etc) would you recommend and what are THE places to visit in Brittany? Oh and the only time at the moment is in September.....Is that too late?

Are these too many questions.....I'll end up not going at this rate!!! 8O 8O


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## 107088 (Sep 18, 2007)

Dunno about anything regarding the ferry charges, but I've just been staggered with the prices of the tunnel. pros and cons there, 
erm....
weather will be as good, maybe a little better than in the Uk, and I think it may be money well invested in an Alan rogers camp site guide.


someone else will help this along now, hopefully


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## cronkle (May 1, 2005)

According to Autoroute Roscoff is 90 miles from St Gonnery. St Malo is 63 miles and Calais is 370.

I would have thought that you could find plenty of acceptable sites for each two hour 'hop'.

There will be plenty of suggestions about sites in the Loire valley. Mine would be Saumur and Loche.

Sorry but I have no idea about ferry prices at that end of the Channel


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## Nora+Neil (May 1, 2005)

We have to Brittany in May 2003 and Sept 2007. 

How long do you have??

May is a much nicer time to travel, evening are longer. 

We really enjoyed Sept 2007. 

Roads were quite, Campsite were empty and we only came across 1 Aire that was full with about 20 campers.

I would say go for it.

We do a good day driving the first day and then some days only 10 km. 

Take it easy and you come across some lovely old villages and towns. We love the coast and have done it twice.

Look up Redon/La Gacilly/Rochefort en terre.

St Malo is a walled city and is really beautiful.

St Malo is 119 km
Roscoff is 151 km

If you want more info just ask.
Enjoy your trip.


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## marionandrob (May 14, 2005)

We went in October last year and had lovely weather so you should be O.K
Don't know about the longer crossings. living near Chelmsford we go 
Dover/Calais.
We paid £42 for our single trip Calais/Dover ticket for a 6m motorhome in April. Best thing is to get quotes off the ferry operators websites as prices can vary wildly depending on the time of day you cross. Our crossing left Calais at 8:50 am, at 11;00 am the same crossing would have cost over £60.

As to the rest of the questions it really depends on how long you want to be away and the sort of roads to you prefer to drive on.
French motorways are pretty good and you can cover a lot of ground quite quickly BUT a lot of them are peage (toll) which adds to holiday costs. Alternatively the N roads are also good and more intersting as you pass through the towns and villages. They are also free but of course you average lower speeds so will not get as far in 2 hours. 
similar to the difference between motorways and A roads in the U.K really

This will give you an idea of the distance you can happily cover on your trip so you will be able to work out if the Loire is a realistic objective for you
As for campsites, France is stuffed with them? Do you have any tugger friends who belong to the Caravan Club? We still have a copy of their Europe sites 1 book that covers France Spain and Portugal so se if you can borrow a copy - most of the bigger sites have websites so you can check opening dates and even pre-book.

Have a good trip!


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## devonidiot (Mar 10, 2006)

I usually drive for a maximum of two hours then stop for at least 30 minutes tea and leg stretch, also very rarely trave more than 250 miles per day.

The drive to the Loire valley is very pleasant, especially the area around Saumur, which is only about 200 miles from St Gonnery. My personal advice is go for it, you'll never forgive yourself for not seeing those chateau, troglodyte houses etc..

Stop at the site on the island opposite the Saumur chateau.pleasant and was fairly cheap in 2006.


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## PAT4NEIL (Jul 21, 2007)

Loire and Brittany are both great, We stayed in Saumer in August a couple of years ago. Previous to that we visited the Loire a long time ago, just check if the chateaux are open, I think they are to end of September, but some closed, but as I said that was a long time ago. You could also try Brittany ferries Portsmouth to Caen which would be okay for the loire, and not too far for Brittany, or you could do that one way and come back via St Malo when you visited Brittany, as I think you can mix and match ferries with Brittany Ferries.
Good luck
Pat


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## badger (May 9, 2005)

mercy blothrough 8) ...for all your suggestions (see I'm getting into the swing of it now)...............Please keep'em comming as I'm taking notes and transfering to maps. got a rough quote today following your suggestions, re ferry to st malo and back with 2 berth cabin both ways about £450. Is this about right?...I could fine tune it with obscure departing times I spose?

A question..would it be advisable to book sites or would that spoil the fun (we will be travelling with pals, so 2 motorhomes to bed down)


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## Nora+Neil (May 1, 2005)

badger
If you are going to Brittany you wont need to book campsites. 

Meant to say weather was beautiful, T shirts but you need a jumper for evening.

If you like walking, There a path that runs along coast. Some of it is rough but it mostly gravel.

Good luck.


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## Cherekee (May 1, 2005)

Hi badger,

As far as the ferry is concerned may be worth trying CONDOR.COM fast ferry from Poole or Weymouth to St Malo via the LOVELY Island of Guernsey. France in September is the best time to go.The aires are quiet and no screaming kids!!! Brittany and or Normandy are well worth exploring. France has so much to offer.

Enjoy.

Alan


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## Vennwood (Feb 4, 2007)

I agree with most of the replies on here - Still my two penyworth is to say don't bother booking sites as there are dozens of great places to and it won't be busy in September. Personally I wouldn't go via ST Malo, Roscoff or Cherbourge as the cost is too high for us (over 8 mtrs long and 3.3mtrs high) so we have just paid £63 return for Sept on Dover Calais SeaFrance - we can buy a lot of diesel for the difference between £450 and £63 There are some great places to stop along the way - Honfleur, Mont St Michelle, Les Treport etc. etc. and if you are travelling in convoy then great to break out the BBQ after first stopping off at Auchan or Carreforre to stock up with beer and vino collapso.

Have a great time - weather should be good too


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## marionandrob (May 14, 2005)

A bit off topic here!
While on the subject of Vino collapso Vennwood have you tried the guadaloupe white rum they sell in France. Bought a bottle and made Rob a rum and coke, usual sort of mix for Bacardi, after he collapsed choking I looked at the bottle and realised the stuff is 55% alcohol ( Bacardi is 37%)
Talk about general anaesthetic in a bottle!


Marion


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## Vennwood (Feb 4, 2007)

Hi Marion,

Wow that sounds like a party drink. I haven't tried it but probably think I ought. Is it available at any supermarket?

Reminds me of the Oozo days from Cyprus - I once offered a colleague a drink of Oozo - help yourself I said and he poured it into a half pint glass - went out like a light and was just as bad the following day. Back in the 70's it was thought to be illegal to import it but nobody bothered.


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## badger (May 9, 2005)

Marrion......now were talkin'........... :lol: 

By the way I forgot to mention that I would not be able to afford the time to do 3/4 months like SOME on here...  
so it would probably be just 14 days or so........

By the way......do they have country & western in France??? :roll: :roll:


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## SpeedyDux (Jul 13, 2007)

Condor Ferries are much cheaper than Brittany ferries for St Malo crossings, but in rough weather unless you have good sealegs you might regret choosing the faster bouncier catamaran compared to the big ship with stabilisers. 

We had a dire crossing in April 06 in a gale and heavy seas - 5 hours of utter misery and unable to stop being seasick or move. The Condor boat had to close its duty free shop because the bottles were crashing down.

This year we are taking no chances and have paid a bit extra to go with Brittany Ferries. If we had more time for the trip we would go the long way round via the Chunnel.

 

SD


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## marionandrob (May 14, 2005)

*Vino Collapso!*

Vennwood - yes the 55% rum seems to be available in most supermarkets, usually at least a couple of brands.
I too have done the ouzo thing,  stayed in an aparthotel once where the bar speciality was an " ouzo special" Ouzo mixed with sprite with enough Campari added to produce a nice pale pink colour!
Ricard or Pastis produces much the same effect, once again I think that some of the "domestic" brands are stronger than the international brands!

Badger- no idea if they have country and western in France, would'nt advise trying to take those revolvers with you even if they are replicas.

Marion


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## badger (May 9, 2005)

Well....there's been a developement!!..............
after a nice meal and a glass of vino colapso, with or friends .............we have agreed, we are going...................just getting the details sorted like when, where and how.... :roll: :roll: 

Looks like early September, into Brittany, and we will use either touring cheques or camping cheques......Soooo....any comments so far??
(I will do a search on all this to get the right info .....Ohhh and I'd better renew our passports) :lol: :lol:


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## badger (May 9, 2005)

Ok.....so the passports have arrived, we have the triangle thingies and Hi vis stuff,......we are now going via the chunnel after a lecture from Gaspode and will arrive during the daylight as we are cowards on our first trip. We will probably drive for a relitively short period before finding a site and getting our breath as it were. I am making a list of all the places to visit as recomended on this forum and will plot them to see what sort of rout we will do. I don't think we will go that far but just enough to gain a little experience and confidence.

Thanks for all your suggestions


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

hi badger,
I would follow the coast anti clockwise, via the pretty villages of honfleur,trouville and deauville. (to the left of Rouen on the map)
You can then , unless already done so visit the war graves museums and war time beaches of sword omaha gold etc.
Bayeaux and the tapestry .Down to Mont st michelle and sleep on the beach. you will not be alone. South westish is the walled town of Concarneau followed by Carnac and La Trinite sur Mer (camping de la plage). Vannes i think the colourfull market is on a wednesday. You can, time permitting cross to the Loire valley on your return trip. Only my idea but may get you thinking.
Trouble is with France is that it is so large, but the roads are generally easier on the stress levels.
Going myself in July. Brittany ferries do seem to be a bit expensive this year

Enjoy your trip 
Dave P


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

Hi again just found a usefull booklet ¬Discover Normandy -Things to do -places to visit. I got mine from
www.normandy-tourism.org
E-mail [email protected]
hope this is usefull

Dave P


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