# St Malo, Mont St Michel, the west coast down to Biarritz. Ideas please.



## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

Suggestion from Barry:
It might be worth a new thread then people not reading this one will see it. Start a new one and Ill reply on that as will others. If you have secondary transport there are some crackers at all those places. Found a great Aire with hookup and services for €5 at Sanes about 7 miles from Mont St Michel. There is a new one a few miles up the coast from St Malo and a really good small one a bit further out. La Rochelle on the way down, Dune de Pyla as mentioned, couple of good aires on the two lakes between there and Biarittz and of course st Jean de Luz a bit further down.

Thanks. 
We don't have secondary transport. Would we be able to get from Sanes to Mont SM by bus do you think?

Greatly looking forward to all the ideas - in fact I've opened up a new folder to store them until after Christmas when I can really get down to planning. Can't wait - I love that bit during cold winter nights.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

StephandJohn said:


> *We don't have secondary transport*. Would we be able to get from Sanes to Mont SM by bus do you think? QUOTE]
> Do you have bikes? Not sure if they are described as "_secondary transport_".
> 
> If you do there is a very good option. Stay at Camping Haliotis (_NO - not Halitosis_ :surprise: :grin2 at Pontorson and you can cycle off road all the way to the Mont, and it's pancake flat and not too far.
> ...


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

We stayed in the council campsite in La Rochelle a couple of summers ago. Unbeknownst to me I thought I had reserved a pitch but hadn't as I hadn't paid a deposit. Luckily we had their last pitch!

http://www.holidays-la-rochelle.co.uk/where-to-sleep/campsites/124241-municipal-le-soleil

Close enough to the town centre/harbour area: 15 min walk from memory. Site is relatively small with small pitches but perfectly serviceable. Loads of showers/toilets from memory too

Graham:smile2:


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## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

No Bikes. I can't ride one - have tried many times but get frightened as I wobble around in traffic i.e the one tractor that came up behind me last time!
i think its not having one as a child that's meant that I never got the knack.
People who do ride bikes say 'its easy' and then look at me strangely when I say I've tried!


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

StephandJohn said:


> No Bikes. I can't ride one - have tried many times but get frightened as I wobble around in traffic i.e the one tractor that came up behind me last time!
> i think its not having one as a child that's meant that I never got the knack.
> People who do ride bikes say 'its easy' and then look at me strangely when I say I've tried!


Have you considered a folding trike?

Just a thought - and they are not only for the wrinklies!! :wink2:


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## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

Didn't know you could get folding ones- I'll google them


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Not cheap, but for the added freedom it could be worth the investment.

We've seen some superb examples. Not at all "_granny chariots_" but very smart and with plenty of luggage capacity.

If you are of a certain age kiss or have medical considerations, you can even get an electric trike.

Dave


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## philoaks (Sep 2, 2008)

StephandJohn said:


> No Bikes. I can't ride one - have tried many times but get frightened as I wobble around in traffic i.e the one tractor that came up behind me last time!
> i think its not having one as a child that's meant that I never got the knack.
> People who do ride bikes say 'its easy' and then look at me strangely when I say I've tried!


My wife is exactly the same. She never had a bike as a child and fear took control when she tried to learn as an adult.

Our solution is a tandem. She sits happily on the back pedaling away (or at least she tells me she is!). No worries about balance or steering either.

With the front wheel removed the average tandem can be carried on a bike rack on a coachbuilt. You can spend a fortune on tandems but ours wasn't. Just as an *example*.

Phil


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I dont think there will be a bus service from the Aire at Sains sadly. It would be a nice cycle ride or even a trike ride along the back roads but its up and down a bit so you would have to be fairly fit even if you could ride a bike. However. How about this for a plan? The carrefour has an Aire at Pontorsan not far from the campsite mentioned. The link on cc infos is here http://www.campingcar-infos.com/Francais/ccib.php?numero=1577

Most of them say its a flat cycle ride and I think its about 5 miles but the last comment reckons you can get a bus. Translated it says_-_
_
hello, since moving the car parks of Mont Saint Michel in Beauvoir and commissioning shuttles, this possibility of parking / services seems even more interesting, free, quiet, withdrawn from agitation of the road and over a regular bus service takes you to the foot of Mount for 2 in € 15mn (sample schedule of Sunday, starting at 10:10 100m right of the exit of the car park opposite the Armor Lux shop , return 11:55 or 1:10 p.m. at the foot of Mount) must see the good side of things, although the sunset and night with Mount illuminated in the background were a great time.​
_You could park up there, get the bus in and when you get back move on to Sains.

Ill have a think about the other places. When are you going and if your not able to cycle how are you at walking?

​


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## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

We walk, bus and train everywhere. The Carrefour lan sounds like a good one. Thanks.


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## TeamRienza (Sep 21, 2010)

This year we stayed for a couple of nights at 'camping Aux pommiers' which is at Beauvoir. A nice little ACSI discount site. There is also a large Aire nearby, although it costs nearly as much as the discounted site.

It is possible to walk to the Mont along the path beside the river and out onto the causeway.

After all the upgrading of the site there is now a regular bus service (every ten minutes or so) across the causeway. I think it was free. It departs from the hotel and commercial area at the huge new car parks near Beauvoire.

If you are contemplating the St Malo area then might I suggest you check out the aire at Rothneuf ( about 5km east of st Malo). It is a former municipal campsite now used exclusively as a large aire with electric emplacements, no shower or toilet block though. About 7euro if I remember. It is in the all the Aires book.

We walked along the beach to St Malo which was very pleasant and took about 2 hours as it follows the twists and turns of the shoreline. Very pleasant. There is also an hourly bus service from the gates of the aire to the Citadel in St Malo for a few euros, which takes 10 minutes or so. Excellent location.

The aire is called 'aire des Ilots'
Davy


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## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

Thanks Davy. Sounds perfect for us too.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I had a look at the aire at Rotheneuf a few weeks ago. It had just shut but reviews are good and it looks good. Just up the road there is also a new are with no services right near the beach. Can't remember the name and I'm out at the gym, will look it up. Also a good acsi site there. The beaches in that area are just stunning as is the coastline round to cancal which is famous for oysters.

A walk around the ramparts is well worth it at st malo. It's a very interesting port with a fort on the other side of the harbour and even a chateaux by the sea a bit further round. F your n that area dinard around the corner and Dinan (town and river port) are well worth a visit.

Are you doing any of Brittany or just heading down from at malo?

La Rochelle of course is worth a visit as is the emerald coast between there and Brittany. Piriac sur mer is fab and there is a choice of three aires but when we were there In November we found a little site on the edge of town next to the sea with hookup and services for €9 years which was only slightly more than the aires without ehu. We had a freebie though as try as I might I couldn't find anyone to pay which is often the case with n France is in November

I prefer the aire at Anglet just outside to the north of Biarittz than the main Biarittz aire. Bit quieter. It's well worth exploring the stretch between Biarittz and st jean du luz as it's lovely, especially st Jean but the aire is the worst in France. Free and free services but you wouldn't want to stay there. We stayed for 8 nights up on Col d'ibarden which is 6 miles up in the hills and officially in Spain but no good to you. Again it would be useful to know when your going as when we were there September 2014 we found quite a few sites down the coast exploring that looked ok and were cheap in September. I would avoid in July and August.


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## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

Thanks. I'm saving all these ideas up until the new year when we'll start planning. we usually have an idea of where we are eventually aiming for (in this case Biarritz) but try to stay flexible about how we get there. Been to some amazing places before that we hadn't heard of until we were on the road and were told about them on the way.


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Hiya,

If you're into that sort of thing then its well worth a visit to the WW2 Submarine pens at St Nazaire, you can wander around the pens for free and there is loads of other things to visit around the port inc a trip around the submarine Espadon, etc, etc and even a visit to the Airbus factory..

http://visit-saint-nazaire.com/rubrique/2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Nazaire_submarine_base

You can overnight in the carpark opposite where there is an area set aside for motorhomes at N47.27916 W2.20835, there may be a small charge but the barriers were open when we visited earlier in the year.

As mentioned, La Rochelle well worth a visit, between October and June you can stay overnight free in the Le Lazaret carpark at Minimes Marina and get the water bus into the town for a few €'s, the best way to arrive. There is also a big P&R for motorhomes on the outskirts but its very noisy and not worth the €10 p/n imo.
Download the guide with all the overnight options here...

http://www.larochelle-tourisme.com/...Info_pratiques/depliant_camping-cars_2012.pdf

The canton of St Savin to the northeast of Bordeaux is well worth a visit and a wander around the vineyards of the region and explore all the little villages. 
Pop into the Tourist information office at St Savin itself (N45.1398 W0.4420) and they will give you a free booklet listing motorhome stopovers in the area. 
There are 2 x motorhome service points (1 at the tourist office mentioned and 1 at St Christophe de Blaye). 
In addition there are 16 motorhome specific overnight parking areas in some of the little villages in the region and 13 vineyards where motorhomes are also welcome to stay the night. More info here...

http://en.calameo.com/read/00072378922e447fa2829

We spent several days wandering around the area a while back and overnighted at Marcenais and Cavignac and used the free service point at St Christophe de Blaye. 
Highly recommended.

If you email them, they might even send a copy of the booklet if you ask nicely, its called 'Guide d'accueil camping-cars - Canton de Saint Savin' which gives more specific info than the link above. 
[email protected]

Pete


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## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

Thanks Peejay and evryone


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