# 1st trip over the water



## 115303 (Aug 8, 2008)

Hi everyone,hope you can give me some helpful pointers :roll: 

We are about to start planning a trip to the north west coast of France in July,from around the 18th for 10 days or so.We have two kids 8 and 4 yrs who are pretty decent travellers and we will be setting of from the north west,wigan to be precise...

We are wondering weather a longer ferry is better than a longer drive along the northern coast,does anyone have any experience with this.

also some other questions
which ferry companies should we use?
our van is 8.5m twin rear wheel,does this have any issues we should know about?
is the tunnel better?
what are the roads like on the north coast and west for that matter?
can anyone recommend a route,stopovers etc and sites which are good for kids,near the sea (preferably with some surf)

any other tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks
Ian
:lol:

oooppss wrong section :roll:


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## Chris_s (Jun 5, 2008)

Hi Bluyan
We have a panel conversion and will be driving from Wales to the north of Spain this summer to stay with friends and then taking a long relaxed journey home.

I have just booked Sea France from Dover to Calais for £57.60 return for the two of us and our motorhome. I worked out approximate mileages and decided that it would work out cheaper to drive and camp than to take the Plymouth Cherbourg or Portsmouth Santander ferries. We will be away for about 5 weeks in total and intend to use the Aire de Service as often as possible.

All crossings require the height and length of your vehicle, whether you are towing or have bike carriers and this can make a difference in the cost of fares. A friend suggested we drive down and take the long ferry back as people often just want to get home as quickly as possible at the end of a holiday. I suppose it all depends on budget! Also we are retired and this planned trip is not so much a holiday as a lifestyle.

Our experience of driving in France suggests the ordinary main N roads are often a good alternative if you're not in a hurry. They are frequently long and straight but only two-way traffic. Occasionally this can make overtaking difficult. The tolls roads are fast but I guess you will be limited on speed by the size of your unit.

Many years ago we stayed in St Jean de Monts on the west coast. We enjoyed the resort but it is so long ago that so much could have changed and I remember little about the detail.

Enjoy the planning and the holiday. I'm sure you will have a great time. Learn and use a few words of French and the locals will be so much more friendly and approachable.

Enjoy
Chris_s


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## UncleNorm (May 1, 2005)

Hi Ian! If you use the Google search just above this page, you'll get loads of information. I just played with _*France touring *_and it threw up some useful links.

Good luck with your search, your planning and your trip.

PS Don't overplan your holiday. Only ONCE in 19 years have we found a campsite FULL! Nowadays, we just turn up. Might be different with kiddies though.


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Hi Ian
Ok well it depends on if you want campsites or are prepared to stop on aires.
I use only aires but then theres only me and the missus but they are perfectly ok for a family in my opinion unless your kids like to spread out outside and have bikes, toys ball games ect going on when aires would probally be a no no.
the difference is that on aires you tend to be closer together but then they are usually quite near the town centre enalbling you to walk into town.

Aires i can recommend are
Le touquet paris plage (8 mile south of bolugne) the one at the marina not the airport

Le treport (hook up available)

St Valerie sur somme

St Valerie en crux (alondside the beach)

Vaulettes sur mer (plenty of space and beatifull aire next to beach will hills as a backdrop

Granville (hook up and free water)

Mont St Michelle (park on car park approaching the mount - you can stay all night)

Cancale (oyster bed town with lots of restaurants selling oysters etc)

They aires cost about 5-7 euros each per night.

I only use the tunnel. Bit dearer but better if you want to get there quicker and dont like seasickness.

feel free to pm me if you need any more advice or detail

Phill


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*P&O*

Hi

With a larger van, my advice for pricing is to go with www.poferries.com

The best rates are about £35 one way. These prices are often something like 2300 at night, but there is not harm in turning up at Dover at 1900 and seeing if they can move you a bit early etc.

The cheapest tunnel crossings for a motorhome, based on a long stay are £61 each way.

Take a larger van on Norfolkline and sit down before the quote comes up.

These crossings are based on the short sea. The longer crossings such as Pompey - Le Havre will set you back a lot more. My view is that you have your own cooker, loo, food and beds, so why pay more to use them on a ferry on a longer crossing?

Russell


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## Boff (May 10, 2005)

Hi Ian,

about the ferry: I would recommend to take a ferry from Hull. If France is your destination then I would choose the one to Zeebrugge, Belgium. From there you can trundle down the Belgian coast: Vast, sandy beaches with a decent surf, and loads of camp sites. (Though in mid-July you might want to pre-book.) And it is only about 75km to the French border.

By sailing from Hull you avoid the long way down to the English coast, including the dreadful M25. 

Best Regards,
Gerhard


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

drcotts said:


> Mont St Michelle (park on car park approaching the mount - you can stay all night)


If you have children I'd recommend the aire in the village. It is cheaper than the one at the mount itself and you get hook up, water and waste dump as well as masses of space and playgrounds for children.

See:

HERE

N roads are, as said above, usually straight and fast and often run parallel to the motorways. Their real snag is that they often go straight through a town and, while this is part of the charm , it can be quite stressful if you are not used to negotiating markets, crowds, overhanging buildings, dozens of roundabouts and a so on.

Enjoy your trip, you'll be hooked !

G


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## 115303 (Aug 8, 2008)

Thank you so much for all you replies and pointers...i'll keep you posted on our progress.

I have a feeling of excitement along with nervernous :lol: should be fun :lol: :lol: 

Thanks again
Ian
:lol:


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## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

France can be pretty hectic in summer 'high season' and no one can be sure the weather is going to be good - why not [have a 'plan B'] & look at going further south ? . . we have had some good holidays in the Dordogne basing ourselves at the municipal campsite in the village of Saint Julien-de-Lampon which is right on the river for swimming and messing around, if your taking bikes their is a good [flat] cycle way to Sarlat-la-Caneda to exhaust the kids energy . . and the weather is bound to be much better.
http://www.northofthedordogne.com/dordogne-map.php

Whatever you do - try not to plan too much as it'll spoil the fun !


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## cronkle (May 1, 2005)

bluyan said:


> Thank you so much for all you replies and pointers...i'll keep you posted on our progress.
> 
> I have a feeling of excitement along with nervernous :lol: should be fun :lol: :lol:
> 
> ...


I'm sure that you will enjoy yourselves.

One small suggestion. Arrive at camp sites as early as you can. This makes it more likely that there will be spaces available for you.


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## teensvan (May 9, 2005)

Hi bluyan.

We only cross Dover to calais. We have a tag axle burstner and pay between £ 35 to £45 for our crossings. Try and book a sunday crossing as the french roads are very quiet on that day no lorries. The aires that drcottt has suggested are all very good as we have used them in the past. The french N & D roads are ok for your size of van. We never use french toll roads. If you do aires hop like we do always try and get to the aires of your choice by 3 pm as the do fill up in the summer.

Enjoy your trip.

steve & ann. ------------- teensvan.


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## 96706 (Nov 13, 2005)

Hi bluyan,

A bit late now I know as you've already booked with seafrance, but did you consider using the Tunnel?

If you collect Tesco vouchers you get a 1 for 4 reduction on cost. So if the tunnel fare is £60 you only need £15 in tesco vouchers  

They also used to be available with P&O but that stopped last year. It might be worth looking on the Tesco Website to see if they have any other travel reductions with vouchers.


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## 115303 (Aug 8, 2008)

Hi ****
We have not booked anything yet although we are leaning towards the ferry,we think it would be another adventure for the kids.I'll have a look at the Tesco site though.

Once again thanks to you all for the information and tips.

Our latest thoughts are to travel to Dover on the Saturday(possibly stay at a cl site on the way),sail on the sunday,early on then drive to one of the aires suggested.We are also considering going further south....thanks vic :lol:

I think the Hull ferry would be a bit to much for the kids.

Thanks again
Ian


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

I don't think we're unique in this but we always seem to go a lot slower than we expect. We tend to stop and look at things en route and so don't usually make our next projected stopping place. Over the years we've adjusted to this.

What I guess I'm saying is don't make your days' hops too ambitious as there will almost always be something to distract you on the way.

G


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## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

Grizzly said:


> I don't think we're unique in this but we always seem to go a lot slower than we expect. . .


I fully agree, although we can drive at times between 40 / 55mph we seem to 'only' average 35 / 40 mph, mind you this is using normal roads not the pay / toll roads . . we find that around 200 miles a day is enough - anymore and it takes the fun out of it, we also try to arrive at our chosen Aire no later than 3.30pm as they fill up with other 'herding' motorhomers


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## 101405 (Oct 15, 2006)

With children ! the beach , would recomend anywhere and everywhere on the french Atlantic coast , Brittany more sheltered keep away from big resorts and you'll find some delightfull little seaside towns used mainly by the French! stay away fron the likes of Mon st Michel unless you want to park with hundreds of other M/Hs and jap tourists. Further down past La rochelle is the ille d'oleron , good motor home stop at Boyardville and fab beach on your doorstep and good cockling by the bucket, kids will love this spot and its not too far for you. ? hows Asda wigan ? used to haul out of there to the supermarkets great gang of blokes, If you need info for france go on line to local tourist sites and they will send you lots of Info (english) on their area ,camping /mh stops and what to do , almost every town village has a tourist Information office very good /helpfull. Bon journey.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

bluyan said:


> Our latest thoughts are to travel to Dover on the Saturday(possibly stay at a cl site on the way),sail on the sunday,early on then drive to one of the aires suggested.


This is a very good idea as lorries are more or less banned from French roads on Sundays, so you can get used to driving the van on the wrong side of the road without them hassling you. 

If you need food or other provisions however, don't forget that France is closed on Mondays!! :roll:

You may have problems finding manned service stations for fuel as well, but most of them take British cards now.

Hope this adds to the good advice already posted.


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## 115303 (Aug 8, 2008)

Yes it does Zebedee,thanks very much :wink: 

Silvasurfa..Asda's doing fine...especially when Lynn,my wife,goes in :roll: :lol: :lol: 

And now for something completely different :? :roll: :lol: 

:idea: 
Plymouth to Santander...sails at 4pm arrives 12.30pm the following day...a lot more expensive I know but this is going to be our main holiday....a CL site on the way to Plymouth...kids would enjoy the boat,especially with a sleep over,i could hit the bars 8O :roll: ...bit of a lyin...some breakfast....roll off into the sun :lol: :lol: 
possibly stay in the region for a few days and then start making our way up the west coast and finally making our way to one of the northern ports

sorry to myther....but more advice would be nice :roll:  :lol:


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## UncleNorm (May 1, 2005)

Hello again Ian! You said more advice would be nice...

Before you go booking for Santander, may I draw your attention to the following serious thread. The photos appear genuine and many of the posts have been from our more senior and more experienced members of MHF. Suffice to say, I would NOT wish to travel via Santander!

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modul...opic&t=49933&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0


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## 115303 (Aug 8, 2008)

8O Thanks for that UncleNorm.  

I still think it may be an option as we would be looking to get off the ferry and travel straight to the site...Playa Joyel,this is just outside Santander or maybe another a bit further out.

Do you think this would also have problems?

Thanks
Ian


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## mickyc (Jan 20, 2006)

We have toured Brittany and the West Coast many times, my advice would be

1) Under no circumstances try to "do both" in the same holiday, France is huge and to do either area any justice, and to have a holiday (not a road trip) pick 1 or the other areas.

2) If surfing is your thing, the West coast is the place to head, starting at Archanon and heading south (there are loads of Aires right at the side of the beach.

3) The beach South of Archanon runs for over a hundred miles and consists of a pine forest (Landes) sand dune, then white sandy beach with good surfing waves

4) We head for Montagne sur Gironde Aires the first night (usually end up staying in this lovely spot a few days) then move on to the coast

5) Other places worth visiting are, Biscarosse Plage (aires in wooded area next to beach) Port Albret (Aires at the side of a lake, also near beach) Capbreton Aires on beach carpark within walking distance of town of Capbreton (surfing championship held here Aug)

We have kept diaries of places visited on 2 separate West coast tours, including costings, aires locations etc. PM me if you would like further advice.

With regard to Brittany, the surf is not as good, but the area is well worth a visit, the northern coast is gorgeous (cote granite rose)


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## UncleNorm (May 1, 2005)

Hello again!

In the thread for which I gave the link, PATSY4 posted:



> _*When we travelled to Santander by Brittany Ferries in May, everyone except Spanish had to wait in a queue and we were escorted out of the docks, via lots of little roads all the way to the motorway. We thought it was the norm, but when we went a couple of years ago on a motorcycle this didnt happen. Maybe they dont want tourist full stop, *_


My feeling is that the authorities don't want ANY motorhome in their town. My reading of Patsy's post makes the welcome seem like football supporters being escorted out of town! :evil:

This particular topic dates from last August. It would be useful to know if the various protestations have borne any fruit, or is the welcome just as hostile?


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## 115303 (Aug 8, 2008)

Just had this reply from a site outside of Santander.

"Port roadworks finished and now is very well indicated the way out of the
city. Police is just there to help traffic, not to escort anymore. But it is
not just you who takes the ferry, hundreds of cars, vans, caravans,... drive
ut of the city from the ferry at the same time, do not worry."


I know this doesn't throw any light on the ticket and clamping in the town but at leat it doesn't sound like you will be rounded up and marched out...like you say,being treated like a football hooligan :roll:


Mickey...thanks for that

surfing is my thing but unfortunatley its not my wifes or my 4yr olds,although my 8yr old daughter caught her first proper wave back in august 8) and i think shes looking forward to another session.

So do you think 3/4 nights on the north coast of Spain,over a week on the west coast of France then 2/3 days to make our way home would be a bit to much?

Thanks
Ian


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