You don't say what time you arrive in Calais but firstly it's a very long trip well over 400 miles so would be a hard drive with children and a dog in one day. You do right to stay over. You are right to go via Rouen, from there you can go in two directions. The most direct and shortest would be to pick up the A28 autoroute from Rouen and head for Le Mans, A11 to Angers, A87 to La Roche sur Yon then onto St. Julien de Landes. Although the shorted and possibly quickest you will pay more in tolls. The second route, before Rouen head for Le Harve on the A29 then A13 to Caen, A84 to Rennes, then south on N137 to Nantes then south on A83 following signs for La Roche sur Yon. A longer trip but less tolls. Personally I would favour the first one.
Half way on this route would be around Sees, there is a small municipal just off the bottom end of the ringroad (signed) or if you feel you can go a bit further then another municipal is at Beaumont sur Sarthe just beofre Le Mans. Very easy to find and very good facilities. If using municipals then the idea is not to arrive to late if you are travelling peak season, they can get busy.
Don't under estimate this journey when travelling with small children, you will need frequent stops. There are plenty of stopping places for a break on the autoroutes, some with full facilities like England, others are just picinic spots with toilets. Look at the signboards and you can work out which are which.
Hi, This is a lovely site and we did it in one day with 3 children and trailer. It is a long drive. We took the 4am ferry and arrived their about 4pm in the afternoon.
The site is lovely and area ok. To be honest after a couple of times in vendee and the loire with iffy weather we decided to head south. If yiou think about it your spending half your journey travelling west from Calais. Last year we went straight down through France to Lake Annecy. Another 8 hour drive, no rouen to contend with and much, much better weather and area than Vendee. Trust me Vendee if very flat, weather no so good.
Atko
------------- atko
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We went to Vendee for the first time last year and stayed at the municipal at Beaumont-Sur-Sarthe mentioned above on the way there. Very good site and there is a Super U round the corner where you can fill up with cheap fuel before hitting the road again. Leave the van on the site while filling up though, there isn't a lot of room.
We got hopelessly lost around Rouen so hopefully you will have more luck than us.
Another vote for the municipal at Beaumont sur Sarthe. We're off to La Foret in St Julien again this year. Last year, we did the tunnel at 8am and then followed the route mentioned above by Harry B. We arrived at Beaumont around 4pm after 2 or 3 good stops and then just drove the other 150 or so miles to St Julien the next day with no rush. We always book ahead (cos we had 3 families/caravans last year) but I wouldn't bother emailing them until around Easter/May as they don't answer any messages until that time.
Thanks very much for the info folks - with two kids on board it will definitely be a journey spread over two days!!
Hoping that the weather will be reasonable - not expecting scorching hot, but warm and dry would be nice!!
Our van is stored just outside Dover, so will be catching 0600am ferry, mid july. Can't be any worse than Cornwall in August last year - complete washout!!!
Thanks for the info on Rouen - had heard something similar, so will be investing in big map and satnav.
Off we go, into the wild blue yonder!!!!!
------------- Glyn W.
What if the Hokey Cokey really is what it's all about....?
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
The first time we went thru Rouen we only had the map along with directions from mappy.com. We got slightly lost but managed to pick the route up again. The next year we had sat nav and it was a breeze. It did try to send us down a height-restricted underpass (on return journey) but we spotted it before we were committed and the sat nav re-calculated the way in a couple of seconds.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Stop en route to Le Garangeoire
