hoping to go to south france in august around the beziers area (close to sea) have never done the journey, only caen to st jean de monts in vendee, about 5 hours. are thinking of stopping overnight somewhere, maybe vichy ? is this a comfortable distance from calais in a day? dont know the roads ie hilly up and down flat, and is there a good and bad route to take, also somewhere safe to stop with two kids and caravan, any help please ?
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you could go on the motorways if you are rushing I am supposing a Calais start so Reims Beaune Lyon Orange is an option - but are you ok at 10p per mile for the motorway extras? I know a friend who did Calais-Avignon in 1 day but a 13 hour drive is not my idea of sanity. Some do it in 2 days, others 3. I have taken a month, but this year it will be 4 days. This motorway is not hilly but it is best to avoid Lyon at the weekends anytime during July/August. The other way could be paris/Orleans/Clermont Ferrand on the motorway. Ther are chunks of this that are free. The road is a lot hillier - up to 1000m in places but it is a motorway so the climbs are not excessive.
You will get a variety of answers from subsequent post. You'll just have to weigh things up and try it. Whatever you do, don't over do it. If you do you won't repeat the journey and that would be a mistake. The south of France is lovely- been going there for over 20 years.
Not knowing how long youare away for doesn't help in the advice giving stakes. My trips down are always slow because we go for 10 weeks so the journey is the holiday. If you are going for two weeks, then it will be a bit of a rush. 3 weeks would be better
I take 4 days to get to the med and I don't tow. I suggest there will be lots of things worth stopping for along the way so make the journey part of the holiday.
Someone will be along in a minute to say you can do it in 'x'hrs with no stops. They aren't wrong IMO - just different.
------------- Huw
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Think a drive of about 4 to 5 hours is a good day's travel, especially if you're towing.I'd agree with Tentz, 4 days to the Med which leaves you nearly a week down there out of a fortnight's holiday. Would be less rushed if you had a few days longer. Also can't recall from your previous posts if you have young children? They might prefer not such a long journey and you can get sunny weather inland !
If you are going to Beziers then the Millau route would be the best as I would think and a lot cheaper than the Rhone motorway. I think trying to do it in a day is expecting a bit much and for me at the very minimun it would be 2/3 days.
We took 3 days to get there, with three (very well travelling) kids and a caravan. We travelled from home to Dover and got the Chunnel on day one, and arrived at Evreux for an overnight.
Next day drove to Millau, which was a really long day's drive.
Last day had only a relatively short drive to our site at Agde.
------------- Amanda
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Steve - we've done that journey several times, but never in a day. We have an overnight stop at Baie de la Somme (as our ferry is a very late arrival in Dunkerque), setting off at about 8.30 - then we use the Abbeville, Rouen, Chartres, Orleans, Vierzon, Clermont Ferrand, Millau, Beziers route. One time we did get as far south as Vichy, where we stayed at Beau Rivage, alongside the River Allier, but we stayed there two nights as the International Power Boat Championships were on. Usually we stay further north, perhaps Nevers, or St Pourcain sur Sioule - but from there you can get down to Beziers the next day in time to book in on your chosen campsite.
We do the journey toll-free, usually, as we're on a tight budget, so it can be done and isn't too difficult spread over two fairly long days' driving.
You could do Lille/Paris (via the Francilienne, or N/E/A104) then join up with the A10 to Orleans, and continue down the route above from there. That would perhaps be a bit quicker, as it's mostly autoroute.
If you are leaving from Lille, don't mind paying toll all the way & want to get there asap, just go A26, A5, A6, A7, A9. Toll autoroute all the way, no serious hills. Thats the coach driver's route. Theres a municipal by river just off autoroute at Villefranche just before Lyon which might do you for overnight.
We went to Valras plage last July/ August and went via Chartres, Clermond, millau. We stayed near Blois (from Calais ) then straight down on the second day. On the way back we came via Lyon to troyes and had an overnight.
This year we are going to the same site but stopping at Gigny Sur Saone on way down and Troyes on way back.
Yes, they are long days (circa 400 miles ) but on Autoroutes, the miles fly by. Comfortable car, cruise control set at between 62 and 64mph.Yes it's expensive on the autoroutes -circa £100 each way but.....surely you factor that into your holiday? I get 22 days holiday per year and have to keep 4 of those days for Christmas. I want a long summer break so choose to take 15 of my days in a block. Why would i want to take four days to get to my destination when i can do it ( in my opinion safely ) in 2?
It's each to their own, others will say different but this is the fourth time to the South of France ( twice to Nice ) and we will do the same next year wherever we choose to go
400 is a long way average of 50mph = 8 hours without a stop and if you can do 50 even on a m'way you are doing well not my idea of a holiday packed with fun " hoyrs aftre lunch and that's it for me but if you have only 2/3 weeks for a holiday then it is a case of must. I suppose that is why we never went further than La Loire in the days when the kids were little. Now that Mr Osborne pays for the hols the world is the oyster
We both work so we're like Chris, limited in terms of annual leave. We went to South of France last year, near Montpellier, and it was 2 days driving, stopping at Troyes. We weren't towing though so could go a bit faster. We did the A6 etc autoroutes. Our kids were 5 and 7 last year and they were fine with the journey with dvd player and regular stops. the autoroutes stopping places seemed good and some had play areas for us all to stretch our legs.
If we had 3 weeks would go via Millau at least one way and potter down, but prob would still come back in 2 days.
Have a fab hol. We're going back this year (Castels Massereau site) in Aug can't wait!
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: advice on journey down south of france
