HI to you all thinking of touring france and then onto spain next year. We have never done it before and feeling rather nervous but excited at the same time lol. Can any of you mad campers out there give us any words of wisdom to help us in our quest. There is also another family going along with us THANKYOU
------------- loukell
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Don't know about words of wisdom but would definately say "Go for it" we did and have been to France the last two years and never looked back the roads are great and the sites are great. Can't say about Spain but have booked there for 07 so hoping its just as good if not better!!
If there's at least 2 cars travelling in convoy use some walkie takies from Argos or similar. You can easily keep in touch whilst on the road at the same time as saving a fortune on mobile phone bills.
Depends what car you're using - but if you use viamichelin website, or mappy.com you can put in your arrival port, your chosen campsite - or the point you want to cross the border into Spain, and details of your car, and it will calculate approximately your petrol costs (at today's prices) - plus how much you might have to pay in autoroute tolls if you choose to use the autoroute.
Petrol prices are generally cheaper in France, though not by as much as they once were. Stock up on petrol (or diesel) when at the supermarket - most large french supermarkets have their own petrol station, and it costs a lot less - but don't do it with the van on the back because getting in and out of some of them can be tricky.
Don't be nervous - every one of us has done it the first time - and every one will probably tell you how easy it was. There are less cars on the road, you soon get used to driving on the 'wrong' side (in fact it feels like it's the 'right' side within half an hour) and everywhere is more caravan friendly - there are loads of places to stop, even on the ordinary roads, where you'll see signs with a picnic table. Sometimes they even have toilet blocks. All the autoroutes have two types of service areas - large ones with petrol, restaurants, and playgrounds, and smaller ones called 'aires' which just have a toilet block and picnic area, plus plenty of parking. Some of them are in spectacular locations (try the one at the Viaduct de Garabit or the 'Aire de Volcans' if you're going down the A75).
Get yourself some good maps and spend time looking at them and working out your chosen routes, so that anyone who might be driving is familiar with where you're heading that day - and most of all enjoy your holiday.
Going into spain will be good lived there for 4/5 years,if you go to holiday hot spots you will pay more the small towns are good.Take your cards with you as you can get money from the holes in the wall at banks (ATM) ?i think you call it also at good rates.Also some nice good sites in land as well,hope this helps.Regards john
------------- look all over the uk and spain if the sun is out so are we.
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£239.14. Thats for Diesel!"!! We travelled from Holland to Belgium to France to Luxemborg to Switzerland to Italy to France to Spain (Salou) then back to Holland via Paris. Away for 3 weeks, burst 2 tyres (at the same time!!), put the tent up and down 7 times had 2 nights in a hotel (accommodation was £630). Had a great time and will be doing it again next year cause we loved the adventure and found the 3 nights as far as Poitiers a bit tame this year. Let me know if you want more details and I can let you know site names etc
That sounds a fabulous trip, you must have the team pretty well drilled to put the tent up and down so often! Couple of Q's, why did you start and finish in Holland? (just being nosey really!) Also, Salou? where did you camp, and verdict? its in our plan for next year.
Clare
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Okay - yes, Holland may seem a bit strange. The reason was that having done the Superfast a few times and finding it a bit pricy and as the kids were young and not wanting to drive to Dover, we opted for the middle ground of Newcastle - Imju....... cant remember how to spell it. Anyway - when we got to Holland, the weather was horrendous and we decided as we hadn't booked anything to head to the sun, keep driving till we found it. It was Switzerland before we found it. After that we were enjoying the adventure and the kids were okay with all the driving so we just kept on going.
Salou because we had some friends who had gone for their hols there and we thought we'd surprise them. On the way to Salou, we went to the site I'd stayed at for 6 weeks every year as a child so it was a trip down memory lane. Camping El Camell in Pineda (near Calella)
The site in Salou was Cambrils Parc. Fantastic site albeit a bit more expensive than some others we have stayed but well worth the extra although not all of it was necessary to us having small children. More things for older ones for instance. The weather was too hot for Port Aventura we felt in July/August with small kids and as we had already been we gave it a miss (flew back in May though!).
Never pre-book a site, we have been all over Europe and admittedly have been turned away (one site in Germany, but that was over the course of a 3 week holiday) On the other hand in the UK do book as just went away for the weekend, without booking and it was our 5th attempt before we got onto a site.
Take the Allen Rodger guide to camping with you, gives details of sites, costs etc, and lets you pick and choose.
Petrol /Diesel is considerably cheaper in Spain than France (even cheaper in Andorra if you go that way)
Enjoy your trip, the best thing is to go without any plan, make it up as you go, that is the joy of camping, the French and Spanish are very helpful. and will acomodate you.
For the trip down, if you want to get there quickly, use the French motorways, they are very good, also very convienient for stopping the night at one of the Ayres (free as well)
Have fun, if you want any more specific info just ask, have been to Spain several times with no issues.
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: touring france and spain
