Newbie going to north France in 4 weeks, where do we go (1 Viewer)

[Karl B]

Hi everybody,

We have been a twin tag tugger for six years and made the jump to a twin tag mh, burster argos ( wow it didn't look that big in the pictures when I was buying it. lol) we love it.

We are off to France with our two children aged 9 and ten just after the November half term for a week. I'm a little concernd what to do and were to go. Looking through the book a lot looks understandably closed. Is there any circular routes to know of or simular.

Any advice or were to get it, would be greatly appreciated.

Karl

 

[Nirvanauk]

If you're booking in to campsites make sure they are open. Have fun!

 

[gus-lopez]

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[burtonbird]

Think your best plan is to get ideas of where you want to go then plan your route round them. If you or your kids like history pop over the border to Ypres. Lovely town and WW1 museum, plus the Menin Gate where the Last Post ceremony is carried out every night at 8pm. If you want to see what's going on you need to be there at 7.15 or you'll find yourself at the back. There's also a free Aire within easy walking of the town.

 

[Muddibootz]

I think you're right about most of the sites being closed at that time of year. A lot seemed to close while we were away last week. It's really strange as the one site we did use that was closing as we left was pretty full for the time we were there.
Luckily, there are plenty of aires available. Although campercontact is popular for finding these, I also found the All the Aires book good to browse through for nice looking aires.

 

[peterc10]

Welcome to the Fun.

As others have said you will be very hard pressed to find any campsite in Northern France open at that time of year. So you are going to have to be reliant on Aires I suspect. Some will have electrics, but most don't. Do you have enough solar to keep you going, bearing in mind you will need a fair amount of 12V just to run the heating (fan or pump depending upon system) and there is not a lot of sun?

Recommend you get the Campercontact and park4night apps for your phone. You will need to pay for the former. The "All the Aires" book from Vicarious is good, but misnamed - it probably has about a third of them in. All of them will tell you whether the Aire has electrics or not.

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[Rob and Val]

and a warm welcome from us.

You don't say if your children are boys or girls - that can make a difference as to what would interest them.

The very interesting Somme Museum is located in the centre of the town of Albert. The town saw a lot of fighting during World War I, where huge parts of Albert were destroyed. Most of this amazing museum is located in the World War I tunnels under the town and would be of interest to boys but I'm not sure that girls would enjoy it as much.

There is a book called 'Secret France', available from Amazon, that we found to be very informative.

Whatever you decide to do, we hope you all have a wonderful time.

 

[Emmit]

I see you live in Torquay.

Not to be rude but what do you mean by "Northern France" and what crossing are you using?

 

[PhilandMena]

A week in France is short and November is not the best time to see the best of France.
However, you could just about squeeze in the D Day beaches and museums. The French are magnificent at preserving there history (and ours). I would advise you give it serious consideration.

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/frances-dday-beaches-a-powerful-memorial

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[Karl B]

Thanks everyone for there quick replies!!!!!!!!

We're not set totally on France, we just really want a week away trying out out new MH and thought it might be easy ish. If it is better to go Dover Calais and head up or across, down or sideways then that's fine. if you are most probably getting the feel that I don't know what to do, then your right. Lol.

 

[GeriatricWanderer]

Try to find the book:
Northern France. What to do and see within 90 minutes of Calais. By Angela Bird.

ISBN 10: 0-9545803-1-1

Some interesting suggestions there.

 

[TJBi]

Given your location, you might want to consider Brittany Ferries crossings - from Plymouth to Roscoff, Poole to Cherbourg or Portsmouth to Ouistreham for example. If your outbound crossing is from Poole, you can arrive the evening before and spend the night in the vehicle check-in lanes. You don't have to use the same route out and return. Expect Brittany Ferries to be more expensive than Dover-Calais, but you'll save on fuel and driving time. Not sure what you would find to interest the children around Roscoff at that time of year (and you haven't indicated what might interest them), but if you go to one of the ports in Normandy, you're in the vicinity of the D-Day landing beaches and the related visitor centres, museums, etc. You also have the Bayeux tapestry in that area. Plenty of aires, some with services, some without. You can look at heading slightly further south if the weather dictates, perhaps to the châteaux of the Loire. And if your initial plan is to head south/west from Normandy you could consider travelling back via Saint Malo-Portsmouth.

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[peterc10]

Have you thought of Brugges in Belgium. Lovely city and lots to see. And there is a good Aire with electrics close to the city centre. But it is popular so best to get there early in the day.

 

[hilldweller]

Any advice or were to get it, would be greatly appreciated.

Karl

You come from beautiful Torquay and want to go to northern France in November. Why ? Similar miserable weather and much closed.

Very unusual for me to say "stay in UK" but in November you might as well hear UK rain on the roof as French rain.

 

[peterc10]

You come from beautiful Torquay and want to go to northern France in November. Why ? Similar miserable weather and much closed.

Very unusual for me to say "stay in UK" but in November you might as well hear UK rain on the roof as French rain.

Karl, please excuse Brian. His glass is always half empty

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[GeriatricWanderer]

You come from beautiful Torquay and want to go to northern France in November. Why ? Similar miserable weather and much closed.

Very unusual for me to say "stay in UK" but in November you might as well hear UK rain on the roof as French rain.

As much as it pains me to say it - I tend to agree.
Northern France on a wet November day is about as grim as it gets. :-(

 

[wigster]

 

[deleted-member02]

For all the effort and cost of going to France for a week, I'd be inclined to stay local - Pentewan Sands ?

If you're set on France, you could always consider Disneyland Paris.

Family of four annual passes will cost 7-800euros depending on ticket type...they have a large aire with toilet/shower block but no electric (plenty of mhf threads on the subject)

You could visit for
Halloween (always good)
Christmas/New Year (magical experience worth doing)
Easter (very busy)
Summer holidays (even if just for a stopover)
Possible return next October half term if you time it right.

I appreciate it's not the holiday for everyone but annual passes make for very cheap Disneyland holidays and the kids certainly won't get bored of it in twelve months
http://www.dlpguide.com/planning/booking/annual-passports/#Annual_Passport_Prices_Benefits

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[peterc10]

Is the Davy Crockett campsite still open at Disneyland Paris?

We went there in a caravan for the opening day back in 1992. Arrived the evening before with a booking, but it wasn't supposed to be open until the next day. A couple of big Germans with big vans "insisted" so they let us all in. Not cheap then, but the kids were younger (15 and 10) and loved it.

 

[deleted-member02]

Is the Davy Crockett campsite still open at Disneyland Paris?

We went there in a caravan for the opening day back in 1992. Arrived the evening before with a booking, but it wasn't supposed to be open until the next day. A couple of big Germans with big vans "insisted" so they let us all in. Not cheap then, but the kids were younger (15 and 10) and loved it.

Yes it's still open and I believe still the cheapest Disneyland Holiday package (our first visit was also to Davy Crocketts)
It's all fake wooden lodges (ie static caravans) with no camping allowed. I have no idea if it was the same in 1992..

 

[peterc10]

It's all fake wooden lodges (ie static caravans) with no camping allowed. I have no idea if it was the same in 1992..

Very different in 1992 - it was a proper campground for caravans and motorhomes. Concrete area to stand the motorhome/caravan on and a gravel area for the awning and sitting out. Electricity, water and drain to every pitch which was the height of luxury back then. The indoor swimming pool was nice too. The kids loved it, but it was a bit of a journey to the park if I remember rightly - couldn't be walked.

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[Mikeco]

I would head for Paris and park up at one of the sites on the outskirts where you can get into Paris very easily. We took our grandkids a few years ago and took the Metro in every day for a week, you can get to Disney land quite easily as well.

 

[Emmit]

As much as it pains me to say it - I tend to agree.
Northern France on a wet November day is about as grim as it gets. :-(

You've never been to Lancashire then?

 

[GeriatricWanderer]

You've never been to Lancashire then?

My map of Britain shows everything north of Watford as a grey shaded area with the words Here Be Dragons.
I did once venture as far as Milton Keynes but then chickened out and turned south again.

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[Barclaybasher]

I traveled across France in my MH in late January, never again unless I had to.

Freezing cold even further South, snowed in Central France, most sites closed until March/April

So many sites open in the UK, I'd save the trip to France 'til later in next year