France with the family (1 Viewer)

Aaronn

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Hi all. We are traveling to France on 22nd June starting at Belfast on the 10.30pm Liverpool boat arriving at Liverpool at 6.30am. I am hoping the journey to Folkeston will take around 7hours or less so arriving in Calais by Le Shuttle around 2.30pm. After that I have no plans apart from needing to be back in Belfast for 5th July.

So as a newbie I need some serious advise on where to go and where to stay. I will be accompanied by three lovey ladies (my misses, 18 and 15year old daughters) the only instructions I have been given is that I must provide lots of sunshine so they can get a tan!! As I can't guarantee the sun I need to increase my chances and probably travel south? I'm keen that we get to experience true France but I am also aware that younger members of the family might like part of the holiday to be more what they are used to (typical package type holiday)

Any advice on places to stay, go and how long it takes as I'm also not keen on full days driving so the girls don't get borded...:Cool:
 

steveclecy

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Starting off with basics your estimate of travel time from Liverpool (I'm guessing Birkenhead) to the Channel Tunnel Terminal is quite reasonable- I have done it comfortably in 6 hours with stops.

Do you have an ACSI card? Although your profile does not fit their 12/14/16 Euro per night off peak package (children) it will give you a good choice of sites for your journey.

Download the POIs to your Satnav (assuming you have one) and when you feel you have done enough driving search for the nearest ones.

Best of luck - I'm sure you will have a great time. We leave for France 9 days earlier.

Steve
 

haganap

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Hit the surf beaches down the south west of France.

Your girls will love it, bronzed tanned surf dudes, some good clubs, normally great sunshine can get very hot , lots of aires and some great sites at that time of year that are not too dear. :Cool:

Head for hosseghor

http://magicseaweed.com/Hossegor-La-Graviere-Surf-Report/61/

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steveclecy

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What a great link! At this moment on webcam sun setting fisherman at the edge of the surf. Wow!

Steve
 

haganap

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I spent some of the best nights of my fatherhood on that beach with my boys watching the sun disappear and the stars come out. :Cool:

Watching the late night surf dudes ( the good ones) catching the last waves before sunset.

Now I can't get much more than a grunt and a moan about my two lads now :Sad: still I'm sure they will grow out of it. Bloody teenagers :Smile:
 
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Aaronn

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Looks great.can this be done in a day from Calais or should the journey be broken into two or three days? The girls did smile at the thought of bronzed surf dudes :Doh:

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Aaronn

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Starting off with basics your estimate of travel time from Liverpool (I'm guessing Birkenhead) to the Channel Tunnel Terminal is quite reasonable- I have done it comfortably in 6 hours with stops.

Do you have an ACSI card? Although your profile does not fit their 12/14/16 Euro per night off peak package (children) it will give you a good choice of sites f
Steve

Ok googled acis card is it worth it?
 

steveclecy

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Difficult to say whether it will be worth it for you. June is normally regarded as "off peak" so that would fit, having two children in addition to two adults I am not sure how each site would calculate.

Just about all of July is out for the use of the card.

Steve
 

haganap

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Looks great.can this be done in a day from Calais or should the journey be broken into two or three days? The girls did smile at the thought of bronzed surf dudes :Doh:

Aaronn.

It can be done in a day from Calais but boy its a long drive. I have done it back from there to Cheshire in a day left at 7 am arrived home at 4-am :Eeek:

But on the way down we usually brake it down. Try Futurescope for a night and a day, really great place (google). so many other things to do on the way. Bordeaux is also a lovely place as is Biarritz....:Cool:

If you want an all singing dancing site in the area with its own beach and entertainment, try Le vieux port http://www.levieuxport.com/campsite-france-landes.html

not sure how busy it will be then, but not too bad as the Brits won't of broke up by that time. We went in Whit week once and it had a good few as it did in the first couple of weeks of September. In High summer it can be quite "chavy" but that adds to the entertainment. :thumb:

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lorger

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Hi as has been suggested further south and you will get better weather, but if you don't want to go that far try La Rochele area it's the second warmest area of France and has its own mini climate, we spent a few days there two years ago and everywhere else we went it rained but glorious sunshine there. Also doable in a day.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/fr/la-rochelle/136293/june-weather/136293
 
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Aaronn

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Hi as has been suggested further south and you will get better weather, but if you don't want to go that far try La Rochele area it's the second warmest area of France and has its own mini climate, we spent a few days there two years ago and everywhere else we went it rained but glorious sunshine there. Also doable in a day.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/fr/la-rochelle/136293/june-weather/136293

Sounds like a good stopover for a couple of days on route. I googled it at around 7 hours from Calais. Any recommend sites or stopover areas?

Thanks all for your suggestions, keep them coming!!!:thumb:
 

wivvy's dad

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+1 for the SW of France. More interesting beaches than some of the Med ones, which are also a long way from Calais.

Try La Rochelle; Royan; Arcachon; Mimizan Plage;

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lorger

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Hi Aaronn

When we visited the La Rochelle area we spent two nights in the Aire at €10 a night but this included free buses for the day and also a little water taxi from one side of the harbour to the other, so ideal for visiting the town for a night or two. We then went to this campsite for 4 nights http://www.camping-les-sables.com/ we went in the middle of July and just turned up without booking no problem, my daughter and her friend both 14 at the time loved it might have something to do with the boys they met :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:.

We then spent a couple of nights on a small site in Royan was just a basic site but nice and clean and only 10 mins walk from town centre and the beach which was lovely and virtually empty even in July, if you would like the name of it let me know I will have it in my book in the motorhome.

Gerry
 

scousebird

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Have a look at this site www.camping-saint-martin.fr

We were there last September and there were lots of young people around as there are surf schools there. The beach is a 5 minute walk past a few bars & restaurants and there is a small supermarket for fresh bread, cakes & supplies. We were there for 6 nights and didn't have to move the MH. ::bigsmile:

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Hollyberry

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Gironde coast, Pyla Dune down to Spanish border would give you lots of choice of sites, activities for your daughters and lots of great beaches.
Some ACSI sites do the prices through to end of June and in some cases first week of July. They would add on the two teenagers but still give you a fair price.

When you are coming back up, you could use Aires, always plenty of choice there.
 

magicsurfbus

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If you want guaranteed summer sunshine you need to be looking around Bordeaux and further south. However if you go to the Med coast be prepared to frazzle. Our personal preference is for the Atlantic coast.

If you want youthful surf culture try Lacanau-Ocean, Hossegor, Capbreton, Anglet, and Biarritz. Biarritz is also a very classy resort with three MH Aires available if you don't want expensive campsites. We prefer the Anglet and La Barre aires which are but a short cheap bus ride from the centre of Biarritz.

Like others we're big fans of the Charente coast ('Charente-Maritime'). La Palmyre's got beaches, watersports, cycle tracks and the zoo. La Rochelle's very good for shopping. If you head that way try the Ile de Re, which although busy in summer is easily accessible by bike and very tourism orientated. Nice beaches on the West side, quieter less dramatic beaches on the East side. Likewise Ile d'Oleron, which is similar in character but a bit less intense. Oleron has the advantage of low cost aires that were once campsites, so they have extra facilities and grassy pitches.

Not far from there, two big Theme Parks - Parc Puy du Fou which is based around set piece historical spectaculars, and unlike anything you'll have seen in the UK. Also Parc Futuroscope which is mainly audio-visual but with one or two livelier rides. You can park a MH overnight for very little at both places. We use Futuroscope as a stopping point on long trips south.

My sympathies with trying to entertain two teenagers on holiday - we've got the teeshirt, and ours were cramped into an classic VW at the time. Have a great trip wherever you choose to go.

Click on the Aire Today link in my signature below for further info on most of the above places.
 
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Hi definately agree with all the other funsters comments on Atlantic coast. We spent many happy years there with our two teenagers. Highly recommend a stopover at Futurescope, which is on the way. Spend a whole day there and watch the night show well worth it! It was one of the places our two teenagers really loved. We stayed at a campsite for two nights ( loads near there) but you can also overnight in the carpark. Makes a good break on the trip down to the Atlantic coast. Have fun!!:Smile:

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Aaronn

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Thanks to all who give advice on our first European Trip we are having a ball. Even those pesky children seem to be cracking the odd smile. We are currently at Le Vieux Port and heading back north for a few days on Monday then catching the Thursday evening boat from Rosscoff to Rosslare. Thanks again for making it easier. :thumb:
 

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will2020

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Thanks to all who give advice on our first European Trip we are having a ball. Even those pesky children seem to be cracking the odd smile. We are currently at Le Vieux Port and heading back north for a few days on Monday then catching the Thursday evening boat from Rosscoff to Rosslare. Thanks again for making it easier. :thumb:

What campsite are the pics from?

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