France in June 2016 (1 Viewer)

[whoa]

As you will see from my avatar I live in the north of England, we want to go to France for the whole of June next year, been to France many times but not in a motorhome. Today I had a look at various ways and routes to go and the cost.
I was speaking to a lady recently, she and her husband are tuggers, they live in the same area as me, her preferred choice, short journey of 70miles to hull docks on a P&O ferry to zeebrugge, overnight journey cabin in the price, pay for evening meal and breakfast, cost for us today £424.00 return 1/6/2016 - 30/6/2016.

Or drive 278 miles to Portsmouth and take Brittany ferries to Caen,(done that before) with a cabin £356.00.


Other option drive 234 miles to the euro tunnel at Folkestone (not been on it, would be interesting, without considering current issues) £172.00.

So a bit of a difference, I have £42 of tesco vouchers, which would be increased if all used in one purchase, if allowed with all 3 companies.

If you live near euro tunnel I accept you might not want to drive to hull, and how soon would you book, if this was your plans, if prices are going up as time goes on,

Vehicle is an autocruise rhythm, 5.99 mtrs long, 2.71 mtrs high, 2.26 mtrs wide


Many thanks in anticipation of your thoughts

 

[busby]

Your looking at approx 6 hours to the tunnel from your part of the country. It all depends where your heading to in France really. Alternative crossing to consider is Newhaven Dieppe,,,(20% discount if over 60 ) Enjoy your trip. BUSBY.

 

[9526]

The Dover - Calais ferry would cost £50 each way

Time your trip down/back properly (Sunday evening out, early Sunday morning back) and you won't have any traffic issues.

We mostly use tunnel and timed right the trip from North Notts is 3.5 hrs. A bit longer for you, but you can buy a lot of vin rouge for a circa £300 saving.

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[busby]

Think 235 miles to the tunnel is a bit conservative. Its 225 miles from where i live just off J 28 on the M 1. Takes my friends from Halifax 6 hours via A1 A14 M11 M20. BUSBY.

 

[Nirvanauk]

If you don't have a dog then Hull to Zeebrugge is by far the best way.

 

[nelly]

Are you going to watch the football in France June 2016 Northern Ireland are playing.

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[FIDGET]

Hi Whoa,
We've used DFDS dover dunkirk several times, very reasonable. 2hrs.
Tried Brittany ferries last year £327 , 5 hrs on ferry, OK as we were going to Brittany. great place to visit , 16 nights £40 total & that was 2 c/site nights & 2 pay aires , the rest all free aires.
Next year going to use the tunnel twice as decided to take our dog ASBO with us, not sure where were going in June as yet, but in Sept heading down thru central France & popping in on Twin Lakes meet.

 

[Lynne Steele]

Hi,
If we have plenty of time we use Newhaven to Dieppe, I got discount with caravan club, next time if we can only go for 10 days I will got to St Malo with Brittany ferries, as it is a shorter journey when we get off.
I book in advance as I like to have something to look forward to.

Have fun

Lynne

 

[whoa]

Many thanks for all your replies, @nelly no I'm not going for that soccer match, it's very interesting, I wish I'd been good at algebra, I can see a lot of equations in there that might help from the information provided, I don't mind the idea of going to Brittany by ferry as that's where we want to start off, all things being equal, and no travel or vehicle problems then they are doable, but only to travel and be near, with boarding whatever choice of travel the following day, but it's early days yet, but I do see the benefit of booking early, and then work round it, the lady I mentioned earlier, her opinion was that going to or returning from the jaunt, it would be a short journey to and from the Hull. Hmm thinking cap on methinks

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[Judge Mental]

maybe if you decide where in France you are heading it will make the choice easier

 

[colyboy]

£108 RETURN anytime of the year with Euro Tunnel frequent Traveller. Buy 10 crossing (5 returns) and share with one other person.

colyboy

 

[whoa]

maybe if you decide where in France you are heading it will make the choice easier

Well I think that's the first to think about, and Normandy/ Brittany is where we'd like to go, so that's that bit sorted, therefore logic seems to suggest Portsmouth to Caen, I think nearly a months tour of that area would be quite nice, might have time to shoot off somewhere else. I don't want to drive everyday, so far for us on a trip like this, the days journey doesn't count depending how far it is, then 3 further nights stopped up, of course this is dependent on what we find and know about, feel I'm getting the framework sorted, then look at the other details. Would look at going further afield on a different visit,oh expelianous craptimus, just realised passports due up may 2016, will have to get them sent off soon. So first error found.

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[Lofty1]

We travel to central Brittany every year tried all the different ferry's, found that dover crossing p& O is a lot cheaper around £120 return at midday. 400 mile trip the other end but plenty of free aires to break the trip.We are going for April and may then again for august and September (including twin lakes ).

 

[TerryL]

We always use the tunnel (Tesco vouchers!) as we like the speed and convenience, and now having the dog it's better for him. Also Mrs L doesn't like ferries, but that's another story. In fairness already being on the eastern side of the country it's more logical - and we often call in and stay with my Mum who lives exactly (to the mile!) halfway along our route.
Other than that we allow 7hrs for the trip; we don't drive very fast and this also allows us a couple of comfort stops, this from Newcastle. If we do stop at Mum's we book a late afternoon crossing and stayover close to Calais, depending on where we're headed. We then get a good start to our trip.

 

[Lenny HB]

Done 2 crossing this year Newhaven/Dieppie, one return in June other one Sep/Oct, both £105 return for 7m van cheaper if you are shorter. Price was with the 20% discount, booking early & paying in Euro.
As we live 20 miles from Newhaven if going to Normandy its a no brainer, saves us 400miles on a round trip.

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[TUCANO]

Prices/times etc I can't remember but I always drive from York overnight when it is quieter arriving at Dover for a 4am-ish ferry, prebooked.
If I get there earlier as I often do they usually let you get an earlier ferry so I can be in France parked up early morning and get some sleep until lunchtime the following day.
I normally stay in the dunes at Sangatte but I would have to reconsider that option depending on the "other" holiday makers that may now be in the area.
Having just written that, now being alone I can't see me doing it on my own, but

 

[Steve devon]

We live in north Devon , 80 miles from Plymouth , but always use the tunnel ,260 miles from home. Neither of us like boats ad I enjoy the drive. Cart gate Yeovil for a pee, fleet services for dinner, Maidstone for another pee and then on to the tunnel the whole trip takes 6 hours . The old prostate ain't what it was!

 

[whoa]

Update passports with renewal application dispatched via the post office check and send service, we now realise my wonderful wife, I say wonderful because she is reading this over my shoulder, anyway, we've forgotten she needs a second pair of specs, so need to get that sorted and other items I need, so its fast becoming not where we're going but making sure we are ready to go without missing something, all bookings on hold until passports are returned, but again can I thank you all for your replies very interesting and how we may all differ in the way we would proceed it has helped me a lot, so once again thanks, we do have EHIC's and medical, travel insurance and breakdown and recovery insurance, at least I've got that bit right, as long as I don't forget to renew next year hmm

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[FIDGET]

Hi Whoa,
Just a few other things you may need
Hi vis vest for driver and every passenger. Must be able to put them on before exiting the vehicle so don't keep them in the garage or an outside locker.
Warning triangle
Spare bulb set.
First aid kit
Beam deflectors for your lights
Breathalysers. Technically compulsory
Driving licence
Insurance certificate
V5C I photocopy & keep copies handy , originals in my safe hidden in van( plus passport)
Two pin adaptor for the EHU.
Reverse polarity tester kit, save blowing fuse on the control panel as some electrical points in france not all wired correct .
Broken Link Removed
Remember when approaching a town or village the town/village name sign is the speed limit start & when ends when exiting Town/Village sign with lines thru. they are quite strict !!!!!

Don't do what I did on my first trip , on first trip to an aire, I bought several jetons ( coins for water/ electric) thinking that they would be handy for all the other aires on our trip . Nope each aire has a different jeton, so I still have 3 jetons after 7/8 trips to france which don't fit any other aires other than Turquant

 

[whoa]

Many thanks a few items there I didn't know

 

[Anthea M]

Warning triangle x2 in France?

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[9526]

Warning triangle x2 in France?

Just 1 required for France

 

[Anthea M]

Haha we've got a spare now!! Thanks

 

[Anthea M]

Just realised why we have two warning triangles they are mandatory for Spain ...

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[MR. FUSION]

I usually drive at night and get a morning ferry to France (sleep the day before). Much more relaxing and stress free, Glasgow to Dover was fine last time, would have hated going on the A/M 1 during the day.

 

[Marvic]

Fidget. Hi if the site is reverse polarity . How do get roundthis ?? Do u have to use a differnt plug ?

 

[Cleve]

I carry two plug ins for the normal connection one with the polarity reversed and dymo taped on it. I use a polarity tester with three leds to check and swap as necessary. I also carry an adaptor for the standard continental socket (house type) to a ehu socket to overcomet that problem. All cheap on Ebay or make your own, I did.

Clive

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[Granjan]

We are west yorks too, we have done tunnel and portsmouth on previous trips and did Hull Rotterdam recently. Our nightmare journeys have all been in the UK, our last journey home from Portsmouth took about 8 hours, every motorway we hit was chocker, so next year we are going Hull Rotterdam then down to the South of France. I think we can leave tea time be relaxed on the Hull ferry within an hour and a half and two steady days driving to get to the Riviera. Though we will probably stay a few days somewhere on the way down. I like to be chilled, we dont mind driving as long as the roads are pretty clear. You dont queue at the docks either just drive straight on even if you arrive pretty early.

 

[Charlie]

Couple of wee points from an inexperienced traveler.

Firstly we owners of PVCs cover ground in less time than a large MH.. So many estimated travel times might be a little longer than it may actually end up taking.
If you are doing the expensive ferry crossings consider joining Club Voyage. We didn't do it on our first trip in September this year and if we had the discounts would have more than covered the cost of the joining and the annual membership. People on here will gladly supply you with a code that will get you 10% off ferry prices.

Its been asked which part of France you are heading too but its entirely possible to take a ferry to say Roscoff and head down the East coast and return from say Caen if you want to do Northern Brittany on the way back up or vice versa.

We live in the Midlands so you will be coming through our way if using the southern ports. From where we live Plymouth is the easiest route or should I say the easiest ferry port to get to from central England. We left Plymouth at 7.15 (Evening) and were parking on the drive at 10.00. Again a PVC covers the ground easily at the national speed limits.

Just a thought or two from a novice,,,,