Planning on touring France for the first time (1 Viewer)

[chalky]

Hi folks
We are planning on touring France for the first time this year and would like a little advice please .

Do ferry prices vary depending on what day and what time of day we travel , we are thinking of going from Portsmouth to Cherbourg , any help would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks
Chalky

 

[On the road again]

Can vary by time of day,day of week, month of year.

Just google' cheap ferries to france' and have a look aroud the various sites. Some show a range of dates, based around your search dates, to help you see the best prices available. The more flexible you are the better deal you get.

Might also be worth looking at P/mouth- Caen or St Malo as you might see a better deal for a few more, or less, miles on the other side.

 

[WillH]

Tip, don't over think your trip, just get to France and enjoy it. We over thought it on our first trip over 30 years ago, much better just to treat it as any other holiday.

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[lorger]

Hi Chalky, I've not don't that crossing before so can't comment although you normally get it cheaper at nights and midweek.

Have you any idea where you want to go, I wouldn't bother booking unless you want a spicific site. I would download a few apps like searchforsites, camper contact and buy All the Aires Book. Apart from that just go and enjoy yourself it really is easy.

Forgot to say make sure you take the mandatory kit like bulbs, triangle and high viz.

 

[EX51SSS]

Hi folks
We are planning on touring France for the first time this year and would like a little advice please .

Do ferry prices vary depending on what day and what time of day we travel , we are thinking of going from Portsmouth to Cherbourg , any help would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks
Chalky

Is there a particular reason for the ferry from Portsmouth?
Lot cheaper to use Dover to Calais and travel and you'll see some really nice parts of France. A lot of people travel without stopping in The Somme and there's some lovely areas.
Also consider getting All the Aires or apps like camperstop or camper contact for places to stop cheap or free of charge.

 

[Stealaway]

We are planning on touring France for the first time this year and would like a little advice please .

Hello from Coal Aston.
As above.
We usually travel via Eurotunnel using our 3x value Tesco Vouchers. We pay around £170 return.
We tend to travel down on a Sunday and catch the train about 7.00pm . We travell 5 minutes around the corner to the free Aire at Cite Europe for the night. We buy some some French groceries at the Carrefour Hyper market directly opposite in the morning ------- and then decide which way to go.

The white vans in centre car park are motorhomes. To the right over the fence is Eurotunnel departures.
Unfortunately it takes 5 minutes to drive around to it.

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[wingman]

Hi @chalky

Part of the fun of going abroad is armchair planning. It’s comforting to know that you have the first 50 miles sorted when you find, first trip, first off the ferry and everyone’s following you!

Enjoy the trip and ask away. Loads of seasoned travellers to France on here. They know the difference between Mercy and Merci

 

[mitzimad]

well youve started planning in the right place, once the ferry is booked you dont need anymore planning with the aires in france your never more than 20 k from a stop i would get park for the night and camper contact on your smart phone. if your not going in july or august i would buy an acsi card which comes with book and maps and gives discounted nights at campsites
after that i would just relax wander and follow the sun

 

[mikebeaches]

If you are thinking of going from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, then that will be with Brittany Ferries. There will doubtless be lots of kind folk on here who most likely will be able to provide you with a discount code as part of their subscription to the company's loyalty programme.

If we'd subscribed, I'd be happy to help, but we usually use the Tunnel for going to France, although we do occasionally use BF to go directly to Spain.

You'll love touring in France by the way. On the whole it's much easier and more relaxed than in the UK.

Have a great time!

Mike

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[Wanders from Glos]

We too are heading under the channel for the first time at the start of September so this chat is very helpful (as it always is).

Stealaway, we are thinking of using the Cite Europe stopover and wondered if there is any problem with migrants given that it is so close to Eurotunnel (I'm not making a polital point, more thinking of the hassle factor).

 

[Stealaway]

Stealaway, we are thinking of using the Cite Europe stopover and wondered if there is any problem with migrants given that it is so close to Eurotunnel

Never seen any problems in over 10 overnights.
Remember that they have no idea whether you are coming or going, so they are not going to bother anyone there.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Thanks

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[FIDGET]

Hi chalky,
Give us an idea of where & when you think you would like go , also if you are thinking of campsites or aire's .
I'm sure members will come up with some good suggestions .
We go each year June & Sept for 3 / 4 weeks, weather then quite good , also aire's & acsi c/sites are not at there fullest. Any help I can give just ask .
Terry

 

[chalky]

Well thank you all for your tips they are all very welcome , regarding why from portsmouth , just thought it may be less busy than Dover , Will check out Caen and St Malo , we have no set plans of where to go when we land we will just go where the music takes us , oops slipped into a song Ha ha . We have got the CC ACSI book so will take it from there

Hi chalky,
Give us an idea of where & when you think you would like go , also if you are thinking of campsites or aire's .
I'm sure members will come up with some good suggestions .
We go each year June & Sept for 3 / 4 weeks, weather then quite good , also aire's & acsi c/sites are not at there fullest. Any help I can give just ask .
Terry

 

[chalky]

Hi Terry
We are thinking of going in early June and were thinking of campsites because we have the ACIS book we have not planned a route we were just going to play it be ear.

Many thanks for your offer of help

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[FIDGET]

Portsmouth ferries are well over double the cost of Dover or Newhaven , & longer time wise.
But you do get more to the west .
Sorry can't help with acsi as we have not used it yet ,but have bought it for this year.

 

[chalky]

Ok thanks Terry

 

[Box Boy]

Don't forget Newhaven Dieppe. Dieppe nice town with large Aires near ferry port. We paid £131 return for a 6 mtr PVC and 4 week trip late April.
This included discount for over 60's
Brian

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[chalky]

Thanks for that Brian , we are only paying one way as we are not too sure how many weeks we will be there for and also may come back from a different port.

 

[DBK]

You'll be fine with the ACSI book, we use them a lot but also give serious thought to aires. There are some crackers in France. We use the CamperContact app on tablet and smartphone. There are alternatives but for around £5 a year CC works for us.

 

[mitzimad]

i can never see the benifit of using the longer crossings in spring and summer unless your very near to one of the ports dover calais is 35 mins on the shuttle of just over an hour on the ferrydriving down through france can be very beautifull and the money saved spent on essentials like wine beer and food

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[TerryL]

Another tip if you want to see France proper - stay off the autoroutes. The roads are good and usually quiet plus aires (Aire de Camping-Car) are easier to find. Please DO NOT overnight on the motorway services which are aires de repos and tend to attract the criminal fraternity.

Take your time and don't try to do/see too much. The biggest mistake people make is to spend too much time "looking at tarmac"!

 

[chalky]

Thanks DBK

 

[dalspa]

We usually make plans as to where we are intending to go in France. Then when we get over there we end up going somewhere else because the weather is better there! That is the beauty of France, other than the ferry (or tunnel) there is no need to book ahead.
All so easy. Roads less congested. Loads of aires and campsites. Just go and have a great time.
David.

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[suavecarve]

If youre away for a while (youre not booking return) and you live in Chesterfield. I would be most definitely be going via the shortest and cheapest channel route.
Possible to get to Dunkirk or Calais for 44 nicker on a boat one way in the middle of the night and the cheapest on the tunnel means finding a partner and committing to 2 or 3 return journeys within 12 months then its 110 return. There will be plenty people wanting to partner you.

So the most expensive is 110 return where as i doubt you ll get across from Portsmouth for less than 250 return and Plymouth a bit more.
Thats 140 quids worth of wine, minimum you can buy extra if you dont know where youre going.

 

[Southdowners]

Well thank you all for your tips they are all very welcome , regarding why from portsmouth , just thought it may be less busy than Dover , Will check out Caen and St Malo , we have no set plans of where to go when we land we will just go where the music takes us , oops slipped into a song Ha ha . We have got the CC ACSI book so will take it from there

Bear in mind that the ACSI book offers discounts for low season bookings. If you’re going in June it probably won’t help in terms of reduced site fees.

As for crossings - have you considered using the tunnel. It’s extremely quick and easy.

 

[DangerMousy]

Another vote for the tunnel here: in terms of convenience it beats the ferry hands down. Even if you don't do the frequent traveller scheme or don't have any tesco points to put towards the price its still worth paying extra for the tunnel. Instead of having to waste time on a ship for however long the crossing is (spending money on board, trying to find a seat, annoying announcements etc.), you can sit in your van and have a bite to eat, do the washing up, read your book, listen to music etc. for the 30 mins or so of the crossing. We usually take an evening crossing and like many people head straight for Cite Europe for a night's sleep and a spot of shopping in the morning before heading off. I wouldn't do it any other way now.

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[klaatu]

Bear in mind that the ACSI book offers discounts for low season bookings. If you’re going in June it probably won’t help in terms of reduced site fees.

June is included at a large number of sites, it tends to be only July and August which are not.

 

[donnkim]

hi
we are planning June in France. On our last trip we found the Cherbourg peninsular beautiful so we will use the tunnel over, head to Brittany, then follow the coast to Cherbourg where we intend to catch the ferry. Enjoy.

 

[busby]

P.M. d you Chalky,,BUSBY.

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