France 8/10 Day Itinerary Help for a Newbie

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Suffy2020

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Hi All,

I’m heading on my first motorhome holiday to France in mid September. We have 10 days (although our Eurotunnel won’t arrive in France until around 7pm on Day 1 and the MH needs to be returned by 10am on Day 10), so really we have 8 full days.

We do not have any idea of where we would like to travel, ideally anywhere with better weather than UK. Likely to stay to the West/South of the country? We'd like to visit places inline with our interests, which include wine! (so we are thinking vineyards), nice scenery, off the beaten track a little.

At this stage, we are very open to suggestions such as which regions or direction of travel. We are happy to travel/drive, but are not necessary looking to visit a new site every night as we don’t think we’ll experience France that way.

Any suggestions are welcome. If you would like to ask questions to help advise me, that is fine too.

Look forward to hearing from you all, there seems to be a whole wealth of knowledge here!
 
Normandy beaches are a good experience and you could travel on to Mont St Micheal which is also a worthwhile visit. Plenty to see and do . that should cover your 8 days, just go and enjoy. Plenty of free or low cost aires . (y)
 
:welco:Welcome to the Site.
First things first - Forget the South if you only have 8 days. Unless you are intending to blatt it down using toll roads and miss all the scenery around you and spend a fortune. ;) If one of your passions is wine, why not try out Chablis / Champagne area. Not too far down and some lovely places to stay and many of the Vineyards have aires or FrancePassion stops. Make sure you download CamperContact / Park4Night apps for those off beat stop overs. Just go and enjoy your first trip, coz it certainly won't be your last.(y)
 
Here's my experience from 3 years ago... the main tip is don't drive every day... France is a bloody big country.....Travel long distance on a Sunday as roads are very quiet.. no hgv..

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

First trip to France

Looking to get the tunnel on Wednesday 18th October and return Saturday 28th October. Initially heading to Rouen , I went through here in 2012 and it was chaos -)), hopefully its now sorted. I want to visit Honfleur and Barfleur. My plans are fairly liquid... red preferably ... then onto...
www.motorhomefun.co.uk www.motorhomefun.co.uk
 
You might find this site useful!
www.france-voyage.com

France Travel Guide - Holidays & Tourism in France

Set off to discover the treasures of the French regions, and plan your holiday or weekend: A wealth of practical and cultural information.
www.france-voyage.com www.france-voyage.com

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Thanks all.
I've been reading the advice of not travelling too much. So I assume when we arrive at an aires, we park up. Then use public transport/walk and explore the local area?

Or do you mean use an aires as a sleeping location for a few night, then drive out and explore?

Apologies for the simple questions, but this will help us plan.
 
Many Aires are close to or even in Villages or towns.I think what is
trying to be advised is, don't just keep driving south, drive a couple of hours, park up and explore. If you like the place stay another day, if you have seen it, move on the next day, 2 hrs. Park up etc. No use driving for ever or you will miss the ambiance. Lots to see everywhere in France.
 
As per others forget the South for an 8 day trip.
With wine as the indicator then it has be Champagne, Loire Valley or Alsace as they are your closest classic wine regions
I d be tempted to head to Champagne and then Alsace but that might even be too much travelling.
Given a choice I would probably plump for Alsace as just a bit more changeable scenery and hills/mountains and the wine is cheaper. Loire valley is full of stunning chateaus which we find boring after a couple of days !
 
If WW1 interests then a day or two on The Somme makes interesting travels, we frequently used
Camping du Château de l'Oserai à Feuillères

which we found spotless with a superb heated outdoor pool.
 
Think you need a month at least in France! (to go South)

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We tend to explore the area in the Motorhome, then find a carpark to stop at for the day if its a town etc, then we find an Aire to stop in over night. If the Aire is in the town or very close, we stop there for the day and night, then move on or stay another day. Thats the great thing about no planning and going with the flow. Plan an area - that morning usually, then explore and find an Aire. - Then repeat.
The first time we went to France in our MH, I thought it would be a great idea to take Jane back to where we had been to on the South Coast many a year before. Stayed at Portiragnes Plage for 2 days, then headed back. We had 5 days to get back - plenty of time I thought, but it took a few 9 hr driving days, then when we realised we weren't going to make it even doing that, 2 days of Toll roads and at >3.5 tons, cost me a fortune. You'll be back. Just take it a bit at a time.
 
Before you go just think about the potential of getting stuck in France if there is a Covid 19 lockdown/closure of the borders.

Stuff of nightmares for me.
 
As above, France is a big country. We've been visiting for over 30 years and still have a few regions to visit . Stay in the north first time, Normandy is quite lovely, it took us 20 years to discover that.
 
As a suggestion....

Rouen - 2.5hrs drive off the tunnel.

Tours - 2.5hrs from Rouen

(Paeage routes to maximise time)

Both the above are nice interesting towns IMHO

Then do a part of the Loire Valley to get your wine fix. A 5-6hr trot will see you back to the tunnel when you have had enough.

As posted above. It is a big country. With more time you would benefit by staying off the toll roads as there are many beautiful villages to see.

Safe and happy travels. 👍
 
Chris said:
Before you go just think about the potential of getting stuck in France if there is a Covid 19 lockdown/closure of the borders.

Stuff of nightmares for me.
Click to expand...
We were there 14 March to 1st July and loved every minute! So much so we are looking at property South West region. (unbelievable what you can get for the price). :giggle:
 
Don't feel you mustn't use the autoroutes. It can take hours driving round and through villages and the ubiquitous speed limit changes and traffic calmers really eat into your time. We tend to use the motorways to quickly get to an area we want to explore, then use the little roads, e.g. in the Drôme last year. If you are interested in wine then seriously consider France Passion sites. You join the organisation and can then stay free in many different kinds of local enterprise, including masses of vineyards. The benefit of parking up for the night first and then having a wine tasting is clear. Just going round and visiting wine producers before settling for the night means that one of you can't comfortably taste the wines.
Whatever you do, enjoy!
 
Thanks everyone, really useful information.

We were looking at heading to Rouen as soon as we are off the eurotunnel. (meaning we will arrive around 10pm at night to Rouen). I assume we can still bookin/stay at an Aires or something similar that late?

I have been reading lots of information that says to stay off the main roads as they are very expensive - but some of the driving time can be doubled if we do that.

Our plan was to drive to a town/area we would like to visit. Explore. Then early evening, find a place to stay for the night. Then walk to a local area to eat.

Planning on 2 nights per place, which means we can see 4 places.

I'm certainly thinking Rouen first, then toward Loire Valley. Some have even suggested Dordogne over to Vendee then back up - but I feel that may be a little too rushed.

I certainly do not feel I have to plan every day before I get there, but I would like to at least have a rough idea of the area(s ) to visit. Thanks for all the help!
 
Zigisla said:
:welco:Welcome to the Site.
First things first - Forget the South if you only have 8 days. Unless you are intending to blatt it down using toll roads and miss all the scenery around you and spend a fortune. ;) If one of your passions is wine, why not try out Chablis / Champagne area. Not too far down and some lovely places to stay and many of the Vineyards have aires or FrancePassion stops. Make sure you download CamperContact / Park4Night apps for those off beat stop overs. Just go and enjoy your first trip, coz it certainly won't be your last.(y)
Click to expand...
Second joining France passion if it is your first French travel, get the book , look what you would like to see, and just go and park up for free in real France and real working places.
 
We only joined France passion once but have stayed at lots of vineyards. If you ask at the local tourist information they usually have a list of vineyards you can stay at without joining passion.

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Look up Camping-Car park app. There is an aire in Rouen to the west of the town.
Happy travels 👍
 
If you like wine then definitely join France Passion (you'll need to join in enough time to allow for the book to arrive). Personally though I would suggest the Alsace rather than the Loire - lovely wine and much better scenery.

If you're getting off the tunnel about 7pm I'd head on down the A26 (pay the tolls - you don't have a great deal of time and its much quicker) and stop somewhere a couple of hours along the road....for example Corbeny as mentioned on another thread this morning would be ideal. 4-5 hours driving the next day would put you in Obernai (there's huge car park in the centre of town you can stay in) and from there you have hundreds of Alsatian vineyards to explore.

On the way back you can stop for a couple of days in Champagne - again, there are lots of vineyards where you can stay over. If you have to return the MH by 10am on the last day I assume you have an afternoon/evening return crossing on the tunnel and are planning on staying somewhere nearby on your last night.... so you could stay in Champagne for your last night in France then have a leisurely drive to the tunnel the following day to get your train back home.
 
Having looked at the infection rates reported today in France I wouldn’t go yet. Lock-downs parts of Brittany and the West coast. Be safe.
 
The Wino said:
We only joined France passion once but have stayed at lots of vineyards. If you ask at the local tourist information they usually have a list of vineyards you can stay at without joining passion.
Click to expand...
We only had it a couple of years as well, but to get started on real France it's unbeatable, once you get used to Aires and things it's not so valuable but I thoughly recommend it for your first time, and once you have the book you can use it as a guide for other years as most of the places will let you stop without being a member.
 
Thanks again - the suggestions are great.

How does this sound:

Day 1 - Arrive in Calais ~ 7pm.
Day 2 - Drive to Corbeny for a night stop over (assume we would be allowed to arrive around 10pm?). Drive to Alsace (Kayserburg)
Day 2 - 5: Stay in Alsace. Morning of Day 4 drive to Champagne.
Day 5 - 7: Not sure yet, is it worth going over the border to Germany or Switzerland for one night?
Day 7 - 10: Stay in Champagne.
Day 10: Catch the late evening tunnel (10pm) back to UK.

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Suffy2020 said:
Thanks again - the suggestions are great.

How does this sound:

Day 1 - Arrive in Calais ~ 7pm.
Day 2 - Drive to Corbeny for a night stop over (assume we would be allowed to arrive around 10pm?). Drive to Alsace (Kayserburg)
Day 2 - 5: Stay in Alsace. Morning of Day 4 drive to Champagne.
Day 5 - 7: Not sure yet, is it worth going over the border to Germany or Switzerland for one night?
Day 7 - 10: Stay in Champagne.
Day 10: Catch the late evening tunnel (10pm) back to UK.
Click to expand...
I would do it slightly differently and hit Corbeny (saw that aire on here earlier today and looks nice) on the way back
I would hot foot on the Belgian motorways to Luxembourg where i d fill up with fuel, maybe stopping at Bouillon or Givet or Peruwelz (time dependant) (getting LPG in Belgium) and then head over the vosgues mountains to Kayserberg (it was free a couple of weeks ago as they dont like taking cash atm) free water as well. I would be tempted to include Eguisheim as the second day. Wouldnt be fussed about going over the border then head for Champagne and Corbeny including maruil sur ay on the way back when youre ready

Whatever you decide, enjoy
 
If we were heading South from the tunnel In the evening, as we often do, then we would drive on the A16 for an hour / hour and a half and stop at the Baie de Somme aire just before it joins the the A28 near Abbeville
there’s good easy motorhome parking and services and a pleasant dog walk area. There’s always advice not to use autoroute stops but this has always felt safe. It’s a very easy first drive and stop in France
Then in the morning It’s downhill into Rouen. We’ve never explored the city - tend to stay outside and small towns villages.
we’ve wild camped close to an aire by the Seine at La Bouille
many people suggest La Mailleraye sur Seine as a stopover - I’d suggest that as a second stop not Rouen!
then decide if you’re doing the city.
youre also enroute for Honfleur
by which time you will feel like experts and can follow your nose - or taste buds !
 
chaser said:
We only had it a couple of years as well, but to get started on real France it's unbeatable, once you get used to Aires and things it's not so valuable but I thoughly recommend it for your first time, and once you have the book you can use it as a guide for other years as most of the places will let you stop without being a member.
Click to expand...
The year we joined it we didn't stay at any first full second no one there to ask third couldn't find it!!! So we discovered Aires and asked at tourist information most have a sheet for the local area. We've stayed on a few passion vineyards since never been asked for membership.
 
The Wino said:
The year we joined it we didn't stay at any first full second no one there to ask third couldn't find it!!! So we discovered Aires and asked at tourist information most have a sheet for the local area. We've stayed on a few passion vineyards since never been asked for membership.
Click to expand...
Yeah we did similar, at that time they were a devil to find as it was like they were keeping them secret with very sparse directions, but now they have co ords in the book and it's dead easy to find them.
Most of the vineyards will let you park as long as they aren't full, and sell you something, but until you get used to Aires they are very good as on most you can ring ahead and know you have somewhere to park.
I am not pushing this for any other reason than we found them very good.
But now with Aires and park4night we don't need them but saying that we still have the book from 2016 and use it occasionally, Julie has a look in it while traveling and if she finds something to her fancy the way we want to go we drop in and see if it's ok to stop, never been refused yet.
 
Suffy2020

You've now used up your 5 'Free' postings.

You've already been given some really good advice. You will get your £15 membership investment back time and time again here on 'Fun'.
Go on! You know you want to!

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