Short trip to france

[Fluffy]

Hello. We are newbies and just purchased 1st Motorhome for hubby's retirement. His 60 last day of Feb and we would like to go 1st week of March through to France for the 1st time, but only a week to sound it out? We really only want 1 day travelling to and from and would greatly appreciate any advice of places to go if anyone can help please? Thank you in advance

 

[Devon Sue]

Where do you live, what crossing will you be using?

 

[chaser]

Gravelines
Arras
Iepers
Dunkirk
Calais
Cite Europe for shopping
Bruge
Just for starters.

 

[maison]

The area around the Bay of the Somme is interesting and easy driving from Calais/Boulogne.

There are lots of campsites available too, although many may be closed at this time of year. Check with the App “Camper Contact” for dates and facilities.

Enjoy the trip.

 

[Fluffy]

Hi thank you for quick responses. I have never heard of Camper Contact, so lots of new bits to look at. We live in South East London, so Dover or Folkestone would be a crossing but wondered whether that time of year, maybe we need to get further down in France? Thanks guys

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[chaser]

Hi thank you for quick responses. I have never heard of Camper Contact, so lots of new bits to look at. We live in South East London, so Dover or Folkestone would be a crossing but wondered whether that time of year, maybe we need to get further down in France? Thanks guys

Northern France is very neglected on here as places to go , and people just race through it, but to me apart from the weather it is the best bit of France, not stupid prices like further south, plenty free Aires, loads of things to see, especially if you are into war stuff.
See DBK excellent thread.

 

[Stealaway]

Catch the Chunnel late evening and stay the night at Cite Europe. Have a tour of Belgium. Loads to see. Start at any Aire nearby Ghent and catch a bus into town.

 

[Potty]

The weather in Northern France will be about the same as in Kent, unpredictable at that time of year. The tunnel would be a better bet than the ferry - no weather disruption. As for going further South, one day’s driving on motorways would take you as far as Honfleur, two to La Rochelle, neither of which will be very warm.

Why not forget one day’s driving and just potter around?

 

[Spriddler]

If the person booking the ticket is over 60 you get 20% discount off the whole fare on the Newhaven to Dieppe (4 hours) crossing. You can only get that discount if you book by phone. 01273 612875 or 0800 917 1201
If you're intending to stay on sites check that they will be open. Many stay closed until May.
In my experience to get better weather you need to be at or South of the Loire Valley; Saumur (220 miles from Dieppe) or the beautiful Amboise (240 miles). A good day's drive by autoroute (Peage) and about 40 Euros in tolls.
As said, Normandy is often neglected, especially so early in the year when the weather will be much the same as back home.
If you decide to go to the Somme area; Amiens is beautiful and interesting with lots to see (70 miles from Dieppe) - shops, restos, cathedral, architecture. If you're interested in old stuff; planes, old cars, 40's memorabilia (old sewing machines etc.!) I thoroughly recommend a visit to this huge and private museum (5 Euros entry, 20 miles from Amiens) on an industrial estate (easy parking) which will keep you out of the wind and rain for several hours. Only open Saturdays. I met and chatted with the owner, a real eccentric!

 

[WESTY66]

Another one here for Amiens! Nice steady drive down and lots to see. When we used to go on the Harley we used camping parc des cygnes, although it’s looking past its best these days, however I appreciate the need for “other transport” if you don’t want to drive to places in the Moho. I also think at that time of year not all the facilities of a campsite may be available.

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[Mark and Mindy]

We had our "toe dip" in France a few weeks ago, just pottered round in Brittany for a few nights, went on the Portsmouth-St Malo ferry as it suited us, thoroughly enjoyed it and planning more trips now.

 

[MisterB]

another useful app for finding stopover aires/sites etc is park4night - we use the all the aires guide to help with planning and would recommend you get a copy as it contains good information and lots of sites, but as i said we supplement it with park4night, which we also use for tea and dinner breaks as we drive along, as it gives lots of picnic sites, not just stopovers.

 

[peterc10]

There will not be many campsites open in Northern France in March. But most of the Aires de Camping Car will be available to stop for one or more night, although you may have some difficulty getting water because many turn the water off over winter to prevent freezing. France is well served by these Aires with about 10,000 of them in or close to Cities, towns and villages. They are designed to help bring tourist revenue to the area.

The Campercontact website is free to access and allows you to search for Aires and have lots of photos and reviews. Many of us also use the Campercontact app on our smartphones. It costs £5 or so per year but allows you to download and save all of the info onto your phone so that you do not need to use data when you are abroad.

There is also a book published by Vicarious Books called "All the Aires" for France. The title is a bit misleading because it does not cover anywhere near as many as Campercontact. But it has a very helpful guide on Aires and how to use them at the beginning. I found it useful when I first started, although I do not use it anymore.

The advantage of a Motorhome is that it allows you to tour around an area, often moving a small distance on a daily basis, or maybe every couple of days. If you just want to go to one place and stay there for the length of your stay you may be better off using a car and caravan. At least that way you can use the car to do the touring. But caravans are generally not allowed in Aires designed for Motorhomes.

 

[DBK]

I'm sure you are planning to but have some days away in the MH before you leave for France. I suggest joining the Caravan & Motorhome Club, if only for one year. Some of their sites are open all year round and the one at Brighton isn't far from you. Very easy to stay at their sites, electric hook up, emptying and filling point etc.

If you wait until this Sunday the launch of the new MHF online magazine takes place and the first issue has an article in it by me on Brittany but it also touches on things to see on the way there from the Calais area.

As mentioned I started a thread recently about northern France although it went off topic so to speak when storms hit but there is a lot to see.

Two Potter Around Northern France

After our trip to Corsica earlier this year I felt our next excursion should involve less distance and fewer sheer drops on the side of the road. Corsica was a delight and the scenery stunning but something less demanding will go down nicely over the next couple of months. And so yesterday we...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

You can't be sure of good weather in March unless you drive to southern Spain so just be ready for whatever turns up. I always find being on a coast is preferable to being inland when it's wet.

 

[GerTee]

Welcome, Fluffy, we wholeheartedly endorse the Park4Night app and use it all the time. Echoing previous comments, Northern France will have much the same as we do on the South coast at that time of year but it’s an adventure ,and your maiden voyage in your van, so what’s not to like. Go and have fun

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[mitzimad]

If you only have a week you've not got enough time to chase the sun and northern france in the rain is very similar to uk so its a case of finding attractions that appeal to you, we don't mind being stuck in the van just watching the sea.
Many years ago we went to the arque glass factory for a tour which we enjoyed,theres several ww1 museums that you can visit .We like ypres you can watch the bugler sounding the last post every night at the Menim gate,has a good museum in the rebuilt hall and lots of resturants and bars.
Theres an aire outside the campsite but plan to arrive early it can fill up
Campercontact is a must you can get the app on to your smartphone get it now and have a play before you go worth paying the £5 for the full version
its a great adventure just go and enjoy

 

[Podney]

Decide what you want to see..........beaches?......towns......countryside....
Our first trip to France with

 

[Podney]

Ha!
iPad not working,or is it my fingers.
Was to Arras.... very interesting for war history,then we pottered about the area.
Enjoy!