South of France trip

P

POH

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Hi planning a trip to South Coast our route at the moment is as below
Calais
|
Reims 2 days
|
Dijon 2 days
|
Annecy 5 days - train to Geneva
|
Grenoble 2 days
|
Frejus 7 days trip to Cannes/Nice
|
Nimes 2 days
|
Then on to Spain
Does anyone have any suggestions/ ideas as we have never been to France before ,we have not booked crossing yet ? also which is the best toll tag to get that will do both countries, will I need to get a crit aire cert as I don't know where we will be staying overnight Aires or campsites .
 
Ardeche, Gorge du Verdon, Pont du Gard and Avingnon are places I went this year and loved them.
We also called in on Nice and Cannes and wouldn't bother going back again, too crowded, expensive and motorhome unfriendly.
I use ATMB tag which works well but only France I think. Bip and go may do both ?
 
Figaro said:
Ardeche, Gorge du Verdon, Pont du Gard and Avingnon are places I went this year and loved them.
We also called in on Nice and Cannes and wouldn't bother going back again, too crowded, expensive and motorhome unfriendly.
I use ATMB tag which works well but only France I think. Bip and go may do both ?
Click to expand...
I'd second both the Gorges du Verdon and the Ardèche.



 
Agree with giving Cannes and Nice a miss overrated. Probably a bit better if staying in a 5 star hotel as that is what they are geared up for, very few public beaches.
Apart from that most places in France are interesting we often just wander and see where we end up.
 
I'd cut Annecy down to 3 days, hook a left after Grenoble on the D1091 then N94 and try a couple of Remote Park4Night spots in the French Alps.



Cheers
Red
 
There is a huge, often forgotten, part of France in the bottom right corner. Say, a 100 mile radius around Montelimar. The Drome region and Alpes Provence are my favourite..

For me the left hand side below Brittany is dull (IMO) until the Gulf D'Arcachon (which is great) and then dull again (flat forest) until Biarritz.

Our favourite site is now in Ares - normal French fishing village with oodles of oysters with fab cycling in the forests and across to the Atlantic beaches.

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Figaro said:
I use ATMB tag which works well but only France I think. Bip and go may do both ?
Click to expand...

Mango Mobilities have combined tags to cover France, Spain, Portugal & Italy at good monthly management rates (only when using). Special offer on at the moment with free sign-up, free postage, and free months for managing the French account.
 
Orion said:
Mango Mobilities have combined tags to cover France, Spain, Portugal & Italy at good monthly management rates (only when using). Special offer on at the moment with free sign-up, free postage, and free months for managing the French account.
Click to expand...
That looks like a great offer, thanks for sharing.
Edit, I just signed up for that. Even though I don't use a lot of toll roads abroad, it's useful to have especially as there are no upfront costs.
 
Last edited:
Another vote for mango, I got one this year. Only used it in France so far, but going to Spain for Xmas.
We came across a great Aire in September in Carro on the coast west of Marseille, a fabulous spot in a small fishing village with bars and restaurants , daily fish market right outside the Aire. If you’re lucky you can park right on the seafront.One of our favourites so far. Check it out

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POH said:
Hi planning a trip to South Coast our route at the moment is as below
Calais
|
Reims 2 days
|
Dijon 2 days
|
Annecy 5 days - train to Geneva
|
Grenoble 2 days
|
Frejus 7 days trip to Cannes/Nice
|
Nimes 2 days
|
Then on to Spain
Does anyone have any suggestions/ ideas as we have never been to France before ,we have not booked crossing yet ? also which is the best toll tag to get that will do both countries, will I need to get a crit aire cert as I don't know where we will be staying overnight Aires or campsites .
Click to expand...
Hi, I have traveled similar routes to that for 40 + years.

I would avoid Nice, I’m not keen on Frejus either.

Prefer Ste. máxime , grimaud, cavaliere & le Lavandou
 
Orion said:
Mango Mobilities have combined tags to cover France, Spain, Portugal & Italy at good monthly management rates (only when using). Special offer on at the moment with free sign-up, free postage, and free months for managing the French account.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this....Ive just ordered a tag (y)
 
Carpmart said:
Thanks for posting this....Ive just ordered a tag (y)
Click to expand...
I've just managed to get rid of mango from my phone, did not know what it was, just thought it was an ad! This last year was the first year for decades without a tag because it expired after 5 years
Now you can pay tolls by flashing your plastic cards, we didn't miss it.
 
Dorwyn said:
I've just managed to get rid of mango from my phone, did not know what it was, just thought it was an ad! This last year was the first year for decades without a tag because it expired after 5 years
Now you can pay tolls by flashing your plastic cards, we didn't miss it.
Click to expand...
Why was mango on your phone ?
You can pay by card of course but not a simple as having a tag surely. Especially when OH has made an art form of dropping the bl@@dy thing on the road :mad:
 
Figaro said:
Why was mango on your phone ?
You can pay by card of course but not a simple as having a tag surely. Especially when OH has made an art form of dropping the bl@@dy thing on the road :mad:
Click to expand...
Sorry, the ad appeared on my phone as an advert, and I didn't connect it with anything I knew, so I tried and succeeded to get rid of it, but now it sounds worth looking into.

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We stayed in Cassis near Marseilles at the top of the village (maybe called The Cicadas or whatever the French is for crickets). Has a nice walk down to the pretty harbour. You can get a bus to Marseilles and a train from there all along the coast that stops at all the places you've heard of but never thought you'd visit. We stopped off at Nice for two nights. Glad we did just to see it but wouldn't bother again although the old town is nice and you can get an elevator up to the top of the cliff. We got a little train from Nice up the mountain to a village on the Italian border. Place called Tende or Tendre. Can't remember the spelling.
 
Lenny HB said:
Agree with giving Cannes and Nice a miss overrated. Probably a bit better if staying in a 5 star hotel as that is what they are geared up for, very few public beaches.
Apart from that most places in France are interesting we often just wander and see where we end up.
Click to expand...
I liked the Old Towns of Nice and Cannes though.

I agree it’s MH unfriendly.
 
To sum up - everywhere is nice down there! Personally I don't plan too much. I have come across so many interesting and nice places on route where I have just said 'Hey this is nice, lets stop here'. Often they are the less touristy places so its a win win.

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We enjoyed St Rémy de Provence. A lovely little town and an interesting area.
We stayed at the acsi campsite, which was very spacious and relaxed (cash payment only 🙂).
 
Another vote for not going near Nice or Frejus, or going there to see how good the advice is to not go there.
Annecy would be a 2/3 day stop over for us.
Do you have pushbikes or motorbike to enable staying outside of the cities?
When thinking Reims or Dijon for example are you thinking of the area or the cities ? We would stay well out of the cities for better stopovers and more interesting stuff, for example Mauriel sur Ay or Epernay for Reims and the region around Clariveaux les lacs instead of Dijon.
I would have no inclination to go to Geneva even by train but plenty of places nearby such as Nantua and Seyssel and Chanaz which offer equivalence of Annecy and less hassle (unless driving straight to a campsite)
I would definitely go to the Vercors region instead of Grenoble and look for the "Balcony Roads" making sure I knew the height limits of my van (or park and cycle them)

Have a look through some of the photos in the photo of the day thread. Its a good passtime whiltst waiting the winter months before your trip. (For example only one photo of the urban area of Geneva which happens to be mine of a bomb scare at the airport!)
861 pages of visual ideas and research which will probably change your mind a number of times as to where to go.

When you do go, let us all know where you are and where you think you are going and you will be given some very good tips for the very local area.

Enjoy the planning
 
UptheGas said:
Colmar is nice place to visit on your way down as well
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Agree but miles off their route. I'd stop off at a couple of wine regions and stay on vineyards the local tourist information will have details usually free or very low cost. Most allow stays without joining France passion even the ones listed with them.
 
We went from Cassis to Bonnieux in Provence. Little municipal site at the bottom of the village. Its' where Peter Mayle wrote the book 'A Year in Provence@.
 
StephandJohn said:
We went from Cassis to Bonnieux in Provence. Little municipal site at the bottom of the village. Its' where Peter Mayle wrote the book 'A Year in Provence@.
Click to expand...
Although not a million miles away from Gordes, I always thought that Gordes was the location for a Year in Provence. Both are lovely as is the whole of the Luberon. Certainly needs to be high on the agenda for one of the first few french trips

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