UK to France - 10 Days? Long Enough?

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Amnesia180

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Hi All,

My partner and I have decided that this year, we want to rent a motorhome and drive to France in September (COVID allowing). I am sure you see posts like this frequently, and I have read many topics on this forum offering advice.

One thing that I haven't been able to calculate though - is whether 10 days is enough (it would be more like 9 and a half as the vehicle would have to be returned on the 10th day). Anyway, that being said - we are contemplating a whistle stop tour from the UK (based near Essex), to Monaco and back.

We are factoring in stopping at Paris. We are not expecting to see everything and do everything. And we are happy with travelling from Monaco back to the UK in 2 days (yes, a lot of driving).

Potentially we are being a bit too optimistic - but I'm just looking for peoples advice and opinions at this stage.
 
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Price up the autoroute tolls first you will be classe 2 it might make a massive dent in your budget and I am not aware of any motorhome parking in Monaco, they may want to keep the riff raff out!
 
There is no motorhome parking in Monaco. You will be met with signs at the entrance telling you to keep moving through!
 
Anything is possible. But check out the toll road costs (you don't see much of France) or think of driving to Manchester for 3 days without using a motorway for comparison.
If it was my first time I would be heading for the Loire which tends to get the good weather, has good sparkling and rose wines and is motorhome friendly with loads of aires and campsites.

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Rather than plan on a destination - Monaco via Paris - ask yourself what you want to do during your trip.

Is this about getting a taster of motorhoming with a view maybe to buying in the future?

Are you wanting to explore the French countryside, sample the gastronomic delights, enjoy some chill time by rivers, lakes or mountains? If so, you won't get that if you set yourself the task of driving the length of the country and back in 8 days ... you have to allow 2 days for ferry crossings/travel in the UK.

Do you want to visit major cities (ie Paris) because they're on the way, or because there are things there you want to see? I can tell you that we spent 3 days in Paris with friends, staying in a hotel and we loved it. However, our motorhome was parked on a campsite some 40 mins by train away. If Paris is a must-do destination, maybe do it via Eurostar/hotel/weekend package trip rather than tie it in to a motorhome adventure.

Normandy & Brittany have more than enough to offer, especially in September when you will hopefully have good weather. Or maybe consider the Loire Valley (great chateaux to explore), or the Alsace region as someone else suggested.

I speak as someone who has done long haul/short time motorhome trips in the early days and it was fun but not relaxing. These days we have time to stop and enjoy what we find, changing plans and routes to suit the weather or our mood.

Take time to smell the coffee and the bread. Oh, and the flowers, if that's your thing. :)
 
The answer you’re looking for is yes it’s possible but are you going on a Motorhome holiday or a Driving holiday? Please don’t confuse the two over that distance in so few a days it will not be enjoyable.
 
Sounds like you would be better driving an HGV to Monaco and back, at least you'd get paid for the driving. :rofl:

Frankly driving 400 miles a day for 2 days is certainly possible in a hired motorhome, though that doesn't include the time getting back across the channel and back to Essex. Sensible, safe and pleasurable, no. It will be almost certain that when you get there, the thought of the long drive back will take the edge off any holiday. You will need to arrive back at the ferry/shuttle in a reasonable time too. On the way down and back you will see very little. You need to be off the péage and on to the normal roads to see much, and that will significantly add to your travel time. You also need to add time for accidents and delays. The péage is usually OK but...

We've toured all over Europe, the US, Canada and New Zealand and as a guide 200 miles is a reasonable day's travel, 250 miles possible, 300 miles at a pinch for one day for pleasurable driving, and that's with both of us sharing the driving.

As has been said there's endless possibilities for places to see in France without doing a marathon like that.

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You may not find it easy getting a MH hired to take to France (I could be wrong, just basing it on difficulties of taking any hired vehicle to a different country).

The journey in 10 days would be possible, but from my perspective, not enjoyable.
 
Monaco is more less twice as far from Essex than is Aberdeen. Do you really fancy driving the equivalent of to Aberdeen and back just to see Monaco, because with your itinerary you won't have time to see anything but boring autoroutes whilst en route. For perhaps the same cost of the m/h hire, the tolls and diesel you could have long sightseeing weekends by air to Paris and Monaco............and maybe a hire car on arrival. The furthest I would head for in 9 days would be the beautiful Loire Valley, the Dordogne and the Lot then back home via the Atlantic coast, and have time to relax!
 
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To be honest I think it'll be to much of a rush, not really a holiday. There are some lovely little towns and villages in France, not saying for one moment you're intending to visit them all (that would take a year), but 10 days will only scratch the surface. To drive purely on the autoroutes you'll miss so much and its so boring and can be very expensive.
10 day you could have a steady run down to the Dordogne spend a few day in the area then across to the Vendee and make you way back up. Weather in Sep is normally still very warn.
Enjoy yourselves whatever you decide to do.
 
I don't envy that at all, first time I drove down to south of France in motorhome , I came off the hovercraft at Calais at 8am drove 600 miles absolutely shattered , ( yes hovercraft back in the early 80's ) so 2 days drive down the 790 miles & 2 to drive back , plus good day either end , that is picking up / returning motorhome & traveling to and from ferry / tunnel to essex , gives you possibly 3 days to do Paris & Monaco , deffo a no go, in my opinion. REMEMBER its a motorhome you will be driving not a fast car !!!
 
France is a big country, if you do get to Monaco by the time you recover from the drive it'll be time to return. If you really want to see the place, fly there and use a hotel, it'll be a lot cheaper as well.

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I’d say you might be pushing it for South of France, what time would you collect the van as most will be afternoon so that’s one day limited. Have you thought of hiring in France so take the car to northern France and collect a MH.

Ok if you decide to do it my advice would be drive there with one overnight stop then arrive in somewhere like Antibes as you can jump on the train to Nice and Monaco from there, I’d stay there for a few nights then come back up over a few nights stopping in some lovely places on the way.

Although you’d be better going to somewhere closer like La Rochelle and enjoy the experience.
 
Apart from all the other answers, although we have drove into Monaco in a van, I wouldn't think of doing it again, you will be far better off trying to find somewhere out of town, and get a bus or train in, they really don't like motorhomes, what we have done for the last couple of years, is park on a campsite just inside Italy on the road to ventamiglia and they have a shuttle service to Monaco , Menton and ventamiglia at a very reasonable price, could let you have the name if you want but will have to look it up.
 
For motorhomes, you have probably picked two of the worst places. Parking a car in these two areas are bad enough, but in many places along the Cote d'Azur parking a motorhome/camping car is prohibited. Several main roads around Paris inner and outer ring roads have a 2 metre height limit. A normal Sat Nav will keep sending you down these roads. Aires in these areas are few and far between.
I am sorry to sound so negative, but these areas have caught me out.
Travelling that distance is possible and much quicker on the toll roads.
Like others have said, think about what you hope to achieve from this trip. Travelling straight down south to the Languedoc area will give you the South of France expierence and much much more motorhome friendly and far cheaper.
 
Did a full lap of France in hired motorhome in 2 weeks so Monaco and back should be quite doable in 10 days. You really have to enjoy the driving bit for it to be enjoyable but luckily I do. We only used peage a couple of times but we also had to move every day. Still found time to visit loads of places along the way.
Agreed Monaco is a great destination but not for motorhomes.
We used Just Go from Luton and they are very good.
 
Before we purchased our own van we rented twice and took to France both times. But France is a motorhomers delight, you will find load of stopping places 'aires' NOT those on motorways. We only got down as far as The Loire which had glorious weather in Sept, so maybe pace yourself this time.
 
Di you know France? If not, and your not going to Paris and Monaco for a very speicif reason, you'd be better to do Normandy, Brittany, the Dordogne or the Loire. All beautiful and intersting places and you'll get much more of the 'real' French feel.
 
StephandJohn said:
Di you know France? If not, and your not going to Paris and Monaco for a very speicif reason, you'd be better to do Normandy, Brittany, the Dordogne or the Loire. All beautiful and intersting places and you'll get much more of the 'real' French feel.
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South coast is the last place for real french.
 
Quite frankly, the distance is not a problem - I regular do a 1000 mile journey stopping once for gas & food and then the ferry

But, I'm not sure what the OP is planning to do. Is the destination for a particular reason/event? Is Paris a stopover on the way?

Over to the OP.....

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YES, you could do it but I would cut out Paris. We were invited to the Rapido factory in Mayenne last year and getting around the Paris Peripherique was a nightmare. When we went to Monte Carlo two years ago we used Nice as a base and travelled to Cannes, San Remo in Italy and Monte Carlo by trains and buses. The bus run from Nice to Monte Carlo was fantastic with views that I could not have seen while driving and so cheap, only a few Euros. We used Dijon as a half-way stop both ways but remember the toll charges, it helps if you have a tag on your windscreen, saves a lot of time. Incidentally, when we drove to Venice and back last year we spent as much on Tolls as we did on fuel. Enjoy your journey.
 
Definitely wouldn't want to be travelling for so long each day. For a 10 day trip I would stick to somewhere like Normandy, Brittany or Loire; otherwise it just becomes a very long drive each way with very little time to spend anywhere.

We're planning on going to France in September (assuming we're allowed!) and will probably be going to Loire and/or Alsace but the difference being we are going for a month not 10 days!

To be doing the sort of distances you are envisaging we'd want at least 3 months!
 
Dont forget you can end up being charged a lot for any damage to the hired motorhome. I haven't been to Paris for some years but when I was there it was rare to see an undented vehicle, the traffic and the driving was very bad.
The Parisiens are not like the real French either, much ruder.
We also hope to get to France in September and will be visiting friends in the south, and hopefully might get into Spain, but will be taking at least a month.
 
Nasher said:
Quite frankly, the distance is not a problem - I regular do a 1000 mile journey stopping once for gas & food and then the ferry
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Interesting, no lorry driver would be allowed to work these hours on safety grounds. That works out about 10 hours solid driving before a stop for something to eat assuming a reasonable motorhome average speed of 50mph. No stops between then even to go to the loo? That's well into superman territory.

You say that is not a problem???????
 
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There's only 2 ways to arrive in Monaco by helicopter from Nice Airport or in a Monagesque registered car of suitable pedigree.

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