Suggestions for our trip to France in May 2023

[Smudger55]

Haven't you got All the Aires France books, it was suggested to you I'm sure. Paying out like that you will be bankrupt before you know if. Calm down, take a breath. If you search on line for the area you are in for 'camping car Aires in your area you will be surprised with the results!

Thanks, think area we are in is not littered aires, we're now south of Auxerre when i hope things will improve, but yes camping car Aire i will look st, someone else mentioned it. Cheers Smudger55.

 

[lorger]

Have you used searchfor sites, here’s an example of what’s round Auxerre

 

[Smudger55]

Have you used searchfor sites, here’s an example of what’s round Auxerre
View attachment 741098

Yes thanks, use it most of time

 

[lorger]

Yes thanks, use it most of time

We’re heading over a week tomorrow, looks like we’ll be heading to the Provence region as weather not looking great further north.

 

[Smudger55]

Well travelled most of last 4 days from home, now about 20 miles south Auxerre. Plotted route within Garmin sat nav, no tolls, brilliant.

Hopefully sightseeing can now begin. It is an eye opener French sites nowhere near as good as UK, from what we've seen.

Management and i are having "constructive" discussions about how we do this.

We now need to get some sightseeing in, hopefully find ome better site options and away we go. Just downloaded camping car park app, so fingers crossed.

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[zac]

We’re heading over a week tomorrow, looks like we’ll be heading to the Provence region as weather not looking great further north.

we're going over next weekend as well, going to play it day by day as we're still not sure which way we want to go.

 

[zac]

Well travelled most of last 4 days from home, now about 20 miles south Auxerre. Plotted route within Garmin sat nav, no tolls, brilliant.

Hopefully sightseeing can now begin. It is an eye opener French sites nowhere near as good as UK, from what we've seen.

Management and i are having "constructive" discussions about how we do this.

We now need to get some sightseeing in, hopefully find ome better site options and away we go. Just downloaded camping car park app, so fingers crossed.

we purchased the camping car park as well just in case as you just never know and the more options you have the better it will be.

 

[Chris]

We’re heading over a week tomorrow, looks like we’ll be heading to the Provence region as weather not looking great further north.

Provence is very nice, especially at this time of the year.

Remove the French and it would be perfect

 

[Smudger55]

we purchased the camping car park as well just in case as you just never know and the more options you have the better it will be.

I'm finding ASCI card is mentioned each site we go, I hadn't bought one so missed out on a couple of discounts. Management has offered her advice on one or two occasions.

 

[Smudger55]

Today we drovr from our site to Vezelay, via Montbard to Fontenay Abbey then on to Dijon. Photos posted on photo of the day. Now at Camping di lac kur in Dijon. Busy site and could have option of "car park" outside gates.

So far:

Pay for sites not up to UK standard but we're getting used to them.
Petrol /diesel more expensive
Wine cheaper.
Food expensive
People helpful
Great roads, done no tolls so far
No pot holes
Nobody seems to be working
Everywhere seems to be closed
Lovely countryside
Everywhere tidy, well kept.. except sites
Coffee, well a large coffee no bigger than our small coffee, picture below doesn't do smallness justice , and cup half full.

Pop into Dijon tomorrow. CHEERS Smudger55

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[Smudger55]

Further to the above:

Coffee again, ha bought a grand coffee in Dijon yesterday had to have a second as one gulp and it's gone. However didn't think as that would have been 4 shots, took ages to get to sleep last night.

Roads all slope the right, quite disconcerting when driving MHome, feel as though you might tip over.

Still everywhere is closed, do the French work

Petrol stations, not many around and they all seem to be on the other side of the road.My Revolut and Easyfx cards didn't work in some out of main town pumps. So have to be mindful of when I can fill up.

Were still struggling with trying balance too much driving with seeing things, it's trying to find suitable sites within close enough distance of some decent villages.

Suppose also weather is not brilliant and we are slightly out of season.
Cheers Smudger55

 

[Smudger55]

Today has been quite a testing and stressful day. I think this has come about with wrong decisions. We thought we would travel south to Cluny and do a bit of sightseeing in and around, then drive north to Langres, with view we'd arrive at on of 3 sites by teatime.

Set off, firstly a road was closed then we couldn't find anywhere to park in Cluny. So decided to go on to Macon, likewise, difficult to find parking.

So decision then to crack onto Langres. Arrived at site outside Langres only to find it did not open until Friday, aaahhhh

Reception advised another site, which I had not considered a few miles down road. Took wrong turning and as set off this all mighty noise as though I'd ripped back end off. It just so happened it coincided with some jets screaming over above us,,,,, phew.

We haven't eaten out since our first stop, so we were coming despondent that we would fail tonight. Arrived at site booked in, pitched up and went to shower block, sign up water heater being repaired no hot water, aaaaaahhhhhhh

Fortunately another small block has hot water.

This is actually a lovely site, with restaurant, good shower block overlooking fields. We did eat in restaurant and will do so tomorrow hopefully after a restful and less stressed day.

Camping Hautoreille -

I'll offer my overall thoughts on our trip later but a few things aren't living up to expectations. Now wheres the wine

 

[Deep Owl]

A city that rarely gets mentioned on threads is Amiens, I suppose because people rush past on the way to somewhere! A big campsite near the edge of town with a bus stop outside. Cathedral, and lots of WW1 info, as well as pretty lower town by the canal/river with restaurants.

Also, you do get used to French sites being less “manicured” than English, but usually much cheaper esp. with ACSI card out of season. This is similar to most French hotels where bedrooms tend to be fairly basic; they are only for sleeping in! Apart from the Château de Courcelles, which I could once afford to stay at, with champagne automatically brought up to your room before dinner!

 

[Bouncer123]

For the first year since owning a motorhome we have decided that this year instead of flying off to sunnier climates we will instead travel over to France via the Tunnel and spend 2 weeks travelling around, we are departing end of April and will be coming back 2 week of May so weather may not be great in most places unless venturing to the South of course.

I am looking for some good pointers on some nice destinations within approx 4-5 hours of Calais which probably covers most of France to be honest, i am interested in the War type places but my wife is not so keen so i need to mix it up a little. Also our Motorhome is rather large ie 8.5m tag so we need to be able to get to these places with this as we are unable to take any other form of transport like bicycles (medical issues). we could if we thought it would help take the car trailer with the car but this means that we wont be able to move on regularly so at the moment that's not coming with us.

I have just purchased my Angle morte stickers and i already have the crit air sticker as well.
Thought and suggestions please

Thanks in advance.

Le Crotoy, Baie de la Somme, brilliant aire, lovely restaurants , fresh prawns on the quayside. Then all the Somme battlefields and memorials nearby, Thiepval Memorial to the Missing and DeD, fantastic and moving.
Then for a bit of light relief off to Le Touquet, lovely aire by the harbour, super beaches and fab art nouveau/deco little town!
France is brilliant!

 

[zac]

Le Crotoy, Baie de la Somme, brilliant aire, lovely restaurants , fresh prawns on the quayside. Then all the Somme battlefields and memorials nearby, Thiepval Memorial to the Missing and DeD, fantastic and moving.
Then for a bit of light relief off to Le Touquet, lovely aire by the harbour, super beaches and fab art nouveau/deco little town!
France is brilliant!

Do you have a link to the aire or a campercontact / park4night etc reference? might give this a go myself when we travel this weekend?

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[Bouncer123]

Lots to think about. I like to plan things but many funsters just set off and pitch up as it takes their fancy. We stay only on sites in UK and have never gone "wild". If we set off having landed in France, I know if we left each night's stay to the day of the journey, it could cause a lot of stress if management cannot find a site or aire on route. I doubt we will consider going "wild" for now.

What do you all do, plan day before, take pot luck and hope for best.

Secondly I'm with O2, comes with EU roaming for about 25GB data. What other options do you consider to cater for wi-fi for tablets, phones etc . 25GB might be enough but if we are having to search for sites on route I may need more.

I have Search4Sites app, think someone has mentioned Pitchup. Is there anything better.

Thought would ask these questions on this thread, as it takes time to search the forum for answers.

Cheers. Smudger55

Camperstop!!

 

[MillyMoHo]

For the first year since owning a motorhome we have decided that this year instead of flying off to sunnier climates we will instead travel over to France via the Tunnel and spend 2 weeks travelling around, we are departing end of April and will be coming back 2 week of May so weather may not be great in most places unless venturing to the South of course.

I am looking for some good pointers on some nice destinations within approx 4-5 hours of Calais which probably covers most of France to be honest, i am interested in the War type places but my wife is not so keen so i need to mix it up a little. Also our Motorhome is rather large ie 8.5m tag so we need to be able to get to these places with this as we are unable to take any other form of transport like bicycles (medical issues). we could if we thought it would help take the car trailer with the car but this means that we wont be able to move on regularly so at the moment that's not coming with us.

I have just purchased my Angle morte stickers and i already have the crit air sticker as well.
Thought and suggestions please

Thanks in advance.

Don’t assume that the North Coast of France is boring. Some lovely sea side areas worth visiting, Deauville, Trouville. Honfleur is a very pretty place. The Normandy landing beaches are interesting. If you fancy a bit further afield, St. Malo is a walled town worth visiting. The area is also known for Calvados, an apple Brandy, we did a tour of a Calvados distillery. Slightly further along the coast into Brittany is the Cote de Rose, granite coast with small sea side towns. Enjoy.

 

[Peregrinator]

We did a combined scenic historical and WW2 trip to Brittany in April 2022, (we have already done the DDay beaches) and mixed medieval, palaeolithic and geological interests. See the route here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1hG2DL4dc14jn2o37-vsvqG7-ib0Voah3&usp=sharing
We went from Dover but to do it again I would suggest Newhaven - Dieppe out and back.

Thank you, I will use some of them.

 

[SwissBob]

Hi

I am compiling a list from the assistance from here, we will be going over on the tunnel which i have used a long time ago with my previous motorhome which was an Autotrail Delaware which was 7.9m. Never had any issues with this so i think you will be ok and the one we have now is 8.5m and a tag and i dont think i will have any issues as i know coaches get on an off. We dont plan on pre booking sites but this does depend on where we are going to go, I still cannot decide if we need to take the car trailer as if we do then this changes everything as a lot more planning needs to happen. At present we are not taking it so the current plan is just see how we go and if we need to stop over on a campsite we should be ok as its not peak times.
If you find a code for the tunnel let me know as currently last time i checked it was £365 for us return with the standard ticket, I've not booked the tunnel as of yet but i hope to soon.

Keep in touch anyway.

Don't forget that if you do decide on trailer and car that takes most aires out - even without at 8.5 meters you won't fit in many without causing a lot of upset. I'd say go for campsites and you will need to prebook. It's only April here and already we struggle to find places, there are so many more motorhomes about. There were 45,000 new MH registrations in Germany alone last year and they all seem to be coming to our region. France Passion is also a great option but you need to call ahead as many stopped doing during the plague.

 

[zac]

Don't forget that if you do decide on trailer and car that takes most aires out - even without at 8.5 meters you won't fit in many without causing a lot of upset. I'd say go for campsites and you will need to prebook. It's only April here and already we struggle to find places, there are so many more motorhomes about. There were 45,000 new MH registrations in Germany alone last year and they all seem to be coming to our region. France Passion is also a great option but you need to call ahead as many stopped doing during the plague.

We are not taking the car and as we don't know where we are going to go we can't really book, we know we are heading south west as we need to go towards Le Mans (or north west of there) really as we are meeting up with some friends in a few days but nothing is set in stone. Will play it by ear but there are some good posts on here so will certainly be using some of them in our travels. The only good thing is that we don't really need EHU so we can get away with any aire although i am sure it will be nice to go onto a proper site at some point in the 2 weeks.

Thanks for all the pointers and keep them coming.

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[Peregrinator]

If you are going longer or willing to do a stop on the way, taking kids or grand kids, you can't beat this place: Vallon Pont d'Arc, Kayaking down the river and over small rapids is great fun for all, so many campsites along the river, and some hire Kayaks and take you to a start point up river, and pick you up down river, go for as long as you like, morning to lunch, or all day, so many lovely places to stop for a picnic, spend all day on the river with your Kayak.

 

[Tantalus]

We’ve had some very nice days out in Rouen and also Boulogne, getting to both from campsites outside using local busses.

Dieppe was a pleasant not planned visit with a good walk into town from the campsite.

Wimereux is a pleasant coastal town, not a lot there apart from a beautiful prom to stroll, a high street and hotel restaurant at the northern end for menu du jour. The campsite in the town makes it walkable.

In a different direction Laon is also a fantastic medieval town to visit but it’s a hard walk up to the top of the mound from the campsite at its base.

Where did you stay to visit Rouen please. I can't find info about buses from campsite webpages. We have camper, no car by the way. Thanks for your post.

 

[suavecarve]

Where did you stay to visit Rouen please. I can't find info about buses from campsite webpages. We have camper, no car by the way. Thanks for your post.

It is possible to stay on an island of the Seine marked up on s4s.
You will need crit air for here.
When we stayed overnight it was a boy racers car park but daytime should be good.
Rouen is very pleasant on the eye

 

[Libellula]

Beware that every Monday in France this year is a bank holiday, and 1 May is another big strike day so avoid town centres.
enjoy your time in France, I love a;l of it. Biased!

 

[zac]

Beware that every Monday in France this year is a bank holiday, and 1 May is another big strike day so avoid town centres.
enjoy your time in France, I love a;l of it. Biased!

Thanks for that very useful as I didn't know that

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[MillyMoHo]

Thanks for that very useful as I didn't know that

Thanks for that info.

 

[Libellula]

Slight error there, sorry, I meant every Monday in May, not all year.

 

[Libellula]

Thanks for that info.

Only in May!

 

[Libellula]

Thanks for that very useful as I didn't know that

Only in May my mistake, sorry, not all year!

 

[zac]

Only in May my mistake, sorry, not all year!

Thanks as it will affect us as we are there for 2 of them

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