Travelling to France (1 Viewer)

[Gwyneth]

can you suggest campsites/routes to take around France. We are looking to visit Loire Valley, Normandy and Brittany. We will be travelling April 25 with a dog. We will are looking to use Le Shuttle from Calais. It will be our first trip abroad in motorhome. Any suggestions welcome

 

[Spriddler]

Welcome!
It might help to say how long you plan to be away since 'Brittany' is quite large depending upon which part you want to include so it could be a long detour to make en route to the Loire Valley.

 

[PlacidoD]

Do check out DFDS prices Newhaven-Dieppe. If one of you is over 60 you get a senior's 20% discount booking by phone and that will land you in Normandy!

If Dieppe suits I can suggest a couple of campsites nearby.

 

[15edward]

But our dog is why we use the tunnel…..

 

[AlunandFelicie]

As Spriddler said above ,how long are you going for ,from your post I would think you need at least a month and plan on a LOT of driving.

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[AlunandFelicie]

From Worcester you’d be better going Plymouth-Roscoff in a pet friendly cabin ,straight into Brittany and saving you a fair bit of driving and a day off your trip (and avoiding the bloody M25)

 

[Gwyneth]

Welcome!
It might help to say how long you plan to be away since 'Brittany' is quite large depending upon which part you want to include so it could be a long detour to make en route to the Loire Valley.

We are looking to be away about 3 weeks

 

[Gwyneth]

Do check out DFDS prices Newhaven-Dieppe. If one of you is over 60 you get a senior's 20% discount booking by phone and that will land you in Normandy!

If Dieppe suits I can suggest a couple of campsites nearby.

Thank you,will look into this.we are both 60

 

[Gwyneth]

From Worcester you’d be better going Plymouth-Roscoff in a pet friendly cabin ,straight into Brittany and saving you a fair bit of driving and a day off your trip (and avoiding the bloody M25)

Thank you. We would be travelling to Folkestone the day before and staying at a campsite a short distance from Folkstone. Will look into Ferry as an option. We are travelling from South Wales

 

[AlunandFelicie]

Thank you. We would be travelling to Folkestone the day before and staying at a campsite a short distance from Folkstone. Will look into Ferry as an option. We are travelling from South Wales

We travel from South Wales as well(Aberdare) done the tunnel twice and Plymouth-Roscoff Twice ,will always plan via Plymouth from now on if possible , a much less stressful journey and Brittany is HUGE!

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[hja]

Especially as you have not taken your van abroad before I would stick to Brittany. We have certainly done three week holidays there before. Suggest you get a guide book from the library which will give you highlights and you can decide what sort of things you want to see.

 

[15edward]

We come from Worcester and have done a few trips into Irmandy/ Brittany
Out usual planning is to get to the tunnel for a crossing about 6 o’clock . It takes us about 4-5 hours with stops
We like Reading Services fir the dog( theyve taken some of the dog area for Chargers but there’s still a mown walk at the far end)
We have a pet passport now but we used Abbeywell a couple of times for the AHC which we found easy

 

[15edward]

Once over the channel we head for AireDe La Baie de Somme at the end of the A16. You might find this a bit much for your first stop and many will advise against an autoroute stop but we like it very much - and so does the dog! Great place for exercise

 

[AG 2602]

Might be best not to plan too much. We did our first trip to France in 2021 and planned to go down to La Rochelle but the weather was so hot down there (we also travel with a dog) we ended up staying north of Vannes. You’ll be travelling out of season so you could get an ACSI card to make some savings on campsites and the app will also help you plan. Were off in a couple of weeks for 3 weeks and this time we’ll get down to La Rochelle and the Dordogne or further south if the weather looks better.

 

[15edward]

Our favoured en route stop where we often stay a few days is Municipal camping at Pons Farcy just off the A84 on the river Vire
One of our favourite Brittany campsites is municipal campsite at Pleherel - Cap Frehel
Camping du pont de l’etang
Right on the sea and unstructured
If you get that far you’ll feel like old hands!
I’d also suggest if you think of Plymouth and Roscoff
You read DBKs journeys in Brittany

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[Riverbankannie]

These threads useful reading

Newbies to France - Brainstorm

I'm about to write an in-depth article that will inspire and guide members into crossing the channel. I understand that for some, the idea may seem daunting, and for others, a little nudge is all they need to embark on this fantastic journey. I'm counting on your valuable insights! Share your...

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Back to France!

Hiya, where are you headed this trip? Hope you three too have a great trip. We’re currently at Coulanges sur Yonne after a boring drive on the A29 (mostly) but we wanted to cover the distance. It’s a shame that so many of the municipal campsites are closing as they used to offer unparalleled...

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Two Go Back For More Cheese

We're now sitting in the queue for the 22:00 sailing from a damp Plymouth to Roscoff. :) The weather forecast for northern France has improved a bit for this week but it won't be warm so we are committed to Plan B now and will head south, but not with any haste. Anyone who has arrived in...

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[AlunandFelicie]

We are looking to be away about 3 weeks

I’d pick one of your choices otherwise you’ll miss more than you’ll see.

 

[PlacidoD]

Thank you,will look into this.we are both 60

There are always a few dogs on the Newhaven-Dieppe crossing. Not at all sure how they travel. I do know they have some pet friendly cabins and the sailing is under 4 hours so not a long journey for your pooch.

Others who have posted are right. Choosing your ferry route is a balance between convenience at the UK end and at the French end. Stopping just one night at each place gets quite tiring to cover a long distance.

The thought of queues at Dover I find off putting and it would take me longer to get there and Shuttle prices frighten me! Hence my choice of Newhaven.

Although I have travelled Europe many times by motorcycle I chose a week at a couple of sites local to Dieppe for my first van trip abroad and booked ahead with a couple of sites.

So choose an area and stick within it. You don't want to arrive home exhausted!!!

 

[15edward]

I’m pretty sure newhaven - dieppe dogs stay in vans

 

[Spriddler]

There are always a few dogs on the Newhaven-Dieppe crossing. Not at all sure how they travel. I do know they have some pet friendly cabins and the sailing is under 4 hours so not a long journey for your pooch.

There are no pet cabins or kennels for dogs on that crossing. They have to remain in the vehicle (alone) on the locked car deck.
If you ask nicely and a crew member is free they will escort you to visit the van once but the dog must remain inside the van.

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[Sneds]

Another vote for Plymouth - Roscoff
You don’t have to leave the dog in the car/van on the noisy and scary car deck, ours would freak right out.
Much better with the cabin to shower, sleep and a deck to sit out on with your dog.

 

[Lenny HB]

Just go with the flow you don't need to plan just amble along, plenty of Aires and places to stop overnight you don't need to worry about finding sites.

 

[kev54]

Don’t be too ambitious about distance. Almost everywhere has something of interest. We’ve just been on Irish Ferries from Dover to Calais and they have an area onboard for dogs out of vehicles. We use Park4Night (£20) to get recent reviews of sites - everything from campsites to ‘opportunistic’ parkups ( just need to read reviews carefully). Calais is fab. Montreuil-sur-mer, despite not being on the sea is a great first stop