2025 Road Trip Île de Ré, Côte d'Azur etc.
Discussion
I've written our road trips up in the past and a few people have found it helpful or maybe even interesting.
We love our French road trips and like to do a blend of places we know and love and places hitherto unknown to us.
May is our favoured month as the French motorways are quiet, service stations empty and hospitality staff are generally more cheerful. Plus, we are not keen on 30 degrees plus heat!
The biggest pain for us is our start point! The worst leg of the whole trip is Nottingham to the tunnel. That leg wasn't as bad as it has been in the past & we drove straight onto a nearly empty Eurotunnel train....happy days!
Once unloaded on the other side we had a less than three hour blast to Honfleur. (Hold your breath going through the first toll that the tag does actually bleep, and it does
)
In Honfleur we our hotel was here: https://all.accor.com/ssr/app/mercure/rates/0986/i...
An unremarkable hotel, but brilliant location, clean, easy parking and great breakfast.
Honfleur is a lovely place.
We love our French road trips and like to do a blend of places we know and love and places hitherto unknown to us.
May is our favoured month as the French motorways are quiet, service stations empty and hospitality staff are generally more cheerful. Plus, we are not keen on 30 degrees plus heat!
The biggest pain for us is our start point! The worst leg of the whole trip is Nottingham to the tunnel. That leg wasn't as bad as it has been in the past & we drove straight onto a nearly empty Eurotunnel train....happy days!
Once unloaded on the other side we had a less than three hour blast to Honfleur. (Hold your breath going through the first toll that the tag does actually bleep, and it does
)In Honfleur we our hotel was here: https://all.accor.com/ssr/app/mercure/rates/0986/i...
An unremarkable hotel, but brilliant location, clean, easy parking and great breakfast.
Honfleur is a lovely place.
We'd not been to Saumur. It's a nice place to explore for a day.
We stayed here: https://www.hotel-anneanjou.com/en
It was truly lovely in every respect. Great views, even the car park!
I should mention, our car of choice was Mrs 2SB's Golf GTD. It's a cracking car: 900kms between fill ups, small enough for inevitable tight roads and car parks, comfy and a reasonable get up and go.
We stayed here: https://www.hotel-anneanjou.com/en
It was truly lovely in every respect. Great views, even the car park!
I should mention, our car of choice was Mrs 2SB's Golf GTD. It's a cracking car: 900kms between fill ups, small enough for inevitable tight roads and car parks, comfy and a reasonable get up and go.
The next leg was one we always really enjoy, four nights on Île de Ré, more specifically Saint-Martin-de-Ré.
We'd stayed at the Hotel Toiras before, but this year we fancied something different. We plumped for a three bedroomed apartment less than ten minutes walk from the harbour.
Saint-Martin-de-Ré is lovely. It can get VERY busy in high season, but in May it's perfect.
We'd stayed at the Hotel Toiras before, but this year we fancied something different. We plumped for a three bedroomed apartment less than ten minutes walk from the harbour.
Saint-Martin-de-Ré is lovely. It can get VERY busy in high season, but in May it's perfect.
We are always sorry to leave Île de Ré and it can lead to the next location being a bit "after the Lord Mayor's Show".
Our next plan turned out to be a "happy hiccup". About half way to our next beloved spot of Cassis sits Montauban. We'd booked two nights there, meaning one full day to explore the town.
We arrived early enough to do some exploration, and it quickly became apparent that we didn't want to spend the next full day there. So, we bailed. It wasn't a total wash out as we found a fab restaurant for dinner.
Carcassonne is en route to Cassis. About 20 years ago we had the misfortune to visit in high season. It was horrific so we'd placed an embargo on the place. But, we decided it must be better than Montauban.
So, we booked a night here: https://www.hotelscharmedesign.com/fr/hotel-du-cha...
And it was fine, as was Carcassonne. In fact we had a lovely day walking the ramparts, dining etc. It just goes to show, never say never.
Our next plan turned out to be a "happy hiccup". About half way to our next beloved spot of Cassis sits Montauban. We'd booked two nights there, meaning one full day to explore the town.
We arrived early enough to do some exploration, and it quickly became apparent that we didn't want to spend the next full day there. So, we bailed. It wasn't a total wash out as we found a fab restaurant for dinner.
Carcassonne is en route to Cassis. About 20 years ago we had the misfortune to visit in high season. It was horrific so we'd placed an embargo on the place. But, we decided it must be better than Montauban.
So, we booked a night here: https://www.hotelscharmedesign.com/fr/hotel-du-cha...
And it was fine, as was Carcassonne. In fact we had a lovely day walking the ramparts, dining etc. It just goes to show, never say never.
Next we had four nights at Villefranche-sur-Mer.
We stayed here: https://www.welcomehotel.com/en/
Again, the car was parked up for four nights.
We've been here many times over the last quarter of a century or so. There's not much better than taking your breakfast with this view
Well, maybe one thing is better
We stayed here: https://www.welcomehotel.com/en/
Again, the car was parked up for four nights.
We've been here many times over the last quarter of a century or so. There's not much better than taking your breakfast with this view
Well, maybe one thing is better
There's some nice walking to be done around there, not least to
https://www.villa-ephrussi.com/en
That place never lets you down.
https://www.villa-ephrussi.com/en
That place never lets you down.
One thing I have noticed about Villefranche is it's become less "French".
Next we headed somewhere where this is not the case & where we'd only ever blasted past on the péage.
We had three nights in Vienne.
We stayed here: https://www.hotelsone.com/vienne-hotels-fr/la-pyra...
The hotel was amazing and the service was second to none.
Next we headed somewhere where this is not the case & where we'd only ever blasted past on the péage.
We had three nights in Vienne.
We stayed here: https://www.hotelsone.com/vienne-hotels-fr/la-pyra...
The hotel was amazing and the service was second to none.
Up until recently we've struggled with our last night. If you are not careful the stop over on the way home just feels like you are hanging around waiting.
But, latterly we've stayed here: https://www.loisium.com/en/champagne/
The views across the vines are amazing.
Food is good too!
But, latterly we've stayed here: https://www.loisium.com/en/champagne/
The views across the vines are amazing.
Food is good too!
Great to read - thanks for sharing.
Like you we love our French road trips and have done many to most areas. Honfleur has been a favourite stopover on many of our trips but it’s getting extremely popular especially at weekends.
We’re normally away end June - mid July but my wife has just had a triple ankle fusion so immobile for 14 weeks.
We’re off in September for 3 weeks travelling via Newcastle to Amsterdam (we live around 20 mins from the ferry terminal and so much more civilised than the thrash down to Eurotunnel which is our other preferred option) stopping off in Epernay for 2 nights then a long drive to Salon de Provence for 8 nights followed by 7 nights in Collioure near the Spanish border. We then have another long drive up to Beaune in Burgundy for 3 nights followed by 2 nights in Ghent, Belgium before heading for the ferry.
Enjoy your trip.
Like you we love our French road trips and have done many to most areas. Honfleur has been a favourite stopover on many of our trips but it’s getting extremely popular especially at weekends.
We’re normally away end June - mid July but my wife has just had a triple ankle fusion so immobile for 14 weeks.
We’re off in September for 3 weeks travelling via Newcastle to Amsterdam (we live around 20 mins from the ferry terminal and so much more civilised than the thrash down to Eurotunnel which is our other preferred option) stopping off in Epernay for 2 nights then a long drive to Salon de Provence for 8 nights followed by 7 nights in Collioure near the Spanish border. We then have another long drive up to Beaune in Burgundy for 3 nights followed by 2 nights in Ghent, Belgium before heading for the ferry.
Enjoy your trip.
Boxster5 said:
Great to read - thanks for sharing.
Like you we love our French road trips and have done many to most areas. Honfleur has been a favourite stopover on many of our trips but it s getting extremely popular especially at weekends.
We re normally away end June - mid July but my wife has just had a triple ankle fusion so immobile for 14 weeks.
We re off in September for 3 weeks travelling via Newcastle to Amsterdam (we live around 20 mins from the ferry terminal and so much more civilised than the thrash down to Eurotunnel which is our other preferred option) stopping off in Epernay for 2 nights then a long drive to Salon de Provence for 8 nights followed by 7 nights in Collioure near the Spanish border. We then have another long drive up to Beaune in Burgundy for 3 nights followed by 2 nights in Ghent, Belgium before heading for the ferry.
Enjoy your trip.
Nice trip! Beaune has carved itself out as a classic car town. We love Colliure too! The ankle thing sounds painful! Like you we love our French road trips and have done many to most areas. Honfleur has been a favourite stopover on many of our trips but it s getting extremely popular especially at weekends.
We re normally away end June - mid July but my wife has just had a triple ankle fusion so immobile for 14 weeks.
We re off in September for 3 weeks travelling via Newcastle to Amsterdam (we live around 20 mins from the ferry terminal and so much more civilised than the thrash down to Eurotunnel which is our other preferred option) stopping off in Epernay for 2 nights then a long drive to Salon de Provence for 8 nights followed by 7 nights in Collioure near the Spanish border. We then have another long drive up to Beaune in Burgundy for 3 nights followed by 2 nights in Ghent, Belgium before heading for the ferry.
Enjoy your trip.
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
Nice trip! Beaune has carved itself out as a classic car town. We love Colliure too! The ankle thing sounds painful!
Indeed, we are staying in Beaune this coming weekend for the historic racing just down the road at Dijon.Like you have said, the worst bit for us is also travelling to Folkestone (from Cheshire in our case).
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