first time with young kids, advice?
Discussion
I just relocated to London from the USA and would love to attend the LeMans in 2015. My wife says that if it's in France, she wants to come. We have 3 kids, aged 1, 3, and 5 who are also going to be along for the ride.
Travel wise, I don't own a car so we'll be hiring a vehicle to do the trip, or flying out and figuring out our way from there.
If the 1yr old can't nap or sleep at night, nobody is going to have a good time, so I think trackside camping might be right out. I'm not made of money, but I'd like for this to be a fun family experience so I'm willing to pay for convenience.
If you were in my shoes, what options would you consider?
Travel wise, I don't own a car so we'll be hiring a vehicle to do the trip, or flying out and figuring out our way from there.
If the 1yr old can't nap or sleep at night, nobody is going to have a good time, so I think trackside camping might be right out. I'm not made of money, but I'd like for this to be a fun family experience so I'm willing to pay for convenience.
If you were in my shoes, what options would you consider?
Worth considering the Eurostar from London to Paris, then TGV from Paris to Le Mans to get there. Nice and relaxed way to travel with the children able to move around a bit, not just be strapped in to seats for hours. No airline baggage restrictions either and the option for a couple of days in Paris on the way down/back.
With the 1 year old I'd probably say hotel in Le Mans. Won't be cheap but will be quieter than track-side and if you get somewhere near a tram stop you don't need to worry about getting to/from the circuit.
With the 1 year old I'd probably say hotel in Le Mans. Won't be cheap but will be quieter than track-side and if you get somewhere near a tram stop you don't need to worry about getting to/from the circuit.
With a very young child I agree that staying on site might be a little stressy. There are 250K people and lots of noise. Even the private sites can be loud.
An option onsite would be rent a motorhome and pitch on a private site. We have customers that do just that. Very civilized but quite expensive. Circa 500gbp for the pitch alone.
I would recommend camping away from the circuit at Chateau Chanteloup. This is about 15 mins north. Has a pool, restaurant, bar and is a very nice place to be. Then buy a car park space in Rouge or Vert at the circuit for 40gbp. Then come and go as you please.
With youngsters, probably worth taking the train to Paris and renting a car there. Cheaper than renting in the UK and driving over. The ferry cost alone will pay for the train.
Hope that helps
An option onsite would be rent a motorhome and pitch on a private site. We have customers that do just that. Very civilized but quite expensive. Circa 500gbp for the pitch alone.
I would recommend camping away from the circuit at Chateau Chanteloup. This is about 15 mins north. Has a pool, restaurant, bar and is a very nice place to be. Then buy a car park space in Rouge or Vert at the circuit for 40gbp. Then come and go as you please.
With youngsters, probably worth taking the train to Paris and renting a car there. Cheaper than renting in the UK and driving over. The ferry cost alone will pay for the train.
Hope that helps
A holiday in France with the wife and three small kids is great, trip to Le Mans is also great but combining the two is not a good idea. Le Mans will be noisy, busy, full of guys who've had a tad to much to drink and good accomodation will be hard to find. I would be very surprised if your wife and kids enjoy it and having them there is likely to spoil it for you. Do yourself a favour, take the wife & kids to somewhere like Brittany, with its fantastic sandy beaches and plenty of great gites (holiday lets), for a week, I have kids aged 3 and 4, they love it. Once you've got that out of the way, get down to Le Mans on your own or with a like-minded friend and soak up the party atmosphere. You could take the train but you'll miss out on this:
(Caterham 7, TVR Griffith, Porsche 911, Ford GT, Noble, Aston V8, Maserati 3200GT, Lambo Murcialago amongst others)
The drive down is part of the Le Mans experience, not only that, there are events such as the "Classic British Welcome" and Pistonheads meet that you can only really get to by car once you're there. If the wife absolutely insists on going to Le Mans, wait until The Classic in 2016, it's a bit more family friendly and less busy, if you book early you should be able to find a suitable gite within an hours drive. Personally I suggest you do both, they are very different.
(Caterham 7, TVR Griffith, Porsche 911, Ford GT, Noble, Aston V8, Maserati 3200GT, Lambo Murcialago amongst others)
The drive down is part of the Le Mans experience, not only that, there are events such as the "Classic British Welcome" and Pistonheads meet that you can only really get to by car once you're there. If the wife absolutely insists on going to Le Mans, wait until The Classic in 2016, it's a bit more family friendly and less busy, if you book early you should be able to find a suitable gite within an hours drive. Personally I suggest you do both, they are very different.
Mellow Yellow said:
A holiday in France with the wife and three small kids is great, trip to Le Mans is also great but combining the two is not a good idea. Le Mans will be noisy, busy, full of guys who've had a tad to much to drink and good accomodation will be hard to find. I would be very surprised if your wife and kids enjoy it and having them there is likely to spoil it for you. Do yourself a favour, take the wife & kids to somewhere like Brittany, with its fantastic sandy beaches and plenty of great gites (holiday lets), for a week, I have kids aged 3 and 4, they love it. Once you've got that out of the way, get down to Le Mans on your own or with a like-minded friend and soak up the party atmosphere. You could take the train but you'll miss out on this:
(Caterham 7, TVR Griffith, Porsche 911, Ford GT, Noble, Aston V8, Maserati 3200GT, Lambo Murcialago amongst others)
The drive down is part of the Le Mans experience, not only that, there are events such as the "Classic British Welcome" and Pistonheads meet that you can only really get to by car once you're there. If the wife absolutely insists on going to Le Mans, wait until The Classic in 2016, it's a bit more family friendly and less busy, if you book early you should be able to find a suitable gite within an hours drive. Personally I suggest you do both, they are very different.
In total agreement. Just not the place for little ones.(Caterham 7, TVR Griffith, Porsche 911, Ford GT, Noble, Aston V8, Maserati 3200GT, Lambo Murcialago amongst others)
The drive down is part of the Le Mans experience, not only that, there are events such as the "Classic British Welcome" and Pistonheads meet that you can only really get to by car once you're there. If the wife absolutely insists on going to Le Mans, wait until The Classic in 2016, it's a bit more family friendly and less busy, if you book early you should be able to find a suitable gite within an hours drive. Personally I suggest you do both, they are very different.
Le Mans 24hrs is not an ideal place for very young children. However if you and the family are really keen to attend the best way to do this is buy a couple of general entrance tickets for your wife and yourself (children under 16 are free) and stay off circuit in a hotel and travel in by train then use the tram from the station to the circuit. A suggested itinerary could be to travel by Eurostar from London to Paris, have a day or so in Paris and then travel to the circuit on Sunday to see the closing stages of the race. Hope this helps.
AndrewMelley said:
Le Mans 24hrs is not an ideal place for very young children. However if you and the family are really keen to attend the best way to do this is buy a couple of general entrance tickets for your wife and yourself (children under 16 are free) and stay off circuit in a hotel and travel in by train then use the tram from the station to the circuit. A suggested itinerary could be to travel by Eurostar from London to Paris, have a day or so in Paris and then travel to the circuit on Sunday to see the closing stages of the race. Hope this helps.
Or they could book an event tent with Travel Destinations - quiet, safe etc...I do not think the idea is silly, but it will be all about compromise to make it work.
Go with the mindset of, it is a holiday to France with a visit to the Le Mans 24hrs, rather than it all being about the race.
Doing it that way will mean it is easily possible to stay within an hour of the circuit and just drop in for a few hours and then leave again.
The Sarthe/Loire valley area is lovely for a holiday anyway.
Avoid the crazy circuit costs and you could have the family staying in comfort in larger towns. I'm thinking of the likes of sable sur Sarthe, Le flèche or even places like tours or saumur.
The race would be like a day trip out. Enough to experience it as a taster but not too long the kids will be an issue and the wife. Being there for a few hours at the start and the finish would be a good way to experience it but also not making it a hardship on the rest of the family. If it didn't work out on the Saturday then you could simply not go back on the Sunday.
I would recommend a grandstand though so you have a place for the kids to sit rather than jostling with the massive crowds. On top of that you just need a car park ticket. Depending which route in you come with some careful thought about which car park will mean easy access. Hearing protection also for the kids. Taking a picnic in would also make life easier to feed everyone.
Go with the mindset of, it is a holiday to France with a visit to the Le Mans 24hrs, rather than it all being about the race.
Doing it that way will mean it is easily possible to stay within an hour of the circuit and just drop in for a few hours and then leave again.
The Sarthe/Loire valley area is lovely for a holiday anyway.
Avoid the crazy circuit costs and you could have the family staying in comfort in larger towns. I'm thinking of the likes of sable sur Sarthe, Le flèche or even places like tours or saumur.
The race would be like a day trip out. Enough to experience it as a taster but not too long the kids will be an issue and the wife. Being there for a few hours at the start and the finish would be a good way to experience it but also not making it a hardship on the rest of the family. If it didn't work out on the Saturday then you could simply not go back on the Sunday.
I would recommend a grandstand though so you have a place for the kids to sit rather than jostling with the massive crowds. On top of that you just need a car park ticket. Depending which route in you come with some careful thought about which car park will mean easy access. Hearing protection also for the kids. Taking a picnic in would also make life easier to feed everyone.
Bad idea. The crowds are so heavy It would be a nightmare and I would be concerned about the safety of such young children. There's nothing there for kids, it's 85% men away from their wives/girlfriends and there are a lot of idiots about especially in cars on and off the campsite. The French are not interested in health and safety. Kids that young don't know what day of the week it is let alone where they are so it's wasted on them. You'll regret taking them which is why there are hardly ANY young children at LMS just groups of adults.
Camping at Le Mans.
Many many BBQ's attended by many drunk people.
Fireworks randomly at all hours set off by drunk people.
Burn-outs and wheelies driven by drunk people
Sound systems and parties full of drunk people
Thousands of drunk people crammed into campsites
Lots of glass on the ground left by drunk people
Lots of drunk people
Fantastic, but not for kids !
Camping at Le Mans.
Many many BBQ's attended by many drunk people.
Fireworks randomly at all hours set off by drunk people.
Burn-outs and wheelies driven by drunk people
Sound systems and parties full of drunk people
Thousands of drunk people crammed into campsites
Lots of glass on the ground left by drunk people
Lots of drunk people
Fantastic, but not for kids !
Edited by Rs2oo on Saturday 4th October 10:00
My son came with me aged 7 for his first one, still going with me now.
You have to do your research, and pick the right campsite be it on track or off.
We have done both before, and they have there good points and bad points.
Price comes into it as well, the one we use charge half price for kids with food as well.
Kids get in for free at the track as you may know already?
I pay full price with food included so happy with that. We are safe as is my car, that is the main things for us.
That does help with cost sort out your own travel to suit you.
It is a good way to bond together I found.
You have to do your research, and pick the right campsite be it on track or off.
We have done both before, and they have there good points and bad points.
Price comes into it as well, the one we use charge half price for kids with food as well.
Kids get in for free at the track as you may know already?
I pay full price with food included so happy with that. We are safe as is my car, that is the main things for us.
That does help with cost sort out your own travel to suit you.
It is a good way to bond together I found.
Rs2oo said:
Bad idea. The crowds are so heavy It would be a nightmare and I would be concerned about the safety of such young children. There's nothing there for kids, it's 85% men away from their wives/girlfriends and there are a lot of idiots about especially in cars on and off the campsite. The French are not interested in health and safety. Kids that young don't know what day of the week it is let alone where they are so it's wasted on them. You'll regret taking them which is why there are hardly ANY young children at LMS just groups of adults.
Camping at Le Mans.
Many many BBQ's attended by many drunk people.
Fireworks randomly at all hours set off by drunk people.
Burn-outs and wheelies driven by drunk people
Sound systems and parties full of drunk people
Thousands of drunk people crammed into campsites
Lots of glass on the ground left by drunk people
Lots of drunk people
Fantastic, but not for kids !
I think most are commenting on how you would fit children into a typical Le Mans visit... Blokes away from home scenario.Camping at Le Mans.
Many many BBQ's attended by many drunk people.
Fireworks randomly at all hours set off by drunk people.
Burn-outs and wheelies driven by drunk people
Sound systems and parties full of drunk people
Thousands of drunk people crammed into campsites
Lots of glass on the ground left by drunk people
Lots of drunk people
Fantastic, but not for kids !
Edited by Rs2oo on Saturday 4th October 10:00
But it is so easy to avoid any of the silly driving, drunken louts, noisy campsites, costly accommodation.
Treat it as a visit for a few hours and you will see non of that. Parking expo, cross the road, go to grandstand, have an explore when it thins out a bit or just leave having seen a couple of hours racing. No more, no less. That is easily manageable if you're trying to incorporate family and a first little look at the race.
You're not going to get the 'lads' trip to Le Mans taking small children, but it is easily possible to see it. The only issue is moving around the big crowds. But as I said before, only make it part of a holiday, a day trip out, rather than the sole reason for the trip.
I've been 6 times and would never consider taking young children. They will be bored, your wife will moan as she will be bored/stressed because the kids will be playing up. It's VERY noisy, try keeping ear defenders on small children. The crowds are massive. You will miss most of racing doing "kiddy/wife things".
Leave her at home and go with some mates, take her and the kids to France on a more suitable trip. before/after.
Most men who take their wives/girlfriends/partners seem to do so for one of two reasons, they have no mates to go with or they are under the thumb, "your not going unless I go to"
Leave her at home and go with some mates, take her and the kids to France on a more suitable trip. before/after.
Most men who take their wives/girlfriends/partners seem to do so for one of two reasons, they have no mates to go with or they are under the thumb, "your not going unless I go to"
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