Rough costs for Le Mans trip?
Discussion
Got chatting to some mates today, and we are seriously considering making the trip to Le Mans next year!
We are up in Inverness, so it is some 830 miles for us to go, but why not eh?
Just thought I would ask the folk here who have been before, what sort of costs will we be looking at? I would imagine we will be camping / sleeping in the cars rather than staying in hotel
Also, what sort of things should we bring with us / should we be prepared for? And any useful hints or tips?
The saving has already started...
We are up in Inverness, so it is some 830 miles for us to go, but why not eh?
Just thought I would ask the folk here who have been before, what sort of costs will we be looking at? I would imagine we will be camping / sleeping in the cars rather than staying in hotel
Also, what sort of things should we bring with us / should we be prepared for? And any useful hints or tips?
The saving has already started...
Lots of similar threads on here worth searching for, or visit clubarnage.com and download the guide to this years race, that said, rough costs campsites £40-110 (per car), entry tickets £60-70, grandstands are more expensive, but it's perfectly possible to do without, this year was my 8th and I've never had one.
Fuel costs from Inverness obviously won't be cheap, we travel down from the Borders and get a Premier Inn / Travel Lodge near the tunnel for an early morning crossing, both are cheap enough if booked early.
Fuel costs from Inverness obviously won't be cheap, we travel down from the Borders and get a Premier Inn / Travel Lodge near the tunnel for an early morning crossing, both are cheap enough if booked early.
I stayed at Team Langoustine (as always) I passengered out there and shared a pitch.
Came back having had a fantastic time (as always) with no change from 800 euros. Can't remember what this was in £.
If you stayed on a "lesser" camp site etc and drove a relativley "economic" car out there say 35mpg+ you could probably do it all for 800 quid easily with ferry crossings.
I went for 7 days most go for around 4 days.
Also look into TGV trains, they do some good deals on travel fairs.
Came back having had a fantastic time (as always) with no change from 800 euros. Can't remember what this was in £.
If you stayed on a "lesser" camp site etc and drove a relativley "economic" car out there say 35mpg+ you could probably do it all for 800 quid easily with ferry crossings.
I went for 7 days most go for around 4 days.
Also look into TGV trains, they do some good deals on travel fairs.
SD,
My son and I have been going to Le Mans since 1996. We've only ever travelled there on the Friday and come back on the Monday ( I live maybe an hour from the Eurotunnel terminal). We don't ever wish to camp so we stay in a hotel on the Friday and Sunday nights and sleep in the car at the circuit on the Saturday night. We always use Eurotunnel. We also always park in Parking Blanc and have seats in La Sarthe grandstand.
For 2011 I made all the arrangements and kept a note of the costs. The "hard costs" covering Eurotunnel, parking and tickets at the circuit, plus two rooms for Friday and Sunday nights at a hotel 80 miles from the circuit was about £700 all up for the two of us. In addition there's the "soft costs" covering ACO membership for a year, travel insurance, all food and drinks etc. This cost was about a further £350. So, around £1050 for the two of us. Note that this has two major exclusions: the cost of autoroute tolls which is around £60, and fuel. I did not keep track of fuel and anyway it depends on what vehicle you're using and how you're using it!
On three occasions in the past we have used a well know motor racing ticketing agency to organise the trip. They use a hotel in Le Mans which is quite a plus. By comparson, had I used this firm for 2011 then using their brochure, pricing their "hard costs" alone would have been £1350. Add my "soft costs" takes the total to around £1700. Quite a bit more than D-I-Y.
There's no doubt that the trip can be done for a great deal less than our £675 or so per person. However, we're not prepared to cut corners and we are prepared to forgo some other things so we can do Le Mans in the way we wish.
There's others for whom cash is no object too, lucky them!
Hope this all helps.
R.
My son and I have been going to Le Mans since 1996. We've only ever travelled there on the Friday and come back on the Monday ( I live maybe an hour from the Eurotunnel terminal). We don't ever wish to camp so we stay in a hotel on the Friday and Sunday nights and sleep in the car at the circuit on the Saturday night. We always use Eurotunnel. We also always park in Parking Blanc and have seats in La Sarthe grandstand.
For 2011 I made all the arrangements and kept a note of the costs. The "hard costs" covering Eurotunnel, parking and tickets at the circuit, plus two rooms for Friday and Sunday nights at a hotel 80 miles from the circuit was about £700 all up for the two of us. In addition there's the "soft costs" covering ACO membership for a year, travel insurance, all food and drinks etc. This cost was about a further £350. So, around £1050 for the two of us. Note that this has two major exclusions: the cost of autoroute tolls which is around £60, and fuel. I did not keep track of fuel and anyway it depends on what vehicle you're using and how you're using it!
On three occasions in the past we have used a well know motor racing ticketing agency to organise the trip. They use a hotel in Le Mans which is quite a plus. By comparson, had I used this firm for 2011 then using their brochure, pricing their "hard costs" alone would have been £1350. Add my "soft costs" takes the total to around £1700. Quite a bit more than D-I-Y.
There's no doubt that the trip can be done for a great deal less than our £675 or so per person. However, we're not prepared to cut corners and we are prepared to forgo some other things so we can do Le Mans in the way we wish.
There's others for whom cash is no object too, lucky them!
Hope this all helps.
R.
I head down from Stirling every year. Took my brother with me so some costs were split but fuels been the real big cost this year, approximately £500. Campsite & tickets are organised through Valan Motorsport Tours and came in at £240 each, food, beer,ferry, breakdown cover, tolls on top of that and you don't get much change from £700 each.
There are cheaper ways to do it, just get tickets and sleep in the car, or find a bit of grass somewhere. It's not as nice as an organised campsite but it's not too hard to find somewhere to get a shower etc.
Oh yeah and don't take a car that does 15mpg, that doesn't help either! Especially when it breaks down & you have to pay another £140 to get it fixed!
There are cheaper ways to do it, just get tickets and sleep in the car, or find a bit of grass somewhere. It's not as nice as an organised campsite but it's not too hard to find somewhere to get a shower etc.
Oh yeah and don't take a car that does 15mpg, that doesn't help either! Especially when it breaks down & you have to pay another £140 to get it fixed!
The thing with Le Mans is that you can make it as expensive or as cheap as you like.
I went down with two mates this year. Luckily, we went in my mates company car, so road transport apart from tolls was 'free'.
General Entry and 1 x pitch on Bleu Nord (big enough for big tent, little tent and a golf - but only just!) £101 per head. - Loos and showers pretty good all things considered and ALWAYS clean.
Ferry: LD lines - Portsmouth - Le Harve - £70 per head there or there abouts.
Went Thursday - Monday, and certainly didn't breach 200 euro spending money including tolls in both directions, and I wanted for neither beer nor burger during the entire weekend.
So call it £300 for the lot.
I went down with two mates this year. Luckily, we went in my mates company car, so road transport apart from tolls was 'free'.
General Entry and 1 x pitch on Bleu Nord (big enough for big tent, little tent and a golf - but only just!) £101 per head. - Loos and showers pretty good all things considered and ALWAYS clean.
Ferry: LD lines - Portsmouth - Le Harve - £70 per head there or there abouts.
Went Thursday - Monday, and certainly didn't breach 200 euro spending money including tolls in both directions, and I wanted for neither beer nor burger during the entire weekend.
So call it £300 for the lot.
Have you considered flying? It saves the ferry costs and a lot of driving. I went this year (for the 13th time!), flew from East Midlands to Paris on Friday, about GBP80 round trip, picked up a rental car for three days, stayed in a Campanile in Chartres on Friday night (60 euros) ,slept in the car on Saturday, left as soon as the race finished on Sunday and caught a late evening flight back from Paris on Sunday night. I don't think grandstand tickets are worth the price. General admission is fine and there are free buses which will take you to various viewing points around the circuit point. Whatever you decide, YOU MUST GO! There's nothing like it!
Jammez said:
Oh yeah and don't take a car that does 15mpg, that doesn't help either! Especially when it breaks down & you have to pay another £140 to get it fixed!
I'll be taking a '93 v8 Range Rover with 32" tyres :S I don't know what the whole situation with LPG in France is, apparantly they use different connectors? I've looked at an agency who do tickets for camping at the trackside and includes tickets for the ferry, it's about £250 per car but that's based on 2 people in a car, and £130 for any additional people. Best bit is if you take a P&O ferry you get a free 24 crate
More detals here - http://www.lemansrace.com/deptcontent/other-on-cir...
If I can get LPG all the way I'll be about £325 in fuel, but I'll plan for £400+ just in case :S
And the idea of my Range Rover decked out in full Gulf Racing livery is just too tempting
Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated! I know flying would probably be cheaper, but stickering up all the cars and doing a massive trip is just too tempting!
I think we will sit down and do the sums and go from there, but there will be at least 2 per car so costs will be split which is always useful
Welcome to PH Jarv!
I think we will sit down and do the sums and go from there, but there will be at least 2 per car so costs will be split which is always useful
jarvie said:
I'll be taking a '93 v8 Range Rover with 32" tyres :S I don't know what the whole situation with LPG in France is, apparantly they use different connectors?
I've looked at an agency who do tickets for camping at the trackside and includes tickets for the ferry, it's about £250 per car but that's based on 2 people in a car, and £130 for any additional people. Best bit is if you take a P&O ferry you get a free 24 crate More detals here -
http://www.lemansrace.com/deptcontent/other-on-cir...
If I can get LPG all the way I'll be about £325 in fuel, but I'll plan for £400+ just in case :S
And the idea of my Range Rover decked out in full Gulf Racing livery is just too tempting
Funny... I know someone just like you I've looked at an agency who do tickets for camping at the trackside and includes tickets for the ferry, it's about £250 per car but that's based on 2 people in a car, and £130 for any additional people. Best bit is if you take a P&O ferry you get a free 24 crate
More detals here - http://www.lemansrace.com/deptcontent/other-on-cir...
If I can get LPG all the way I'll be about £325 in fuel, but I'll plan for £400+ just in case :S
And the idea of my Range Rover decked out in full Gulf Racing livery is just too tempting
Welcome to PH Jarv!
£500 all in. And if anyone tells my missus anything different...
Seriously though, in my experience based on two in a car, 1 tent, 1 Houx pitch:
Ferry £125
Entry Tickets £120
Grandstands £200 (very optional)
Camping £ 80
Tolls £ 40
Fuel £400 (greener cars are available)
Beer Tokens £600 (these can also be used for food)
Total £1565
Per person £782
Hope that helps. You could do it for an awful lot less, but it wouldn't be as much fun!
Seriously though, in my experience based on two in a car, 1 tent, 1 Houx pitch:
Ferry £125
Entry Tickets £120
Grandstands £200 (very optional)
Camping £ 80
Tolls £ 40
Fuel £400 (greener cars are available)
Beer Tokens £600 (these can also be used for food)
Total £1565
Per person £782
Hope that helps. You could do it for an awful lot less, but it wouldn't be as much fun!
In case anyone's being put off by some of the figures being quoted, we go for the full week, and travel from the Scottish Borders, it costs me well under £400. Cases of stubbies from the supermarket rather than €5 pints from bars helps a lot, as does booking early, and having a dull diesel.
If I were in Inverness and looking to do Le Mans on a budget I would be flying Ryanair from Edinburgh to Paris Beauvais and then taking a TGV from Paris to Le Mans. Buy your camping gear at Carrefour and throw it away or leave it for the gypsies when you go:
Train from Inverness to Edinburgh - 3.5 hours - £20 return
Bus from Edinburgh to airport – 20 mins - £6 return
Ryanair from Edinburgh to Beauvais – 2.5 hours - £100 return (including checked in luggage)
Shuttle bus from Beauvais to Paris Gare du Nord – 1 hour - £25 each way
Metro from Paris Gare du Nord to Paris Montparnasse – 20 mins - £5 each way
TGV from Paris Montparnasse to Le Mans – 1 hour - £45 return
Tram from Le Mans to circuit – 20 mins - £2 each way
Camping pass - £60
General entry ticket - £60
Camping gear from Carrefour - £100
Total journey time 12 hours
Total cost £450 per person
I already had a budget for the part from Beauvais onwards incase you think I got all that from scratch!
Train from Inverness to Edinburgh - 3.5 hours - £20 return
Bus from Edinburgh to airport – 20 mins - £6 return
Ryanair from Edinburgh to Beauvais – 2.5 hours - £100 return (including checked in luggage)
Shuttle bus from Beauvais to Paris Gare du Nord – 1 hour - £25 each way
Metro from Paris Gare du Nord to Paris Montparnasse – 20 mins - £5 each way
TGV from Paris Montparnasse to Le Mans – 1 hour - £45 return
Tram from Le Mans to circuit – 20 mins - £2 each way
Camping pass - £60
General entry ticket - £60
Camping gear from Carrefour - £100
Total journey time 12 hours
Total cost £450 per person
I already had a budget for the part from Beauvais onwards incase you think I got all that from scratch!
Jarvie, there's loads of LPG over in France land, my Rangie is converted too, still cost £500 to get from Scotland though!
They do use an adapter, my conversion came with one that you just screw on, worked perfectly & pretty much every major petrol station has LPG at about the same costs as the UK.
They do use an adapter, my conversion came with one that you just screw on, worked perfectly & pretty much every major petrol station has LPG at about the same costs as the UK.
It's around £300 for me.
Booking direct with aco, Dover-Dunkirk, and getting 30 mpg with 3 in a car from Newcastle.
Most eating and drinking is done off circuit.
If it costs more when I'm there due to spending more on food or drink at the circuit then so be it. I won't pay high agency fees though.
I don't take out extra breakdown cover either if it's my car as it's probably below the uneconomic to recover value!
I have a great time each year and don't count the pennies, but couldn't do it for much less cash unless I was teetotal!
Booking direct with aco, Dover-Dunkirk, and getting 30 mpg with 3 in a car from Newcastle.
Most eating and drinking is done off circuit.
If it costs more when I'm there due to spending more on food or drink at the circuit then so be it. I won't pay high agency fees though.
I don't take out extra breakdown cover either if it's my car as it's probably below the uneconomic to recover value!
I have a great time each year and don't count the pennies, but couldn't do it for much less cash unless I was teetotal!
We did probably £1500+ for two of this year. We did travel around for a few days beforehand though - Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris then Le Mans so that includes a couple of nights in nice hotels. We were also driving my 928, at speed, which didn't really do a great deal for our fuel costs.
£200 of that was on grandstand tickets - I would never spend that again.
If you include the 928 lunching it's engine about 50 miles from home the costs increase by quite a bit...
£200 of that was on grandstand tickets - I would never spend that again.
If you include the 928 lunching it's engine about 50 miles from home the costs increase by quite a bit...
We stay at the PCGB as we are members with fuel,travel insurance etc looking about a £1000 all in for the Thursday to Monday.
However the site is safe, for us and our cars plus my son is only 9 .
Check out the beermountain web site, loads of information on there for the first timer.
GOODLUCK
However the site is safe, for us and our cars plus my son is only 9 .
Check out the beermountain web site, loads of information on there for the first timer.
GOODLUCK
Normally (has done for 4 years) costs us just around £250 each, most of us live near Portsmouth so the ferry is on the doorstep. Once you've divvied everything up you can make it rather cheap.
Take one sensible car for big shops at the Hypermarket.
Obviously eating out, beers at the circuit etc. add up.
Tolls and fuel can obviously be split as well.
Take one sensible car for big shops at the Hypermarket.
Obviously eating out, beers at the circuit etc. add up.
Tolls and fuel can obviously be split as well.
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