Cambridge to Montpellier?

[callahan]

Evening everyone

We're not going until late August, but I'm a bit bored so was looking at options for our summer holiday trip. There will be four of us in the car, including an 8 year old and a 5 year old, getting the chunnel at about 11.30am, so we have a couple of options:

1. Leg it there as fast as we can overnight and put up with the complaints

2. Stay somewhere on the way and enjoy the journey

Considering the obvious options above, what would you do and which way would you go?

Any help on good stopping places, hotels etc would be great.

Via Michelin reckons it will take about 12 hours, 784 miles via Paris, or 12 hours 803 miles on the A6/A7. My immediate reaction is to avoid Paris like the plague, but that could always be an option for a stopover.

Thanks for any input.

[infrasilver]

Its a long haul to do in a day and I would recommend a stop over as there are many places to see on the way. Paris is OK if you are stopping there as a stop gap en route would be a pain getting in and out of the place. Reims would be the obvious place or Orleans as it would be that way to Montpellier. You would also be going over the Millau Bridge going that way and that is a great sight to see.

[chilistrucker]

paris is only a real pain if your doing the peripherique.
the outer ring around paris is abit m25, hit and miss.
reims is a good way to go as mentioned. the milau is well worth a look, went over in the truck quite a while back and it is impressive. i believe there is also a rest area there now with cafe, viewing facilities etc.

[Dblue]

Try and stop about mid way, maybe nearer the north rather than the south. Paris will be fine in August, its a ghost town.Other times I would have avoided it like the plague. Worse than London.
Via Michelin is the best for hotels/restaurants. Orleans or if you can make it Bourges is nice.
The best route I would say in August is via Paris, then Bourges, Clermont and then the free and fun autoroute that eventually crosses the Millau Viaduct. Get off there and look at it from underneath, magnificent.
If you fancy the detour there are many fantastic driving roads in the southern Massif Central but more fun sans kids perhaps.

[topalwaysdown]

I did the reverse as part of a road trip last year, we stopped the night in Dijon and went via Reims the next day. It's not the most direct route but Dijon was pleasant and we found some lovely routes through the countryside that were so empty that they weren't much longer than the motorway.

Our route was basically Montpellier to Clermont Ferrand on the motorway (over the Millau), cross country to Dijon, stop for the night. Pretty much ruler straight line across the map to Reims and then motorway past Lille up to Dunkerque. Roughly 6 hours driving each day.

Millau is a must down that way, though having been over once, I think it's more of a box ticked. If I were down that way again I think I'd like to take the road underneath the bridge to appreciate it more.

[callahan]

Thanks for the replies, they confirm what I had been thinking about Paris in August, I'm just not sure if we should stop there for a night or not.

I have crossed the Millau a couple of times myself, but it sounds interesting to see it from below, and the kids should love it. I've always wanted to see Reims too, wonder if I can sneak that one past my wife.

Any more suggestions welcomed.....