First Driving Trip To France

First Driving Trip To France

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_Yeti

400 posts

91 months

Wednesday 1st June 2022
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smifffymoto said:
If I was in Wiltshire,I would sail from Portsmouth and tour around Brittany.
Looks like Condor runs from Poole to St Malo which is perfect. Will definitely look at Brittany as an option thanks!

RESSE

5,692 posts

220 months

Wednesday 1st June 2022
quotequote all
_Yeti said:
What a timely thread, I am in exactly the same situation, my package holiday has been cancelled in late June so planning a jaunt into northern France instead. Never driven in Europe but have driven around in the US a bit. One thing that's really surprising me is the cost of actually driving! ViaMichelin is saying £145 each way to Paris with tolls from Wiltshire (in an Mx5 NC)... Which seems a little heavy?? As for destinations, haven't done much research but a loop of Lille, Laon, Reims, and Paris seems quite nice. Hopefully with lots of stops to see the countryside. Will be monitoring this thread closely!

Edited by _Yeti on Wednesday 1st June 09:49
We are off to Île d'Oléron on Thursday next week for a 12 day break, via Eurotunnel (used Tesco vouchers to triple £s, which was helpful as the new Animal Health Certificate is rather more than I expected).

Taking the dog with us as we have done on many previous trips to France/Spain. Love the drive driving

I checked the tolls on our last UK to Spain trip, and for the French motorways (all in Euros) - but the price may have (will have?) changed:
Calais Eurotunnel to Bethune 7.00
Bethune to Paris 16.20
Paris to Vierzon 19.00

Then there was a decent section of the A20 with no toll.

Limoge to Montaubon 13.10
Montaubon to Toulouse 3.50
Toulouse to the Spanish border 21.90

Next week will take the back roads and enjoy a more leisurely drive via Treville-sur-Mer and Rochefort.

nickfrog

20,872 posts

216 months

Wednesday 1st June 2022
quotequote all
_Yeti said:
ViaMichelin is saying £145 each way to Paris with tolls from Wiltshire (in an Mx5 NC)... Which seems a little heavy?? As for destinations, haven't done much research but a loop of Lille, Laon, Reims, and Paris seems quite nice. Hopefully with lots of stops to see the countryside. Will be monitoring this thread closely!
£145 from where to where ? Calais - Paris is £20 each way worth of tolls. ViaMichelin includes price of fuel but still...

_Yeti

400 posts

91 months

Wednesday 1st June 2022
quotequote all
nickfrog said:
£145 from where to where ? Calais - Paris is £20 each way worth of tolls. ViaMichelin includes price of fuel but still...
As before, the car is set to an Mx5 NC 2.0, departing from near Bath. The idea of the ferry to Britanny/Cherbourg seems a bit more appealing, especially as the drive to Folkestone isn't very enjoyable.


Snatch1

176 posts

86 months

Wednesday 1st June 2022
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RESSE said:
We are off to Île d'Oléron on Thursday next week for a 12 day break, via Eurotunnel
If you mean Thursday 9th June, you've picked one of the busiest days of the year for the Eurotunnel - it's the most popular day for the trip to the 24 hours of Le Mans. On the upside there will be LOTS of nice cars for you to see (I'll be in my TVR Cerbera)

Have a great trip and enjoy the car show at the tunnel!

roltyid

228 posts

196 months

Wednesday 1st June 2022
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Good timing for me as well. We have 3 weeks in the Limousin in July and will be my first time in France after living overseas for 8 years. Tunnel booked for £260 return (including dog) which I didn't think was too bad with roofbox as well.

Sorting certification for the dog this week, then time to start thinking about getting breakdown cover sorted and a bit of route planning ensuring regular stops (3 year-old as well as the dog). I have an Emovis tag I am borrowing from my father for the péage and have got the obligatory warning triangle and hi-vis vests arranged.

RESSE

5,692 posts

220 months

Wednesday 1st June 2022
quotequote all
Snatch1 said:
RESSE said:
We are off to Île d'Oléron on Thursday next week for a 12 day break, via Eurotunnel
If you mean Thursday 9th June, you've picked one of the busiest days of the year for the Eurotunnel - it's the most popular day for the trip to the 24 hours of Le Mans. On the upside there will be LOTS of nice cars for you to see (I'll be in my TVR Cerbera)

Have a great trip and enjoy the car show at the tunnel!
Looking forward to spotting a few interesting cars.

We are stating overnight in Ashford on Thursday and catching a mid-morning train on Friday. Hopefully a decent day for car spotting.

Have a great trip in the TVR.

nickfrog

20,872 posts

216 months

Wednesday 1st June 2022
quotequote all
_Yeti said:
As before, the car is set to an Mx5 NC 2.0, departing from near Bath. The idea of the ferry to Britanny/Cherbourg seems a bit more appealing, especially as the drive to Folkestone isn't very enjoyable.

Gotcha. I thought you were talking about the France specific costs ie the tolls. Your car won't use any more fuel than in the UK and prices are very close when compared like for like. Although you may drive a little faster but the smooth tarmac helps mpg a litle too.

Snatch1

176 posts

86 months

Wednesday 1st June 2022
quotequote all
RESSE said:
Looking forward to spotting a few interesting cars.

We are stating overnight in Ashford on Thursday and catching a mid-morning train on Friday. Hopefully a decent day for car spotting.

Have a great trip in the TVR.
thumbup Yep, there will still be plenty of cool cars to see on the Friday. Always one of the best parts of the w/e, seeing all the amazing cars, joining an impromptu convoy either on the run down to the tunnel or on the A28 the other side. I'm getting excited just thinking about it, 8 days to go woohoodriving

I also find it amusing when arriving back in Blighty via the ferry on the Monday after LM. All these sportscars, driven by rather jaded looking chaps, disembarking, with a queue of SUV's, MPV's etc waiting to board the ferry going back to France. Many of whom will have no idea that LM has even taken place, just a procession of cars you wouldn't see too often at home


Edited by Snatch1 on Wednesday 1st June 12:07

olliel

Original Poster:

28 posts

119 months

Saturday 4th June 2022
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Thanks everyone for all the advice

Having never driven in France before I really appreciate the advice.

We have our first stop booked in Boulogne Sur Mer so we can take the little one to the aquarium the first day after arrive.

Weather is looking unfortunately questionable thus far, so thanks for the heads up about the change of limit in the wet.

Tiguan is a Jap import, and still has the KM/h clocks (not got round to having them swapped yet) - so that’s another tick in the box for that.

Also found that I can divert the headlights on the cluster, so that’s an added bonus too.

We are still taking the box.
We want to be able to take stair gates and travel cot etc without completely cramming the car with stuff.

Might end up being overkill, but we will learn as we go. The price of fuel might make future trips prohibitive, but we’ve already talked about heading down to the south of France next year if we enjoy this trip.

Got my high vis and agree, these may just live in the car from now on.

Does the warning triangle have to be accessible (I.e not under the boot floor with the spare wheel)?

Looking forward to it now, hopefully have a good trip

Thanks again

Ollie


Magooagain

9,909 posts

169 months

Saturday 4th June 2022
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With the triangle it makes sense to have it availiable to use quickly.
If you are unfortunate to have a breakdown on the autoroute then don't mess about!
Get the family out of the car and onto the other side of the barrier sharpish.
The emergency lanes are narrow mostly and are dangerous places.


Tabs

941 posts

271 months

Saturday 4th June 2022
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Haven't read the whole thread.
I would suggest a drive down the Opal Coast if you have a child and dog. Head to Sangatte from Calais.
Many beaches to give them both some exercise.
We come back that way as it's an ideal route if you have time to kill, and have a last look at the sea.

olliel

Original Poster:

28 posts

119 months

Saturday 4th June 2022
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Just been looking at the weather - it’s not looking great for the first half of the week now.

Got half an idea about heading further south than we planned, but don’t have things like the toll chip etc.
- any way of getting one at this late stage?

We are planning on the aquarium in Boulogne on Tuesday, as it’s local and can be done in the rain?

Anyone have any hidden gems more towards mid France? Although weather looks pretty bad till Friday (Le man’s weekend).

Thanks

Ollie

Magooagain

9,909 posts

169 months

Saturday 4th June 2022
quotequote all
Come down to the La Rochelle area.
Lots of beaches,great restaurants etc. Ile de Ré is really nice. Lots to do everywhere in the area of the Charente Maritime.

smifffymoto

4,527 posts

204 months

Saturday 4th June 2022
quotequote all
The weather is normal for this time of year in Dordogne,thunderstorms a plenty.

Keep a brolly on hand and carry on,the rain soon passes.

timberman

1,280 posts

214 months

Saturday 4th June 2022
quotequote all
We travelled across France, through switzerland and down to the Italian lakes for a while, then back across to the south of France for a week and back home again in August 2015, also in a Tiguan,

I thoroughly enjoyed it and the Tiguan proved to be a good choice for the trip,

It was a bit of a squeeze getting everything packed, but we managed okay for the three of us and although we'd considered getting one we didn't actually need to use a roof box

we stuck mostly to the Autoroutes which although a little boring, at least made progress very easy.

we didn't bother with a Tag for the toll booths and to be honest we never had an issue with queuing, but being able to drive straight through without the faff of having to keep stretching out of the window to reach the pay machine with the credit card certainly has its appeal.

Our 1st day was a bit of a grueller, driving from Calais to Strasbourg for the 1st stop after already driving for hundreds of miles across England meant we were very tired and had to make numerous stops,

fortunately there are lots of Aires (rest stops) on the Autoroutes usually with toilets and picnic tables and sometimes with restaurants and petrol stations which are very well sign posted so you can have a break and a nap if needed,

setting the car up for driving on the continent was a piece of cake, has as been said it just required changing the settings in the menu.

we bought a European travel kit from Ring for all the stuff we needed which included Hi-vis Jackets. a triangle and spare bulbs etc,

we never needed to use it and it has never left the car boot to this day, but it's always there incase we plan another trip

I made sure I took out European breakdown cover for the trip which our standard cover didn't have, again not needed but it's nice to have the peace of mind, knowing you're not going to be left stranded.

we never had any issues with speeding or the French Police, but I decided that it was going to be a relaxing holiday and remained within the speed limits at all times, which also happened to be very well signposted.

a lot of the Autoroutes are dual carriageway, but people seem to have better lane discipline abroad than they do in the UK and tbh while we were there the roads never felt that busy anyway so making progress was easy and not atall stressful,

there are plenty of petrol stations on route (cheaper if you can find a supermarket),

if I remember correctly the pumps are marked as Sans Plomb (unleaded) for petrol and Gazole for Diesel which did have me wonderring the 1st time I had to fill up over there and I couldn't see a English translation.

as far as places to visit,

we stopped off for a few days in the Loire Valley on our way back home and visited some of the Chateaux there which is well worth a visit, other than that I can't really help much

hope you have a great trip and bring back lots of happy memories.



Edited by timberman on Saturday 4th June 19:49

Gunk

3,302 posts

158 months

Saturday 4th June 2022
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I’m pretty sure you’ll need a breathalyser kit. The High Viz will need to be everyone in the car, including the Kids. The national speed limit has now been dropped to 50 mph.

timberman

1,280 posts

214 months

Saturday 4th June 2022
quotequote all
Gunk said:
I’m pretty sure you’ll need a breathalyser kit. The High Viz will need to be everyone in the car, including the Kids. The national speed limit has now been dropped to 50 mph.
we had breathalysers back in 2015 but i'm not sure it's required anymore.

Gunk

3,302 posts

158 months

Saturday 4th June 2022
quotequote all
timberman said:
we had breathalysers back in 2015 but i'm not sure it's required anymore.
That was probably the last time I went!

NDA

21,488 posts

224 months

Saturday 4th June 2022
quotequote all
olliel said:
but don’t have things like the toll chip etc.
- any way of getting one at this late stage?


Ollie
Go in the credit card lane and have your mrs put the card in the slot - put in and remove. Pretty quick.