France (Again sorry)

[Beeroklaunch]

Thanks to everyone for their help re:tolls

I don’t know if I should start a new topic each time but I do need some advice please.

Thinking of travelling on day one. Landing in Calais 9am ish and driving straight to Annecy. Apparently about 6/7 hours? Is this easy doable? Heard French roads a lot more friendly and easy going than British traffic/pothole roads.

Any thoughts on best routes etc

Thanks again for help

Colin

[Stella Tortoise]

It’s a long day driving despite the quality of the Autoroute.

Personally I would stop at Epernay for a night, two if you plan on spending a day on the avenue de champagne which I definitely would.

[Claret m]

Check this calendar for the dates you are travelling, if the forecast is busy it's best to stop.



https://www.bison-fute.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/19181_Calen...

[NDA]

I have done Marseilles to Guildford in one go - a few times. It's fine if you're on your own and have that mentality to just keep going.

But Annecy would be a long drive for others in the car. It's 500 miles of good roads - dual carriageway?peage all the way.

[tozerman]

IMHO it's easily doable. Have done it a few times. We tended to leave Annecy about 6:00 am ish. Get to calais mid pm. Then get the ferry to Dover then drive back to Derby all in one day. So annecy to Calais should be a piece of cake..

[Beeroklaunch]

tozerman said:

IMHO it's easily doable. Have done it a few times. We tended to leave Annecy about 6:00 am ish. Get to calais mid pm. Then get the ferry to Dover then drive back to Derby all in one day. So annecy to Calais should be a piece of cake..

Thanks for the replies all

We are thinking of the journey there. So we would stay within half an hour of Dover, early crossing, then pushing straight through to Annecy.
I’m happy driving.

Looked at the travel guide and it’s green so a quiet road day.


Appreciate all the suggestions.

[Mark_S1000RR_2010]

I’ve ridden London to Annecy many times over the years on various motorcycles. It’s doable in a day, it’s good motorway all the way and you avoid Paris.

However, I prefer to leave after work, stay an evening in Arras or Éperney, both lovely towns, and then get up the next day for the run down to Annecy.

I once did the whole thing in a day on route nationale for a bit of variety, ended up reaching Annecy at 10pm after a 4am start in Clapham. Not an exercise I plan to ever repeat.

[StupidDecisions]

Beeroklaunch said:

Thanks for the replies all

We are thinking of the journey there. So we would stay within half an hour of Dover, early crossing, then pushing straight through to Annecy.
I’m happy driving.

Looked at the travel guide and it’s green so a quiet road day.


Appreciate all the suggestions.

Why not do the crossing the evening before and stay in France instead of Dover? No rush to leave early, will make the drive to Annecy feel shorter plus any delays with the crossing will already be behind you.
The drive is doable either way.

[4Q]

StupidDecisions said:

Why not do the crossing the evening before and stay in France instead of Dover? No rush to leave early, will make the drive to Annecy feel shorter plus any delays with the crossing will already be behind you.
The drive is doable either way.

Exactly this. We do the journey a couple of times a year and it’s usually a nice steady drive. Much less frantic than a similar journey in the UK.

Edited to add, I drove from Les Arcs to Arras yesterday which is 2 hours further than Annecy and other than a traffic jam near Albert the run was dead easy.

In contrast the drive back through the UK has been fking terrible, I’ve been driving 4 hours so far and only at Milton Keynes with another couple of hours to get home

Edited by 4Q on Sunday 24th March 16:16

[Sortie 10]

Another vote for crossing the Channel and stopping en route.
Many on here go to St Quentin and stop in the lovely family run Le Florence in the town centre. I have just booked a room for 60 euros a night. Epernay is great - it is twinned with my town (check out the British phone box in the Square Clevedon!) and the Avenue de Champagne is a must; the only downside if time is of the essence is that it's a few miles off the autoroute, whereas the likes of St Quentin & Laon are about 3 miles off.
On the return trip, it's great to stop just short of the ports so that you can get up later in the Alps and have a relaxing drive and then pick up a morning crossing. Remember (I assume) you are on holiday so the trip is part of the break and should be enjoyed; not all of us on here are powerfully built directors who drive for a living and regularly drive 400 + miles in a day (I'm not & don't, so like to take the journey steadily with plenty of breaks so I don't arrive at my destination relatively fresh - instead of needing a day to recover).

[Mobile Chicane]

Perfectly do-able in a day, but personally I would overnight in Beaune, rather than track northeast up to Champagne.

You've a huge swathe of northern France to drive through in any case, and it's as flat and as boring as F.

[4Q]

We stopped in St Quentin on the way down a couple of weeks ago. Never again, I have never seen so much dog st in the streets in my life. Arras, Laon and Epernay are much prettier places to stay although the latter two are bit further if you’re getting an evening crossing.

[Simes205]

Easily doable in a day .
But if you do stop, stop in Troyes, slightly biased as it’s my mum’s home town….but halfway. Then do the Nationale from Troyes to Dijon then back on the autoroute.
This road is quite stunning.
Travel on a Sunday if you can…..no Lorry’s.

Oh on the way back detour around Reims and find the old circuit at Geux….there’s also a at museum in Reims, shut on Mondays.

Lots of good (mountain) roads around Annecy too!

Edited by Simes205 on Sunday 24th March 19:12

[myvision]

I'm doing roughly the same journey in June I'm heading to Excenevex my train crossing is 06:30 in the morning.
I'm not sure whether to do it in one day or split it over two.
My mate wants to split it into two and not use tolls or motorways at all.

Looking at routes currently and seems to be some good routes so I'm thinking of agreeing with him.
We'll be on motorbikes not in a car.

[ferret50]

Bear in mind that the French farmers are still revolting......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItKIFIK6F3Y

We lost almost 24hrs at Potiers in September due to the N10 being blocked in several places.

[Stella Tortoise]

Simes205 said:

Easily doable in a day .
But if you do stop, stop in Troyes, slightly biased as it’s my mum’s home town….but halfway. Then do the Nationale from Troyes to Dijon then back on the autoroute.
This road is quite stunning.
Travel on a Sunday if you can…..no Lorry’s.

Oh on the way back detour around Reims and find the old circuit at Geux….there’s also a at museum in Reims, shut on Mondays.

Lots of good (mountain) roads around Annecy too!

Edited by Simes205 on Sunday 24th March 19:12

Regarding your last point, it's worth remembering that the final bits of the trip are on more demanding roads than the majority of the journey and good fun when fully alert, less so when knackered.

[hiccy18]

Pretty straightforward drive, expect to get there around 6pm after a couple of relaxed stops.

Somewhere near Bourg-en-Bresse you will see a service station with a large statue of a chicken. When you stop and eye up the sandwiches you'll notice the huge queues for the roast chicken. Put the cheese and ham sandwich down and join the queue or you will forever kick yourself for missing out on Bresse Chicken, reputedly the finest in France.

Or don't, but at least (unlike us) you'll know why people are drawing you dirty looks.

[timlongs]

ferret50 said:

Bear in mind that the French farmers are still revolting......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItKIFIK6F3Y

We lost almost 24hrs at Potiers in September due to the N10 being blocked in several places.

News to me and I live here - certainly been no issues around the Savoie/Alps and Lyon.

[Simes205]

Stella Tortoise said:

Simes205 said:

Easily doable in a day .
But if you do stop, stop in Troyes, slightly biased as it’s my mum’s home town….but halfway. Then do the Nationale from Troyes to Dijon then back on the autoroute.
This road is quite stunning.
Travel on a Sunday if you can…..no Lorry’s.

Oh on the way back detour around Reims and find the old circuit at Geux….there’s also a at museum in Reims, shut on Mondays.

Lots of good (mountain) roads around Annecy too!

Edited by Simes205 on Sunday 24th March 19:12

Regarding your last point, it's worth remembering that the final bits of the trip are on more demanding roads than the majority of the journey and good fun when fully alert, less so when knackered.

Yes of course…..more for once you’re down there!

[Stella Tortoise]

Simes205 said:

Stella Tortoise said:

Simes205 said:

Easily doable in a day .
But if you do stop, stop in Troyes, slightly biased as it’s my mum’s home town….but halfway. Then do the Nationale from Troyes to Dijon then back on the autoroute.
This road is quite stunning.
Travel on a Sunday if you can…..no Lorry’s.

Oh on the way back detour around Reims and find the old circuit at Geux….there’s also a at museum in Reims, shut on Mondays.

Lots of good (mountain) roads around Annecy too!

Edited by Simes205 on Sunday 24th March 19:12

Regarding your last point, it's worth remembering that the final bits of the trip are on more demanding roads than the majority of the journey and good fun when fully alert, less so when knackered.

Yes of course…..more for once you’re down there!

D'accord, I wasn’t clear, even the autoroutes leading up to Annecy are harder work. Great at the start of a trip, less so at the end of around 10 hours on the road.