Advice for Le Mans virgins
Discussion
Just to add a suggestion for ferry crossings...
I tried to get a good crossing slot from Dover to Calis and found that they the sensible ones had been taken (i am driving down from Newcastle), or were getting expensive. I eventually booked from Dover to Dunkirk for £54 return with Norfolk Line, and thats a 2pm sailing on Thursday, with a similar time on the Monday.
Dunkirk is only 10 / 15 miles further up the French coast so thought the saving was worth it....
Also 'my name is Paul, and i am a virgin'..
I tried to get a good crossing slot from Dover to Calis and found that they the sensible ones had been taken (i am driving down from Newcastle), or were getting expensive. I eventually booked from Dover to Dunkirk for £54 return with Norfolk Line, and thats a 2pm sailing on Thursday, with a similar time on the Monday.
Dunkirk is only 10 / 15 miles further up the French coast so thought the saving was worth it....
Also 'my name is Paul, and i am a virgin'..
Re Ferries have you tried www.speedferries.com, they were £50 quid return, might be a bit more now, Car Park Blue is OK to rough it (no bogs - plan well don’t eat sweetcorn! - 1 water tap), especially if your going on spec, so don’t panic about camping tickets, you may find some being offered second hand - the ACO sends them out about 3-4 week before so make sure you can trust the seller. All the sites are good and friendly - suddenly you have 200,000 mates who you've never met!
Biggest problem is that once you've been, you HAVE to go every year, it's the Law!
Biggest problem is that once you've been, you HAVE to go every year, it's the Law!
Complete novice here - virginal at nothing - I might add! Have I left it too late to start booking now? Most replys are all over the place stating that there are/are not any camp sites left. Which are the best campsites to target first? Have done several motor racing trips to the UK (Yes I'm Irish) but it is easier to wing it for the weekend when we speak the same language! The official LeMans site does not give great detail, and I don't want to be caught out staying somewhere crap because of not asking.
So far the best route is Dublin-Holyhead thurs night, drive to Dover, Dover Calais Fri morn, any ideas how long it takes to get to LeMans? Would be at Goodwood again but U2 play homcoming gig that weekend. Will LeMans be better than Goodwood?
Rambling posting, but any help on the campsite issue would be great. Cheers.
So far the best route is Dublin-Holyhead thurs night, drive to Dover, Dover Calais Fri morn, any ideas how long it takes to get to LeMans? Would be at Goodwood again but U2 play homcoming gig that weekend. Will LeMans be better than Goodwood?
Rambling posting, but any help on the campsite issue would be great. Cheers.
Dubs,
Check out Speedchills for reasonably priced tickets (their site says they have nearly sold out...)
They only have Beausejour which is as good as anywhere else to be honest. Just take the opportunity to check out the other sites when you are there this year and book up for 2006 as soon as you get home.
Check out Speedchills for reasonably priced tickets (their site says they have nearly sold out...)
They only have Beausejour which is as good as anywhere else to be honest. Just take the opportunity to check out the other sites when you are there this year and book up for 2006 as soon as you get home.
hi guys, i am a total lemans virgin and have decided to go this year with a few other guys. we will be travelling from york and dont mind going to dover then across by ferry or hovercraft. arrive on the other side then drive the rest of the way.
can anyone help me with a few suggestions.
a/if we set off to be there for fridays action would we be best travelling through the night thursday.
b/what is cheapest crossing.
c/book ferry before or just arrive
d/campsite pre book or just arrive.
e/would you suggest just taking beer and bar-b-q are there any facilities at all.
f/when does it all finish i.e when would you expect to be home.
i know some of these questions might seem a little obvious but you guys seem to have had many experiences there and trying to book something on the net is a total minefield.
hope to see you all there and buy you a beer.
can anyone help me with a few suggestions.
a/if we set off to be there for fridays action would we be best travelling through the night thursday.
b/what is cheapest crossing.
c/book ferry before or just arrive
d/campsite pre book or just arrive.
e/would you suggest just taking beer and bar-b-q are there any facilities at all.
f/when does it all finish i.e when would you expect to be home.
i know some of these questions might seem a little obvious but you guys seem to have had many experiences there and trying to book something on the net is a total minefield.
hope to see you all there and buy you a beer.
Hi Guys
Well we are fist timers as well, camping at Beausejour so any info on what the facilities there are really like much appreciated. Crossing on P&O on Thursday morning at 9h00 and leaving the area on Monday am for a leisurely drive back down to Calais with lots of shopping to be done when we get there. Cannot wait to get going and get over there mixed convoy of M3, Exige, VX220 and a couple of Vr32 ( ? ) Golfs. Should be a blast
Well we are fist timers as well, camping at Beausejour so any info on what the facilities there are really like much appreciated. Crossing on P&O on Thursday morning at 9h00 and leaving the area on Monday am for a leisurely drive back down to Calais with lots of shopping to be done when we get there. Cannot wait to get going and get over there mixed convoy of M3, Exige, VX220 and a couple of Vr32 ( ? ) Golfs. Should be a blast
I'm a first timer too.. joining up with Johno and co. hopefully en route. I managed to pick up a Houx camping ticket and a couple of grandstand seats all in the last two weeks and book the Dover-Calais 08:15 Thursday Ferry crossing.
There are quite a lot of campsite tickets on ebay at the moment.. and the less popular sites (not Houx, Houx Annex) are going for reasonable money (£40-£60 ish)
Cheers,
Matt
There are quite a lot of campsite tickets on ebay at the moment.. and the less popular sites (not Houx, Houx Annex) are going for reasonable money (£40-£60 ish)
Cheers,
Matt
simonpacker said:
Hi all,
Never been before but looking forward to my first time and a good drive down. What is the best route to take on the french side, avoiding motorways, for some engaging roads?
You'll obviously be contending with all the local French traffic but there will be plenty of british exotica to latch onto. In terms of engaging roads, get a good map book and try to stay off the N-roads. having said that the N138 is one of the main roads down there so it can get quite busy but it's an excellent route for getting into the Le Mans spirit !
mr zymol said:
hi guys, i am a total lemans virgin and have decided to go this year with a few other guys. we will be travelling from york and dont mind going to dover then across by ferry or hovercraft. arrive on the other side then drive the rest of the way.
can anyone help me with a few suggestions.
a/if we set off to be there for fridays action would we be best travelling through the night thursday.
b/what is cheapest crossing.
c/book ferry before or just arrive
d/campsite pre book or just arrive.
e/would you suggest just taking beer and bar-b-q are there any facilities at all.
f/when does it all finish i.e when would you expect to be home.
i know some of these questions might seem a little obvious but you guys seem to have had many experiences there and trying to book something on the net is a total minefield.
hope to see you all there and buy you a beer.
a) Suggest you go as soon as you can to get there Thursday night. If you get there before midnight you can catch final qualifying. Friday is officially a rest day but there is still plenty going on - see separate post about about PH meet, there's also a big SELOC meet this year, the pits are open and there is a drivers parade in the evening. Basically, the sooner you get down there the better.
b) cheapest crossing I would have thought are ferry crossings from Dover.
c) June is getting towards peak time. With P&O dropping sailings from Portsmouth and Hoverspeed doing the same from Nehaven there will be extra demand this year. If you're after a cheap deal I'd try to find something now.
d) Campsite tickets can be as a rare as hens teeth however past years experience shows a number appearing on here or club arnage close to the event. My advice is to definitely buy before leaving but don't dispair if you can't get a camping ticket because there are ways round everything.
e) Believe it or not France is quite a civilised country and everything you could possibly need is within a couple of miles of the circuit.
f) The race finishes at 4pm Sunday. Depends on how much time you want to take off work. We stay Sunday night and travel back Monday as Sunday night can be one the best nights of the whole weekend. It also makes the whole going home bit a tad less hectic.
seasider said:
Believe it or not France is quite a civilised country
Been going to LeMans for over 30 yrs, but the lady friend has only been going the last 2, she does not realise that after all the beer that then 'a man needs to go he needs to go' so to see a row of men P*****G against the wall is not unusual!!
I turned up the last two years running and bought entrance and camping/parking tickets on the door.
Although we've ended up in Beausejour which is a bit of a trek (unless you have Go-ped) from the village, it's quite handy for Porsche/Arnage/indianapolis curves.
Great site/forum here for info
www.clubarnage.com/yabbse/index.php
and here for amusing reading
www.beermountain.com
>> Edited by simes205 on Wednesday 27th April 08:16
Although we've ended up in Beausejour which is a bit of a trek (unless you have Go-ped) from the village, it's quite handy for Porsche/Arnage/indianapolis curves.
Great site/forum here for info
www.clubarnage.com/yabbse/index.php
and here for amusing reading
www.beermountain.com
>> Edited by simes205 on Wednesday 27th April 08:16
Hi guys,
Its my first trip to Le Mans this year. I'm coming with poeple who have been before, so hopefully they'll guide me through the weekend.
I don't think they are pistonheaders though, so thinking of getting the car stickers/ PH T Shirts to help me find other PHer's.
Could someone tell me where I can get the stickers/t shirts?
We're are leaving on the Dover-Calais P&O 08.15 on thursday and staying in the Houx Annexe
Its my first trip to Le Mans this year. I'm coming with poeple who have been before, so hopefully they'll guide me through the weekend.
I don't think they are pistonheaders though, so thinking of getting the car stickers/ PH T Shirts to help me find other PHer's.
Could someone tell me where I can get the stickers/t shirts?
We're are leaving on the Dover-Calais P&O 08.15 on thursday and staying in the Houx Annexe
Stickers & stuff are sold on this site in the 'shop ' section.
Also a few tips...
Make sure you fill up your tank in normal 'daytime hours ' when you can, as you'll find most late night fuel stations only work with french 'chip & pin ' cards, and there's no forecourt staff to help.
Not a good thing to discover at 2 am ,with only a teacup of 98 octane left in the tank!
P.s. and don't forget a roll of masking tape to attach the camping permit to the windscreen. The glue they use on the ticket has been known to be a bug*er to remove....
Also a few tips...
Make sure you fill up your tank in normal 'daytime hours ' when you can, as you'll find most late night fuel stations only work with french 'chip & pin ' cards, and there's no forecourt staff to help.
Not a good thing to discover at 2 am ,with only a teacup of 98 octane left in the tank!
P.s. and don't forget a roll of masking tape to attach the camping permit to the windscreen. The glue they use on the ticket has been known to be a bug*er to remove....
:Art said:
Make sure you fill up your tank in normal 'daytime hours ' when you can, as you'll find most late night fuel stations only work with french 'chip & pin ' cards, and there's no forecourt staff to help.
Not a good thing to discover at 2 am ,with only a teacup of 98 octane left in the tank!
Excellent point! I nearly got caught out by this last year. Ended up giving a French bloke €50 to put my tank full on his credit card.
We go Thursday morning which allows us to get there for qualifying / drinking Thursday night. The ACO Bar is always open to the public then unlike the rest of the weekend.
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