First Driving Trip To France

[olliel]

Hi All

First family holiday with our almost two-year-old daughter next week and didn’t fancy braving the lines at the airport.

We have booked the tunnel to France and plan on driving around to a few places staying in Air B&Bs depending on where we find ourselves.

This is our first time of doing such a trip so would really appreciate any advice from any well seasoned driving/European travellers.

I have informed my insurance company, I have the relevant breakdown cover, a UK badge for the back and a warning triangle in the boot.

Other things in my list are
- Bulbs (minus xenon’s for the headlights)
- High Vis Jackets
- Beam Reflectors

We are hiring a roof box and roof bars
We have the option of either

VW Tiguan
Or
VW Golf Estate

Which would people suggest would best suit this journey on the tunnel and the roads of northern France?

I have a spot at the garage for a service on Wednesday so need to decide which car we take by then.

Any advice if things to do/ take/ avoid etc would be most appreciated

Thanks

Ollie

[olliel]

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

[olliel]

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

[olliel]

Thanks again everyone.

Just have to load the dreaded roof box tomorrow and we are off to the tunnel.

I’ve come to terms with the fact the box will likely completely kill the already pretty bad MPG of a 2.0 Petrol Tiguan.

Looking forward to it, despite the weather. I can imagine that our holidays might likely be driving in Europe for the next few years with our little one (wife already gets stressed flying before covid and a toddler). So we can use this as a trial run for going further afield

Ollie