Help with planning touring holiday in France

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CaroleF
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Help with planning touring holiday in France

#1

Post by CaroleF »

Next year we have a cruise booked for March and we are thinking about possibly having two weeks travelling around France, staying probably in Chambres d'hotes. I'm not sure how to go about planning this. When our girls were younger we had several holidays staying in the Dordogne - usually a villa with pool. This time, just the two of us I don't really want to self cater so Chambres d'hotes seem a good idea. I think we would probably go over via the tunnel - even though we live near the Portsmouth Ferries - it's just so expensive going on the Ferry and it takes so long.

My ideal, I think would be a route which took us as far south as the Dordogne or Lot, or maybe a little further south if we have time, stopping at places for a minimum of 3 nights - otherwise it's living out of suitcases and we wouldn't have time to explore the places where we were staying. Is it best to plan a route and then book Chambres d'hotes so we know where we are staying each stop? My husband would probably just prefer to look for places as we go but I think I'd then be looking from after lunch and would worry that we wouldn't find anywhere good. At least if I book in advance I know where we are staying and I can pick somewhere that looks good with reviews from others.

I wouldn't want to spend all our time in the car - look forward to going round markets and seeing places we've not been to before. I suppose the other possibility would be to pick two centres and have a week in each - maybe even self cater as long as we eat out most evenings. Anyway, sorry if this is a rather disjointed question - I'd just be grateful for any experiences people have had planning such a holiday - not something we've ever done.

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Meg 50
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Re: Help with planning touring holiday in France

#2

Post by Meg 50 »

I would look at the map, and get guide books from the library... pick out the must sees and [plan your route choose a route including as many stops as seems sensible -as you say praps 3 nights in each - booked in advance. That gives you flexibility to venture around the area, or even go back to somewhere you passed between stops.

Perhaps have an overnight near the north , then drive all the way south next day, and 'pootle' back?
Meg
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david63
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Re: Help with planning touring holiday in France

#3

Post by david63 »

One thing that can be useful for planning road journeys is Google maps - I have found them to be reasonably accurate on distance and will give a good indication of the journey time.

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Peter D
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Re: Help with planning touring holiday in France

#4

Post by Peter D »

Do you have an iPad, then try 'citymaps2go' 4 free maps available to download, upgrade to unlimited maps for £1.99.

Not sure if you can get it on a tablet.
Regards

Peter


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CaroleF
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Re: Help with planning touring holiday in France

#5

Post by CaroleF »

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'll let you know what we decide when I've got around to planning it!

Carole

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Manoverboard
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Re: Help with planning touring holiday in France

#6

Post by Manoverboard »

A Grand Tour of France with three day stop-overs would take months rather than a fortnight so you will need to identify the Region(s) that suits you best.

I participate in the writing of Tours for a major International Coaching Operator from time to time, including one for France in 2012. You could study the routes, together with the thoughts and ideas that created the eventual trip. Let me know if this would be of assistance and I will PM the details to you.

:wave:
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Silver_Shiney
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Re: Help with planning touring holiday in France

#7

Post by Silver_Shiney »

Peter D wrote:
Do you have an iPad, then try 'citymaps2go' 4 free maps available to download, upgrade to unlimited maps for £1.99.

Not sure if you can get it on a tablet.

Yes, I've got it on my Hudl
Alan

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Silver_Shiney
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Re: Help with planning touring holiday in France

#8

Post by Silver_Shiney »

CaroleF wrote:
Next year we have a cruise booked for March and we are thinking about possibly having two weeks travelling around France, staying probably in Chambres d'hotes. I'm not sure how to go about planning this. When our girls were younger we had several holidays staying in the Dordogne - usually a villa with pool. This time, just the two of us I don't really want to self cater so Chambres d'hotes seem a good idea. I think we would probably go over via the tunnel - even though we live near the Portsmouth Ferries - it's just so expensive going on the Ferry and it takes so long.

My ideal, I think would be a route which took us as far south as the Dordogne or Lot, or maybe a little further south if we have time, stopping at places for a minimum of 3 nights - otherwise it's living out of suitcases and we wouldn't have time to explore the places where we were staying. Is it best to plan a route and then book Chambres d'hotes so we know where we are staying each stop? My husband would probably just prefer to look for places as we go but I think I'd then be looking from after lunch and would worry that we wouldn't find anywhere good. At least if I book in advance I know where we are staying and I can pick somewhere that looks good with reviews from others.

I wouldn't want to spend all our time in the car - look forward to going round markets and seeing places we've not been to before. I suppose the other possibility would be to pick two centres and have a week in each - maybe even self cater as long as we eat out most evenings. Anyway, sorry if this is a rather disjointed question - I'd just be grateful for any experiences people have had planning such a holiday - not something we've ever done.

I'd recommend having a look at Eurocamp - we've used their Independent (ie you bring your own tent/caravan) arm several times and found their service to be excellent. They block-book channel crossings so that element works out much cheaper than DIY. They have a number of sites around Europe and some have accommodations more substantial than a tent - although the tents are very well equipped. Being cheaper, it would leave you more money for eating out. They also (used to) give a detailed route map from the port to each campsite.
Alan

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Topic author
CaroleF
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Re: Help with planning touring holiday in France

#9

Post by CaroleF »

Thanks for the suggestion Alan - I'm afraid my camping days, such as they were, are long gone. If I even mentioned camping to my husband he would think I had undergone a personality change and probably would collapse from the shock! Even so, thank you for the thought and taking the trouble to reply. I need comfort these days! Moby has been really helpful in sending me lots of routes and suggestions so a big thank you to him.

Carole


Quizzical Bob
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Re: Help with planning touring holiday in France

#10

Post by Quizzical Bob »

We have been driving through a France for our holidays since 1967 and wouldn't do it any other way. These days we take our caravan, usually down to the Perpignan area and into the Costa Brava. We have always booked everything ourselves without any problems and these days it's even easier with the Internet. There's plenty of availability as long as you avoid August.

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Silver_Shiney
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Re: Help with planning touring holiday in France

#11

Post by Silver_Shiney »

CaroleF wrote:
Thanks for the suggestion Alan - I'm afraid my camping days, such as they were, are long gone. If I even mentioned camping to my husband he would think I had undergone a personality change and probably would collapse from the shock! Even so, thank you for the thought and taking the trouble to reply. I need comfort these days! Moby has been really helpful in sending me lots of routes and suggestions so a big thank you to him.

Carole
Mine, too, Carole, but they don't just do tents
Alan

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