Costs of holidaying in France

[Woody3]

With the rise in the value of the Euro (or the drop in the pound - whatever) it's a few years since we have been across the Channel. We are however thinking of going again this year as we miss the intellectual stimulation (it's either France or Cornwall!)

Other than the cost of recovery and medical insurance and the ferry (which is currently around half what we paid last time) can anyone advise how the other costs have changed - ignoring the sterling/Euro relative change. For example municipal campsites used to cost around 10E-12E per night - has this changed? A box of 24 bottles of 25cl Stella used to be around 8E - what is it now? And last time we went diesel was about 1.20E/litre.

If anyone can give opinions or hard facts in this area it might give us something on which to base our decision.

TIA

 

[Lutz]

I'll think that you'll find that, if anything, the Euro has dropped in value relative to the pound, not risen. This time last year the exchange rate was 1.14 Euros to the pound, today it's 1.17. In fact there has been a steady drop over the past months and the trend seems to be continuing.

 

[RayS]

Can't answer for the Stella but early April diesel was just over 1 euro/litre - say 1.05 depending which one and how much competition there was nearby. Not too many municipals open at that time, but site fees don't seem to have changed much over the last year or so - probably due to static or falling demand.

Sites we used - 2 star or thereabouts were about 16 euro/night but this included EHU charges which are often more in the colder months.

One thing that does seem to have risen greatly is autoroute tolls, particularly if towing. The stretch Eurotunnel to Reims is seriously expensive - around 35 euros - so best stick to RNs if you can.

Food prices etc. have also increased along with some unexpected items. One glaring example was mouthwash - averaged 5 euro/bottle in supermarkets instead of less than

 

[Woody3]

I'll think that you'll find that, if anything, the Euro has dropped in value relative to the pound, not risen. This time last year the exchange rate was 1.14 Euros to the pound, today it's 1.17. In fact there has been a steady drop over the past months and the trend seems to be continuing.

Last time we went it was in the 1.30's!!

 

[jaffasdad]

We are in France now.

The price for diesel (supermarket prices) is 1.10 - 1.12 Euros per litre.

We stayed on a lovely municipal site for 10.60E and the cost of 24 25cl Stellas is 8.20E

We are now on a small commercial site which is 13.50E per night (inc EHU) and WiFi is 10E for a week.

As Ray says, the cost of motorway tolls can be quite and item so we have used N roads when it is convenient. (Get accurate prices from the Michelin website.)

Food is probably slightly more than UK prices (cooked chicken, 5E) but eating out is reasonable. (3 course menu du jour for 10E)

These prices are about as current as you will get at the moment! If you need any more info we're here for another week.

France can no longer be considered as being 'cheap' but it still compares very well to UK prices, especially with some of the ferry deals available.

 

[carper2]

We travelled down through France to Spain. Diesel ranged from _130 on the motorways down to _1.10 in the small towns. We are now in Spain and the cheapest I have seen it is _1.08, the trouble was I filled up the day before I saw that one and I paid _1.10.

Les