france holiday

[steve_374474860]

new to caravaning, cornwall this year hopefully france next, but never been especially with caravan. were used to majorca, hot sun lovely safe (for kids swimming) beaches we live near gloucester took us 5 hours with a stop to hayle, about 220 miles.is that about average ground per mile covered ? dont want to waste too much time travelling, dont mind early starts but reckon 6 or 7 hours would do me. cherbourg looks a good port to start driving south from, but how far would i get and to a decent 25 degree plus, in july with nice safe beach near or on site help anyone ?

 

[woodsieboy]

Hi Steve

We are just back from PC Rally to St Emillion, just east of Bordeaux. We have done Cherbourg crossing, but prefer Portsmouth to St Malo leave at 8.30pm arrive 7.15 am French time. Takes about 8-9 hours to Bordeaux area if you avoid the tolls, less if you pay and use the motorway.I think you will need to be somewhere in Vendee area to get 25 degrees regularly, the further south you can go the hotter it should be, we had 5 days of 30+ week beginning 7th September, never a guarantee though.

 

[ShadySadie]

You can travel much further in France with less traffic and less delays. Far easier than a trip to Cornwall.

Much of West coast of France is known a the Cote Sauvage or Savage Coast as it's the Atlantic Ocean coast.

Tides, under currents and heavy strong seas can be a problem some times. Get a coastal site with a good pool complex if your family is young.

 

[Guest]

Anywhere in the bottom half of France will have temperatures in the mid to high 20's, and possibly even higher. It used to be a standing joke in the family as to where we would hit the sun. Would it be Lyons or further south. However, over the last few years the western part of France has often been pretty wet and most people head for the Med to guarantee the sun. Also the Bay of Biscay can be foggy when an Atlantic Low blows in. We have had excellent holidays in the south west of France, but also others where we ended up travelling across to the Med to find the sun.

If you are travelling in July I am sure you are aware it is high season and the sites will be very busy especially in the good areas. I do not wish to sow the wrong seeds but we also have been to Majorca a lot and thoroughly enjoy it. However, in our opinion it is definitely not the same as France. Majorca has safe beaches, clean water and is a children's, and big kids like me, paaradise. France is also very good but beaches can be a bit 'hit or miss' and can be very windy in certain areas in Rousillon when the Tramontane blows. We often spend more time by the site pool than on the beach for the above reasons. However, France offers other attractions if sitting beside the beach, or pool gets boring.

We cheat nowadays and have one long holiday in France and then a 2 week break in Majorca so I can play with my green crocodile on the beach.