The last time me and my hubby went on a self drive camping trip in France, it was in a Peugeot 106 packed to the brim for two weeks of touring. It was the first time we had ever self driven and we only booked one campsite, which was in Calais on the way back home, however I still did a lot of research and planning.
Camping is now a whole new ball game for us compared to back then. Post kids, our needs are very different- just think about pre kids luggage as oppose to now for a start: we'd have never squeezed it all into our 106!
There's also much more to think about: the amount of time travelling, food stops, wee stops, entertainment, budget... the list goes on.
However, on our last summer jolly holiday, I think we got the balance pretty much spot on.
Below I’m going to set out our itinerary: where we went, what we did and what we would tweak for next time. Now, I realise that as you read through you might be horrified at some of the things we have done, however this is just a guide of what can be done on a budget and you can tweak this plan in whichever way you want to. We used aires and campsites for our holiday. Aires are specifically for campervans and motorhomes to use and are very cheap to stop in overnight.
The Ferry
We booked our ferry crossing back in February 2019 for our departure in the summer. It cost us £210.00, two weeks and two days travel for 4 people on a return crossing from Dover to Calais. The only other part of the holiday that we booked was a campsite around five days into our holiday which we intended to stop at for the week.
We decided to drive down to Dover the night before our morning departure to avoid any risks of traffic delays. We stopped on a camping and caravan certified site which was basic and perfect for us, as it was just an overnight stop, costing us £10.00 for the night.
So, up and away early for the morning ferry which was all plain sailing -pun intended- seriously though, Dover ferry port is very organised and efficient and we were on the ferry within about 45 mins of our arrival. Unfortunately, if you are last on the ferry which we were, you are unlikely to get a window seat, so take something on board to entertain the kids as the journey lasts approximately an hour and half.
It's also worth while taking a stash of food and drinks as these items are expensive on the boat and can save you money for some lovely french goodies once you are in the promised land.
Top Tips
Stop over the night before if you have an early ferry.
Take food and drinks and entertainment on to the ferry to save pennies and sanity.
The Promised Land
Once we arrived in France and navigated our way out of Calais, we headed for Bayeux and Arromanches-les-Bains. Now in hindsight this was perhaps a much longer journey to complete all in one go and it took us around 6 hours to get there.
Bayeux and Arromanches-les-Bains are home to the war museums and cemeteries and the sombre D-Day beaches where many soldiers lost their lives during the battles of World War 2. Before going to pay your respects in the cemetery, the museum in Bayeux is well worth a visit. The museum tells about the operations that tooks place, the who's who and the route the German soldiers took through the country as well as displays on artifacts and machinery. The museum costs roughly £6.55 per adult (based on an exchange rate on April 13th 2020) and under 10’s are free of charge. The war graves across the road are absolutely beautifully kept although harrowing to see so many lives lost.
The car park at Bayeux Museum is free of charge and there is also an aire onsite for campervans and motorhomes to use for overnight stays for a small charge. Perfect if you intend to stop longer in Bayeux and explore the town and other museums such as the Bayeux Tapestry Museum.
We headed for the D-Day beaches in Arromanches-les-Bains after we left Bayeux and found the perfect aire on a cliff top overlooking the town and sea. This aire has a charge of £5.25 a night and includes water, toilets (when attractions are open) and a waste emptying point. The only downside to this site was that it was very busy, so if its peace and quiet you're after, probably best to give this aire a miss. Whilst there we explored the local town, the displays and monuments set out on the cliff tops and walked along the beaches. There is plenty to see and do around here if you have more time to spend and are keen to know more about the battles in this location.
Top Tips
Try and get to aires early in the day when overnighters are leaving for other destinations.
Moving On
After spending the day in Arromaches-Les-Bains we headed west and found ourselves a lovely budget campsite called Camping Le Creulet. This quaint little campsite is situated in Calvados country and is about 20 mins drive outside of Bayeux. The campsite had a good clean basic facilities: a toilet block, shower area and washing up sinks. There was a small playground which was being well used by the many kids on site and the lovely french owner who didn’t speak a word of English brought us fresh french bread once we had set up camp. This site cost us £13.13 for the night with electric hook up.
Our next move was to head west towards the famous tidal island of Mont-St-Michel. This island was once part of the mainland, however erosion has reshaped the coastline and set this tiny piece of history free. Its main use, over the many thousands of years, has been as a monastery and is very similar in design to England's own St Michael's Mount on Cornwall. To park at St Mont Michel you have to park in the official car parks to get a ticket and ride on the shuttle bus to the main entrance of the monastery. You can also walk from the car park, however you will still need to pay the parking fee. I personally thought the parking fee was a little pricey at £13.00, but you did get the free ride on the bus for this price as well. Again, because we went in the summer months it was very busy. I would recommend either going earlier in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid the crowds. Given the choice again I probably wouldn’t visit this attraction. If you have been to St Michael’s Mount off the coast of England, it is very similar, just French!
We spent around 4 hours at St Mont Michel. The abbey costs you extra to go inside, however with a then 11 year old and a 6 year old in tow, looking around musty old building (their words not mine) really didn't appeal, so we gave it a miss.
Heading South to the Sun
By this time, having had enough of the colder Northern France weather, we headed south towards our pre booked campsite and the sunshine. We drove towards the city of Nantes which is approx a 3 hour drive from Mont-St-Michel and found a lovely little aire by a water ski centre in the town of Nozay just north of Nantes.
This aire was a little gem. There were picnic benches around the lake, water sports available, a volleyball net, play park and a football court. Perfect for our feral kids. This aire cost just £7.00 a night for the pitch, water and electric hook up. The toilets were ok here, but if you have your own, even better. Around the corner from the campsite is a Super U, a french equivalent to Asda or Sainsburys etc, so you can stock up on the essentials.
The next day we moved on again to our pre-booked campsite where we intended to spend the week, Camping Le Merval in Puyravault located in the sunshine and sunflower region of the Vendee. This is approximately a three hour drive from Nozay.
Arriving at this little campsite, we decided only to stay one night instead of the whole week. Unfortunately, the campsite played host to some non paying campers that week: the local plague of flies. They were everywhere! I believe the problem was that the campsite was situated in agricultural land and it was muck spreading season. We left as we didn’t think the fly to camper ratio was ideal and didn’t want to risk a dose of 'Delhi belly' from flies landing on manure and then our lovely french delights!
Next day with no plan of where to stop we decided to head for the lovely Vendee beach of Les Sables-d’Olonne. It was our first day of warm sunshine: something us Brits very rarely see.
As long as you’re prepared for the beach it can be the perfect budget day out. We managed to park in yet another aire called Parking Indigo in Les Sables-d’Olonne. It costs approx £5.50 for about 5 hours and is not too far from the beach, however make sure you have everything as it is far enough to make backwards and forwards trips something of a chore.
So beach equipment check:
Sunshelter, swim stuff, towels and suntan cream.
Food and drink.
Money for ice creams.
We spent the day at the beach snorkelling, sandcastle building, eating ice creams and sunbathing with a good book.
Top Tips
Take lots of dry food with you if you can fit it in. We found supermarkets are quite expensive so the more you can take the better.
When visiting cities, towns and beaches look for local car parking beforehand. Set your SATNAV to avoid driving around and repeatedly missing that car park entrance.
So that is the itinerary so far. The budget has been pretty low, but this could be adapted to whatever your budget is. If aires aren't your thing or are not suitable because you have a tent there are lots of cheap campsites dotted around France. Use the recomended research tools I talk about on my blog post https://belowthebudget.wixsite.com/website/post/camping-tips-and-tricks-for-a-successful-adventure
But the adventure doesn't stop here 'look out for part two coming soon with more hints, tips and great pics.
‘If happiness is a goal, and it should be - then adventures should be the priority.’ Richard Branson
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