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Hi there,
I am driving to France (Nice) in the summer with the family , 3 kids aged 5,3&3. We are based near Derby so will have obviously 3/4 hours drive in the UK.
We are looking at doing the drive in two days and stopping in France over night but wonder if anyone had any decent recommendations of how far they think is do able in the same day (with kids) on the French side. I was thinking Dejion or Beaune?
Any ideas much appreciated.
Beaune Is a good place for a stop. We used to stop there regularly on trips through France. Great place and just the right distance I reckon.
Mad were travelling from York, so had a bit further UK side, but still easily doable.
I would try to go as close to Lyon as possible. If on a saturday, be aware traffic will be horrendous and you will loose a few hours. It is also going to cost a fortune in tolls.
Dijon is a bit further north so would cover any unexpected delays and you will find accommodation at a more reasonable rate. I think Beaune is overrated and over priced and I like Dijon so I would say that! are you sailing Dover - Calais?
You could try Portsmouth/ Poole to Cherbourg and stay in a couple of places on the way down Caen, Chartres, Orleans and Puy (and then over the Millau viaduct) are all nice (see what i did there!?). On your suggested route Arras and Laon could work for an earlier stop and then Lyon before you get to Nice , the view from the Basilica there is good.
No idea with kids - probably not far !
Without, just me and my wife in a fast touring sort of car, the max we would contemplate is 8hrs with a good lunch stop and a few pee / coffee breaks.
In my van it was exhausting, in her Honda Type R better, but still a bit tiring. Did it in Dec and was lucky enough to do it in a 911. That was not hard or uncomfortable at all, even at warp speeds.
If your in a comfy large car with aircon, quite and with something to keep them busy, perhaps two 3hr drives with a good lunch stop and walkabout.
Tolls aren't that bad (depending on route taken) - calculate them here
http://www.autoroutes.fr/index.htm
Reims is a good place to stay, as is Dijon - depending on how your timings
You are bringing back memories of a couple of years ago. Stayed at a friend’s near Caen and had to be near Geneva that night. Got on the motorbike and it rained - hard - the whole way. Arrrgghhhhh....
Rachel
..especially around Clermont I expect.
My kids are used to it now (7&9) but have been driving down to the alps/pyrenees since birth(ish).
I'd say set off early doors, 5am, put kids in car in PJ's with blankets so they fall back asleep (ha,ha) and drive to tunnel. Then from the other side you will probably make it down to Dijon in about 6 hours (driving) so add a few stops to that. 8ish hours.
I'd always try and get as far as possible in one go so they don't have to be in the car for too long 2 days running. if your only have about 4 hours the second day you can set of early and be on the beach for lunchtime. Kids forget about how shit all that travelling was when they get to the beach!!
On the way to Toulon (down the coast from Nice) we stopped in Troyes, by a hotel next to their cinema/restaurant complex was decent & might be on your route.
I've not driven it but wouldn't Nice be about 6.5 hours from Dijon? longer with stops an traffic?
Looking to set off early (5am) and will be going on the Friday to hopefully jump the main traffic. Looks like Iam about right with the areas we should get to.
on the toll cost part - you can save a bunch of money by splitting the journey at unusual junctions (the operators are allowed to increase costs by x% on average a year, so they put all the rise on the popular journeys and none on the unusual combos)
https://www.autoroute-eco.fr/autoroute.html
a single break in a long journey (just exiting the motorway, do a u-turn then straight back on) will typically save you 10% of the costs
Consult the traffic forecast here http://www.bison-fute.gouv.fr/index,langen.html
If you are going to travel on one of the black weekends be very careful about planning the journey and make sure you have food/water and keep the fuel tank topped up whenever its easy, I personally would not travel Friday evening or Saturday on a black weekend unless I knew the likely traffic conditions specific to my journey.
We have been driving and camping around france for a few years now with our two kids (6 and 3) and did a couple of big drives to brittany and ille de rey in one go with lots of stops but its too much if the traffic is bad. So last year when we went to lake annecy we drove 5 ish hours to Langres and camped so the kids and us could rest/walk/swim/ride bikes etc have a nice dinner and then get going again the next day for another 4 to 5 hours to annecy which was way better and more exciting for the kids as it became an adventure.
we are doing the same this year camping our way down to near grenoble then onto provence, i should add we always get the 6:30 tunnel so we are on the french motorways by 8 am french time.
entertainment provided by audio books seems to keep our two entertained.
Finishthat - how do you find out what the "black weekends" are?
black week end is usually between july and august . when driving from kent to Millau , we used to leave at 5 pm , cross cross at 7 pm . drive a bit more on the other side and stop for dinner . and carry on driving all night ; kids would sleep .
On trips to Provence, we’ve stopped at Chatillon-sur-seine before. Originally suggested by someone on here. Hotel Sylvia is clean, full of character, cheap and secure offroad parking. It’s a smallish country town with a few hotels, bars and restaurants. It’s quiet enough that you’re not going to get clogged up in heavy traffic and more or less en-route to Provence. We had a fantastic evening meal in a local restaurant and superb breakfast at the Sylvia - local farm made yoghurt etc. not chain establishment packaged food.
Dijon is quite doable.
We got a 5 or 6 pm tunnel and got to Dijon for 12 ish, roads were quiet at that hour though.
Shared driving with Mrsdts.
Can recomend Inter hotel Dijon sud. Very nice with family rooms, kids wanted to stay there for the week..
The forecast is on this page http://www.bison-fute.gouv.fr/forecasts,langen.html
move the slider to get the weekend dates "depart" is leaving Paris direction "retour" is returning , click on the date / colour and the map of France shows the areas by region/colour .
look at the 4th August for example - this is not a good day to travel on any motorway.
thats a useful website Finishthat, cheers. its an orange projection when we are off this year so not to bad