driving cheshire to bordeaux, chunnel...

[Blown2CV]

i've booked an airbnb mid august near bordeaux, under the assumption that it would be practical and not too nightmarish, ridiculously expensive to drive there. I am normally fairly diligent with holiday planning but for several reasons which I won't bore you with, this year I have applied a less common 'fk it and we'll sort it out somehow' approach. This would be our first time driving to france although I've drive a lot on the continent.

The trip however seems more problematic than I'd first assumed.

We have 2 kids aged 4 and 6, but they have done long car journeys before and we've got them fairly well trained.

I had assumed it would be doable to drive the 13-15 hours because I had done something similar to north of scotland on a couple of occasions. France seems a lot further though despite similar sort of drive time. I'd prefer to drive through the night, but i haven't done this before. The simple reason for that is to save on eating into holiday time, and to minimise traffic as we get into the south east of england. Obviously the tunnel means a lot less time to sleep and rest compared to the various ferry crossings, but the ferries don't seem to suitable crossing times and on several the cabins are all booked up anyway so the opportunity for rest would be limited.

We could split the drive between me and the mrs, which we've not really had to do before.

I am slightly concerned we are underestimating the impact of the journey, and we'd get there sometime the first full day and all be knackered at different times and it would be a pointless saving to have gone through the night. Others who drive to france have said to break the journey up with an overnight in a hotel or motel somewhere, but i don't want the journey dragging either.

i guess what sorts of advice would people have please? thanks

[Claret m]

Hi

We have had a house in the south of France for over 13 years. At first when still working we split the journey over two days, sharing the driving. Now that I have retired we take four days to enjoy the trip. We have decided that doing it over only two days just left us tried and unable to enjoy the first few days.

Here is an idea. We leave Cheshire at 10am for the tunnel, catching the 4.20pm train, then stop here


https://en.hotel-le-semaphore.com

it's just off the autoroute 50 minutes sw of Calais. Take the children to the beach at Berck, then back for dinner (check the restaurant is open first!)
Next day after a good breakfast 8 hours down the autoroute (easy driving) arrive at destination.

Enjoy

[Sylvias_Father]

We drive to France/Italy most years (from north Cheshire) and have only done the whole journey once (never again...)
Now we always break up the journey and include travel as part of the holiday. Last year we travelled to Tuscany via Reims and Annecy (both beautiful cities) and came back via Innsbruck and Antwerp. Ok, you have to add a couple of extra days leave, but definitely worth it (and you're not knackered when you get to your villa and/or home.

This year we're catching an early afternoon Eurostar and overnighting in Rouen, before travelling down to Dordogne on Saturday (a similar distance to you)

Have you thought of Portsmouth/Plymouth to St Malo (Brittany) ferry? Then a short(ish) drive to Bordeaux.

Edit - just seen you're travelling with kids - definitely don't do it in one hit (if just for safety reasons...)

[omniflow]

Portsmouth -> St Malo overnight ferry.

Leaves Portsmouth at 8pm - arrives St. Malo at 8am. St. Malo to Bordeaux is an easy 5 hour drive.

Dinner on the ferry, overnight in a cabin. The kids will love the adventure - treat it as part of the holiday. The beds are pretty comfortable and you've got enough time for a full nights sleep.

[85Carrera]

omniflow said:

Portsmouth -> St Malo overnight ferry.

Leaves Portsmouth at 8pm - arrives St. Malo at 8am. St. Malo to Bordeaux is an easy 5 hour drive.

Dinner on the ferry, overnight in a cabin. The kids will love the adventure - treat it as part of the holiday. The beds are pretty comfortable and you've got enough time for a full nights sleep.

This. Portsmouth-Caen is another option

[//j17]

There's no right or wrong answer to this one and very much down to the individual driver(s) and passengers.

Personally I'd split the journey. Some say this is "eating into holiday time" but the other view is "the journey is part of the holiday". Sure drive through and you get to your holiday destination quicker...but at least one of you is wrecked and while everyone else wants to start doing holiday stuff you just want to go to bed so ends up sleeping through the first day.

Is it an option for you to set off after work on Friday? That could see you on the road around 6pm/getting to the tunnel around midnight/Calais around 01:30 (30min crossing + BST/CEST time difference)/then a chain motel (with 24hr reception). A few hours sleep and back on the road ~9am with only the 9hrs French driving to go - which on French Autoroutes is generally free flowing and fast, if a little bording.

Or is there any available on the south coast overnight ferry routes? Set of Friday/overnight ferry then only 7hrs driving in France. There's a 05:30AM Saturday Newhaven/Dieppe ferry that gets in at 10:30 for example. Maybe pack the car/grab a nap before you set off/aother nap on the ferry.

[Mr Magooagain]

omniflow said:

Portsmouth -> St Malo overnight ferry.

Leaves Portsmouth at 8pm - arrives St. Malo at 8am. St. Malo to Bordeaux is an easy 5 hour drive.

Dinner on the ferry, overnight in a cabin. The kids will love the adventure - treat it as part of the holiday. The beds are pretty comfortable and you've got enough time for a full nights sleep.

This man speaks sense although he drives fast.

[omniflow]

85Carrera said:

omniflow said:

Portsmouth -> St Malo overnight ferry.

Leaves Portsmouth at 8pm - arrives St. Malo at 8am. St. Malo to Bordeaux is an easy 5 hour drive.

Dinner on the ferry, overnight in a cabin. The kids will love the adventure - treat it as part of the holiday. The beds are pretty comfortable and you've got enough time for a full nights sleep.

This. Portsmouth-Caen is another option

The problem with the Caen crossing is the timing. It leaves a lot later and arrives earlier. So you've got no time for dinner on the boat, and not really enough time for a decent sleep. I don't think it's significantly cheaper than St. Malo either (although I may be wrong on that one). Finally, the route south from St. Malo is just so quick and easy. Caen adds about 90 minutes to that journey - which is offset by the earlier arrival, but I'd rather have longer in bed.

[85Carrera]

We’ve always done Portsmouth-Caen but will look into the Saint Malo crossing next time. Does look better timings.

[hellorent]

Do this regularly from Liverpool, what suits me best is down to Dover stay in a cheap Premier Inn, following morning ferry across to Dunkirk arriving around 10/11am then down to Bordeaux stopping a couple of times takes about 10/11 hrs.

[Blown2CV]

ok so it sounds like as long as we set off early enough, we can cross and then get some sleep, relatively early start and enjoy some places along the way rather than rush, and then we're there. As I said about ferries I've looked at various crossings and the times of the sailings don't really work for us even though it would create some inherent rest time (in a plastic chair not a cabin!) and save a bit of time on the french drive.

[Muzzer79]

I did Midlands to Bordeaux a few years back.

We overnighted in Folkestone, then got an early train into France, to arrive at the house for around 4pm.

It worked pretty well. We did the whole journey back in one go.

In the OP's situation, I'd leave home at lunchtime day 1, overnight in Folkestone, then go through the day through France.

On the way back, driver 1 does Bordeaux to, say Rouen. Driver 2 does Rouen to home.

[Blown2CV]

ok so i guess a decision we need to make is whether we stay overnight in england or france... with young kids maybe england is a better idea

[nickfrog]

omniflow said:

Portsmouth -> St Malo overnight ferry.

Leaves Portsmouth at 8pm - arrives St. Malo at 8am. St. Malo to Bordeaux is an easy 5 hour drive.

Dinner on the ferry, overnight in a cabin. The kids will love the adventure - treat it as part of the holiday. The beds are pretty comfortable and you've got enough time for a full nights sleep.

This is what I would do. You also cut down on a lot of traffic hotspots in both countries that way.

[poosemon]

Last year we holidayed in Annecy, we did Cheshire -> Ashford, then early morning Eurotunnel and drove down to near Annecy in a day stopping in at Dijon for a couple of hours for a wonder around.

This worked quite well. On the way back we had been into Switzerland and Germany and had a way back of Lake Konstanz-> Metz (via black forrest) then Metz to Cheshire.

Metz->Cheshire was a proper slog (had to dog leg and go via Bristol to pick something up on way home) and won't be repeating that one in a hurry.

This year, were driving down to Austria, so are trying doing Cheshire -> Dunkirk after work, then start the day from within France with crossing already done.

Then will do Dunkirk -> Stuttgart, then Stugart to Bregenz on next day, then Bregenz to East of Salzburg on day after that. Returning East of Saltzburg -> Bonn, Bonn -> Brugge, Brugge -> Cheshire.

We have really enjoyed the driving and stopping in at a couple of places you usually just drive past/fly over (i.e Dijon). Definity adds something to the holiday if it works for your family and kids are used to travelling (we did the above with our 8 year old daughter. Living in Cheshire with family in Cornwall she is well used to long trips!)

[Doofus]

Mr Magooagain said:

omniflow said:

Portsmouth -> St Malo overnight ferry.

Leaves Portsmouth at 8pm - arrives St. Malo at 8am. St. Malo to Bordeaux is an easy 5 hour drive.

Dinner on the ferry, overnight in a cabin. The kids will love the adventure - treat it as part of the holiday. The beds are pretty comfortable and you've got enough time for a full nights sleep.

This man speaks sense although he drives fast.

You get woken up stupidly early (and an hour earlier than your body clock even thinks it is), and you'll struggle to get anything like a decent breakfast before you get kicked off the boat. They're not easy/pleasant cabins to sleep in, unless you upgrade to Commodore, but they'll all be gone by now.

When I used this route, I usually needed forty winks at around 10:30am, which adds to the journey time.

Also, the return journey leaves St-Malo in the morning, so you'll need an hotel for the night before. Not a hardship in itself, but it carries an additional cost. You then arrive in Portsmouth mid-afternoon, so driving back to Cheshire will mean a late arrival.

[Earthdweller]

100% break the journey

If tunnel/ferry across channel get over the other side and take an overnight just the other side

Ferry to Normandy/Brittany is a good shout too

I’ve done that a couple of times and it works well heading to Atlantic coast getting off the ferry fresh in the morning is a big bonus

[omniflow]

Doofus said:

Mr Magooagain said:

omniflow said:

Portsmouth -> St Malo overnight ferry.

Leaves Portsmouth at 8pm - arrives St. Malo at 8am. St. Malo to Bordeaux is an easy 5 hour drive.

Dinner on the ferry, overnight in a cabin. The kids will love the adventure - treat it as part of the holiday. The beds are pretty comfortable and you've got enough time for a full nights sleep.

This man speaks sense although he drives fast.

You get woken up stupidly early (and an hour earlier than your body clock even thinks it is), and you'll struggle to get anything like a decent breakfast before you get kicked off the boat. They're not easy/pleasant cabins to sleep in, unless you upgrade to Commodore, but they'll all be gone by now.

When I used this route, I usually needed forty winks at around 10:30am, which adds to the journey time.

Also, the return journey leaves St-Malo in the morning, so you'll need an hotel for the night before. Not a hardship in itself, but it carries an additional cost. You then arrive in Portsmouth mid-afternoon, so driving back to Cheshire will mean a late arrival.

I somewhat disagree. The cabins are clean, pretty comfortable and reasonably peaceful. Regarding breakfast, we generally just have a coffee on the boat to kick-start the system and then stop for breakfast about 90 mins into the journey. There are several places on the boat to get coffee, so if the self-service is rammed, you can go to the bar. The wake-up time is probably 20 minutes earlier than ideal, but does allow for a relaxed start to the day.

Also - although the OP was only asking about the journey there, there is an overnight ferry from St. Malo -> Portsmouth on Tuesday nights.

[Doofus]

omniflow said:

I somewhat disagree. The cabins are clean, pretty comfortable and reasonably peaceful. Regarding breakfast, we generally just have a coffee on the boat to kick-start the system and then stop for breakfast about 90 mins into the journey. There are several places on the boat to get coffee, so if the self-service is rammed, you can go to the bar. The wake-up time is probably 20 minutes earlier than ideal, but does allow for a relaxed start to the day.

Also - although the OP was only asking about the journey there, there is an overnight ferry from St. Malo -> Portsmouth on Tuesday nights.

We find the beds to be particularly uncomfortable, and the cabin temperature is never right. We both bought self-inflating mattresses in order to get a half-decent kip, and soon after that we stopped using the boats altogether.

[Blown2CV]

ok well in my personal situation the cabins are all booked up on the crossings on the days we'd be travelling, so it's a moot point really