taking your car to southern France
Discussion
As title. Bit green when it comes to this so looking for pointer's.
Thinking about going to Monaco/Alps/Northern Italy and taking our own car. Is there a rail service for this? If so from where to where?
Would it be better/cheaper to take the ferry from Pompey to Le Havre and drive down?
Or would it just be a case of sod it and fly down and grab a rental?
Just to add that Portsmouth ferry terminal is about 20mins from me!
Thinking about going to Monaco/Alps/Northern Italy and taking our own car. Is there a rail service for this? If so from where to where?
Would it be better/cheaper to take the ferry from Pompey to Le Havre and drive down?
Or would it just be a case of sod it and fly down and grab a rental?
Just to add that Portsmouth ferry terminal is about 20mins from me!
If you've got the time to enjoy it, drive it! Split the journey up, choose some places to see along the way and it'll be something you'll never forget. I've done it twice and plan on doing it again.
I'm sure there are PHers on here who have done the journey many more times than me, so whatever your into, someone will know a good route and things to see.
It's possible to do the whole French leg in a day, I did it from Antibe via Millau once. It's gruelling and not much fun unless you can afford to pay big speeding fines.
From Le Havre, I'd got south via Le Mans and over the Millau viaduct. You could overnight somewhere nice in the Loire maybe.
I'm sure there are PHers on here who have done the journey many more times than me, so whatever your into, someone will know a good route and things to see.
It's possible to do the whole French leg in a day, I did it from Antibe via Millau once. It's gruelling and not much fun unless you can afford to pay big speeding fines.
From Le Havre, I'd got south via Le Mans and over the Millau viaduct. You could overnight somewhere nice in the Loire maybe.
Huntsman said:
Good god man, 20 mins from Pompey and you've not been to France?
Can beat that and be in Pompey in 10 mins. the only sensible way to get to France is through the tunnel. £40-odd quid plus petrol far outweighs the £00's needed to chug across the channel at walking pace.We used to always take the boat when you could get a weekend away with cabins both ways for £80 but those days are long gone.
Drive to EuroTunnel terminal. Drive on to Le Shuttle. Drive off half an hour later. Drive for 6 hours plus breaks. Stop in Beaune. Leave at 9am. Arrive Monaco circa 7pm. Avoid driving on a Saturday once you get past Lyon.
Calculate tolls and fuel costs here
http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/
Calculate tolls and fuel costs here
http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/
At 16:25 and twice at 16:43 audidoody said:
Drive to EuroTunnel terminal. Drive on to Le Shuttle. Drive off half an hour later. Drive for 6 hours plus breaks. Stop in Beaune. Leave at 9am. Arrive Monaco circa 7pm. Avoid driving on a Saturday once you get past Lyon.
Calculate tolls and fuel costs here
http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/
Ok, ok, go by your route! Just stop posting it!Calculate tolls and fuel costs here
http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/
Edited by ewenm on Wednesday 29th June 16:49
Dont think I said I'd never been to France?!?!!?! 
Been over plenty of times on the ferry and driven down to here:-
http://www.ourhouseinaveyron.co.uk/
Owned by my sister and worked on by me!!
However I have never taken a train to the other side of the channel and have never taken a car by train, hence the questions!
So driving it is then!
Been over plenty of times on the ferry and driven down to here:-
http://www.ourhouseinaveyron.co.uk/
Owned by my sister and worked on by me!!
However I have never taken a train to the other side of the channel and have never taken a car by train, hence the questions!
So driving it is then!
Did Cote d'Azur last year and just back from Italy/Germany.
Cote d'Azur is well worth it. Really nice place to be, both for holiday and driving tour. Italy is nowhere near as much fun to drive in - roads are a lot busier and the drivers are lunatics (I'm not exaggerating when I say M25 on a bad day isn't close!).
Routes:-
- Millau viaduct is certainly worth looking into
- Mont Ventoux is also worth an investigation
- ...or you do what we did:-
- Drive down to Lyon (we started early from Kent, so maybe Beaune/Dijon* area would be more sensible)
- Day 2 go via Grenoble (avoid rush-hour - took us an hour to clear the city), then take the alpine road east past the Alpe d'Huez and the Col du Galibier (well worth a detour if you've the time) across to Briancon, then cut back SW to pick up the Route Napoleon at Digne les Bains (where it starts getting interesting). Follow this all the way down until you need to cut-off to your destination.
- ...an alternative would be to head due south from Briancon down the old Route des Grande Alpes towards Menton and Monaco, and then come back up the Napoleon.
...oh, and DO detour to the Col de Turini at some point. A must-do road...
Towns we stayed in:-
- St Paul de Vence is lovely (not cheap, but really nice). Also a stone's throw from the Col de Vence. We stayed at the Les Messegues, which was pretty good with good parking, albeit a 20+ min walk into town.
- Villefranche sur Mer was also good. Smaller and quieter than Nice and Cannes but with enough to do, and had a really nice feel to the place.
Final thought - depending on time and the willingness of your partner/passenger to be stuck in the car for hours each day, Switzerland is worth a detour - some of their passes are truly stunning, although their coppers don't mess around - we hardly saw any, but there are people on here who've been relieved of >€1,000 for speeding!
* Dijon itself is busy and worth avoiding, but an overnight hotel in the countryside will be fine.
Cote d'Azur is well worth it. Really nice place to be, both for holiday and driving tour. Italy is nowhere near as much fun to drive in - roads are a lot busier and the drivers are lunatics (I'm not exaggerating when I say M25 on a bad day isn't close!).
Routes:-
- Millau viaduct is certainly worth looking into
- Mont Ventoux is also worth an investigation
- ...or you do what we did:-
- Drive down to Lyon (we started early from Kent, so maybe Beaune/Dijon* area would be more sensible)
- Day 2 go via Grenoble (avoid rush-hour - took us an hour to clear the city), then take the alpine road east past the Alpe d'Huez and the Col du Galibier (well worth a detour if you've the time) across to Briancon, then cut back SW to pick up the Route Napoleon at Digne les Bains (where it starts getting interesting). Follow this all the way down until you need to cut-off to your destination.
- ...an alternative would be to head due south from Briancon down the old Route des Grande Alpes towards Menton and Monaco, and then come back up the Napoleon.
...oh, and DO detour to the Col de Turini at some point. A must-do road...
Towns we stayed in:-
- St Paul de Vence is lovely (not cheap, but really nice). Also a stone's throw from the Col de Vence. We stayed at the Les Messegues, which was pretty good with good parking, albeit a 20+ min walk into town.
- Villefranche sur Mer was also good. Smaller and quieter than Nice and Cannes but with enough to do, and had a really nice feel to the place.
Final thought - depending on time and the willingness of your partner/passenger to be stuck in the car for hours each day, Switzerland is worth a detour - some of their passes are truly stunning, although their coppers don't mess around - we hardly saw any, but there are people on here who've been relieved of >€1,000 for speeding!
* Dijon itself is busy and worth avoiding, but an overnight hotel in the countryside will be fine.
We did a similar trip (Le Havre, Montpellier, Monaco, Turin, Milan, via (Alps), Geneva, Paris) a few years ago in my then S2000.
It was a great trip, nothing too much to worry about just enjoy driving through some of Europe's best countryside. Definitely go via the Millau bridge, it wasn't open when we went, so we had to go through the old town, but have been over it since and it's amazing.
Allow plenty of time for stops and try to do a lap of the GP circuit when you get down to Monaco
It was a great trip, nothing too much to worry about just enjoy driving through some of Europe's best countryside. Definitely go via the Millau bridge, it wasn't open when we went, so we had to go through the old town, but have been over it since and it's amazing.
Allow plenty of time for stops and try to do a lap of the GP circuit when you get down to Monaco
Did this Last summer from Calais.
Drove to Colmar, stay overnight. Then down and through Switzerland, you can take your pick of the alpine passes and spend a night in northern Italy, we did Turin. Down to the Mediterranean coast and along through Monaco and stayed in Nice. For the home leg came up the route Napoleon for a stopover in Lyon, then back to Calais.
We stayed at least two nights at each stopover and finding somewhere with parking was not difficult to do online.
I loved it, great driving experience, my favourite bit was driving the Monaco GP circuit the black lines were still clearly visible off the grid and even though we were only in the Box we still got quite a lot of attention from pedestrians.
Do it.....
Drove to Colmar, stay overnight. Then down and through Switzerland, you can take your pick of the alpine passes and spend a night in northern Italy, we did Turin. Down to the Mediterranean coast and along through Monaco and stayed in Nice. For the home leg came up the route Napoleon for a stopover in Lyon, then back to Calais.
We stayed at least two nights at each stopover and finding somewhere with parking was not difficult to do online.
I loved it, great driving experience, my favourite bit was driving the Monaco GP circuit the black lines were still clearly visible off the grid and even though we were only in the Box we still got quite a lot of attention from pedestrians.
Do it.....
Beaune is lovely but the whole world and his dog use it as a halfway house for trips South or returning North, so book a hotel before you go.
I believe that there is a train service that only takes the cars and you make your own way down on the TGV or flying, then pick your car up again in the South.
Saying that though, the drive down is great especially if you have the time to stop off along the way.
For stays longer than 5 days, I have found the Tunnel just as expensive as the ferries so check, as the £40 tickets tend to be for day returns. Height of summer both ways across the water can be as much as £300 return so it might be worth checking the prices from your local port.
Bon voyage
I believe that there is a train service that only takes the cars and you make your own way down on the TGV or flying, then pick your car up again in the South.
Saying that though, the drive down is great especially if you have the time to stop off along the way.
For stays longer than 5 days, I have found the Tunnel just as expensive as the ferries so check, as the £40 tickets tend to be for day returns. Height of summer both ways across the water can be as much as £300 return so it might be worth checking the prices from your local port.
Bon voyage
A couple of years back I drove around the whole of France in my 1982 Mini. 2250 miles in total, with my wife. Totally loved every minute of it. We arrived in Dover and turned right then 2 weeks later we arrived back from the left!
Roads are so much better in France, and you notice that in a Mini
Roads are so much better in France, and you notice that in a Mini
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