Trip to France advice..

[matt69bay]

Thinking of booking a ferry over to France and hopefully cruising down to Hossegor in a couple of weeks time. Never driven over there so any helpful tips on travel and camping would be greatly received

ie.
where to go
where not to go
what to take
what not to take
etc, etc..

Cheers

Matt

 

[paul]

Wheres Hossegor?
Best advice is DO IT France is a great country to visit.

 

[matt69bay]

Hossegor's pretty far down the west coast, north of Biarritz

 

[paul]

Thats good ,so you can visit Noirmoutier, lovely island connected by bridge and tidal causeway.
Best site is Vedette .I'll be there in mid august in the bus

 

[Clem]

Hosseger, Seignosse and Capreton are all cool as is Biarritz. Maybe go via La Rochell area and Arrcachon?
Plenty of camping in the area, nice weather and massive scary surf.
I've a couple of threads around from that area. It's ace.

 

[5erge]

Hosseger, Seignosse and Capreton are all cool as is Biarritz. Maybe go via La Rochell area and Arrcachon?
Plenty of camping in the area, nice weather and massive scary surf.
I've a couple of threads around from that area. It's ace.

Yeah Arrcachon is a great place, funnily enough completely unlike France once your there. The beach there is awesome, as it's in a bay the sea water is nice and warm.

Des

 

[doctorlove]

If you do head up towards arcachon stay on the coast and you'll pass the largest sand-dune in Europe - dune de pilar. It's quite impressive and kids love it. as stated the surf on that coast is phat (I think that's surfie talk but not sure). If sea salt is not your thing head inland slightly to sanginuet - a resort on a fresh water lake that stays shallow for ages. There's camping there that friends recommend though we've never actually stayed.

 

[matt69bay]

Cheers for the feedback dudes
The vans booked onto the ferry so theres no going back now
Gonna spend the next 2 weeks giving the van a good service and double checking everything.
We've got a warning triangle and a spare bulb kit (and i'm going to sort out a spares kit)
is there anything else that we "have" to take with us?

Cheers Matt

 

[OLIVE-BAY]

Cheers for the feedback dudes
The vans booked onto the ferry so theres no going back now
Gonna spend the next 2 weeks giving the van a good service and double checking everything.
We've got a warning triangle and a spare bulb kit (and i'm going to sort out a spares kit)
is there anything else that we "have" to take with us?

Cheers Matt

off topic a bit but how much does it cost to boom the ferry? if u dont mind me asking :roll: as i was gonna take mine through the tunnel.
Darren

 

[matt69bay]

You can get across from Portsmouth to Le Havre for around £220, (varies on when you want to go) which we were going to do but after much consideration we've opted for the very expensive crossing from Plymouth to Roscoff at a staggering £458 :shock: Check out LD Lines - they are by far the cheapest that we came across..

Once we started looking into the extra fuel and time getting to Portsmouth (we are in North Devon) then from Lehavre to the west of Northern France, then the same on our return journey, it made more sense to pay the extra (as we were more interested in doing the west coast rather than including the North of France) The tunnel is by far the cheapest but not worth all the extra mileage for us!

We are planning on travelling from Roscoff down along the west coast to the Landes region and stopping off as and when we fancy (definitely checking out recommendations on this thread on the way down and back).

Any more tips / advice from peeps will be very welcomed as we have never been before

We are assuming that we'll be able to get onto campsites without booking.... we much prefer small sites than big ones with all the family facilities..

Cheers, Matt.

 

[OLIVE-BAY]

one tip dont forget your camera I'm looking forward to seeing some great pics for inspiration 8) oh and we are further down from you... we are in Cornwall not far from lands end :shock: :shock: :lol:

 

[Trikky2]

Mid July to mid August is right in the peak time. It will be busy on the coast. Fine if you like busy - grim if you dont. Its a completely different place the rest of the year.

Your right to avoid the big sites on the coast. I was stupid enough to go and visit some friends staying on one of these giant mega coastal sites close to Royan in July. It was so jammed I couldnt even get on the only remaining pitch they had (1500 pitch site) so had to park the van in front of the friends chalet instead. Got charged just over 80 euros for the van, electricity and two people for two nights. It was a good reminder why I dont do these things :lol:

Smaller sites are much nicer but you will have to be a bit inland before you find any.

 

[robjarman]

excellent choice - we've earlybayed down there a few times - surf capital means you'll meet loads of other VWheads - and lots of germans, dutch and eastern europeans who hardly ever see old VWs! Lacanau Ocean is a swell place too but we've done it out of peak season...

take some of those grippy mats you put under your wheels for when you go off the hard on to some sand - there's plenty of scope for doing that inadvertently!! even on a camp site

oh the scent of resin and sigh of the hot wind in the pines...lucky you

have a great trip
Rob

 

[Kombi zombie]

If you camp at Noirmoutier then get the ferry over to Ile de Yeu for the day and hire bikes, There's hardly any cars and some great beaches.
Ile du Re just off the coast from La Rochelle is great ( it's where the French go on holiday) but the causeway is a bit expensive. Great for bikes and again great beaches.
The last time we did the trip we came back up to Brittany and stayed at Camping des Abers http://www.camping-des-abers.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; right on the beach and when the tides out its massive great for kite buggies and it's an easy drive to Roscoff to get the ferry. The main thing is enjoy it.
Bon Vacances.

Rob.

 

[rockandrollcamper]

Again, slightly off topic but whilst pricing what do you put it your bus down as, I assume if you put down van or motorhome they assume it to be high and long where as in reality if its lowered it doesnt really take up much more room than an estate car??

 

[paul]

i put mine down as a Caravelle with condor as they wanted more if I put it down as a minibus......
Wish me luck!
Paul

 

[matt69bay]

Lovin the feedback guys, much inspiration gained, thanks - keep it coming

On Brittany Ferries, the only option is motorhome/minibus then it gives you different categories for length / height to choose from.

Unfortunately, for us, even though the van is low with the added height of the roof rack we had to go to the second height category which added a further £60 :evil:

Beginning to wish we had pre planned this a bit more than two weeks in advance :roll:

So once again, all the info and any more is very much welcomed

 

[Graham L]

Cheers for the feedback dudes
The vans booked onto the ferry so theres no going back now
Gonna spend the next 2 weeks giving the van a good service and double checking everything.
We've got a warning triangle and a spare bulb kit (and i'm going to sort out a spares kit)
is there anything else that we "have" to take with us?

Cheers Matt

Hi Vis Jacket for everyone on board
Copy of all your docs

 

[Clem]

You should have booked as a car ... the loaders dont give a monkeys

Take the originals and copies of your docs, fire extinguisher, hi vis (in reach of the driver/passengers), spare bulbs, first aid kit, warning triangle and spare driving glasses if required.

Fit headlamp deflectors and a GB badge.

Buy some Euro Breakdown cover!!

The rest is down to you. Plenty of tools, a few common nuts and bolts. Oil change and rocker cover gaskets, fan belt and spark plugs/points/condenser?
Trolley jack, collapsable axle stands and some overalls/gloves are handy, too. Oh, and oil of your choice. Spare cables are nice to carry and make sure your spare is in good order.

 

[rustydiver]

I'm off next Wednesday to fracne in the split pick up, only booked a few weeks ago. When I rang them I was told just to put it is as a MPV as long as I was within the length and height restrictions. We were just on the height so opted to go next size up, I cow
Couldn't be arsed to argue about it when getting on the ferry plus I might buy a roof rack for the wifes birthday
We booked up a gite and the ferry from Plymouth to roscoff via Britanny ferries and it was abou £700.

In the process of packing tools and spares, my problem is that I tend to pack too much just in case stuff.