Calais to Cannes (or South of France)

panthro

panthro

panthro

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Hi guys, planning on doing a trip to the South of France from Monday 7th July to Saturday 12th July.

I have absolutely no idea what to do but what to get everything booked by Wednesday at the very latest (as my wife needs to apply for her Schengen visa).

We could fly, but decided that driving would be more adventurous. I'm planning to take a P&O ferry or Eurotunnel from Dover/Folkstone and back.

So firstly;

Can you get to the south in a day?
Is there a preferred route that people tend to take?
Whereabouts would be a nice base, close to the sea but not too expensive?
I'd quite like to go to Monaco for a day just to look around.

Any help, advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
 
I'm driving down to the south of france in a couple of weeks with a few friends. We have insured each other on the cars so we will be able to share the driving seeing as it takes over 12hours (from the south east of england).Not sure what route we are taking yet although we are getting a 2am ferry from Dover (as it was cheaper) and we will moss any traffic in the UK.
 
You can do it in day, I have on numerous occasions.
Last time took around 11.5 hours with stops the French expression comes in handy.
My route was motorway down past Dijon, Lyon and carry on down, can give you exact route if you want it.
Motorways are good and fast.
End of August am driving to Florence then back to Geneva them home should be a nice drive.
 
panthro said:
Hi guys, planning on doing a trip to the South of France from Monday 7th July to Saturday 12th July.

I have absolutely no idea what to do but what to get everything booked by Wednesday at the very latest (as my wife needs to apply for her Schengen visa).

We could fly, but decided that driving would be more adventurous. I'm planning to take a P&O ferry or Eurotunnel from Dover/Folkstone and back.

So firstly;

Can you get to the south in a day?
Is there a preferred route that people tend to take?
Whereabouts would be a nice base, close to the sea but not too expensive?
I'd quite like to go to Monaco for a day just to look around.

Any help, advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
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Can certainly be done in a day. We go down to the alps yearly but have also gone as far as St Tropez. I'd recommend a visit to Port Grimaud. Absolutely lovely place and the night time boat trips are really nice.

Monaco is great for a day trip, you can get parking down by the harbour (next to the swimming pool) if you are lucky. Be sure to visit the Ferrari workshop while you are there, can't remember exactly which street it was but its up one of the side streets up the hill from the harbour.

Are you into any kinds of sporting activities? If so I'd highly recommend a trip to the Ardeche. Can hire kayaks, take a lucnh and make your way down the amazing gorges. We do the longest run which can take all day but there are shorter ones. We've also done canyoning there too which is a fantastic experience (http://www.face-sud.com/canyoning-ardeche-cevennes)
 
panthro said:
Can you get to the south in a day?

Yes, but at the risk of stating the obvious, it's a lot of driving. With your time constraints I'd probably do it all in one go, if I had more time I'd be looking to stay a night halfway through. France is pretty good in that there's lots of cheap hotels near the autoroutes, and they're usually clean and comfortable.

Is there a preferred route that people tend to take?

Avoiding the toll roads tends to give you a more interesting route, but it takes a lot longer and is generally a lot more tiring. You're also likely to use more fuel. If I were you, I'd put the destination in google maps, have a look at the route, and perhaps then put in a few small detours to places you want to see.

Whereabouts would be a nice base, close to the sea but not too expensive?
I'd quite like to go to Monaco for a day just to look around.

I'd go for Nice myself (moving there in a few months so I'm slightly biased :p ), but you'll find the smaller towns to the north west of Nice are cheaper. Depends how close to the sea you want to be really, and whether you want to spend more time around Cannes or Monaco.
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You are moving to Nice? Well jell :(

What do you plan to do for work down there? Can you speak french?
 
Jez said:
You are moving to Nice? Well jell :(

What do you plan to do for work down there? Can you speak french?
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I've got a years work placement in a Lycée down there which I got through my uni. Totally different kind of work to what I do now: basically I'll be helping students who are trying to learn English.

I'm not fluent in French, but I can speak it to a reasonable standard as I'm studying French with English Literature at uni. Hopefully by the time the placement ends I will be fluent, although I can never forsee a day when I don't get confused by the grammar. :p
 
Ahh, i didnt realise you were young enough to still be at uni etc :) Nice one, i am sure it will be good.
 
Definately try and book a hotel half way, its much nicer to have a relaxed drive, and hotels can be very reasonably priced out there.

Just a side note, how much of a pain is the visa for france? we are planning to euro disney in august, and my mrs will need a visa :(
 
It's pretty easy, but you need to have everything booked before the appointment, and make sure you apply for a 1 year multi entry.
 
Were just going for the 3 days. She's decided she wants to be british finally so shes gonna apply for citizenship towards the end of the year, she's been eligible for 3 years:rolleyes:
 
Can you get to the south in a day?

Totally - it is a long drive but I have done Birmingham to Avignon in a (long) day.


Is there a preferred route that people tend to take?

Depending on where exactly you are going, avoid Paris. E17, E21, E15 is the sort of route I take but I would use a decent sat nav with european mapping tbh. The tolls do cost a little but well worth it as you can just cruise along - have you passenger primed with money and toll tickets however as it is quite a hassle on your own, LOL! Also Saturdays can be a lot busier than other days as everyone is travelling however early July will be a little better as its still in term time.

Whereabouts would be a nice base, close to the sea but not too expensive?

Totally depends what you want but I have been to various villages around Avignon and love it there, Provence in general is really nice, laid back, loads of great food and drink and easy reach of the sea - that said the sea isn't as warm as you'd think it is!
 
France pretty much shuts between 12-2 for lunch , so make sure you have all you need before 12. Most smaller places close on a Monday (as they're open Sunday).

This catches a lot of tourists out.
 
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