How do I get to France?

[Torslanda]

Read on, it's not such a daft question. . .
 
We want to travel to stay with our friends this August, Near Limoges.
That's Me (Dad), Mum, Will ( 8 ) & Nick ( 2 )
Options:
1. Aeroplane.  Quick - ish. Convenient - Dunno. Luggage - limited. Kid friendly (?). Expensive (£500+)

2. Train. Quick - ish. Convenient - Hmmmm! Euston to St Pancras with luggage and 2 small kids. Luggage - all you can carry. Kid friendly - sit down all the way/sleep/fed etc. Middling (£350-ish) plus food, drink & entertainment.

3. Car. Quick - jury's out - depends. Convenient - door to door. Luggage Ha! Volvo Estate! I laugh in the face of your luggage! Kid friendly - maybe. Ferry journey to break it up but still near 24 hrs in a car. Cheapest - but still nearly 300 quid - IF I get over 40mpg

The cost is not the issue, if we go by car I'll buy the kids a DVD player so it all adds up to similar costs. My natural instinct is to use the car because that's how I always go on holiday.

SWMBO does not want to fly due to uncertainty over what you can take on a plane, liquids, baby foods etc, I hate the idea of being shafted by an airline for the sake of 'convenience'. So I think it boils down to train or car. What do you think?

luv'n'stuff

J           

[JT]

I'd drive.

We drove to the Alps last year just for a weekend.

Trains are OK but I like driving and I like the flexibility that a car journey gives you. Plus I can do about 700 miles on a tank if I'm not too heavy with the old right foot.

[peterh]

My choice would be between car or plane.

Ryanair fly to Limoges, so how far you live from Stansted, East Midlands or Liverpool airports is a factor.  If you are staying for a while, but need transport, then car hire could come into it.  For a short visit, plane might work out best.

By car, I've driven down past Limoges to the Lot a few times, but it is a long drive in France, ignoring how far you've had to drive in the UK to get there!  The more drivers the better!  You've got all the flexibility, but the weakness of the pound vs the Euro means that the fuel cost isn't as low as it could be.  I've found that the Speed Ferries crossing from Dover to Boulogne has been the cheapest.

[Torslanda]

Sorry, should've mentioned we'll be there for a fortnight. Don't need transport as they have a couple of motors and we'd be unlikely to go anywhere without them anyway.

Peterh. Would you do this by car with a 2 year old? Manchester - Dover - Boulogne - Limoges? In one hit?

J

[Rapples]

I'd drive.

Have driven to Chamonix twice, and Brest with our daughter who was 5 first time.  Ive always used the tunnel, it's very quick and if you choose unpopular times relatively cheap.

Cross very late at night or very early in morning. You could make 1 stop en route at a cheap hotel which can help avoid bad traffic.  Kids sleep a lot in the car, and there are toilets/services VERY frequently on french autoroutes.

Keith

[tonycollinet]

From manchester, you could fly from Liverpool.

However, I've just checked ryanair fares, and it would cost you £400 (including baggage) for early July, but over £700 for August

And then you have to factor in parking.

Think I'd drive.

[JT]

Just to add...

You can get a cheap ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre (LD Lines). The sailing is overnight so you arrive at Le Havre at 7.30am after a night's sleep. That puts you in a great position to do the drive through France in one hit.

[Wowbagger]

I certainly wouldn't fly. It's bad enough inflicting the cattle truck torture on adults, but definitely not fair on kids. All that hanging around checking in, waiting for baggage that's probably been sent to Stockholm...

For such a long journey I'd take the train, if the cost is comparable to that of the car. It's such a glorious way to travel when it works, which it almost certainly would in France. Driving is stressful, especially at that time of year.

[Pip]

European Bike Express maybe?
 http://www.bike-express.co.uk/

[Seineseeker]

With kids I wouldn't fly at all. Ferry journeys are fun, espesh if you try Portsmouth to Caen or a route similar to that. You can eat on board and have a nice time. Train is good too, if you like trains, going on a TGV is brilliant with kids. Depending on when you are going they can be very busy in August. Bikes in bike bags are fine too.

If money and time were no object I would go by train and do the TGV part first class, as the upgrade isn't that much compared to the UK train prices. That is if you can actually get from the station ok at the other end.

[Jules]

We drive out to Italy three times a year with kids 13, 10 and 3 and often the cat. We take two days doing it.

The kids enjoy the ferry, we go Dover - Calais and eat in the waiter service restaurant which doesn't cost much more than the "International food court".  We stay in a cheap chain hotel in France and if you use one of the ferry/hotel consolidators (we use Drivealive) it ususally costs less than £500 for Ferry and hotels (2 rooms x 2) there and back. They love having a room of their own.

On the road we drive about two hours, the kids have toys, music players and books, and then we stop and let them run about for 20 mins. There's frequently a play area in European motorway stops where they can play with other kids. We take picnic lunches for both days. We've been doing this since the big one was tiny.

They like flying but the cost of getting them to the airport, hanging around at both ends and the general hassle is not something I  like to do.

[Fi]

We did Montpelier by train and return last year.  It was difficult booking on line, got a bit complicated through Rail Europe, so I tried  Eurostar   The train I wanted oin Rail Europe wasn't available on the Eurostar web site, so I rang Eurostar, who had to call me back two hours later having had someone working on the booking all that time.  They did mangage to get us on the train we wanted
As we booked only two months before we were due to go, the only available seats for the TGV leg of the outward journey were end of carriage drop down seats.  There was an awful lot of people with an awful lot of luggage and we got hemmed in by cases at one point.  I'd be wary of trying to jam a bike bag into that lot.
We changed at Lille on both journeys which saved crossing Paris.  Coming back we had a two hour wait at Lille for our connection home and Lille  station is an unpleasant place to be on a Saturday evening - concrete jungle, yobs and CRS (I think it's that sort, big guns, boiler suits and big batons and all walk like John Wayne).
We had to hire bikes and car at the other end and neither was particularly satisfactory, so we're driving down this year.  However, if I didn't want my bike with me, I'd certainly use the train again.

[bobb]

I'd personally get the train. Mainly because I just can't stand being imprisoned in a car for what seems like days. I hated it as a kid too and I would imagine my parents hated the driving bit to France with two kids constantly asking "How many miles is it?"  But I guess a Volvo estate is more comfortable then a 1978 Vauxhall Viva that kept braking down 

Do your kids mind long car journeys?

[Frenchie]

We fly from Brum direct to Brittany. £300 for the three of us + £40 long-stay car par for 10 days. Now if I wanted to take a bike etc. then I'd drive.

PS Our daughter is already a veteran of several trans-atlantic and trans-european flights and it never was a problem for her.

[Frenchie]

[...] and CRS (I think it's that sort, big guns, boiler suits and big batons and all walk like John Wayne).
[...]

CRS = Police
But it could have also been the Gendarmerie, part of the Army. 

[border-rider]

I'd take the car, but then we can easily do Limoges in  a day from here using the tunnel.  If I were going further South or starting further North I'd maybe fly, but what Wow says about flying is true: it is a ghastly, degrading, tedious experience these days.

Train is nice, and if you can get a decent connection I'd also consider that; I go to Brussels and Paris by train but the hard part is actually getting to the Eurostar terminal for us.

[JohnP]

I've driven across France and in to Spain since 1968 so I seldom give it a thought.  It actually cropped up with SWMBO earlier this morning.  Of course, I don't know how old your children are - could make a huge difference.

My preferred is now Speed Ferries Dover-Boulogne for £60 return. Much nicer town to start and finish a journey than Calais. Coastal route to Rouen then Le Mans, Tours, Poitier, Limoges.

We've boated to Ouistreham a few times on motorcycle group trips, several times overnight. Arrive around 6:00 am for a gentle drive down country to get to Alencon for a late breakfast.

I find driving in France much more relaxing than in SE England but I seldom use autoroutes, preferring smaller main roads with diversions to villages for coffee and croissant stops.

[Ian H]

I'd personally get the train. Mainly because I just can't stand being imprisoned in a car for what seems like days.

I'll second that.

[nuttycyclist]

I'd take the car.  No doubt about it, especially with the children.

The train will be a load of hassle, especially with luggage and connections.  The car won't have that.  Plus you can take additional luggage specifically to amuse/occupy the children that will be too much to fit on the train.

With the train, once on it you're trapped (which I hate) whereas in the car you can stop and stretch your legs at any point.  We often stop for a picnic if we see a pretty spot, or divert from the main road into a pretty village if the mood takes us.

Manchester - Dover is a longish trip, but if the children were happy (I only transport neices/nephews, don't have my own) then we'd do that in one hit just stopping to change driver halfway (it's about .  Then use the hour and a bit in the ferry for a meal and decent break.  (When I've driven that trip in the past it's just over 4 hours, and I have been known to drive it solo, so not too bad).

I'd also be tempted to do the final six hours from Calais to Limoges on the same journey.  BUT!  IMPORTANT!  do NOT use GPS/routing advice and go through Paris!  You'll lose too much time.  Go via Abbeville/Evreux, Chartres before picking up the E05/E09 route.   That also has the advantage of not being on the toll roads, and has pretty good scenery.


Yes it'll be a long day and going from my experiences in the past I'd start in the early hours of the morning and literally just get the children out of bed and into the car without waking them if possible, but it has the advantage of having the fortnight at the destination rather than splitting the journey down into 2 or 3 days (which in my experience is just as tiring).

Overall in the car I'd allow about 4.5 hours for Manchester - Dover, 2 hours for rest and Channel crossing on Ferry (this includes the booking in time and early arrival) and then 6 hours in Forn Parts.  So that's a long 12 hour day - what's the train time door to dor?

[cc93]

+1 for driving, though I think Limoges is pushing it a bit for 1 day, especially with kids.

We usually overnight in a Logis de France somewhere scenic en-route - adds to the holiday experience at modest extra cost and you'll arrive feeling much less stressed, if you have the time obv.

[Greenbank]

Overall in the car I'd allow about 4.5 hours for Manchester - Dover, 2 hours for rest and Channel crossing on Ferry (this includes the booking in time and early arrival) and then 6 hours in Forn Parts.  So that's a long 12 hour day - what's the train time door to dor?

Chez Torslanda -> Manchester = ?
Manchester -> London Euston is 2:20
Euston -> St Pancras + Check in time 1:00
St Pancras -> Limoges = 6:30 (Eurostar quoted time including transfer between Paris Nord and Paris Austerlitz)
Limoges -> Final destination = ?

So that's almost 10 hours for the train.

[Domestique]

If you are a frequent traveller to France via Euro Tunnel, have some spare money, it might be worth considering buying 3000 shares. You can then claim a 33% discount up to three time a year.
You never know, the shares might actually go up one day as well 

[nuttycyclist]

...
So that's almost 10 hours for the train.

Ta (I know I'd get it wrong if I tried looking it up).

I'd definitely suggest going for the car then.  The additional 2 hours journey time is far outweighed by the benefits.

[alan]

The need to accommodate a family & the associated luggage would,for me,dictate the use of the car with it's attendant convenience.

[Russell]

You can get a cheap ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre (LD Lines). The sailing is overnight so you arrive at Le Havre at 7.30am after a night's sleep. That puts you in a great position to do the drive through France in one hit.

I am a great fan of LD Lines but this comment is so(!) not correct.

Unless you can book many months in advance you will not get a cabin or even sleeper seats.  You will not get a good nights sleep in the club recliners and don't even think about the cattle class recliners.  Yes you do get in early but dog tired following a long night of sleeplessness and anouncements.

I speak from experience.

If you are staying with friends there is no time constraint in arriving at a certain time.

Transmanche (Newhaven Dieppe or Newhaven Le Havre) are worth looking at (with overnight stop still cheaper than BF).  Brittany Ferries to Caen are very expensive but might be worth considering.

It's 6 hours driving from Le Havre but factor in at least 1/2 hour stop every 1.5 hours to stretch the legs and things.  That makes it 8 hours.  As we are often on that road, please do stop for rests!

Go via Abbeville/Evreux, Chartres before picking up the E05/E09 route.   That also has the advantage of not being on the toll roads, and has pretty good scenery.

I would recommend Rouen then down to Alencon and Le Mans then cross country through Loches to Chatearoux.  If you like driving on roads with two or three other cars this is the route for you.  Evreux Chatres gets very busy.

R