How Long In One Place?

[lunarloopy]

We have just returned from 3 fantastic weeks in France getting as far down as Avignon where we stayed for 10 days. It took us 3 to get there from Calais and 4 to get back.

Now I've just read in a mag a couple who went to the Aude/ Carcassone area and stayed for 1 week! Do people make a made dash to the South of France in 1-2 days or would that have been part of a a bigger trip?

I know I greatly under estimated the size. And distances involved in France.

[OLD NICK]

We have been to the carcasson/Aude area several times & find it to be a nice comfortable 2 day drive.

Allowing plenty of time for stops. We certainly don,t have to do a mad dash to get there.

[cyclocara]

I see the point here, I used to on my first few trips dash to wherever we were staying. For several years now use the journey as part of the holiday, this year to Carcassonne we will stay 24 hrs south of Paris so we can catch a train into the city. Then Limoges, there a great restaurant within walking distance, for an overnight then on to Limoux, then almost the same coming back just a different 24hr stop. I certainly love the overnight and 24 hour stops which we try to vary so we can see different areas. Of course we have our favourites don't we all.

No wish to hijack thread but may I say good luck to you old nick having read your other thread.

Edited August 1, 2014 by cyclocara

[sunshinetours]

Calais to Avignon is just over 600 miles and obviously you have Merseyside to Dover to do first so obviously its a lot longer for you than it would be say for us

 

Some don't like doing more than say 150 / 200 miles in a day but others are happy to cover 300/400 miles a day using autoroutes

So really it depends on what you want from a holiday. We will probably tour more when kids are older and not with us I would guess so we tend to get to our destination rather than poodle down to wherever we may be going

 

We are all different!

[cyclocara]

Calais to Avignon is just over 600 miles and obviously you have Merseyside to Dover to do first so obviously its a lot longer for you than it would be say for us

 

Some don't like doing more than say 150 / 200 miles in a day but others are happy to cover 300/400 miles a day using autoroutes

So really it depends on what you want from a holiday. We will probably tour more when kids are older and not with us I would guess so we tend to get to our destination rather than poodle down to wherever we may be going

 

We are all different!

Yes quite we are all different, I avoid toll routes just to see more towns villages en route, just make it all part of the holiday. It's like a mini adventure every time we go on holiday, and yes we have come unstuck occasionally, ------- just remember it's all part of the fun, honest. As you say say getting to Dover from the frozen inhospitable wastes lands of the north is not easy and the donkey does get very tired pulling the van, the whippet seems to like it but the ferret can't walk far, but at least in this part of the Pennines we don't have to walk about carrying our scarves above our heads, chuckle, ------- can't stop having fun sorry.

Edited August 1, 2014 by cyclocara

[ericfield]

This year we drove to Pompeii from Norfolk in 3 days. I was fine, but the wife suffered with swollen legs and ankles. Just sitting for hours at a time in a car isn't recommended as we get older. It's little different to long haul jet travel. The reason for this mad dash was to get there early enough in the season not to be baked or coachtripped too much. It worked. ..but the wife's choice of footwear was limited due to swollen feet!

 

The return was more like our usual holiday . ........travel to a location, stay 3 or 4days to explore what the area has to offer, move on.

 

We bought some travel socks for the wife's future use. .but don't expect to need them, as it was wake up call on doing too much.

Edited August 1, 2014 by ericfield

[Jaydug]

Do people make a made dash to the South of France in 1-2 days

When the Icelandic ash cloud disrupted all the airline timetables a few years ago, my daughter and grandson found themselves in Barcelona with cancelled flights and a dwindling supply of cash. They discovered that they could get a coach which would take them from Barcelona to Toulouse so I came up with the hair-brained scheme to go and pick them up. I got on an overnight DFDS ferry to Dunkirk and in the early hours of Saturday set off on the drive to meet them at Toulouse bus station. We met up and spent the night at the Premiere Class hotel in Toulouse and early on the Sunday morning set off for Dunkirk. We got on a late night ferry and reached home in the early hours of Monday morning, having done 1350 miles over two days. Not my idea of a pleasant weekend.

[moulin87]

Distances are relative to how far/long you feel comfortable/safe to drive for. Before we moved to France we used to drive to the Cote D'Azur for a week at Easter. ( without the caravan)

 

Similarly after we bought our house in Central France we used to drive from Nottingham for a long weekend.

 

To me it seems strange when I read of people only feeling comfortable in doing 150/200 miles a day. Living in Central France we often do that shopping!!

[sunshinetours]

Distances are relative to how far/long you feel comfortable/safe to drive for. Before we moved to France we used to drive to the Cote D'Azur for a week at Easter. ( without the caravan)

 

Similarly after we bought our house in Central France we used to drive from Nottingham for a long weekend.

 

To me it seems strange when I read of people only feeling comfortable in doing 150/200 miles a day. Living in Central France we often do that shopping!!

 

Agree - people who don't drive much during normal course of life often aren't comfortable driving long distances. Towing i don't like doing much more than 300 miles or so in a day but solo happy to do 400+

 

Also a big difference if you are towing or not and how your family travels as well.

[ValA]

When we had children with us we did the drive from home in North Yorkshire, down to Val de Cantobre, near Millau, and had just a week there! We travelled down Friday night, an overnight stop on a service station to the west of Paris, and then onwards next morning. It was 'needs must' as we'd used up most of our holidays, but we had a great week, didn't feel over-tired or stressed, and we had great weather. We set off back Saturday, an overnight stop somewhere - can't remember where on the way back, and we got them back home late night Sunday, and were organised with lunch boxes made up, uniforms ready, and they went back to school on the Monday.

 

We had two drivers, and were younger then, but we regularly do longer journeys and get down to the Mediterranean with only one overnight stop in mid-France

[lunarloopy]

Some interesting replies, thanks guys, in my real life I'm a sales rep covering 45/50 thousand miles a year so the driving wasn't a problem, we're also experienced caravanners of over 35 yrs this year, so towing wasn't a problem.

Thanks for all the responses certainly offering up some new thoughts for next years sojourn!

[moulin87]

Some interesting replies, thanks guys, in my real life I'm a sales rep covering 45/50 thousand miles a year so the driving wasn't a problem, we're also experienced caravanners of over 35 yrs this year, so towing wasn't a problem.

Thanks for all the responses certainly offering up some new thoughts for next years sojourn!

 

Off motorways / dual carriageways it'll be difficult to average more than 70kph towing, as you move into the hills perhaps 60-65 kph. On motorways it is not easy to average over 90kph unless it is quiet and flat. .

[David in Cheshire]

I have been travelling to France and elsewhere on the continent almost every year with a caravan since 1980 and never attempted a trip to the Mediterranean with less than 3 weeks, working on the basis of 1 weeks travel and 2 weeks holiday. I am frequently amazed at the daily journeys people we meet set themselves and often due to their circumstances (retired with plenty of time) totally unnecessarily. I think there is a macho element in some of it but if it makes them happy good luck to them but it aint for me.

[ericfield]

I have been travelling to France and elsewhere on the continent almost every year with a caravan since 1980 and never attempted a trip to the Mediterranean with less than 3 weeks, working on the basis of 1 weeks travel and 2 weeks holiday. I am frequently amazed at the daily journeys people we meet set themselves and often due to their circumstances (retired with plenty of time) totally unnecessarily. I think there is a macho element in some of it but if it makes them happy good luck to them but it aint for me.

 

I suspect the desire to maximise the time at the destination can override all thought of a more leisurely journey. But there may be other extenuating reasons. In our recent trip to S. Italy we needed to be there to see wild orchids at their best, so a mad dash to the that destination and then a slow meander for the rest of the holiday was in order.

 

We have adopted a simple strategy in Europe. Aim to get to the next campsite at 2-3pm. .....before the Dutch arrive at 4-5pm. You get more of a pitch choice. Lol

 

This limits the journey you sensibly do to a 4-5 hours.

Edited August 2, 2014 by ericfield

[David in Cheshire]

I suspect the desire to maximise the time at the destination can override all thought of a more leisurely journey. But there may be other extenuating reasons. In our recent trip to S. Italy we needed to be there to see wild orchids at their best, so a mad dash to the that destination and then a slow meander for the rest of the holiday was in order.

 

We have adopted a simple strategy in Europe. Aim to get to the next campsite at 2-3pm. .....before the Dutch arrive at 4-5pm. You get more of a pitch choice. Lol

 

This limits the journey you sensibly do to a 4-5 hours.

Sounds about right , I was thinking particularly about a couple we met in Andalucia, living in the van full time. They had to return to the UK on compassionate grounds, packed up took down the awning and then after a further day sitting in the sun set off for Calais intending to do the 1350 miles with 2 night halts.

[hairdresser]

We have always tried to go on the N roads using the motorways around the cities or if we want catch up on time, this year we saw some beautiful scenery and had some lovely drives in France and Italy. But we found it hard and tiring we have a bigger caravan this year so TOH found that he was concentrating all the time which made him tired we are in our 70ts so next year it is the motorways and through Switzerland. I suppose it comes to us all. But will keep on caravanning for as long as we can.

[OLD NICK]

We always used to travel from Bilbao/Santander down to Mojacar 625 mls in 12 hrs towing a big twinaxle,however 3 yrs

ago I realised that I was arriving knackered,& the boss does,nt tow. Realising that age had finally caught up with me.

We decided that it was much more comfortable stopping en,route.

We now stop at Riaza ( north of Madrid ) it has drive on/off pitches so we don,t even have to unhitch plus a very simple

restaurant. Chicken & chips etc complete with a bar.

So we now arrive at home or the ferry nicely relaxed & I am not in the least bit tired the next day.

I,m afraid it,s a case of facing up to old age. But it works for us.

[harvomark]

We went down to South france last year and to be honest prefer to get there in 2 days and maximise the time we have in the area, this year we are going to Biarritz again straight down but we are stopping on the way back at two destinations for a couple of days each. I do plenty of driving 50-60000 a year with my job so at present so driving 3-4 days to get somewhere doesn't appeal. There again the kids travel well!