We are planning a camping holiday with 4 teenage boys using the (STW approved) and newly acquired to us LWB T5 shuttle – it seemed a good idea at the time!
We’ve have booked the chunnel in August with plans to do the educational visit thing to Ypres and Dunkirk but were also thinking of catching the train to Berlin for a couple of days but that’s looking very time consuming and less attractive at 6hrs each way. Where or what would anybody recommend from Ypres onwards but obviously without driving mile and miles each day?
We’re aware of a water/theme park or two but would rather do something more active if possible, bearing in mind teenage passengers and low attention spans, but we’re probably hiring bikes for just a day or two and not taking ours with us due to space in the van for camping gear (and food :)).
Thanks

Anywhere!

North France is avoided even by the French ….

Other bits of Normandy / Brittany
Central Massive
Ardennes
…

Normandy is stunning that time of year. Plenty of sights to visit, some well off the beaten track.

Alps? Jura? Italian lakes..Europe is your oyster.

Firstly if you are going in August you should make some choices and some bookings. France is on mass vacation in August.

If you want to reduce the driving you can focus on Normandy and then into Brittany for example towards the beaches at Carnac (and the monolithic stones) plus say up towards Mont Saint Micheal. Alternatively down the coast towards and past Sables D’lonne it gets warmer and a little more “Mediterranean” in look and feel. You can also look at a trip down through Eastern France to the Voseges and or the Jura and lake Geneva.

Not sure what food you need to take, I suppose some favourites but good food is available in France, they have supermarkets or small shops – your choice 😉

Thanks.Any specific recommendations for campsites, must see sights or activities such as canoeing pre or similar for the teenagers? We will look at bike rental in some of the nicer areas as well be tight taking bikes plus 6 especially as we’d one a mix of culture/history/similar and relaxing.

We’ve have booked the chunnel in August with plans to do the educational visit thing to Ypres and Dunkirk

strongly reccomend la couple. scale of the thing is unbelievable. Also the history of nazis – NASA – the moon landings was fascinating.

Normandy is stunning that time of year. Plenty of sights to visit, some well off the beaten track.

Just got back from there – brilliant road cycling and great food.

We’ve have booked the chunnel in August with plans to do the educational visit thing to Ypres and Dunkirk but were also thinking of catching the train to Berlin for a couple of days but that’s looking very time consuming and less attractive at 6hrs each way.

Any particular reason you wanted to go to Berlin – or was it just a lack of geography knowledge?

Did a motorbike tour around Normandy & the landing beaches a few years back. Stayed at a decent campsite in Falaise right next to the castle where Norman the Conquerer was born. Easy access to all the key WW2 landing sites etc & the Bayeaux Tapestry. Swiss Normandy worth checking out for cycling &, I believe, canoeing.
Lots of great cheese, & of course, Calvados.

b r – history. Just exploring non-Berlin options to save on travelling time.

IMHO you need to suck it up and do some miles to get some where worth while

either the coast like Britanny or the Alpes

I’d go for the Alpes camp in chamonix or Argentiere. Cable cars lead to amazing snowy peaks and great walks. Summer sledging was good. Town has a buzz. Cycling is obviously possible. I think you can go rafting. We went inside a glacier. I think we also watched speed skating

Bruges.

A great campsite there.

Cheers again. The Alps sounds appealing with that initial list of ‘to do’s’.

I’ll second Bruges. Not far from Calais (an easy day trip if staying around Calais) and Bruges/Belgium is great if you want to get around the area by bike. As you’ve said, a lot of the WW1 battlefields are around the area, but very moving when you see the graves in the flesh (not the sort of thing to brighten up a holiday). Hill 62 is where most people go to see trenches and a small WW1 museum but I found it a bit depressing, I have to say. Montreuil is a lovely town and worth a visit if you fancy a wander around a typically French town. Victor Hugo apparently based Les Miserables on Montreuil and you can see why. They often hold open air concerts and plays in the summer. I’d also recommend Atelier 26 if you’re looking for somewhere to eat while you’re there. Le Touquet is worth a visit too. Massive flat beach (so big, you’ll struggle to see the sea when it’s out) with plenty of restaurants and bars, horse riding amd cycling. I’m not into golf, but the area’s apparently good for golf too. Expensive for the area. In general, the food is good (pork, apples, cider and fish seems to be their thing) and plenty of cycling but your view of the area will be weather dependant and similar climate to the south east, not surprisingly – can be rainy and misty. Not the best choice in France but enough to see to make a visit worthwhile. The further from Calais the better. The downside is that there”s quite a bit of industry there and quite a few places flattened during the war so not a place that attracts tourists, often with good reason. It can also be “rough” in places around the ports (as anywhere). I had a Bastereau lookalike try – and fail – to forcibly relieve me of my wallet in Boulogne whilst walking down a main street with my family. Avoid the big shopping mall places around Calais. Soul destroying, unless you’re into that sort of thing. If you want to eat near Calais, go a few minutes down the coast to Audresselles. It’s nothing to look at but there are some great little fish restaurants (the sort of slightly shabby looking places where the locals eat but good food – La Marie Galante and Chez Mimi being two but don’t look much from the outside).

Actually, I misread that. I thought you were looking for where to go around Calais, not after Calais. Doh! Ingore most of what I’ve said 🙂

Tinners – thanks as we will be around Calais for a couple of days so recommendations noted!