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  • Motorhome drive to the Alps..stop offs?
  • smogmonster
    Full Member

    So we’re renting a Motorhome to head down to the Alps this summer for a family holiday. Ive done it in the car before with mates straight through but I suspect the wife and kids will be bored rigid at the thought of 21hrs solid, so im looking to do the journey over 2 or 3 days. Can anyone suggest any nice campsites on the way where we could hook up, shower, sleep and maybe have somewhere interesting to view?

    pictonroad
    Full Member

    I’ve done the drive a few times and whilst I’m sure there are places, they’re not near the typical toll road route, it really is deathly dull and pretty flat.

    We’ve taken campers to France, the AA guide and the good ol’ Internet has found us some good sites. That’s a common trip, I bet there’s a wealth of info about.

    Or,

    Definitely our favourite suggestion would be to join France passion and head off the beaten track a bit. The guide shows you the stops that have showers. Stayed on farms and vineyards for nowt extra over the joining fee. It’s a fabulous system.

    France Passion website

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Drive to the tunnel
    Overnight UK or French side
    Drive to Alps via Toll Roads, if it’s a modern camper should be fine cruising at the speed limit 10-12 hrs to the French Alps?

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    eat_more_cheese
    Free Member

    I suppose it depends how far north in the uk you’re coming from that determines if/when you’ll need an overnight stay. We stay at a cracking site just north of Reims-Camping au Bord de l’Aisne. It’s only 15mins of the main toll road through to the Alps, and then leaves another 5/6 hours to get to Geneva area. They welcome families, and it’s a nice walk down the river to the local village. It’s not what I’d call a typical French campsite, no segregated pitches etc, but it’s very family friendly and the owners are welcoming (English speaking too)

    Edit-also not a bad spot for day trips. Reims is beautiful & there’s a lot of wartime history in the immediate vicinity

    Stoner
    Free Member

    this is an excellent book

    http://www.all-the-aires.com/

    Ive not used this but it’s free
    http://en.airecampingcar.com/

    (you may get what you pay for though…..)

    welshfarmer
    Full Member

    Not sure of campsites (but there will be hundreds to choose from), but my prefered “slow” route to the Alps is to go via the Ardennes/Luxembourg, the Western Vosges mountains, across the Jura and across Switzerland. There are a number of positives on this route

    1. It is toll free
    2. You can stock up on cheap stuff in Luxembourg and fill the tanks for 20% less than anywhere else
    3. The quality of the roads is great and the traffic is generally lighter than the routes nearer Paris/Dijon
    4. There are large sections where the scenery is stunning and short detours can give access to waterfalls, and other scenic places worth a short stop to break up the journey
    5. The Fortifications of the Maginot Line on the French/Luxembourg/German border area are definitely worth a visit.
    5. Kids love the fact that they have travelled through 4 or 5 different countries and not just been to France.
    6. The Jura are truly great and if the weather is clear, it is worth going this way just to hit the southern edge above Lake Geneva and having the whole of the Alps laid out in front of you.

    Short edit…

    although it seems you are going well out of your way this route doesn’t actually add a huge extra distance to the overall distance (less than 50 miles IIRC)

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    As @stoner has posted there are camping car stops in many places. A route away from the motorways could make sense if you’ve got 3 days. Areas around Chablis or Beaune are very pleasant – mixture of farming land and vineyards (less farming around Beaune as its mostly wine), you can find some old medieval towns (will dig out suggestion of a particularly nice one we found)

    +1 for Jura (my normal route to Verbier) at the risk of too much information when Inwas going through a very bad time with my divorce my counsellor asked me to think of an image which meant a lot to me and brought me peace and joy and the one I picked immediately was that view @welsh mentioned above as the lake and the mountains open up in front of you

    agentdagnamit
    Free Member

    Ypres is an interesting stop. There’s a cheap campsite 20 mins walk from the town centre. Otherwise we’ve stopped at Dijon and Reims, both ok for an evening stop over (but not camping). Not sure how much there places have for kids though – unless they are interested in WW1, mustard and champagne.

    The route above through Alsace and Switzerland is definitely more interesting, specially if you take in Strasbourg.

    iolo
    Free Member

    Where in the Alps op? It quite a big range spanning several countries.
    The stops will depend on which direction you’re heading.

    halkynhymer
    Free Member

    A great stop on the way down is Langres. It’s not far off the motorway system and has plenty of room, swimming pool, kiddies areas, plenty of clean showers and toilet blocks, cafe etc We’ve stayed there 5 or 6 times going north and south
    http://www.campingliez.com

    Stayed in Beaune a few times as well, good municipal site within walking distance of the centre.

    Reckon it’s easy to do it in a (long) day if you don’t want to waste time en-route, but we like to take couple of days about it.
    Done the “Eastern” route as well a few times – Jura is well worth a stop (Dole and Pontarlier both good stops)

    Stoner
    Free Member

    that;s an interesting route down welsh.

    I’m off to Morzine in a few weeks on my own in the campervan but in no rush so might take that route for a change and stop over in the vosges.

    timidwheeler
    Free Member

    Welshfarmer, any chance of a but more detail on that route? We are going to the Southern alps this year and I fancy a slow drive back over a few days. The more scenic the better. I’m keen to know the best spot to see the view over the lake and alps.

    welshfarmer
    Full Member

    Will do, just as soon as I get some bandwidth back!

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    @tmid the view is best driving South, I normally exit the Jura on the main road down Into Lausanne which was the view I was referring to.

    I can’t post photos but link below takes you to the view from Col du Jaman from above Montreux. You can get a car up there (too narrow for Motorhome) and walk the rest or take the train up from Montreux. There is a nice little hotel with a terrace and similar view you can drive a bigger vehicle to, I think town is Les Avants

    Flickr Link

    timidwheeler
    Free Member

    Ooh nice.
    Cheers.

    mikey-simmo
    Free Member

    Toughest bit for us is getting to Kent from Leeds. Driving in the uk is frankly shyte. Getting into France you fined loads of stuff to stop in. We cross late at midnight if possible. Get an hour into fence away from Calais. Then stop and drop at an aire. Less stress just traveling till you feel weary then pulling over for a rest when ever it’s required.
    You’ll do the drive in a long day. It’s good driving bug better knowing your not going to gave to hit some self imposed target.
    Enjoy.

    smogmonster
    Full Member

    Welshfarmer, that sounds excellent, may just have to investigate further, definitely fancying visiting the Maginot Line!! Were heading down from North Yorkshire so same probs as Mikey-Simmo.
    Iolo, I know the Bourg St Maurice area reasonably well from MTB hols, but also looking to wander into Switzerland for a mooch.

    mick_r
    Full Member

    From the north we use the Hull-Rotterdam or Zeebrugge ferry to avoid trekking down to Kent. Evening sailing so don’t need whole day off work, overnight crossing so fresh and ready to drive in the morning.

    If doing Switzerland or Austria etc we drive down through Germany (no tolls). With kids Speyer is a good stop-off distance. This museum has it’s own hotel with secure campervan hook-up area and kids will generally love it:-

    http://speyer.technik-museum.de/en

    http://www.hotel-speyer.de/en/caravan-park.html

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    OP, the Medieval village in Chablis is Noyers. Lovely little restaurant in a courtyard by the archway into/out of the village.

    The Monestry/Abbey (very well preserved, lovely buildings and layout) we visited is Fontenay

    The B&B / Chambre d’hote we stayed in nearby is Carpe Diem

    All of this is quite convenient for the main motorway down if you where coming that way and after you can head into Parc Morvan and then into the main part of the Burgandy Wine regions (Route des grand Cru or Petit-Route – might be a struggle in the Motorhome)

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    @timid – not sure what you mean by Southern Alps but a few thoughts

    Jura – small resort of Metabief does uplifts (opens early in the season), then you can take the E25 road I mentioned into Luasanne. Then to Montreux (Col du Jaman/Roche des Naye from my link). From here you can drive to Martigny (v close to Verbier) and either cut up via Vallorcine into Chamonix (and then tunnel if desired to Italy) or carry on to Grand St Bernard pass into Italy.

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