Just booked 3 weeks in France at the end of May. In the past when we’ve done this journey we’ve slept in the van in motorway services. This time we were thinking of b&b or camping. On the way down we’ll be looking to stop halfway, and on our return we’ll want to stop over twice, the second time about 50-100 miles short of Calais. Any suggestions for sites or b&b?

Last time we did Paris – Toulon we stopped just outside Lyon in a medieval town called Peruge (sister town to Perugia in Italy) – its a small hilltop town with a few hotels and restaurants. Could work for you but a longer first leg perhaps.

This website below is excellent for B&B / Chambre d’hote, for the way back we could highly recommend Carpe Diem North of Dijon in Chablis wine area close to another medieval town and also the really well restored Fontenay Abbey. If you want to stop a bit further South we love the main Burgandy wine area around Beaune – we sre tgere once a year to buy wines, great stuff from £5-10 a bottle direct from growers (can make more recommendations of you care)

Sawdays

You could also look at Logis – smaller generalky family owned hotels with simpele restaurants

Logis

I’ve used Formule 1 motels for this. Very basic, but cheap, and good value. You can usually check in at any time using a console outside the door, which is great for traveling as you still get your bed even if the traffic makes you late. All the room keys are 6 digit codes. The rooms have a double bed and a bunk bed, and don’t have ensuite facilities; showers and toilets are all accessed from the corridor, but if you want a quick start in the morning, not having to take turns in the shower is a benefit.

There is an excellent campsite at Langres that we have used a few times and is very popular for this sort of thing. The town is walled medieval and lovely, the campsite is on the ramparts with incredible views. I have also used the campsite at Licques near Calais and it is also lovely. Both sites are highly recommended.

We have used the premier classe hotels for winter runs and they are unbeatable really, probably like the formula ones although I have never tried them. There is usually a decent place to eat on site too. If you book well in advance they are very cheap.

edit the premier classe are en suite

Dijon is a pleasant stop

Beaune. Hotel Grillon is where we stay – its very nice with pool and only about 5 minutes from the motorway. There’s also a town campsite for a cheaper option

Beaune is a small town with some nice restaurants and the usual gorgeous medieval stuff you get in france. Its a very pleasant way to break the trips south

Following a suggestion from someone on here, we stayed at Hotel Sylvia in Chatillon sur Seine. Hotel was full of character, basic but clean rooms, very friendly and helpful owners, safe off road parking and fabulous home made breakfast. We had a room for 4 and cost less than 100€ total between the 4 of us (ie 25€ each). Small town with a few restaurants. Perfect for a 1 night stopover, especially if on a budget. Gets good reviews (or did when we went).

Cheers folks, some helpful suggestions. Beaune looks about right for travelling down, will have to get the map out for the return