2 weeks Motorhoming in France - how much does it ACTUALLY cost?

Benbecul97 · 06-02-2014 6:21pm #1

Try to weigh up how much it would ACTUALLY cost.

I know it will vary for everyone but assuming:

when you go = July/August
where you go = Vendee region
where you stay = Campsites (Am aware of Aires but most wont have the facilities campsites offer)
how you get there = Ferry from Rosslare direct to a French Port
length of stay = 2 weeks
number of people = 2+2

what would the approximate breakdown for the essentials be

1) Ferry fares
2) Fuel
3) Food
3) Campsite fees

Thanks.

MammaZita · 06-02-2014 9:32pm

Benbecul97 wrote: »

Try to weigh up how much it would ACTUALLY cost.

I know it will vary for everyone but assuming:
when you go = July/August
where you go = Vendee region
where you stay = Campsites (Am aware of Aires but most wont have the facilities campsites offer)
how you get there = Ferry from Rosslare direct to a French Port
length of stay = 2 weeks
number of people = 2+2
what would the approximate breakdown for the essentials be
1) Ferry fares
2) Fuel
3) Food
3) Campsite fees
Thanks.

We've booked both ferry and campsite in the last few weeks.
We're a family of 2 adults and 3 children (ages 2, 4 & 6), with motorhome.

Celtic Link ferry 2nd & 3rd week of August €820
12 nights in Camping Acapulco, St Jean de Monts, Vendee- booked the larger pitch, water, electricity, taxes etc) €800

Spending money really depends on what you like to do. We eat out at least once a day, somedays twice. We would also have a glass or 2 at lunch time, wine with dinner and a bottle or 2 from the supermarket sitting outside at night when the children are asleep. So that's where the majority of our money goes.

Our children are too young to appreciate water parks etc so we don't tend to go to these yet.

Diesel and tolls depend on how much travelling you do- ours has become less as the children get bigger (used to spend hundreds of euro on each when we drove all around when they were babies). This year we'll fill up in Cherbourg and this will get us to St Jean de Monts and we'll probably only fill up a couple of times while we're there and again before the drive to Cherbourg as we will walk or cycle most places.

We'll probably spend another €500/€600 on wine to bring back before we go home.

We've never added it up but I'm guessing most years we spend in the order of €2,500-€3,500 while we're there, that's on top of the ferry and campsite costs. The majority of this would be on eating out with wine though.

If you're happy to cook and get the odd takeaway pizza etc you'd probably get away with at least half of that. You'd save even more by bringing a lot of stuff from home as with the exception of alcohol, most other items are more expensive in France.

pastense · 07-02-2014 3:48pm

Ferry and campsite costs are the major outlay. A full tank of diesel in Cherbourg could be enough for the holiday unless you plan to travel a long way and do a lot of driving.
There are many fine places in Normandy alone to spend your time with little or no diesel costs. Find a campsite with easy access to a town and shops and a beach and you have it all, for me anyway.
I never factor food cost as I would have that cost at home.
Decent wine at a fiver a bottle is widely available.
And if youre a wine drinker buy a good quantity on your way back, saving at least a fiver a bottle, and factor that in to your costs and it reduces depending on the quantity you bring home.
So, for me, the cost is the ferry and the campsite with a reduction for wine brought home.
But every person has their own take on it.

pastense · 07-02-2014 3:51pm

Also, met a family a few years ago, with children about the same age, in a campsite in St Vaast la Hogue ( about a half hour from Cherbourg) which fits the bill for the shop, town and beach, who had spent a fantastic 2 weeks without ever starting the engine.

gerryt50 · 07-02-2014 11:08pm

We travelled over last year for first time for 3 weeks. We (2+2 teens) travelled to Cherbourg with Celtic Link.
We had listed places we wanted to see before leaving home. We visited them in this order Mont san Michel, Puy du Fou, Ofadour-sur-Gland, Le Mans and Normandy landing beaches.
We travelled approx. 1500 miles on toll free roads, cooked most evenings staying mostly in campsites for 2/3 nights at a time apart from 2 nights in aires.
Our ticket was E700
Diesel approx. E370
Campsites E420

Only the first campsite ,was booked, after we just took pot luck and found some lovely sites many with pools and nearly all with daily fresh bread delivered daily. Lots of value in supermarkets like 20 croissant for E5 and wine and cider from E1 a bottle. Not all good but at the price you can try until you find one you like.
Entertainment is whatever you want to spend, for us Puy du Fou was the most expensive but we loved it. We also visited many other attractions on our route.

haron · 08-02-2014 9:45pm

ferry E1100 with irish ferries for 2 adults and 3 kids for jeep and caravan
campsite we paid E780 for 16 days
diesel E250
food prices are much the same as here not a great difference somethings are cheaper others are dearer it balances out, wine and beer is very cheap decent bottle of wine a fiver or less 20 bottles of Heineken a tenner. plus you have lidl and aldi.
its really up to you how much you wanna spend. we spent about E750. our kids are small so the beach and pool keeps them entertained plus we done most of the cooking ourselves

CJhaughey · 08-02-2014 10:17pm

OP if you want to get as far south as possible, check out fares on ldlines, they use St Nazaire as their base so it would save a lot of driving from Cherbourg. St Nazaire isn't far from the Vendee being in southern Brittany.

Moomat · 09-02-2014 6:26pm

We found there's a huge difference in the price of food in the supermarkets. By far the cheapest were Aldi/Lidl.
Fuel is about 20-30cent cheaper than Ireland if you buy it in the supermarket stations.

We spent a little more than 6 weeks in Europe last year with alot of it in France. Covered about 5500km, stayed in aires mostly and ate/drank cheaply. All in all including ferries and fuel we spent about €3000 in the 6 weeks.

If aires don't meet your needs there's also municipal campsites. http://www.camping-municipal.org/

kelbal · 11-02-2014 4:25pm

I think MammaZita and Moomat's posts give you a good indication about the different ends of the scale the costs can come to

The same with anything, the more luxuries you want, the more it will cost you.
If you haven't booked your ferry, it'll probably be in the region of €800 with Celtic Link.
Fuel to the Vendee region and back, and a moderate amount of touring around will probably be in the region of €350 I'd say.
Food is a bit more expensive in regular supermarkets (Super U, Carrefour) than it is here in Ireland, but like Moomat said, Lidl's are dead cheap and there's one in nearly every town. We don't count the cost of food really, as we'd be eating at home anyway. Now, if you plan on eating out everyday, that will obviously jack the price up, so you can only be the judge of that.
Unless you're in a massive hurry there's no need for Toll roads - national roads are perfectly fine and free.
Campsites - there really is a broad range of what can be paid. Some others indicated prices in the region of €50/€60 per night, but there'll be plenty of cheaper options than that, you could get away with €30ish per night if you wanted. You'll need a good campsite book that lists site's and their prices.
You'd want to allow an extra allowance of a few hundred for random stuff like entrance fees, shopping treats - and don't forget the stocking up of wine on the way home! We spend an average of about €3.50 per bottle for perfectly nice stuff.

*Kol* · 11-02-2014 6:30pm

1) Ferry fares. €800
2) Fuel. €300 (Dublin - Rosslare -Roscoff - Vendee and back)
3) Food. €1,400 (average of €100 per day, incl food from supermarket and lunches/dinners out, drinks in the bar maybe, everyone differs)
3) Campsite fees. €420 (average €30 per night 2 + 2, nice sites, 14 nights)

All in €2,920. Minimum is around €1,500 if you are using campsites (a must really if you have kids). The over and above is really up to yourself. If you are staying in the same site for a week or more it's nice to rent a car for a few days to get out and about and tour around without having to uproot awnings etc.

pastense · 11-02-2014 7:01pm

I believe that you could feed the family and have a bottle of wine every night for €20 a day, food is not that expensive if you cook it yourself.
Municipal campsites are perfectly adequate and are good enough for millions of French people and other nationalities and the prices can be very reasonable with the advantage of spending time with French people and usually in close proximity to a town or village. A website has been posted in another thread with the details.
Thats the beauty of France for Camping holidays, the huge choice.
From Holiday Parks to Fields and everything in between with a price to match.

*Kol* · 11-02-2014 9:53pm

pastense wrote: »

I believe that you could feed the family and have a bottle of wine every night for €20 a day, food is not that expensive if you cook it yourself..

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

kelbal · 11-02-2014 10:11pm

*Kol* wrote: »

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

Easy......

1/2 a box of cereal, litre of milk => €2.50
Sausages, 2 baguettes => €6
Pack of mince, tins of tomatoes, fresh veg, pack of pasta => €10
Extra snacks => €5

Thats a rough estimate for a family of 4/5 with 2/3 small kids.

Some days might be a bit more, but I'd love to see what you're spending €100 on! I know, that includes some restaurant eating too, but €100 a day?? :eek:

*Kol* · 11-02-2014 10:34pm

kelbal wrote: »

Easy......

1/2 a box of cereal, litre of milk => €2.50
Sausages, 2 baguettes => €6
Pack of mince, tins of tomatoes, fresh veg, pack of pasta => €10
Extra snacks => €5

Thats a rough estimate for a family of 4/5 with 2/3 small kids.

Some days might be a bit more, but I'd love to see what you're spending €100 on! I know, that includes some restaurant eating too, but €100 a day?? :eek:

€100 average would be a bit top heavy but you wouldn't get lunch in McD's for 2 adults and 2 kids for €20 (as I said everyone differs, and some days you may spend next to nothing if you don't stir from the site and eat in). Probably over the whole holiday with excursions etc it could average €100 per day at most (I should have put food and everything else). If you go for dinner and have two or three drinks afterwards it will be €100. Even a nice lunch will approach €50. You are more likely to buy more rather than less on hols, you tend to have plenty of barbeques (I know that mince can be barbequed as burgers!!) etc plus most people will visit a bar to see what's going on in the evenings. In fairness it would be a bit of a chore to stick to a €20 a day budget for food if the above is whats on the menu!!

pastense · 11-02-2014 10:52pm

The big difference is between eating in and eating out. Theres also a big difference between a bottle of wine (or 2 lol) after the kids go to sleep or in the local bar etc.
Of course we all have different requirements and budgets but to say €100 a day gives the impression of very high food costs in France but that is simply not the case.
Lidl and Aldi, cook for yourself, stay at you Camper etc at night, €20 is very possible. In fact, as has been suggested the cost of food would have to be borne at home so you can take it out of your 'costs'.

CJhaughey · 11-02-2014 11:02pm

Slow cookers are a great way of cooking while camping, you can stick stuff on in the morning for lunch/dinner and go off and do stuff without worrying about having to get the dinner ready with tired/cranky kids.
I know they aren't the lightest or most convenient items to carry but they free your time up while you are on holiday!

moodrater · 12-02-2014 3:13am

Heres a good comparison:

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Ireland&country2=France&city1=Dublin&city2=Rennes

OuterBombie · 12-02-2014 12:06pm

We've been 7 times with a camper, 4 of these with two kids, usually 2 to 3 weeks, spent down on the south west coast.

Generally for us works out at between 1500 and 2000 for ferry, campsites, fuel and tolls. Food would be the same we spend here for the couple of weeks with maybe a meal or two out on top.

This year we're getting over for three weeks in August, 600 bucks with Celtic Link (excellent value) but the campsite is peak season so paying nearly a grand for pitches (that said we go to Les Grand Pins which is a five star site).

We considered the Canaries, Spain, etc for a change this year but with two kids on school holidays there were no options cheaper than the France trip, if its not broken....

Now if we get them to relax the speedo rule at the pool I'd be worry free :P

niloc1951 · 12-02-2014 5:32pm

CJhaughey wrote: »

Slow cookers are a great way of cooking while camping, you can stick stuff on in the morning for lunch/dinner and go off and do stuff without worrying about having to get the dinner ready with tired/cranky kids.
I know they aren't the lightest or most convenient items to carry but they free your time up while you are on holiday!

Also while on the road.
Being usually only about 200 watts they can be powered via a small (300 watt) inverter as you drive along and with the engine running it doesn't effect the battery.

MammaZita · 12-04-2014 4:55pm

What time of year you go has a big bearing on what you spend. One child in school means our 2 week holiday for 2 adults & 3 kids (2, 4 & 6) costs €2,000 for Celtic Link ferry and site before we buy a bottle of wine or a baguette.

Struggled to find a decent campsite that came under €950 for 12 nights in August. Stayed in a cheaper campsite last year but then found we went out to eat a lot more as kids got bored in basic pool, playground etc whereas with a nicer campsite with better facilities you're more inclined to stay around all day and eat or cook by the camper. Also proximity to a town generally means that we don't spend an entire day away (eating out twice), so our experience has been that a cheaper out of the way campsite with poor facilities can sometimes be a false economy. That said, as its a holiday we always eat out at least once a day- otherwise it's a lot more work than being at home.

moodrater · 13-04-2014 11:05pm

niloc1951 wrote: »

Also while on the road.
Being usually only about 200 watts they can be powered via a small (300 watt) inverter as you drive along and with the engine running it doesn't effect the battery.

Speaking of which Morphy richards one on offer in argos 22.99 down from 67.59, high setting might be a bit high,

http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10152&catalogId=14551&langId=111&productId=544602

joed571 · 18-04-2014 12:18am

We went in july 2011 for 3 weeks,2 adults +2 kids
We spent a week travelling down to perpignan via le mans and the middle of france, staying off motorways and getting to see loads off nice little towns, staying in aires and 1 or 2 campsites for a good shower and battery charging. stayed in this place for a week www.floride.fr has a few different pools and slides(kids loved it) then headed back up towards cherbourg on the west coast.
We mostly ate in camper, ate out once every 3 or 4 nights but shopped in seperu or carrafour..
Cost us around €3500
Boat, camsite and diesel for about 3000km cost around €1800, rest was on eating and spoiling the kids.
Was a once in life trip

niloc1951 · 18-04-2014 10:46am

joed571 wrote: »

We went in july 2011 for 3 weeks,2 adults +2 kids
We spent a week travelling down to perpignan via le mans and the middle of france, staying off motorways and getting to see loads off nice little towns, staying in aires and 1 or 2 campsites for a good shower and battery charging. stayed in this place for a week www.floride.fr has a few different pools and slides(kids loved it) then headed back up towards cherbourg on the west coast.
We mostly ate in camper, ate out once every 3 or 4 nights but shopped in seperu or carrafour..
Cost us around €3500
Boat, camsite and diesel for about 3000km cost around €1800, rest was on eating and spoiling the kids.
Was a once in life trip

The real cost was the €3,500 less what you would have spent during the three weeks living at home without going anywhere and don't forget about the energy and fuel costs.

2 weeks Motorhoming in France - how much does it ACTUALLY cost?

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