road trip in south of france

bittihuduga

hi
i am planning to go driving around south of france and also south of italy.
i saw that flying to nice or nearby airport and renting a car will be expensive
is it better to take my car on ferry and start driving?

also if i find good places, im planning to go camping instead of hotel
so not sure if hiring camping kit in south france is better or taking it from here

i have never done camping before so not sure about it but would like to try it once.

if anyone has done any roartrip around south of france or italy please throw some light

flikflak

How long are you planning on going? If you are going to drive then it wont be worth it unless you go for at least 3 weeks. Also it will be quite expensive - its over 1,400 kms from Roscoff to Nice and according to via michelin its going to cost you approx €200 each way with fuel and tolls.

So with your ferry from Ireland to France at approx €400 (dummy booking for May) thats €800 before you have any accomodation or spending money.

Another dummy booking with Ryanair for May comes out at approx €80 per person (Ex bag and c/card charge).

I did France for a week last year with hand luggage only no problem so with ryanair you can get the 2 flights for €160 and if you factor in car hire at about €200 then that under €400 which is a darn sight cheaper than driving - also you will be so wrecked from the journey if you drive once you arrive down in Nice all you will want to do is rest and not drive anywhere!

France has Campanile and Formula One motels that you can stay in very cheaply and can just turn up and stay.

You can go for the already erected tents that Canvas and Eurocamp have which might be better for you if you are new to camping. This can also be very expensive.

Why not rent a gite? You can get some great value. I had one for a week last year in Provence in June and it was €350 for a gite with a private pool and was on a vineyard. It was lovely. It slept four people.

niffle

I agree with Flikflak, did the fly drive thing two years ago . was much better value than ferry. if you can manage hand luggage only ( i did with two children for 10 days) it works out cheaper. Only drawback is no boot to fill with wine:(

bittihuduga

thanks lads for your tips
planning for a one week trip with OH
fly n drive is better as per the above tips.
any good tips for routes for one week?

Wantobe

flikflak wrote: »

Why not rent a gite? You can get some great value. I had one for a week last year in Provence in June and it was €350 for a gite with a private pool and was on a vineyard. It was lovely. It slept four people.

Any chance of a link for that gite?

flikflak

Wantobe wrote: »

Any chance of a link for that gite?

It was just one from homelidays.com

http://domaineducoffre.canalblog.com/ that is their website but its all in French.

We flew into Marseille and it was about a 40 min trip up to the house. got our flights for €10 return.

faigs

I was thinking of doing something similiar this summer with the OH for three weeks and driving down the West Coast of France as far as San Sebastian in Spain and the over to Italy. The ferry is over €600 on peak though The idea of doing it and bringing a tent really appeals to me, and I like the idea of having my own car and having plenty of space for luggage as well as bringing wine back!

If anyone has advice I'd appreciate it!