French itinerary suggestions please

[stuavo]

Hi all,
My wife and I have 16 days to enjoy France this September and I am looking for some help with an itinerary. The places we are keen to visit are Champagne, Annecy, gorge du verdon, 4-5 days on beaches, Biarritz and Loire valley. These are by no means set in stone. Can anyone suggest a similar trip that they have done please?

Regards

Stuart

 

[Princess Doris]

We based near Grenoble for days in June. We took a day trip to Annecy. Absolutely stunning. Wish we had spent more time there.
Also recommend the tramway trip up Mont Blanc. Lovely experience.

 

[OllieCollieCali]

We follow Robbie Roams a lot, and has some brilliant travel guides. He has just released (this week) the French travel guide, which covers all most of France and the areas you mentioned above. He has a lot of Youtube videos to go with them as well. He has 4 x videos on France that would definately be worth looking at for inspiration. Might be worth taking a look at his French videos here - https://www.youtube.com/@robbieroams Highly recomment his travel guides.

Or Will and Sarah have also done a road trip passing through Lake Annecy, so their videos could also be good https://www.youtube.com/@CampervanTime

 

[Perfectos]

Champagne region ;
les Ricey villages has a free campsite At champagne Walczak, (there is also a free public aire in the village with free EHU )
the Walczak are a family outfit, have a free campsite at the rear of their office / storage facility , they offer free EHC and camping on grass pitch around a duck pond. (Nicer than the public Aire)
I stayed for three days recently at the Fete du Champagne.
Their Champagne is very good and the villages of Les Ricey are very picturesque (not the area immediately around their facility but a short walk / cycle away).
Village has a bar and Boulanger within a few minutes walk, the vineyards are remote from the village , you drive through them on the way to the village. Note their appears to be no restaurants within the area as is the case for most of the villages, so you would be well advised the bring BBQ / food etc with you

Champagne Pascal Walczak | Winegrower in Les Riceys (Aube)

Grower-producers in Les Riceys since 1973. Discover our Champagnes and the Rosé des Riceys, Terra Vitis certified. Free delivery from 12 bottles.

champagne-walczak.fr

They will respond to emails in English.

Cost a a premium cuvée prestige is 20 euros , they gladly give you a tipple.
Other champagnes they produce are available from the onsite shop.

Another village 10minutes down the road

Celles Sur Ource is a picturesque village with vineyards close by , all champagne houses will welcome you , best bet is to drop them an email in advance to let them know you're coming.

 

[Perfectos]

Loire = Amboise , picture post card , Ile Dor Municipal campsite: on an island between two bridges , chateau of the King of France prior to Paris becoming the Capital, home to Leonardo Da Vinci (at the behest of the king of France) , timber frame building , large grass pitch campsite

massive ELeclerc within a short drive away , Lidl close by.

camping municipal ile dor

 

[Perfectos]

Have a look at Ile De Re ( La Rochelle) stunning cycle friendly- Municipal campsite: Les Ramparts

Onsite bar / restaurant, large pitches, easy walk into St Martin de Re
(harbour ). Very Quaint.
Can get a boat to La Rochelle, Fort Boyard etc

https://www.saint-martin-de-re.fr/sejourner-a-saint-martin-de-re/camping-municipal-les-remmparts/

From Calais to Ile De Re - approx 7 hours, Ile De Re to Loire is approximately 3 hours, Loire to Champagne region approx 3 hours , Champagne to Calais approx 4 hours driving .

Total mileage IRO 1000 miles

 

[Sad]

We based near Grenoble for days in June. We took a day trip to Annecy. Absolutely stunning. Wish we had spent more time there.
Also recommend the tramway trip up Mont Blanc. Lovely experience.

+1 for Annecy!

 

[stuavo]

We based near Grenoble for days in June. We took a day trip to Annecy. Absolutely stunning. Wish we had spent more time there.
Also recommend the tramway trip up Mont Blanc. Lovely experience.

Will look into both suggestions thanks.

 

[stuavo]

We follow Robbie Roams a lot, and has some brilliant travel guides. He has just released (this week) the French travel guide, which covers all most of France and the areas you mentioned above. He has a lot of Youtube videos to go with them as well. He has 4 x videos on France that would definately be worth looking at for inspiration. Might be worth taking a look at his French videos here - https://www.youtube.com/@robbieroams Highly recomment his travel guides.

Or Will and Sarah have also done a road trip passing through Lake Annecy, so their videos could also be good https://www.youtube.com/@CampervanTime

Just been watching the videos, brilliant. Thanks

 

[stuavo]

Champagne region ;
les Ricey villages has a free campsite At champagne Walczak, (there is also a free public aire in the village with free EHU )
the Walczak are a family outfit, have a free campsite at the rear of their office / storage facility , they offer free EHC and camping on grass pitch around a duck pond. (Nicer than the public Aire)
I stayed for three days recently at the Fete du Champagne.
Their Champagne is very good and the villages of Les Ricey are very picturesque (not the area immediately around their facility but a short walk / cycle away).
Village has a bar and Boulanger within a few minutes walk, the vineyards are remote from the village , you drive through them on the way to the village. Note their appears to be no restaurants within the area as is the case for most of the villages, so you would be well advised the bring BBQ / food etc with you

Champagne Pascal Walczak | Winegrower in Les Riceys (Aube)

Grower-producers in Les Riceys since 1973. Discover our Champagnes and the Rosé des Riceys, Terra Vitis certified. Free delivery from 12 bottles.

champagne-walczak.fr

They will respond to emails in English.

Cost a a premium cuvée prestige is 20 euros , they gladly give you a tipple.
Other champagnes they produce are available from the onsite shop.

Another village 10minutes down the road

Celles Sur Ource is a picturesque village with vineyards close by , all champagne houses will welcome you , best bet is to drop them an email in advance to let them know you're coming.

Fabulous thanks

 

[stuavo]

Loire = Amboise , picture post card , Ile Dor Municipal campsite: on an island between two bridges , chateau of the King of France prior to Paris becoming the Capital, home to Leonardo Da Vinci (at the behest of the king of France) , timber frame building , large grass pitch campsite

massive ELeclerc within a short drive away , Lidl close by.

camping municipal ile dor

Brilliant, thanks

 

[stuavo]

Have a look at Ile De Re ( La Rochelle) stunning cycle friendly- Municipal campsite: Les Ramparts

Onsite bar / restaurant, large pitches, easy walk into St Martin de Re
(harbour ). Very Quaint.
Can get a boat to La Rochelle, Fort Boyard etc

https://www.saint-martin-de-re.fr/sejourner-a-saint-martin-de-re/camping-municipal-les-remmparts/

From Calais to Ile De Re - approx 7 hours, Ile De Re to Loire is approximately 3 hours, Loire to Champagne region approx 3 hours , Champagne to Calais approx 4 hours driving .

Total mileage IRO 1000 miles

Great. I fancy Ile De Re. Thanks for the info. Best wishes

 

[ash]

If you're doing Ile de Re and want to do Biarritz too then I hear good things about Arcachon which lies between. Potentially sticky traffic around Bordeaux. And if you're going as far south as Biarritz then nip round the corner to San Sebastian for a couple of nights, bit of a jewel. We stayed at the wecamp site about 5 miles out and bussed in. Would recommend (and note their directions for how to get to the site or you find yourself on steep hairpinny singletrack roads

 

[sticky1]

Hi all,
My wife and I have 16 days to enjoy France this September and I am looking for some help with an itinerary. The places we are keen to visit are Champagne, Annecy, gorge du verdon, 4-5 days on beaches, Biarritz and Loire valley. These are by no means set in stone. Can anyone suggest a similar trip that they have done please?

Regards

Stuart

View attachment 139458

Nice van. There’s some great suggestions in this thread.
Annecy is stunning but you may need to book ahead, even in September.
I agree with the municipal site at St Matin Ile de Re, again you may need to book, as it’s not a massive site.
Amboise and the Loire chateau’s makes for an interesting tour.
Biarritz has old world charm but it’s a hike from La Rochelle, although I’d agree with nipping across to San Sebastián, if you are heading down.
If you then head east to Annecy you may decide to break up the journey by heading to Nimes with its amphitheater and Pont Du Gard.
My only question would be the sheer number of driving miles in the list of places you want to see in 16 days, for me there is a trip down the west coast and another to the east to catch Champagne down to Annecy.

 

[stuavo]

Thank you. Your van is awesome!

 

[Louis II]

I agree with the suggestion of east and west coast as separate trips.

On the east Strasbourg is beautiful and well worth a stopover on the way south, Lac d’aiguebelette is beautiful, warm for swimming and close to but less busy than Annecy.

On the west coast ile de noirmoutier is a quieter alternative to ile de re.

Sam

 

[stuavo]

Thank you. I think you’re right. We’re trying to cram too much into too short a trip. I think we’ll visit champagne region, Annecy then down to Nice and spend a week or so travelling along the south coast and then back hime to the West of Paris.

Appreciate your suggestions

 

[SteveBristol123]

Just spent a few nights in Île de re - stunning. Stayed at Huttopia Cote Sauvage and would recommend. Small and quite basic but a great atmosphere and easy to get everywhere by bike - it’s very flat with cycle routes in all directions.

Also recommend Saumur on your way down - a beautiful town. I stayed a couple of years ago at Flower camping - right in the centre on an island in the river.

 

[Betsycalifornia]

A stop in Beaune on the way down is very nice. Awesome town.
We found a nice little campsite in Annot, right next to the river with very good facilities when going from Annecy south and then we used the train into Nice

 

[colintfcolintf]

Take in Route Napoleon if you can, it’s stunning