Paris nightmare?

malnik1

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Heading off in July, got a choice of Newhaven/Dieppe or Dover/Calais. Heading South West got an 8 hour journey at motorhome speed.
Dieppe ferry times are awful, late afternoon departure gets in at 11pm, midday departure expensive.
Dover/Calais lots of departures, about £30/40 cheaper, quicker but adds an extra 2 hours driving.
Route from Dieppe looks straight forward. From Calais shows driving through Paris! Is that the nightmare it sounds it could be? Anyone done it?
 
Look at Portsmouth- Caen.
If you're not planning to spend much time driving through North France.
 
Never gone near Paris heading SW from leaving the tunnel, are you sure you have not muddled up your route in some way?
 
Depending on how far south west you are going, we drive to spain every other winter, from calais there are four choices hang out towards tours and drop down the A or N 10 can never remember which letter, free mostly dual carriageway but lots of roundabouts.
Or head for rouen then drop onto A75 free motorway heading thru massif central.
Third option paris never again , done it early morning , late evening and thru the night , roads close without a diversion route, road signs are hardly illuminated, even sat nag gets lost in the under passes,
A route i have yet to try but is recommended by some friends in the netherlands they come down to calais then head down to Lyon and across the bottom of france to perpignon, hope this helps you make a decision, paris is lovely to drive thru as a passenger janet saw the illuminated eiffel tower at least four times from the same stretch of road whilst i was battling with tomtom twattwat
 
malnik1 said:
Heading off in July, got a choice of Newhaven/Dieppe or Dover/Calais. Heading South West got an 8 hour journey at motorhome speed.
Dieppe ferry times are awful, late afternoon departure gets in at 11pm, midday departure expensive.
Dover/Calais lots of departures, about £30/40 cheaper, quicker but adds an extra 2 hours driving.
Route from Dieppe looks straight forward. From Calais shows driving through Paris! Is that the nightmare it sounds it could be? Anyone done it?
Click to expand...
Paris peripherique is not as bad as you would imagine but , I think , unnecessary
 
Lived and drove in Paris for a couple of years a long while ago. In those days it was very much survival of the bravest and he who is the biggest bully wins! Don’t think I’d like to do it in my somewhat more expensive vehicles these days, as we only drove cheap old bangers when we lived there!
 
malnik1 said:
Heading off in July, got a choice of Newhaven/Dieppe or Dover/Calais. Heading South West got an 8 hour journey at motorhome speed.
Dieppe ferry times are awful, late afternoon departure gets in at 11pm, midday departure expensive.
Dover/Calais lots of departures, about £30/40 cheaper, quicker but adds an extra 2 hours driving.
Route from Dieppe looks straight forward. From Calais shows driving through Paris! Is that the nightmare it sounds it could be? Anyone done it?
Click to expand...
Dieppe crossing at 23:59 with cabin is cheap if one or member of the party is 60+. You need to book by phone because the 20% discount is paid by the Dieppe Chamber of Commerce. Dock at about 0500, and then you can either head for the free parking at Carrefour Express in Dieppe [1 mile from the Ferry Port], or you can push on towards Rouen on D940, getting round the city before the rush hour begins. After that aim for Le Mans and then Bordeaux and then the autoroute south to St Jean de Monts.

If you cross Dover-Calais, just pick up the Rouen signs [A16?] out of the Ferry Port and then pick up the Rouen route as above.

Steve
 
Done it many many times over the years at all times of day rush hour can be a little daunting, but mainly because of the maniacs on motorbikes and scooters who pass you on all sides,
But there are many alternative routes available to avoid Paris
 
we always use the dieppe route with the 60% over 60 discount ie i’m off early september till late october plus a dog 6.5mtr van £232 return , the ]late evening arrival works really well there is a carrefour supermarket within 5 minutes of the port good overnight sleep full day to drive next day
IMG_2479.png
 
rugbyken said:
we always use the dieppe route with the 60% over 60 discount ie i’m off early september till late october plus a dog 6.5mtr van £232 return , the ]late evening arrival works really well there is a carrefour supermarket within 5 minutes of the port good overnight sleep full day to drive next day
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What time do you leave and arrive in Dieppe? This could suit us. Is it the 11pm arival or 6pm
 
Rouen / Le-Mans if you want big roads.

Rouen / Chartres / Orleans if your more adventurous.

Personally I’d avoid Paris, not for any other reason than your on holiday and therefore I’d just not want to be bothering with traffic.

Reims / Lyon is a good drive but a bit boring, it is however the best route if your just wanting to sit on cruise and make good time.
 
Full agreement with both Marchie and Rugbyken.
If you are, like most of us on here, 60+
Phone DFDS 0330 587 8787, for a decent discount. You’ll speak to a lovely lady, although it does sound as if you are taking part in an episode of “Allo Allo”
Carrefour stop over? A no brainer. Good nights sleep, fresh baguette for breakfast
 
malnik1 said:
What time do you leave and arrive in Dieppe? This could suit us. Is it the 11pm arival or 6pm
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depending on your ferry either 1700 or 1800 it’s a 4 hour crossing but of course there is the one hour european time to add on but we’re normally fast off by v11 o clock
 
Pauljenny said:
Look at Portsmouth- Caen.
If you're not planning to spend much time driving through North France.
Click to expand...
I've always found long queues for border control in Ouistreham. Poole-Cherbourg might be another option; I've never encountered long queues for border control at Cherbourg. Might be different in July. You don't indicate your departure location, so difficult to know whether central Channel ports are a sensible option or not. "Southwest France" is also somewhat vague!
Definitely worth checking out https://www.bison-fute.gouv.fr/index,langen.html for your dates in July, as very heavy traffic can be expected on some days.
 
Short crossing .
No cabin
Bypassing a lot of boring, industrial North France.

And fewer motorway costs.
Each to it's own
 
Pauljenny said:
Short crossing .
No cabin
Bypassing a lot of boring, industrial North France.

And fewer motorway costs.
Each to it's own
Click to expand...
A bit like Poole-Cherbourg, which is faster than Portsmouth-Ouistreham (but no motorway to the port entrance). Cherbourg-Portsmouth is a good option for the return. Of course dependent on location of UK base.
 
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